Sunday, December 31, 2017

In Conclusion

Happy New Year's Eve or at Foxys in the Virgin Islands it was called Olde Year's Night. It's a world famous party that I was lucky enough to attend one year on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands. I was working on a yacht but the passengers wanted to party ashore. The captain dropped them off at the dock, telling them he had to go back to the yacht and help me work. We would pick them back up at 12:10 and if they didn't show up at the dock by 12:20, we would come back at 1:10am for 10 minutes and if they didn't show, we would come back at 2:10am and so on until we rounded them all up.

Instead he came back to fetch me as by then I had all the work completed and we went back ashore in our party clothes, not our uniforms,  to spend the evening ringing in the new year while dancing to the heart throbbing beat of live reggae and calypso music.Our guests were lost among the thousands of party goers parading up and down the beach. The captain and I were not a couple, matter of fact he had a wife and kids waiting on our eventual return to our home port on another island. So he went one direction and I went another, it was a welcomed break from our typical work.

Sadly Jost Van Dyke was recently devastated by hurricane Irma and Maria. When they say you can't go home again, it's true. It will never be the same. But they will rise up and be different, just not the same.

For many years I was a floating resident of Jost Van Dyke. I was rebuilding a sailboat I had bought that was damaged and dismasted by hurricane Hugo in '89 to refit her to her former glory. At the time I was also working for weeks or months on elegant sailing yachts. When I finished my contract or charter I finally had time off work... to do more work. Typically it was usually for a week or more that I got to spend "home" on my boat in progress. In those days crewing on yachts meant 16 hour days, 7 days a week for weeks or months working and sailing so I welcomed the time off to rest and repair. 

I would move back to my sailboat waiting on anchored mooring in St John (also recently devastated by Irma in September) and motor or sail over to Jost where I spent my days working on refitting my boat while my nights were spent ashore dancing on the sandy beach at Foxys to the tunes of their live bands. Because my charter work often took me to weekly visits to Jost, I knew many of the islands' residents. In those days their population ashore was barely 100. Over the years they watched the crazy girl and her ravaged sailboat go from floating derelict to looking brand new. 

 US tax deductible contributions can be made to https://onelovebvi.org/  to help Jost Van Dyke and other BVI islands recover from their catastrophic devastation.

Last year or year before, I forget which,  Foxys had a live feed streaming on the internet showing their Old Years Night party. I tuned in on my laptop in a campground in the US that miraculously had wifi working. It was surreal to see the party in progress and be able to pick out friends of mine in the crowd including Foxy. Fighting back tears, I felt so homesick for the islands, I just wanted to reach out and touch them.

This year I find myself spending New Years Eve outside of Bushnell in a very rural area of Florida complete with cows, horsies, goats, piggies, doggies, donkey and assorted other critters including a view of an old open air barn. Christmas eve I kept glancing at the barn whimsically to see if a traveling couple would show up and give birth to a child.

My small pooch likes to think he can heard cows and giddyup horses. Sometimes the horses or cows come poking their head over the fence where my wheel estate is parked. Harley dawg will race over giving them a bark-for until they shuffle along. Mostly they just like to stare at the little 6 pound fur ball who has the big ferocious bark giving him a withering look as if to say "Seriously dude?". After awhile they might trot off which gives the little mutt great satisfaction. He is lucky that the fence prevents him from being trampled. Sometimes he races up on top of the picnic table to look taller. So funny.

Over the years I've been fortunate to have had unique New Year's holidays. In my 20's  I had a lovely old home. I spent many happy new year eves by the fireplace celebrating with my pets and music. For all the years I lived there, I never owned a TV. I loved music.

In my late 20's I began working overseas mostly around the Caribbean on exotic sailing yachts. It was a complete 180 degree turn from my former career. My holidays were spent working on boats afloat in far flung ports. New years eve celebrations meant preparing gourmet meals for the guests or owners of the yacht and sailing them to their chosen venue. 

By my late 30's and into my 40's I was oscillating between working charters on sailboats and  running a unique private chef service that found me in various exotic villas perched high on the edge of mountains in the Virgin Islands overlooking exquisite views of clear turquoise waters of the Caribbean sea. My holidays and New Year Eve's were spent hosting parties for the vacation villa guests, catering to their every whim as both chef and concierge. Often one of my favorite musicians were booked to work at the villa providing live entertainment. My memories are of the fun hard work interspersed with the mesmerizing views and wonderful music. Every holiday season was a different yacht or villa with long days and nights of hard work for weeks at a time.

2009 New Years Eve was my first back in America but I was clinging to the edge of the rainbow, listening to doctors who were full of doom and gloom.  But that's a story for another day.

Today I woke up alive and tonight I hope to ring in the new year (sleeping or awake!)
HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!

Thank you for plopping by today and thank you to all the earthly angels for helping this fool and her dog live to see another sunrise. 


Life is goof!






Saturday, December 30, 2017

RV Fun

It's been a wild and crazy year for this wild and crazy RVer.

Some days are tough and others are tougher but I have to just slow down, smile, be grateful I have food and bed and wish for the best. Life is good or as I like to say life is goof!

One of my bizarre challenges in continuing to write every day is the rapid rate at which technology keeps changing faster than I can keep up with my old equipment and programs. At this point and time it's just not possible for me to drop everything to cough up a tidy sum  for better hardware which would force me into newer versions of windows or Mac or all those new names floating around of Androids and Smart this and that,  which means my current old programs won't work anymore, so then it's buying new programs, learning those and then finding out I can't open up old files that contain valuable information. On top of that spend weeks and months to learn all new equipment and programs.

