Category Life

Nov 7 2019

My Epic Book Length Post With Photos A Plenty

Chapter 1: It’s A Grasshopper Invasion and The Havoc They Have Caused!

Remember last post I mentioned grasshoppers towards the end, well they are still around. I walk around to do my watering and they scurry, hop, jump or fly in front of me. I will be turning on the water faucet for the hose and there are at least 6 beady little eyes watching and staring at me. They just creep me out. Oh, would you like to see me throw an hysterical, jumping, dancing around fit? Just let one of those creepy hoppers land on me. I can’t stand their grabby pokey legs gripping onto me. No, grasshoppers do NOT fall into my cute, cool creepy crawlers column!

 

They Just creep me out!

 

 

They caused lots of damage to the vegetation. I didn’t think any of my peppers would survive the onslaught. David’s okra didn’t fair much better. The irises in the southeast corner of the shed bed were chewed to the ground. There was a bachelor button and a couple of other flowers in the same corner that didn’t even get to bloom before they were turned into leafless sticks. That flowery plant that I thought was a carrot plant gone wild ( I pulled it early in September expecting a mutated jumbo carrot. There was just a regular type root. I was bummed, I wanted a giant mutated carrot! 😦 ) was stripped down to a clump of sticks. My gladiolus had trouble with the wet spring so only about eight came up. One was swelling to produce a cane but the hoppers ate it before it even got above the leaves. Even the marigolds were nibbled upon. They are usually a big bushy leafy plant with lots of blooms.

 

This was eventually eaten down to the ground.

 

 

All flowers were not doomed to be eaten. If they were low to the ground or hidden among the grass and weeds they got a chance to bloom.

Light Pink Poppy

 

 

Well by the end of August the hoppers seemed to have run their course. The peppers and the okras still had a few leaves so they started to make a come back. They put on new leaves and began to flower. The okra even started to produce fruit. So all through September we kept them watered and hoped the weather would stay nice a little longer.

I didn’t realize Okra had such pretty flowers.

 

 

September also had a few surprise late bloomers that waited for the hoppers to be gone. The zinnias were planted a couple of years ago but didn’t come up. I could have raked them closer to the surface this year. The hollyhocks were a total surprise. They must have been in the box of wildflower seeds that were suppose to be suited for humming birds that I planted this year.

Finally a marigold bloomed. You can see how sparse the foliage is.

 

 

Alas it was not meant to be. We had a freezing night on October 7th that put an end to any hope of peppers or okra.

 

The more tender flowers like the cosmos did not make it through the freeze either. A couple of petunias, the marigolds, a bachelor button, the zinnias, and the hollyhocks, and the johnny jump-up all made it for a couple more weeks until we had several freezing nights in a row. The little Johnny- Jump up was a little trooper, he just grew like crazy and was not bothered by those pesky hoppers or a freezing night or two.

Chapter 2: Crawly Critters and Cute Cats

The summer was just not for grasshoppers other crawly things could be found among the flowers and grass.
I was walking down the back steps when I saw this funnel web in the grass glimmering in the morning sunshine. It was there for several days. One day I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of the spider who made this awesome web.

 

Mid September I was weeding the flower bed on the west end of the house, when I came across this praying mantis. I was about to start pulling the weeds in that area when I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. I took several pics as she crawled on the weeds that I was wanting to pull. I picked her up with my outdoor walking stick and moved here to the bushes in the back yard. Then I got back to pulling the weeds.

David came in, on the afternoon of October 7th and placed this caterpillar by me as I was doing things on my laptop. Some of you may call these woolly bears. There are a couple of ole wives tales that these little fuzzy fellows can predict the weather. The one that comes to my mind is, the direction you find them crawling will predict the coming of winter. Well David just told me he was crawling in the grass by BOB. That very night we had our first night below freezing. I wonder now, what direction he was crawling?

The next afternoon when it had warmed back up to near 70 degrees. I found this praying mantis hanging out on the deck upright. She was a good size and her tummy looked pretty full. I don’t know if it was the same one I let loose in the backyard in September. They do have wings to fly so it could have been.

The other bugs will never see me coming.

 

I was able to bring Sully out quite a bit over the summer. He really enjoys the sunshine. He likes to eat grass. When he is not eating grass he is snuggling up any patch of catnip he can find.

