Saturday, May 28, 2016

Oh The Places You Will Go

Life is goof.


I don't know how long I can keep up this kind of hectic schedule.

The body is failing but the spirit is willing. I've had a lot of help from wonderful angels. I had to stop and make critical repairs at repair shops  in Melbourne, St Augustine and Beaufort. In every camp we made several repairs to the rig on our own. Things just keep breaking and failing. I guess that's what happens when you take an old rig and her aged motorhome on the road.

But I woke up alive everyday. It's so surreal. I am oh so grateful to have a roof over my head. I don't know where I belong, but when I find it, I will stay there.

Actually I found where I belong, but they won't let me stay there, just visit now and then.

Amazon has chased me down in many parks with RV parts including the new toilet. I did not want a new toilet. I liked the old toilet just fine. But it failed then became non-functional and well, it seemed liked that was a critical turning point.

I just couldn't do the squat over the hole thing. Maybe I needed a bigger hole for better aim.

OK, this conversation is going down the drain...

Thank you for stopping by!

I will be writing more soon. If the sun rises and the storm leaves me OK. I am currently in the path of tropical storm Bonnie.

Never a dull moment!








Wednesday, May 25, 2016

A Trip To The Beach With The Circus Dog

Harley dog wants to take so much stuff to the beach that I am beginning to think he is trying to move there permanently. 

Harley thinks he is in the circus and the beach is his stage. He claims all this "stuff" he needs for the beach is in his contract. (In his dreams!)

He wanted a chair, which in this picture he is roughing up with his towel for padded comfort. Then he brought his frisbee, his rubber bouncy ball, his big soccer ball, his golf ball (and he took turns playing with all his toys repeatedly) his water dish, his 30 ounce water container, his poop bags, his treats, his short leash for dragging around the beach pretending not to be loose and free, his 20 foot flexi-leash so he can walk the human through the ocean waves while he dances with the sea foam,  a towel to dry his face, and to top it off, he wants the bicycle too, so he can feel the wind in his fur while the human pedals him up and down the beach. Notice the bicycle requires 3 baskets, 2 for all his doggy stuff and another basket up front for him to ride in. Good grief. 

Matter of fact, the dog brings SO MUCH to the beach, that the human only gets to bring her 8 ounce water thermos. 

There isn't room for anything else. 

We parked by this driftwood tree because Harley dog wanted to race up and down it dancing, then dig in the shade beneath it to China. He likes to have his golf ball with him when he digs. He sticks it in the hole then digs further down. Sometimes the golf ball accidentally flies out of the hole, so he dutifully retrieves it, throws it back in the sand pit then continues digging. 





I may not have a car, but I have a bicycle and one crazy little monkey dog.

Thank you for stopping by. 
We woke up alive and life is goof!

Harley dog recommends it. 

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Ah The Comforts of Home

The thrill of cooking out at campgrounds.
 Harley dog treed a raccoon that was wanting to shop for groceries at our camp.

The neighbors were thrilled to see our new toilet sitting on the picnic table. They kept stopping by and pointing. 


No sewer hookups, so up went the outside shower.
New toilet finally installed.
Unfortunately, the old carpet stayed.
It's OK, I have a tiny rug that hides the old hair dye stains. In my enthusiasm at having a working flushing toilet again I forgot to lay down the rug before the picture was taken.

Life is goof!


(and buy a new toilet!)

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Famous Flying Dog

Whee! I can fly!


Digging for buried treasure.
Yepper-Yapper, I made that big pile of sand searching for secrets.



I am trying to teach this human how to dig, but he is not very good at it.

Here I am already half way to China and he is still contemplating his first scoop.

Life is goof!

Thanks for stopping by. 
We woke up alive and life is goof!

Bored with us?

They sell everything except flying doggies like me!



Friday, May 20, 2016

More On RV Toilet

This is called a squat toilet.
A hole in the floor.
If you've traveled overseas, you may have run into squat toilets before.
Now I have an international RV with a squat toilet.
Aim carefully!

I've decided that a new toilet paper holder is cheaper than a new toilet.

Perhaps if I put in a fancy toilet paper holder, my friends won't notice or mind the squat toilet.

Did you know Amazon has over 65,000 toilet paper holders to choose from? This is going to be one tough decision!




Thanks for stopping by!

Come use my new international squat toilet anytime.

It certainly makes the bathroom look larger!


Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Wake Up And Smell

Some days you just have to wake up, smell the flowers... then go install the toilet.

I had to cave in and buy a new toilet for the motorhome. The other one was broken and getting way too cantankerous to deal with on a daily basis.

It's what I think of as an invisible repair, same as changing the oil. Stuff that needs doing, but somehow the thrill is not there.

I liked the old toilet just fine, right up until it began spitting off parts. Even then I tried to fix it with a hacksaw and a leather glove.

Did I tell you my leather glove fell down the old toilet at a most inopportune time?