I don't want to lose valuable time along the way for smiling and rejoicing at another day alive on planet earth.

Maybe others can happily keep up with this foolishness, but I wonder, when do they have time to cook a pot of beans or smile and giggle? 

What's wrong with smiling and being happy? Do I need a new car fancier than the Jone's to make me happy? No. I don't even have a car, old or new.

I am happy about that because that is my current reality. Acceptance and move on to other happy things.

There is this transition beyond my control that working offline is no longer available for many mundane things that used to make my life simple and easier. Many programs refuse to work offline. Being connected 24/7 to internet is problematic for me. It appears the internet and computer usage is all being tracked meticulously with assumptions made by other computers and trackers that throw a lot of crazy chaos in my life because their assumptions are dead wrong.

It's wasting too much of my precious time. 

Suddenly I am locked out of my blog and to get back in, huge demands that I find ridiculously invasive to my personal privacy and security are made upon me to unlock the code to get back in.

I want to keep writing and posting and smiling. 

My bank sent me into a wild panic because they suddenly locked me out. It took hours and hours and loops and hoops and many lengthy phone calls spent listening to gawdawful "hold" music set to a volume to break the speaker in my phone before being handed off to 2-3-4-5 different people with assorted accents, some I couldn't understand and others couldn't understand me,  then me answering a long list of  bizarre multiple choice questions including who was my father's 3rd or 4th wife and 4th or 5th marriage (he married my mother twice, so that is confusing too) and do I recognize her  (supposedly one of the surviving ex-wives who has to be nearly 90 by now) and her new married name and the current state she live in.

State of CHAOS was not offered as a multiple choice answer. The person on the other end of the phone did not understand my answer. State of C-H-A-O-S.

Which both my parents have been deceased for a long time now and I found these type of questions super creepy and told the bank but they ignored me and wanted to know my favorite movie. HUH? I don't have a favorite movie and who cares?   All the while I was  wondering if some cyber crook had wiped out my last few dollars? 

I thought I was saving a tree by spending 8 years without the bank being forced to print out 96 statements and have those chase me around.

Apparently me traveling or living in a little old motorhome has caused my bank to have a major meltdown over this lack of a permanent sticks and bricks place.

If the banking system crashes and comes to an end,  you heard it here first.

It's all my fault.

Pardon me while I smile and giggle and be grateful I woke up alive.

THANK you for your patience while blogger and I dual it out over who has control of my blog... me or them.

Thank you angels on heaven and on earth for looking out for this simple happy fool.

I feel like the luckiest person alive. 

You rock my world.

P.S.,  I am very sorry if I caused the entire banking system to crash.







Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Woke up alive.
It's a great start on a beautiful day.

Note to self:
Be grateful.
Take a long deep breath and smile.
 (Sounds so easy so why is it hard?)

The world around me seems awfully fast and complicated.
I'm slow.
Getting slower.

Is the glass half full or half empty?
I don't know.
I am just grateful I have a glass!
Life is goof.

Thank you so much for stopping by today.

Thank you to all the wonderful awesome angels and saints in my life.
I feel so honored and humbled.
















Saturday, December 16, 2017

Friday, December 08, 2017

Chirp Chitter


I just want to wake up and be a better person.
A short request but a tall order.
It's daybreak.
All is quiet except the birds are singing.
Nature is awesome.

You probably thought the human wrote that!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Happy Holi-Daze!



Tuesday, December 05, 2017

Giving Thanks





A quote from my May 16, 2011 post:

Even though I feel positively drained, I am trying to push myself to get up at dawn, plowing through each glorious day. I am just so super lucky to have shelter, clothing and food. That's all we really ever need.  And companionship. The rest is superfluous. 


I think of it as the 4-C's;  
Cover, clothing, cuisine and companionship. 


If you can have the four basics in life, then you are filthy rich and faring far better than many folks who struggle and juggle to barely keep their own basics together, often losing out on one or more. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's all still true today.  

Every day I try to write. Some days are good and some are even better. 

I am trying to wake up grateful, plaster a smile on my face and think positively. 

Sounds so easy, but can feel like a struggle some days.

I woke up alive, and that's a really good start!

I owe so many many THANKS to all the wonderful people and angels in my life. 

Thank you so very very much for plopping by.


My neighbors looked in on me today.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Monday, December 04, 2017

A Fool and A Full Moon

What's the use of waking up if you can't laugh about it?

Full Moon

Well this fool cut her hair on the full moon. I should say trimmed it. My hair is still down to my waist.

A few moons ago I made a mistake trimming it and by the time I got that straightened out, well it was much shorter than I intended. I'd love to keep it longer, as long as I can't sit on it. Once I start sitting on my hair it's a pain in the butt.

The dog and I don't do groomers.

Part of our efficient budget.

Oh sure we'd love to sit down and have someone else pamper us for a change, but we don't and that's that.

If we look goofy, now you know why.

More to laugh about!  Giggles are so good for the soul.

Am I trained in cutting hair?

No.

Will I cut or trim your hair?

No.

For some strange reason I've been asked this quite a few times.

I taught myself to trim my own hair because I love comedy.

So where are the pictures? I took some before and after, but they are very blurry. I thought the camera was broken. Later I discovered it was not broken. PHEW!