*sniff slobber sniff drool* I just love catnip on a sunny day!

 

When I am not outside I have Little Kitty to keep me company. She perches on the DVD case and gives me the cuteness while I am doing stuff on my laptop at the kitchen table.

Even when I am outside she manages to give me the cuteness. I was doing a walk around the house to take photos. I passed her bedroom window to see her watching me. I think these photos are cool because of the reflections. That is why I called them Reflections of Little Kitty.

Chapter 3: Bathing and Covering BOB for Winter and One More Renovation Started

David decide to use one of the last nice days to work on BOB. He and Nick started on the roof applying that waterproof flex tape (As SEEN ON TV) to the cracked vent covers. David worked on sealing the leak on the outside of the loft on the passenger side. He had removed the weather stripping and sprayed foam into the gap. Then replaced the stripping after he let it dry for a few hours. He also caulked any gaps he found doing a walk around and any gaps on the roof around vents and such. Nick was put to work finishing up the bath that was started in the spring. This time he did the front of the loft and the hood of the cab. David parked the Ranger in close to BOB so Nick would have a platform to stand on because David was using the ladder to caulk the gaps on the roof.

Can you see the blackness above the window of the loft?

 

The next afternoon was spent tying down a 24 x 12 foot tarp to cover BOB’s roof for the winter. We should have been doing this every winter then maybe BOB would not have gotten so many leaks in his roof.

 

Before the weather got to cold David decided to go ahead and tear out the bathroom sink/vanity. He wants to put a large sink with more shelving under it. He wants the larger sink for cleaning fish.

Chapter 4: Old Things Become New

We had this old ratty brass chair. It was in need of a new covering. I had this old flowery flannel fitted sheet that was thin in the middle but the edges were still in good shape. I thought it would make a good cover for the chair. I removed the back from the brass bars. I didn’t remove the old cover because the back was made from cardboard that seemed like it was broken. I cut a piece of the sheet to fit around the back. I used a staple gun to fix the sheet to the back. I left one end open. I stuffed the curve of the back with polyester fiber from an old sleeping bag that had worn thin. I stapled the opening then screwed the back on to the brass bars again.
The seat of the chair became a family project. I was going to do the same with it as the back. When I got the seat removed from the brass bars I saw that it was made of particle board the was rotten and falling apart. I would not be able to put screws back in it to attach it to the bars as it was the seat was only being held in place by three screws. This is where the boys come in on the project. I needed a new seat. David does not like it when I use a hammer let alone a skill saw. So we searched the wood scrap pile and found a suitable board to cut down to size for a seat. David and Nick worked together doing that and drilling starter holes for the screws. I cut a piece of sheet to fit the new seat. The old foam cushion was rotting and becoming dust so I used polyester fiber from the sleeping bag again to cushion the seat. Nick helped keep the sheet tight over the new seat while I stapled it to the board. David was looking in the hardware coffee cans for new suitable screws while we did the stapling. David and Nick worked together holding the seat to the brass bars and screwing it back together. TA DA! We have a new chair!

 

The next old thing that became new was not as much work. A friend, of my son-in-law Justin, asked him if he knew anyone that needed a loveseat and couch. Justin said that he probably could use them. He and Kay had been looking for a loveseat for awhile. If Justin came over and hauled them away he could have them for free. So he did just that. They were able to get the loveseat into their house. The couch was to big and bulky to make it through their small awkward porch/entryway into the living room. David stopped by their house the next day, Kay asked if we would like that couch outside. David didn’t even see it when he came in. So he went back outside to take a look. He said sure, our current couch’s cushions had seen better days. So when Justin got off work that evening he brought it out. TA DA! We have a new couch!

The new couch.

 

Chapter 5: Slowly Crocheting Through Summer

I did crochet some this summer. It was another thing I just didn’t feel like doing. The heat really had nothing to do with it. I could have crocheted small things that would not be laying across my lap making me overheat.
I spent most of my time crocheting granny squares. They were finally seamed together in August to become my Psychedelic Granny Square Sweater. I got the idea to make myself one when I was making the baby sweaters. I wanted mine to be a bit longer more like a jacket. I think it turned out pretty good. A little story about my sweater jacket. I was traveling back east with my oldest brother. We stopped at a convenience store for a bathroom break and to get snacks. I was walking back to the car when a gentleman said he really liked my jacket. I said thanks I made it myself. He said his wife would like one. I said I was not local. He said neither was he. I really wished then that I had some business cards made up. I could have given him one and he could have contacted me with info to make his wife one. Then after I had been home for a few days a thought just popped into my head. I could have just sold mine to him right off my back.