That was a scream heard around the campground because I wanted my glove back! The old toilet required a thick leather glove to flush it. The flusher mechanism was a sharp nasty piece of work that was crumbling with each use.

So I washed the leather glove in bleach, then soap, then vinegar, then peroxide, then hung it out in the sunshine to dry. Good grief.

Time to smell more flowers and be grateful for such a beautiful world. Smelly gloves and toilets.

Life is goof.

Amazon shipped my toilet in 2 days with Amazon Prime. I opened up the toilet and parked it on the picnic table at the campground to inspect. So many folks strolling by stopped to get a look and whisper among themselves.

So for grins, I parked my toilet closer to the road, beside a tree in plain sight with a roll of toilet paper sitting next to it.

More strange stares.

Someone was giving away magazines in a box outside of their campsite. So I grabbed a few to park park by the toilet.

I was going to add a toilet brush and a plunger to the display then take a picture,  when the ranger came by to ask me what I was doing.

I told him I was just causing trouble!















Thank you for stopping by to sniff the flowers. 


Saturday, May 14, 2016

Country Setting

Recently I detoured down country roads to a remote location to visit a delightful friend who invited us to park on her country estate. She had RV hookups for electric and water as a huge bonus that I am super grateful for the generous use of. In the mornings and afternoons we sat outside letting Harley dog roam wild and free without tethered constraints while we chatted about anything and everything.

Harley hardly knew what to do with this new found freedom. A few times we had to reign him back in as he was curious to run off through the woods where 6 pound doggies shouldn't be out alone if they don't want to become part of the food chain. Other times he just stuck around nearby sniffing nature and pestering the humans. He wasn't playing with his toys much, but he did drag some out for show and tell. He is a funny little doggy, that makes us laugh. I think he preferred nature over toys, but for some reason, he likes to show visitors some of his toy collection by dragging them outside one at a time until he has a big pile.

I saw a gray fox trotting across the fields one morning, luckily I did have Harley on a generous tether because he was ready to give that fox a good bit of barking grief as well as give chase. The fox was quite startled unaware that such a tiny dog could make such a huge ferocious ruckus. Harley ran to the end of his super long tether where he then stood up on both hind legs jumping up and down while barking. It was hilarious to watch such a tiny dog pretend to be a big boy. The jumping on 2 legs like a kangaroo was incredible.

In the early evenings, we had potluck suppers. I bolted my beach umbrella to the camp table to give us some extra shade.

It was such a beautiful place. I was sad to depart, but I had a repair appointment 140 miles away to keep and then prepaid reservations, so we had to bid farewell and move along. Still it was 3 glorious days in a remote country setting. I am very grateful for the generous hospitality. It was great fun all around!

My friend drives a golf cart around the property. I had 70 feet of solar twinkle lights as a gift. I decorated her golf cart with them. They are tiny white lights I wrapped around the frame holding up the golf cart roof. There is a switch to have them on steady at night or blinking. The tiny solar panel recharges them by day and they won't come on in daylight to save the battery for night time use.

My ribs were hurting from laughing so hard because at night my friend was driving all over creation with the blinking lights on the golf cart. It was all very festive and fun.

Life is goof.

Laughter is fun!
dear miss mermaid, motorhome


Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Too Much Fun

Yepper, we are exhausted.


This tired puppy is sound asleep!

I think he had too much fun. Those are some of my pillows in my padded cell. Other times we use it as a couch or sofa or bed. I am so lucky to have windows. That shade tortures me when it can. I want it to go UP all the way and it does... about once a week when it feels like it. I've tried rewinding the spring and all manners of things, but it's just random. I replaced it a few years ago, it's never really worked right, but it hasn't made it anywhere near the top of the repair list. Oh well.

Sometimes I just stick a spring clamp on it to hold it up. The big brown pillow has held up nicely, I bought 3 of those used years ago, they looked new but I had to vacuum a lot of dust out of them. They convert the bed to a sofa.

I can't write today, my RV is busy forcing me into repairs. The rig is only 22 years old and things breaking. Good grief.

My body is all banged up and putting up a fuss, but I woke up alive so it's all good.


Monday, May 09, 2016

Toilet Repairs With A Hacksaw

A gentle reader asked "Are comments coming through? I don't see them!"

Yes! Comments are coming through. I had to turn on moderation due to a strange problem. I check when I go on the internet and if there are comments for moderation, I hit the publish button and they show up. Hopefully I can turn the moderation back off soon, so comments can appear instantly.

Life is goof!

I've been so busy with repairs lately and not enough time to write.

My toilet broke!

If you can't fix it with a hammer, then it must be an electrical problem.

Well, this was a plumbing problem so I fixed it with a hacksaw.

Yepper!

In the interim, a hacksaw made a temporary repair.

I kid you not!

Back in 2010, I published Can A New Toilet Seat Bring Happiness?