Some idiot didn't check the camera first and the little point and shoot dial was dialed around the wrong way. Oh wait. That idiot was me.

Life is goof.

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Sunday, December 03, 2017

Gorgeous!


It's a beautiful c-c-cold day. My neighbor just walked by with shorts on and a long jacket while dog walking. Meanwhile I am trying to assemble boots, long pants, under shirt, outer shirt, sweater and jacket to open my door and venture out with my critter. I am dead tired and just want to crawl back under the covers.

All those years working in the tropics and I still get frighteningly cold at 50F degrees. Well that is what my outside thermometer says. The weather report online says 59F on one site and 55F on another. Three different temps.

Yet I am still cold.

I am trying to pinch pennies every which way I can, but I am so c-c-cold I am going to turn on the heat for a little bit and try to thaw out, then turn it off again.

There are times like now when it seems so much is going wrong in my life and I just want to sit down and cry. But NO! NO! NO!

NOTE TO SELF:

You woke up alive! Life is AWESOME. Do not complain. Slap a smile on your face and GIVE THANKS!

Angels everywhere have helped me in my journey to wake up alive today.

Thank you. THANK YOU! I am blessed, I am lucky, I must remember to slap myself silly and be grateful.

No complaints. JUST SMILES!

Phew. I feel better already.

It's a gorgeous day to be alive. 

Tiny Home Living
I discovered magnet hooks that stick to the underside of the coffee pot
provide extra drip drying room  which is why the scissors are dangling there. 



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Friday, December 01, 2017

Right or Wrong?

Why does doing the right thing cost more money?

Inquiring minds want to know...


Sunday, November 26, 2017

Another Great Day

My boots at the Thanksgiving feast brought on some hilarious comments and questions. I guess everyone knows by now that even at 68F degrees,  I dislike cold feet and will go to extremes to make sure my feet are toasty warm.

Life is short. Why have cold feet?


As a bonus, these boots are waterproof snow boots. I don't expect to be in snow this year, but sometimes walking the dog through dew laden grass can make shoes and boots wet, cold and uncomfortable. During hurricane Irma when I had to walk the dog in my old boots which are really bedroom booties similar to these pictured above, I discovered they could quickly become water logged and freezing cold.

Searching around Amazon for an hour, I found these boots at a bargain price with a free return if they didn't fit.

Saturday my neighbor asked me if I wanted to go to the Hope shop. It's a local charity shop that sells used bargains.  The main reason I went to Hope was to look for a used cheap office chair. However the ones I found were in very sad shape and uncomfortable.  I went for the ride thinking there was nothing else I needed. But oh dear me, they had hats and I am a hat-oholic.

When I lived on my sailboat in the Caribbean I built a special hat rack from teak to hold my collection of hats. I wore a hat from sun up to sundown to give my face some protection. Moving to America it was so hard to leave my hat collection behind but I managed to bring my biggest hat, a purple one that is so big it's like wearing a personal umbrella. I found out with a bit of starch and ironing, it can look nearly new again. My RV came with a travel iron.

At Hope they had a beautiful rolled up brim bowler straw hat that was plum colored. It looked new and unworn. It fit my big head beautifully and well at 50 cents, I decided to give it a forever home. Last summer I was dismayed when a friend gave me a beautiful hat very similar that was just too tight on my skull. I had to regift it even after trying numerous ways to stretch it.

Hat shopping I have always had this problem. Big head! Some hats will stretch others will not.

My other favorite color besides purple is red. Low and behold there was a gorgeous casual red very warm corduroy jackets that fit me perfectly for $1.50 I don't know who buys a new jacket then donates it, but I couldn't resist the bargain. Red bicycle, red jacket. Is there a theme here?

There were plenty of stuffed toys that Harley dog would have loved to have but he has a playpen full of toys. The playpen being my bed. When I came home Thanksgiving after dinner, he had filled my bed with all his stuffed toys as if he had his own party in progress. However, he fights me for my afghan when I am napping. I found a cute baby blanket handmade afghan. It was so stunningly beautiful and appeared unused. So I bought the little fellow his own afghan blankie. 

I feel so spoiled.

I told my friend don't ever bring me here again!  Ha ha ha. There must be some well off folks in the area if they can afford to donate new items some of which found their way home with me.

Today is birthday cake day. We meet in the rec hall to share birthday cake and sing to those that had birthdays in November.

Life is goof.






Thursday, November 23, 2017

I survived Thanksgiving. The park hosted a pot luck. People brought a ton of food for the 1pm meal. On a funny note, they break up afterwards then reconvene at 4pm for desserts.

After eating, I jumped up to start on dish washing. I can make fast work washing dishes and I don't mind a bit. But this woman I had never met before was suddenly hovering all over me complaining and fussing. She didn't like my speedy method of washing and piling things up to air dry. She kept telling me I was doing it all wrong, stacking the dishes wrong, my method of washing right to left was backwards and she didn't like me using the sprayer so she kept turning it off. She began dictating her method to me "the right way to wash dishes" and kept turning the water off. It was truly VERY strange! I've washed dishes at every pot luck I've been to all summer long and never had anyone complain about that. Even had a few say thank you. So why  was my volunteer dish washing so upsetting to this woman?  I am still very puzzled about that.