 

I worked on this “Making and Joining Squares Project Afghan”. I joined larger squares, smaller squares, and triangles, to form rectangles. One section is just one large rectangle. The last section is four small rectangles to form a large rectangle. I am running short on yarn so I had to put this project in hibernation.

I had a bit of skein and another full skein of this Herrshcners “baby yarn” variegated yarn. It is on its way to becoming a baby blanket with some pink and purple thrown into the mix. I started with two granny squares that I seamed together to form the rectangle. I am now playing with adding some more squares at each end then continuing in the rectangle.

 

I was finally getting tired of crocheting squares and rectangles so I decided to make some different things. I have a bunch of Christmas sparkley yarn so I crocheted a chevron beanie. I am also doing a chevron scarf using the Christmas yarns. I had bit of scrap Caron “simply soft” yarn so this double crochet beanie was done up in no time.

 

 

I had some pink Herrshcners “kid’s brite ” 3ply yarn just sitting there along with some pink Caron “simply soft” yarn. I don’t have a pink beanie so I made myself this simple hat.

 

I have started another beanie with the above yarns using the leaping blocks and stripes pattern.

I think that covers the crocheting chapter.

 

Chapter 6: Plans They Keep A Changin’

The reason we have been working on BOB so much this year was so we could do some long term traveling.
Plan 1- Head to the gulf coast of Texas in November.
Reasons for abandoning this plan were BOB was not going to be ready to go, funds were getting low, and while researching destinations in Texas, David saw that there has been an increase in violent crimes in the state.

Plan 2– Go to Washington where you can get paid to fish in April of 2020.
David was wondering if there was anywhere you could get paid to fish without being a commercial fisherman with a boat. So he Googled it. You can get paid in Washington State to catch one species of fish called the pike minnow. They pay you to catch them because the fish is eating all the baby salmon before they can swim up river back to the ocean.
Reasons for abandoning this plan were no one seemed to be really thrilled with the idea, since David wanted to be gone for 6 to 8 months. He also got to thinking that maybe we are not in quite good enough health yet for a long trip into the boonies of Washington.

Plan 3– Travel around Nebraska from April 2020 – October 2020
This plan seems like it will stick. We are familiar with our home state. We know the roads. We have people we can visit. If some kind of emergency comes up we are closer to home.
We are planning to travel from fishing spot to fishing spot. Some will be familiar to us some will be new. I have lived most of my life in Nebraska, but there are things I have not seen. We think we will head south first then head east. When we have gone as far east as we want we well head back west. Then do a little jaunt near the northern border. Then finally back south to the old homestead. Of course none of this is set in stone. We will probably play a lot of it by ear, taking it at a relaxing pace.

Oct 31 2019

I Just Have Not Felt Like It

 

I have not posted hardly at all this summer. Now we are nearly done with fall heading into winter. I have thought about posting from time to time but now I am soooo far behind that it would be an epic book length post. We are also back to using the library for internet access. Maybe I will get off my duff this week and type out a post for next week’s library visit. Until then here is my 52 birthday pic, which was on the 17th, with my grandson Marty’s emoji headband on. He called it his birthday crown. It is blinking but you can not tell in the photo.

 

The birthday crown. Oh,Yeah I cut my hair too!

Aug 2 2019

Flowers, Weeding, BOB, and Sully Too

 

As the summer progresses more flowers have started to show their colorful faces. Although this year they are a bit on the short side. All the cool, cloudy, wet days have slowed their roll. The ones that do bloom are cute and pretty.

This was the first little petunia this year. It was hidden a bit by the weed grass.

 

This small white cosmos was in the same area.

 

This was an orange California poppy.

This small common poppy.

 

Several different colored cosmos.

 

The Bachelor Buttons will not be out done.

 

Two Pretty in Pink Poppies
It always seem that when the poppies bloom they look there best on a windy day.
I have to hold them but that still didn’t keep the petals from swaying in the wind.

 

The first golden tickseed.
It was already starting to fade from being wind blown.

 

The second little petunia after that bed was weeded.