At that time I was upset that my old toilet seat looked very yellowed like urine yellow. NOTHING would clean it or change the color.  I found out later this was possibly sun yellow from the previous owners leaving the shade up in the bathroom while the seat was open on the toilet. This made it yellow but in an uneven manner. It's the same reason my white sink is also yellow. Luckily the sink has an even yellow color not the weird markings the old toilet seat had. Even worse, the toilet seat sold for around $50 which is ridiculous. Then the hinges broke and well I had to cave in and buy a new toilet seat for $50 to keep from falling in when I sat down.

Check Amazon here for Thetford toilet seat.  They are selling today for $45 to $62. Simply ridiculous!

So now today, well actually yesterday, the flipping toilet flusher broke. I woke up sat down, did my thing, then stood up to turn around and flush the toilet. A piece of plastic flew by. The flushing handle broke.

No way to flush my toilet.

Ewwww.

This is a TINY motorhome.

Well a hacksaw revealed the broken part. Now I can don a leather glove and flush my toilet. Without the leather glove, the piece of jagged plastic is too sharp and painful to flush.

Good grief.





You are looking at a lever sticking out, well there are TWO levers. One is white (the one you see) that puts fresh water in the toilet. The gray lever that broke controls the valve that opens the toilet so the contents are removed and relocated to the black tank. You can't really see the gray lever in the picture because it is BROKEN OFF.

But since I hack-sawed the toilet, I can put on a leather glove, feel around for the gray broken lever, then flush the toilet.

Ain't life grand!

With the lid closed on the $50 seat, all looks "innocent".




I found out Amazon sells a new RV toilet for $126.78 which includes the pricey lid. In the picture I have my lid covered in a soft toilet seat cover that I found at Dollar Tree years ago for $1. I like it because my broom closet (yeah that yellow stick to the left is my rubber broom hanging on the wall). Anyhow I like the fuzzy toilet seat cover because sometimes I sit on the seat to peruse my medicine cabinet on the right (not shown in pic, but trust me, it's there above the white counter top.)

So I don't even get to keep my old princely pricey $50 seat and lid if I buy a new toilet. It comes with a new lid and seat.

Good grief.

Well, I just hope my $1 seat cover will fit the new toilet, if and when...

THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY TODAY!








Sunday, May 08, 2016

Saturday, May 07, 2016

Travels With Harley

Puppy play...

Much of my dog's life has been spent in a tiny motorhome or outside on a short leash or tether. But once in awhile he gets to be a real doggy and romp with some freedom.  He makes the most of it too!

Here's the link if the video doesn't show up for you below. I am techno challenged so I've tried to provide both.

https://youtu.be/TNcJQohTviU


THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY TODAY!


Friday, May 06, 2016

Shade For Shade

Usually umbrellas are used to block hot and heavy sunshine. In this case the campsite is shady but the trees constantly rain down debris. Up went the umbrellas. Down came the tree debris.


The brown umbrella is a freebie cobbled together about 3 years ago that is still functioning. My other dumpster umbrella was a beach umbrella that finally died in a high gust of wind a few months ago. It was replaced with an inexpensive beach umbrella from Dollar General with a $5 coupon that brought the price down to $8. It's the turquoise colored one. It tilts which is a huge bonus. If the sun is in my eyes I can tilt it to block that. Usually I just drag my chair around in different directions. But if I have company and we're sitting around yacking it up, then somebody might end up with sun in their eyes, so tilting the umbrella is a big help.

At any rate, the umbrellas sure makes the campsite look rather festive. The box fan is there to blow away the mosquitoes and dry out my wet shoes. Some days the mozzies show up and others day they don't. Most days I get my shoes wet from using the outside shower. Sometimes I just want to squirt water across my face to cool a fever or to simply cool down on a hot day. It's easier to do this outside with the outside faucet than inside and make a mess. Sometimes I forget to move my feet out of the way and my shoes get wet.

Any day I wake up on top of the grass as opposed to under it, I know I am in for a grand adventure.

Wet shoes and all.

Luckily my shoes are made to withstand the water, so it's not a big deal.

Life is goof.


THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY TODAY!


Wednesday, May 04, 2016

Monday, May 02, 2016

How Fast Can A Doggy Ride A Bicycle?

Harley dog has a droopy ear. However, when I pedal with all my might on my bicycle, his droopy ear sticks up! When I slow down, it slowly drops down too. It's a wonder I don't wreck my bicycle from laughing so hard.

I try to pedal fast enough that both ears stand up! Harley loves to go fast.

I mounted my camera on my bicycle so I could do drive by shooting.

Um... maybe that didn't come out right.

I meant drive by... shooting pictures.

Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina riding a bicycle with Harley dog
Bicycle pedaling slow, one ear down.
Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina riding a bicycle with Harley dog
Going fast! Both ears up!
Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina riding a bicycle with Harley dog
Leaning into a curve, still fast!
Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina riding a bicycle with Harley dog
Slowed down again, left ear slowly drops down.



THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY TODAY!