I noticed she began inspecting my washed dishes with a close eye before drying them off with a dirty towel. I wanted to speak up that a clean towel should be used for drying, but I kept my mouth shut. I typically get along easily with just about everybody but I've never had someone give me such grief for trying to do a nice gesture. But I plowed ahead and washed all the dishes anyhow while listening to her constant complaints. I really didn't know what else to do. I prayed to keep my big mouth shut and that worked.

I left my sad doggy at home with the stereo playing while I was at pot luck. When I got home, it was off. Took me an hour to get it going again. I have no idea what was wrong with it. Very strange.

Doggy was ecstatic that I remembered to bring him a little turkey. Tee hee hee.

Unfortunately, it was pouring down a monsoon at 4pm and I decided not to go for the desserts. I love a nice dessert but the cold rain and long walk just seemed daunting.

It was a HAPPY THANKSIVING!

I am oh so grateful.



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Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Very Thankful!

It's almost Thanksgiving and I have so much to be very thankful for!

First off I am glad I am not a turkey. (Although I've been called a fruit loop!)





I am grateful I woke up alive. It's a miracle I have lived this long with a rare disease. Amazing! I am blessed and very thankful.

Having my wheel estate as my forever home is a major grateful highlight of my life. It's much nicer than a cardboard box, it's dry and comfortable. I am a lucky ducky for sure!



I should give thanks for having this wonderful canine critter to disrupt my life on an ongoing basis. He has been my good little buddy for walking and especially for riding my bicycle and for tons of foolishness. We all need laughter and he provides plenty of comedy.

I owe MAJOR thanks to all my gentle readers, supporters, subscribers, benefactors, angels and friends. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!


Because of you my life is truly blessed and happy.

Speaking of fun and foolishness...

How to Recipe for a Bikini Tanned Turkey 
by
Dear Miss Mermaid

I have tons to be thankful for each and every day. Today I only touched the tip of the iceberg.

Life is goof. Real goof!

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Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Squeeze For Service

I frequent the Dollar General store because I like to use their $5 coupon that pops up once or twice a month. Spend $25 and get $5 off. I can get the digital coupon on their website transferred to my phone number. At checkout, I just enter my phone number and the $5 is taken off my bill.

Dollar General sells food and household items, so it's a great way to enjoy savings on everyday provisions.

Most Dollar General's I've been to keep their staff super busy stocking shelves and running back and forth to the checkout.

Recently I gave a friend my paper $5 coupon and downloaded a digital one for myself. She gave me a ride to the store and we both enjoyed a $5 discount on our purchases. Usually I ride my bicycle to the store, so it was fun to have a ride in a car for a change.

I sped through and checked out before my friend. I hate to make people wait when I am a guest in their car. I was hanging around the front of the store with my bagged up goodies waiting on her to show up. When she did arrive, she was dismayed there was no cashier around.

But I had already seen the squeaky dog toy that had a sign taped to it "Squeeze for cashier". So I grabbed the squeaky toy and while we were both laughing, the clerk came running to check her out .

More stores should use this squeak for service method!






Monday, November 20, 2017

Two Wheel Errands

My bicycle has become a real workhorse.

This morning I loaded up doggy and a package to go mail. Then we came back home, strapped a vertical laundry basket on the back of the bicycle then rode to the laundry-mat. There we started two loads of laundry.

Pedaled back home to pick up garbage to take to the dump. Unloaded doggy at the dump to walk around so he could stretch his legs.

Pumped our way up to the office where Amazon packages were waiting for us. Took those home then pedaled back to the laundry to transfer washer loads to the dryer. Pedaled back home.

Unpacked the amazon boxes,  flattened those to ride to the recycle area and drop them off. Rode to the rec hall to sign up for Thanksgiving pot luck meal. Checked the mail box. Pedaled over to the laundry to empty the dryer then load it on the back of the bicycle in its tall basket.

Started to ride home when cargo shifted.

Ut oh!

Luckily no laundry spilled out. Reshifted and retied the laundry. Rode home to finish fancy folding it on the picnic table.

I don't know how I would have managed to get all that done so quickly without my trusty dusty cherry red bicycle.

Life is goof. 