 

This flower is one that was a late bloomer last year. Also it may have been late because when things were first sprouting I thought it was a weed. Once the weeds got taller I did not see it. So a lone field larkspur plant with purple flowers survived last year.

 

This year I again sprinkled this same wildflower mixture. I again was pulling this plant as a weed when things were first sprouting. Somehow this guy hid himself away amongst the taller weeds from my grabby little fingers this year.
I again have a lone forking, rocket, or field larkspur plant but this year the flowers are pink. I was also able to get better photos as he is right along the edge next to the railroad tie border.

 

My final flower is not an on purpose flower. It is actually that carrot I let go wild.

It has gotten quite tall and has several branches with many flower heads.
It has many insect visitors including this busy bumble bee.
I had a heck of a time just getting the three shots of her.

 

Now on to the weeding.
I weeded the west side of the deck bed. That is why I was able to find the second petunia a few days later.

 

I got the south bedroom window bed weeded too.

 

The can peppers and the south side of the shed were weed also.

 

 

 

 

David decided to take the water heater out of BOB. He said once he got to looking at it, that he thinks this was a replacement heater. He doesn’t think it was properly hooked back up as there were wires that were not even hooked in to the heater at all. (see photo below for wires)

The water heater removed and some of the copper tubing.

 

David eventually wants to put one of those electric tankless water heaters in BOB. We don’t really need hot water at this point. We don’t need it for showers since we took out the tub/shower and will be taking those at campsites and RV parks that provide showers. We can just boil water on the portable camp stove for doing dishes for now.
He also removed all the extra copper tubing (as you can see it is laying on the ground in the above photo of the water heater) for the propane that went to it ,the furnace and the refrigerator. Those have also been removed in previous remodels. After he got the tubing out he was able to find some end caps at ACE hardware to seal off the ends.
Now that all the extra propane lines were capped off, David wanted to make sure the propane tank worked properly and still provided gas to the stove and oven in BOB. The propane system is in proper working order. David was afraid that he may have to remove the tank and figure out a different propane system for the stove and oven.
Wooooo Hoooo! I don’t need to use the camp stove for boiling water or cooking. I also now have a working oven to cook in. Nick was glad that the oven works too. He wants me to be able to make my cheesy rice dish.

 

I was able to get BOB’s bedroom back in order.

 

I will finish off this post with Sully pouncing on one of the bijillion grasshoppers we have this year.

 

 

Jul 20 2019

Guarding at The Classics in The Park Car Show July 13th 2019

 

The National Guard brought two of their vehicles to the Park for display. The first one was an APC or Armored Personnel Carrier. They were not entered in the show competition so I have no idea what year they would be. I am not familiar with military vehicles. So, please forgive me if my info is incorrect. 😀

 

The second vehicle was an Armored Humvee.

 

This year I arrived at the park around 9:30 am, because it was suppose to get pretty hot that day. I also had Nick with me this year. So as I went along taking photos of the cars, Nick took down their information on the clipboard. You can actually see his hands and the clip board in some of the photos. With his help we were able to get photos of 54 cars and their info down in just a little over an hour. Last year it took me a little over 2 hours to take photos and then backtrack to take down the info of the 66 cars.
Since I was there two hours earlier this year I took that into consideration for the decrease in the number of cars this year. I don’t think the actual cut off time to enter the show was until 11 AM. We were headed back to the pickup by 10:30, we were both tired and sweaty already. So I guess 12 more cars could have shown up before the day was done. 😀

 

There were twenty-one return entries this year. Among them were two of my favorites from last year, the 2013 yellow Dune Buggy and the 1964 pink VW Beetle, two Mustangs, a Stingray, and four Goats. Yes, I really went to a car show not to the farm or aquarium.

Notable Return Entries

Two of the returnies were worth giving special notice in this post.

This 1965 Chevy 10 Pickup has been entered every year that I have attended since 2014, I didn’t attend 2017’s show.

 

The one return entry that I was really exited to see was this 1956 Mercury Montclair.

The reason, I was anxious to see if they were able to get the interior finished.

I am happy to report that they were indeed able to complete it in a year’s time.

 

The before photos show how far they came with just plastic chairs bolted to the floor to make the drive to the show.

 

The after photos showing the beautiful end product. No, plastic chairs or debris littering the back “seat” either.

