Adventures With Dear Miss Mermaid Child Of The Planet: Whether the Weather Provides Enough Cardio Exercise

We hike to this open field in the woods almost every day. We often see a white tailed doe and her fawn here. Matter of fact, I was so excited to see them yesterday, when I was wearing my camera around my silly neck. I picked up the camera to turn it on (it slooooooooowly turned on) to snap a quick photo (it's so fussy) but the deer scampered right off. All I got was a picture of the clearing. (I thought I heard deer-like giggling and snickering too!)
*SIGH*

I'm getting plenty of cardio exercise lately with the frequent weather changes. I love the huge patio that came with the workamping spot.

Or I thought I did.

The dawn of a new error...

For those of you non-RV-ers; workamping, which I often spell workcamping, (I've seen it used both ways, I am unsure which is correct, maybe both are) is basically volunteering for government or bartering with a private company or individual in exchange for a camping spot. This may or may not, include various utilities and other perks. It varies widely. Some want slave labor, others are a bit more reasonable. Some want couples only, others will consider a single like me.

Harley the puppy is part of the package deal. He is very enthusiastic about our current workamping, taking his job uber seriously.

At my workamping spot, the patio is about 40 by 40 feet of concrete. My camper is parked on one side. The motorhome has a crank out awning about 9 by 15 feet. It is cantankerous because it was rebuilt from junk yard parts, after it was nearly destroyed in Lake Placid, Florida last May. I'm saving up for a new one, I need the frame and awning, so it's not cheap. I have $1.21 set aside so far. (These things take time, I've only been saving up for 10 months.)

To see gruesome pictures of my destroyed awning from a weather related event (before the junkyard rebuild):
http://dearmissmermaid.blogspot.com/2010/06/ooops.html

I was in lake Placid, Florida, at the time, training for a sales job, that turned out to be a royal scam. *sigh*. Live and learn. At least they made arrangements for me to stay in the RV park at half price. I was able to extend it some, to make repairs, while my friend visited me with his hack saw.

Over the summer and fall, while wandering around, I began visiting junk yards and scrap metal places, until I rounded up enough parts on my teeny budget, to put the awning back together. The awning material is repaired with roofing tape. Oh the things I do to live on a shoestring, until things improve... It's rather comical at times. It's amazing what is held together with duct tape, string and bent paper clips. Living in old boats and on far flung islands is really good training for "making do". I'm so lucky to have these skills.

So back to the cardio exercise, I am getting so much of...

We keep having storms and high winds. So I have to break down the patio comforts. I prefer to live on the patio as much as possible, so typically I have my card table set up with a table cloth for working and dining, plus assorted outdoor folding chairs for me and company, should I be fortunate enough to have any. Then there is the wonderful patio mat (a birthday gift from 2010) that is 9x12 feet, but can blow away in these stiff winds, since I can't anchor it down with tent pegs (the concrete is too hard for that!)

Email me, if you want to come visit or camping here. :)

Part of my workamping assignment is answering questions from the public, keeping my campsite "approachable." Today, I've already had 4 visitors from the public, 2 rangers and 2 drive ups, with questions. Harley dog LOVES it when people come by. He tries to be very welcoming, and entertaining.

He does make people smile and laugh, even though he's lousy at answering questions.

So with the frequent changes in weather, I keep having to take the awning down, put the awning up. Fold the table up, put the table away, bring the table back out, put the table cloth back on, anchor that down. Ditto for chairs, some that don't do well at all in rain and winds, fold those up, put them away, get them back out, set them up.

Throughout the day, Harley and I drag out all sorts of things with us, that have to go back in when high winds strike or rain hits. Like the laptop computer, the big coffee can we use for garbage, my coffee cup, (or iced green tea tumbler), doggy food dishes, doggy water, doggy toys, pet parent toys, tool bag (always something to fix), BBQ utensils if we're cooking out, the crock pot (cooler to cook outside than inside), the cell phone, carpet runners for the picnic bench, tablecloth for the jumbo picnic table, Harley's tether so he can roam around without running off (he will run off too!), various medical supplies and so on. Then when bad weather hits, I have to lug it all up the steps, back into the motorhome, then start putting things away in the so-called basement which is always crowded because it is tiny.

A few weeks ago, I think I wrote about the storm that hit in the middle of the night, sending my table and chairs scurrying for the woods. Even my rug, which was anchored down with big rocks, took flight, scattering the rocks as if they were mere pebbles. Now the super heavy duty picnic table holds down one side of the outdoor rug for us.

My rope door mat I use for scraping mud off my shoes before going inside, is wedged on my step. It doesn't seem to take flight, but it can get soaking wet. Oh and the laundry that is hanging out back, have to fetch that all in too, before it blows away or gets soaked.

Ever tried to pick your undies out of a 40 foot high tree branch?

Another way, I simply provide endless entertainment around here.

It's a wonder I ever get any work done at all. Like today, I had just set up everything outside to work, got all comfy, then inexplicably high winds hit, flapping the awning, blowing things off my table. Then puppy started begging for a walk, so I put things inside, locked the door and off we went on a hike to satisfy his needs and give the pet parent some exercise. That's in case I haven't already had enough exercise from setting up the patio, breaking down the patio, setting up the awning, taking down the awning...

I'm taking the slow camera, just in case we get a peek at those deer again. I don't want to run into that wild feline though. I thought it was a mountain lion, the ranger thinks it was a bobcat. It's daytime, so we should be fine, as they hunt at night anyhow. I seriously doubt the wild creature would be interested in my tough old meat, but my little 6 pound puppy, could make a tasty snack, so I don't let him play alone outside, after dark. Maybe he needs one of those collars with the big sharp spikes on it.

By the way, if anyone orders 12 more items through my Amazon link before April 30th, my tiny commission is increased from 6.5% to 7% for this month only. I would make almost an extra $10 (maybe more, if a large order came through.) You have no idea what $10 means to me these days. I have become an expert at living on a teeny tiny budget while I fight my way through recuperating.

But life is GOOD! I am happy I woke up alive, very excited to be here on this gorgeous spring day.