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Saturday, November 18, 2017

Zero Tolerance

I am trying to be on a zero tolerance spending budget.
Yeah we can get a big laugh out of that one!  OK, I had to cave in recently and stock up on toilet paper. Some things are urgent.
Hurricane Irma turned out to be kind of pricey for me gobbling up funds set aside for future living. But what the heck, we survived! So it's all good. I guess.
December is when all the annual things come due, RV taxes, RV insurance and annual park dues on the rig and lot. Christmas turns out to be rather skimpy each year.
But... they (the park people)  were having a semi annual rummage sale here. Friday it was open to residents only, Saturday at 7am, it opens to the public.
I went to help my friend set up her stuff because she sprained her ankle. She had a gorgeous tiled outdoor wrought iron end table that she was parting with but she was attached to it. When I said WOW that would look perfect with my dumper diving green swivel rocking padded arm chairs, she gave me a huge bargain because then she could "visit" her beloved table and it would have a good home on my patio. 
She also had these two tall planters with live plants about 4 feet tall, and um well they were only $5 each and a lady with a golf cart offered to deliver them for free since they wouldn't fit on my bicycle. So um, out comes the wallet again.
I went for a look see around the shopping area, because I didn't enter this year. I wasn't sure if my type of junk would sell. Maybe I will try my luck in spring. They had lunch for $3 and my tummy reminded me it was hungry. Funds go to support the rec hall. Buying lunch goes for a good cause. Then they had big homemade cookies 4 for a $1 and well my oven is broken and they sure looked tasty...
Strolling around there was this new cute red hand made crochet hat with purple fluff. I tried it on and everyone said "Oh that is YOU" and well my head gets cold riding my bicycle and the hat is goofy looking like me. Then I found a stuffed duck that quacks for Harley and well it was only 25 cents... Poor little fellow was stuck home alone and the duck was as big as him and he loves big stuffed qwacking toys... so out comes the change purse.
Next I found the park was selling these jumbo storage containers, clear with lids and I happened to have my tape measure with me. Well two of those would fit on the floor under my shelves in the shed and the contents inside would be visible yet dry and dust-free. They were huge! They only wanted $2 and these are $35 new, and well, such a bargain, nothing wrong with them at all and I could use them, so um... out comes the wallet again.
I had to drag those home huffing and puffing cause they were BIG. Then go back and fetch my bicycle which meant I had to walk past more stuff for sale. 
There was a cute shopping bag made of woven straw for a quarter to hold my crochet hat, the cookies, the qwacking duck, a bread basket (ten cents!) and a gorgeous bauble pin with exotic crystals I found that would look exquisite on my plain jane white straw hat (another 25 cents).
Another guy had heavy duty electric cords. One was a slinky type cord that would be perfect for charging up my electric bicycle. I could run it to where I have a little homemade bike garage I made from dumpster diving a tent canopy. It would look so neat on the wall and reach my charger perfectly. So out comes the wallet for that.  

Someone had peppermint tea, a big $5 box for just $1. Gee wiz, I like peppermint tea...
Amazing how much money I accidentally spent when all I planned to do was go help out my friend with the sprained ankle. Which I did loan her all my ankle braces and my 4 legged cane. Hmm... maybe I should have sold that to her to recoup some of my costs. 

As I type this one enthusiastic pup is qwacking up a storm with his new duck and begging me to share my cookie. (I did!)

Life is goof...

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Friday, November 17, 2017

Bitten In My Own Bed by a Monster

Harley was sound asleep in his little corner of our bed. The only safe place where he won't get accidentally kicked by my thrashing about. I was laying down watching the idiot box which was set to turn itself off soon. Just a quiet night in my tiny wheel estate.

I wiggled around to get more comfy. That's when SOMETHING with big sharp teeth bit me under the covers.

I screamed and flew out of the bed. I was wide awake now!

Harley woke up and he too ran out of the bed like he was terrified.

We stood in the hallway staring back at the bed. WHAT was in our bed?

When my heart slowed down and I regained normal breathing, I decided the best course of action was to snatch the comforter off the bed and see WHAT was in it.

I figured worse case scenario I could call the fire department to dispatch some of those burly guys to deal with the monster.

So I timidly stepped forward grabbing the comforter with two hands, then I yanked it off the bed. 

That's when I found the offending creature.

The one that snapped open it's jaws and bit me!

YIKES!



Yepper. Hiding under the covers for some strange reason was my hair grabber.  When I rolled over and wiggled around I must have unintentionally squeezed open the jaws, which then clamped down on my backside giving me a mighty bite!

I am just so glad it wasn't a monster.

Another disaster averted!

Life is goof.



Gobble and Wobble!
No kidding!

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Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Red Polka Dots

Sorry I haven't been here lately.

I was pretty weak but steadily improving. My neighbors have needed a lot of help too, so I am stretched all over the place.

The winter folks are moving in so my neighborhood has become a bit busier as I meet the various owners and renters.  Many are adventurous souls with traveling in their blood, that's how they ended up here, so we do seem to have a few basic yet oddball things in common.


My new table cloth is polka dots. What fun! I have all three of my outdoor tables covered in this oil cloth now. Already a bird pooped all over it. Sheesh. But it wiped up good as new again.

Harley is settling into his new fenced yard.

My neighbor was looking pretty weak and I learned he had come home from an unfortunate hospital stay. I took him a bowl of homemade split pea soup. We visited while he ate then I came home. I was outside with the RV door open as well as the shed door open. I was just puttering around organziing my shed which has become my walkin closet.

When I moved here I bought Harley several dog pens that are 30 inches tall by 16 feet long. .I connected several together to encompass the patio area, the entry to the RV and the entrance to the shed.  This gives him a big play area that covers pavement and dirt. No more tether for him, he has freedom to mess about outdoors without getting loose.

A few minutes later I heard my dog barking on the other side of the RV park!

It was dark thirty. I frantically looked around the patio and yard area inside our dog pen fencing. Then I saw one of the gates was open and doggy was gone.

I called him and yelled "COME!" which means you better get here quick if you know what's good for you.

Amazingly he did come home rather sheepish. I snatched him up and firmly locked the gate. I was mad at him and mad at myself.

A few minutes later here came a huge fire truck followed by an ambulance and they both slammed on brakes in front of my driveway.

I seriously panicked! Did my soup cause a problem for my neighbor?

But it was a different neighbor having a problem that required a trip to the hospital. The fire truck just happened to park at my driveway.

All is well but life is goof.


Thanks!


Saturday, November 11, 2017

Thursday, November 09, 2017

Disgusted

Usually I am quite grateful to wake up alive, but today I am in such pain and discomfort, I am struggling to smile, rejoice and be grateful. 

Life is goof. 


 Every day I try to find a thing of beauty for a photo to remind me that each and every day life is a precious gift.