Favorite Pickup

I couldn’t decide which of these two pickups were my favorite this year.

I liked this Arrow. I think it was Plymouth’s small truck to compete with Ford’s Ranger and Chevy’s Luv pickups. I thought the paint job was cool. Do they call that paint detailing in actual car show lingo or is detailing when the interior gets super duper cleaned? Paint job just sounds so unprofessional.

 

The other pickup was this 1950 Chevy 5 window pickup. I came upon it from the rear, I liked how they did the bed cover. I really loved the color too. How can you not like all that chrome in the grill?

 

Favorite Car

I went a little gangster for my favorite car of this year’s show.

I vaguely remember hearing of the Hudson car company so this 1953 Hudson Super Wasp won favorite car with me. It reminded me of the cars you would see in old gangster movies. I mean look how well those back tires are protected from flying tommy gun fire. Ok, so maybe they didn’t use Tommy guns in the 50’s. Speaking of tires those are some really wide white walls. The windows were even protected with little awnings. (I didn’t know what else to call them. 😀 ) Those are some heavy duty bumpers and grill too.

 

Oldest Entry

And finally we will finish off this post with an oldie but a goody.

The oldest entry of this year’s show goes to this 1920 Sampson.

I wondered if they actually still had to crank it to get it started.

 

A photo gallery of all 54 entries can be found in the Menu Tab CARS at the top of my blog.

Go have a peek at the rest of the beautiful classics!

 

 

 

Jul 17 2019

Repairs and Remodeling on BOB Continue

Last report on Bob, he was getting the roof sealed. We have now moved inside to work on the bedroom ceiling where it leaked over the winter.
David removed all the bad area that had been damaged from the leaking. This photo from 2017 shows the begining of the damage.

Beginning of leak damage.

 

Before he did that though we moved the mattress off the pedestal into the living room so he would have that area to work.

 

I didn’t think to get more before and during photos.
Whilst David was working on that I began removing the wallpaper in the bathroom. We had removed the bathtub earlier at the end of last fall. We decided we could do without the tiny tub as it had started leaking. That is why we used a storage tub for the fish we caught rather then the bath directly. We are planning to put a large sink in its place. This will work better for storing and cleaning fish. Most rv parks and camp grounds have showers now a days anyway.

The fish bin sits in the bathtub.

 

 

I used a hair blow dryer to heat the wallpaper, then peeled it off. Keeping the dryer pointed at the wall as I peeled the paper. This works much better than trying to scrap it off with a scraper or utility knife ( box cutter if you prefer). I thought of this after I had done one whole wall in the bedroom remodel back in 2014. The walls were sticky behind the paper. I thought if I heated the paper up and pull at the same time it would release the glue and just peel off. As you can see it works like a charm. A lot faster and less work too.

I then got to painting the walls. This is after one coat.

 

I did a total of three coats, I also put a coat of fresh paint on the previously painted walls in the 2014 remodel. I also painted the ceiling cause it looked drab and yellow next to the new white walls. The paint was all dry now so I thought I would add a bit of decor. These were both items given to me at my retirement going south party from the care home in 2014. They all knew I liked fishing so I got a couple of fishing themed presents, a fishing basket, creel and this little outhouse.

 

David had to tear out quite a large portion of the bedroom ceiling. The wood and foam insulation were rotting and falling to pieces as he took them out. He let the area dry out for several days. He then put in new pieces of foam insulation. He then screwed this piece of wood paneling in place that is actually used for flooring. Since I was in painting mode, I asked if he wanted the patch painted. He said, “No, not yet I want to make sure that the leak is fixed. You can paint the rest of the ceiling if you want.”
So I did. I also touched up the right wall. After a few years of extra fishing poles rubbing against it, that wall needed it.

 

My next goal is to get some new plastic taped down on the pedestal and then put the mattress back on it. Then I think I will move on to the kitchen. I need to get the various tools and supplies put away. I then will wipe it all down and since I got the paint, add a fresh coat to the kitchen wall.
After that I need to start deciding what stuff inside can go in the outside bins. The fishing poles and all other fishing accessories for sure as we are not fishing now. They don’t need to be readily accessed. The space where all the accessories are stored right now is where the deep freezer will go. I don’t think the fishing poles need to ride around strapped in the seat. By the way, our trip to Texas has been postponed until fall of 2020. We realized we needed more time to make preparations.