Thank you for stopping by.

Bless you. 
 



Wednesday, November 08, 2017

Snow or Stuffing

Poor Bo Bo.

Harley  likes to exercise his toys. He is fond of stuffed toys and rubbery toys that bounce funny or squeak or both. Notice all the toys he dragged outside to entertain himself. He would play with one for awhile, then go back to the toy box to select a new one to bring out.

I wonder if he was yanked from his mother too soon. Sometimes when he is through playing with his toys, he will cuddle up to a stuffed one and nurse it. He will typically choose a tail or ear to nurse on the toy. He will often go to sleep afterwards.  Sometimes repeated nursing of a stuffed appendage results in fabric wear. Suddenly the toy is exploding in stuffing with help from an enthusiastic doggy.

Usually I try to engage him in something different. I don't fuss at him because we have a solid deal.

He agrees to never ever mess up my stuff, or chew on the upholstery or pillows in our teeny tiny home. I agree *ahem* to keep his toy box stocked with interesting stuff. I don't fuss at him when he unstuffs one, but I do try to focus him on something different.

Well here is a funny video.

I went inside to use the restroom, I came back out to snow!

Harley had already settled down for a nap with another toy, but I guess he heard me looking for him when I picked up the camera to make this snow video.



YouTube link if you can't see the movie insert above.


Thank you for stopping by today.

Monday, November 06, 2017

Hope

Another beautiful day in paradise.

Woke up alive.

Smiled.

A great start already! 







I found struggling spider plants outlined with  a border of bricks buried under leaves on my RV lot last July

I began coaxing them back to life with some Miracle Grow Plant Food.

Then Hurricane Irma came and went. She left a mess of debris on top of the plants. I was gone for almost a month evacuating early and coming back late.

The plants suffered a set back.

I've tried to clean them up and make them happy again.

Growing something.

It gives hope.



Saturday, November 04, 2017

A New Place

I have more or less settled down for a spell in my little old wheel estate.

The new neighborhood seems nice enough.

Shady oaks.



A place for friends to rent when they visit.


 Reminders to watch your speed.

Convenient parking for my  vehicle.

Secure neighborhood watch system in place.

Good signage for the exit.

Wednesday, November 01, 2017

Plant For The Future

Another gorgeous day to wake up alive.

I snapped a pic of my happy little starter garden a few days before I fled Irma.

Putting the plant stand away, I had to leave the pots outside to fend for themselves. I tucked them close to the aluminum shed and said a little prayer.

Amazingly a few survived  but were sporting severe battle wounds.

I am trying to coax them back to life now. It gives me hope.


Monday, October 30, 2017

Moving South

Where am I?

It's 40F degrees this morning!

If it gets any colder, I am moving to Florida.

Oh wait. I am in Florida.

Tropical storm Philippe brushed by us with torrential rains then plunged our temperatures down nearly 50 effing degrees from the near 90's to the 40's.

Brrrrr.



By the time the dog and I bundle up for a pooch poop walk, I look and feel like an overstuffed rag doll with so many clothes piled on I can barely move. Women don't like to look fat (or fatter!) but winter is cruel this way to someone like me who has trouble warming up.

Note to self:
Make a  New Year's resolution to fatten up my friends (so I look smaller!)



Harley dog shakes and shivers in spite of his warm faux suede shearling jacket. During the walk he sometimes stops, begging me to pick him up and hold him close to my chest so he can warm up. He's never been able to top 7 pounds, yet after awhile his six and a half pounds feels so awfully heavy enveloped in my arms.

We ran into a new little doggy and his new to us human. Harley loves to meet new dogs his size. He wiggled for me to put him down so the two canines could sniff each other over, do circles, tangle leashes, wag tails and share pee-mail. Harley kept shaking, shivering and dancing. He does this pretty much year round in all temps for the past 7 years.  The other dog owner (new to Harley) said "Oh he hates that jacket. He is trying to shake it off!"

I laughed and said "Are you kidding? In weather like this, I can't get him out the door until I wrap him up in his jacket."

The RV park has had a recent influx of northerners who are here for the winter. They stroll around in shorts and light T-shirts looking at me strangely in my head to toe layers of pants, shirts, sweaters, jacket, gloves, hat, scarf, arm warmers, leg warmers and faux fur uggs saying "Ah, this is nice. The weather is so mild." At 40F degrees, it hardly feels mild to my thinned out Caribbean blood. I gave them my goofy smile while silently counting to ten. Mild??? Not in my book.

Humidity is playing tricks. My long hair was attacked with static electricity and literally flying around my head without the aid of wind. Hilariously annoying. Finally I had to tame it into a jumbo hair claw clip. This left my neck cold. I found my winter scarf to wrap around my neck. Ah, that felt heavenly.  Last spring I found this turquoise winter scarf marked down from $25 to $1. It's been sitting in my drawer for months waiting for it's maiden voyage. I remember at the time hesitating over buying it. Living large in a tiny motorhome, I often grapple with such mundane decisions. Storage is always a consideration. My little old wheel estate has 14 windows which I enjoy their views immensely but it also means I have very limited storage.

Enough of this foolishness.

I've been drinking hot coffee, hot tea, hot bouillon, hot soup to warm up. Now it's time for me to *ahem* go pay the piper in the restroom. It will take me a good 20 minutes to peel off enough layers to do that.

See ya later!



Saturday, October 28, 2017

Nightmare Before Halloween

Yellow siding.

Who would think that could give me a frightening nightmare?

Life is goof.

A little background. My neighbor in Bushnell, Florida has pale yellow siding with white trim. My friend in Orlando has pale yellow siding with white trim. Ironically it's the exact same shade of yellow and white.

In Bushnell, getting backed into my lot is a tricky affair. The road out front is a skinny one lane road. My driveway is also quite narrow. It's at a 90 degree angle to the street. There are big trees, large bushes, and a two foot high inconveniently placed communications hub. It's one of those things that sticks up out of the ground for the workmen to service cable and internet. While backing up trying to make the sharp 90 degree angle, I have to pay attention to all four sides of the RV, trying to avoid all the obstacles surrounding me.

Once I make it into my driveway (PHEW!) it's about 90 feet long. I put my rig in the back where the driveway expands to accommodate a paved patio area. Out my passenger side is a view of my neighbor's home with yellow siding about 35 feet away.

When I visit my friend in Orlando, I park at an odd angle about 10 feet from their home with yellow siding. They have an electric hookup for an RV but I have to avoid driving through their large heat pump machinery, hence the odd angle to be able to reach the electric post attached to the side of their house yet avoid thwacking their heat pump on the same side. My passenger side faces their yellow sided home.

When I have to do difficult maneuvers with my motorhome, I try to survey the situation, decide on a course of action, then rehearse it over and over in my brain. I say my prayers, then creep along slowly trying to complete the task praying I manage to do so without calamity.

While in Orlando recently, I became quite ill. I excused myself to go lay down in the motorhome for an hour sometime in the afternoon. I fell into a deep sleep for well over two hours. For some fool reason I dreamed that I was trying to back into my lot at Bushnell in the dead of night,  reversing into a tree plus hitting my Bushnell neighbor's home. That jolted me awake. I sat up in bed, groggily looked out the window at the pale yellow siding barely 10 feet away and scared myself silly!  I looked away as if refusing to see the reality of the  situation would make it go away.

I should have been 35 feet from my Bushnell neighbor's home, not 10 feet plus I had noted the angle I was parked at was all wrong meaning I had probably crunched into a tree. There must be damages to the RV and did I truly hit his home at some point?  Why did I leave my rig parked cockeyed in the wrong place and go to bed? I was trying to remember if the neighbor and I had exchanged words. I couldn't remember seeing him.

I thought it was morning, not afternoon, so I quickly surmised I had indeed made a mess of things in the middle of the night and now I needed to seriously wake up and make amends for my huge gaffe.


What a nightmarish mess I had made of things! I don't need this kind of stress.

Struggling to clear the cobwebs from my brain, I forced myself to glance back out the window. That's when it dawned on me. I was parked in Orlando, not Bushnell.  It was just a wicked dream.

The total relief I felt was indescribable.

Trick or treat!

My motorhome did not come with a back-up camera.
About 2 years ago, I bought this portable system.
The display works off the cigarette lighter,
the movable magnetic camera works on a 9 volt battery. 
 





Friday, October 27, 2017

Big Bo Bo

My dog loves stuffed toys bigger than him. He was busy unstuffing Bo Bo.

I decided to fix Bo Bo with a zip tie so it would be hard work for doggy to continue unstuffing him.

My pooch was not amused and anxiously followed me around while I found a zip tie to fix Bo Bo. Then I tossed Bo Bo inside the open door of the motorhome.

As Harley was snatching him up I managed to make a short video. He carted Bo Bo off for a closer inspection of my repair.

If you need a 15 second giggle, here's one provided by Harley.

Video link:
https://youtu.be/l3YtqG_HIUU


Amazon sells dog toys. Just ask Harley.

When Harley was new to me, he tried to order his own toy!

I was looking on the internet at dog toys. Harley had only been with me a few weeks. I got up to go get a drink of water. I left the laptop open on my motorhome table.

Harley climbed up on the table . When I yelled "NO" he walked across the laptop keyboard in his haste to get back off the table. Soon he learned that walking on tables (or laptops!)  was strictly forbidden.

When I sat back down from retrieving my water to see if he had damaged the laptop, I just about damaged my ribs laughing so hard.

I guess when Harley walked across the laptop, he hit the touchpad and somehow had managed to put the toy I was looking at into the Amazon cart for purchase.

Life is goof.










Thursday, October 26, 2017

What the Heck?

What the heck it that?
Oh it's just my awning.
It's been through quite an ordeal lately.
The night before I ran from Irma, it was hit by a heavy tree branch.
The next day I had to roll it up during heavy rains. Then I left to run and hide.
I've patched, glued and cajoled it back into reluctant service.
Now it needs a serious cleaning (or a serious replacement.)

Wait a minute.
There is something else there.
What the heck?
 It's my froggy!
Ever since I have owned this RV there has been a froggy traveling with me. I've collected pictures over the years of froggy. I have no idea where he lives or how he has survived this long.

I suspect that once I round up all the pics and organize them, it may turn out to be multiple frogs.
In the past I have written about this froggy phenomenon and posted pics. 

But still the question.

Why my rig?

Someone near and dear to me, who is long departed from this world used to collect froggy stuff. Whenever I see my froggy, I think of them.

Are they riding along with me as an angel frog?

Life is goof.



Thank you kindly for stopping by today.

Monday, October 23, 2017

Help Is On The Way

Hurricane Irma split this cedar tree. Initially the road was cleared and the tree left intact. Every day I walk by this tree willing it to live. Sadly a few hours after I took this picture,  they took the tree down completely.


Later I was out riding my bicycle with my dog. Since the fire ant attack my ankles have been swollen. I try to  bike ride in hopes the swelling will go down with the added circulation. Riding the bicycle is less painful than dog walking, but then when I get home I need to exercise the dog with a brisk game of fetch the rubber ball or Frisbee.

Sometimes I walk him too, he loves his walks, but my blister bitten swollen ankles are not so happy.

I finally found a rubber ball that Harley has been unable to destroy! It's the Kong Rubber Ball Extreme. For two years now he has been chasing this bouncy ball and retrieving. He chews on it but has been unable to rip it apart. I get in a panic when we can't find it, because it's one of his favorite toys. Even in a confined area, I can make it bounce up and down while he leaps after it. Sometimes he catches it in midair. Other times he snatches up his ball, then runs off to play with it in private refusing to let me have it back for tossing.

While bicycle riding I heard someone yell "HELP! HELP!"  Dismounting my bike and getting doggy out of his basket, we walked around  looking for the source. We found a lady sitting in a chair behind her RV lot with two small dogs on the loose, dragging their leashes around.

She had fallen but managed to crawl up into a chair. Now she could not stand up or walk. She didn't want me to call 911 because she was worried about her dogs. I told her I would take good care of her dogs. I decided to focus on calming her down before the chaos set in when emergency help arrived. I fetched water for her. Even went to get my 4 legged cane so she could see if that would help her stand. She was in denial that anything was wrong, but she could not stand up either.

In my book of reasoning, calming someone down after an accident is very helpful. When help arrives they tend to rapid fire questions plus hook up apparatus and begin moving the person which can lead to screams of pain. Starting off calm, might help. Since she didn't want me to call 911 and I was pretty sure that was going to be inevitable, I just focused on being her new best friend. She did calm down and reasoning began to set in that maybe considering professaionl  help would be appropriate.

It's a miracle she had made it into the chair. When I broke my leg in the Virgin Islands, I was able to crawl up to a chair. I thought I had sprained my ankle. It was 3 days before I got help. Even then the EMT's were not the least bit aware of my extreme pain. When they put me on the stretcher, one of them grabbed the strap rapidly tightening it around my legs which felt like she broke my leg again. At the hospital I had three fractures. When I shrieked in pain the EMT woman immediately apologized. She even said "I forgot your leg was broken." My shriek was so loud, that people across the street at the marina came running to see what that awful scream was about.The EMT's gaffe had me in tears and now there was a crowd gathering and gawking at me. Luckily some of the sturdier men took over to get my stretcher down the near vertical hill from my apartment to the ambulance parked far below. Nothing was ever given me for pain until much later when I was bellowing in the emergency room from the horrible ride that left me feeling much worse for wear.  People kept touching my leg. The EMT did drive like a maniac to get me to the hospital. Unfortunately this included going over about 5 large speed bumps which sent the ambulance air born each time. It made me squawk in agony each time.

But I digress. That was a few years back and now today, I was dealing with a lady that might have something seriously broken.

I managed to get the lady pretty calm and we chatted amicably about different scenarios for her situation.  A neighbor showed up, he had literally just driven in from Ohio. He called the manager who zipped over in his golf cart, he asked a few questions then called 911. Meanwhile I was with permission, searching the lady's park model home for her purse and keys. I kept assuring her I would take good care of her dogs.

The fire truck arrived. Two burly men began grilling her with a load of questions. Then the ambulance came. They had more questions, many identical.

The chaos had begun.

More people arrived from around the park having seen the emergency vehicles rush in.

Now I had two dogs to care for besides mine. The dogs didn't know me. By now I had put them in their home. They were watching out the window while their pet parent was loaded up and carted off. Plus I was doing all this while towing my little doggy around on his leash.

Luckily these EMT's had emergency pain meds at the ready. It made me wonder why the BVI ambulance that had fetched me had no pain killers with them. What a marvelous idea. An ambulance with pain meds at the ready!

When all was said and done, another neighbor came home. She knew the two dogs really well from years past. The lady I had found hollering for help had only just arrived in the park from her northern summer home maybe 2 days ago. I had met her once briefly while dog walking. It was to be her 4th year here for the winter season. Also another lady arrived who knew the dogs from years past. So now both I and the dogs had lots of help. Just before the ambulance raced off, we reconfirmed with the lady being carted off that it was OK, for all three of us to take very good care of her precious pets in their own home.

Being single and a pet owner, I can understand her refusal to get help until she knew her fur babies would be diligently cared for. No one wants to think that the love(s) of their life would or could be tossed into an animal shelter with disastrous results.

After everyone left, I went back inside to check on the dogs. They needed some calming. I searched for the food and treats. I washed up her dishes. I carried out her garbage. I was thinking it would be awful to eventually come home to crusted dirty dishes or ants in the garbage.

The neighbor lady showed up to sweet talk the dogs, who seemed a bit more responsive to her since she was more familiar to them.

Now we are tag-teaming the dogs, so they get lots of care, walks, play time outside and inside plus well fed.  I am so lucky to have this extra help. The dogs still prefer the other two ladies, since they know them both from years past. But the dogs are learning to accept me too.

A few days ago I was upset that I had run into some mean people.  I had tried to put that behind me. Amazing that now, just the opposite was happening.

I had met awesome angels!