Birthday Party

Yesterday we attended the 50th birthday party of our friend, Mary. We’ve known Mary and Gordie for about ten years. They are members of the camping club we belong to. We saw some other friends we haven’t seen in a while. It was great catching up with everyone.

Two years ago Mary and Gordie bought a house in Grafton. We hadn’t seen it yet. What a beautiful home and lot they have. We’re very happy for them. They’ve also had a few grandchildren born in the last few years. Mary comes from a large family so there were many people there including lots of children.

It was fun watching everyone have a good time. There was a piñata for the kids. This thing was virtually indestructible. The kids really worked hard for their goodies :)

Apparently, there is some kind of tradition between Mary and her sisters where they dress each other up in old clothes for their birthdays. Here’s Mary in the get up. Notice the bra on the outside. By this time she had had a few cocktails and was enjoying the festivities immensely!

 

 

We didn’t do too much last week. On Thursday we had our annual meeting with our financial advisor. He’s doing a good job with our investments considering the crazy economy. He helped me fill out the paperwork for my pension. I’m very happy to report that starting next month I will begin collecting my pension! Yippee!!

I didn’t realize all those years I worked as a public employee in schools what a great benefit my pension would be. When I turn 55 next month, I can begin collecting. There is an accelerated option where I can collect the estimated amount of my social security at age 62 from my pension beginning at age 55. That means I will be getting about $1,100 per month for the 7 years before I reach 62. At that time I can begin collecting my social security, and my pension will drop to about $300 per month.

Also, if I die before Kevin, he will continue to receive 75% of my pension. I am so very grateful for this benefit. And, I heard some very good news on the radio the other day. They were talking about state pension funds across the country, and how some of them are really in trouble. Wisconsin is number one in the health of its state pension fund. So, no need to worry that my money will not be there for me.

A few days ago the southern part of Wisconsin was declared to be in a severe drought. Friday and Saturday some thunderstorms rolled through parts of that area. We only had some minor sprinkles. The rain basically evaporated the minute it hit the ground.

We will be under a heat advisory again on Monday and Tuesday with highs near 100* and high humidity. I have always been a sun lover, but I am ready for some relief!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Some Relief and a Very Good Game

On Saturday we finally got some relief from the heat. After four days in a row with 100+ temps last week, this week is forecast to be in the mid to high 80s. That’s actually still above average, but at least we can go outside again. Last week was just too hot to be out there.

Wisconsin and much of the country are suffering from drought conditions. Governor Walker declared a state of emergency for 42 counties in our state today. Crops are withering all over the place. I feel bad for the farmers. I heard today that the country set a record for the warmest first six months of the year. Makes me think there is truth to the global warming theory.

Of course, with that many days above average, I’m thinking there will come a time when temperatures are below average. I hope it’s not in Texas this coming winter :)

Today we finally went golfing again. It had been a while due to the hot, hot, hot temps. We played at Kestrel Ridge Golf Course. We’ve played there many times before. Usually nine holes on a weekday takes us about 1.5 hours. Today took 2.5 hours. There were some super slow groups in front of us. Both of us still managed to have good games.

I actually had my best score of the season. I’ve been golfing off and on for many years. I used to only play a few times a year, and my scores were always in the high 60s to low 70s. Since we started our full-time life, we’ve been trying to play once a week during the summer. There are two courses in the area that I like. My scores have been slowly improving.

Today I shot a 60. That may not be so good compared to most people, but for me its very good. I had two bad holes. The other seven were very good. Just imagine what my score would have been if I hadn’t had those two bad holes. I’m actually beginning to enjoy golf and look forward to going again.

Yesterday I went to a craft fair in the park in Beaver Dam. There must have been over 100 exhibitors. My sister-in-law, Laura and her sister were among them. Laura makes all things Victorian. She had some beautiful items for sale. It was a nice day for all those people to sell their crafts. The previous three years this show has had rain.

For many years my mom and I used to do craft fairs. I enjoyed looking at what people created and would sometimes buy something that struck my fancy. I didn’t buy a single thing yesterday. I still like to look, but most things don’t interest me anymore. I’ve decorated our home the way I like, and don’t have room for anything more. There were a few items I might have liked, but nothing I was willing to open my wallet for.

I did think this outdoor decoration was pretty funny. I thought the sentiment only applied to Las Vegas, but apparently campers are included. Very cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Knee High By The 4th Of July

Have you ever heard the saying about corn being knee high by the 4th of July? I don’t know where the saying came from, but I’ve heard it since I was a kid. It’s supposed to be an indication for farmers that if their corn is knee high by the 4th of July, they will have a good crop.

With the drought and extreme hot temperatures, I’m really surprised the corn in the field behind us is doing so well. Look how tall it is. I’m 5’4” tall, and its as tall as I am. Too bad it’s field corn. No sweet corn suppers for us from this corn.

My garden is also doing well. I water it every day to keep it going. We’ve already had several meals from the lettuce. Today I picked my first beans, and the cherry tomatoes should be ripening pretty soon. The tomatoes are taking over. The beans are behind the tomato plants, there are cucumbers on the far side and pepper plants in front of the tomatoes.

I read on Pinterest that peppers need magnesium. They suggested spraying them with an Epsom salt and water solution. I did it once and the peppers seem to be growing better. I did a second application today. We’ll see how it goes.

I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July. Ours was very quiet. It was actually rather strange. Since the 4th was on a Wednesday, we have had people coming and going all week. Due to the heat, we’ve had a few cancellations. On the 4th we had only 8 sites occupied. They were all RVs with air. The high was 102*. I went outside a few times and there was no one around. Everyone was inside their RV. Even the boat launch was eerily empty. Apparently, it was too hot even to go out on the lake.

Yesterday the high was a record breaking 104*. We spent the day with a group of friends that were camping together at Fountain Lake RV Park near Waupaca. This group of friends has been camping together over the 4th for many years. We used to camp with them, but due to our hosting duties, we aren’t able to camp. Instead we’ve visited for a day last year and this year.

Their park has a club house with an air conditioned library room. We spent all day inside playing games and visiting. We even ate dinner in there. It was just too hot to be outside. It was great to see everyone, and we had a good time. Kevin even managed to win a few bucks playing cards. One of the couples, John and Carol, celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary yesterday. John made an amazingly delicious cheesecake for desert. Congratulations John and Carol, and we’re wishing you many more happy years together.

Today’s high is predicted to be 102* with dew points in the 70s. Sunday this heat wave is finally supposed to break with highs only in the 80s. Who would have thought that 80s would sound cool :)

Although the temperatures are supposed to drop to more tolerable levels, there is still no rain in the ten day forecast. I have a feeling the burn ban will continue for some time. One advantage of the burn ban, is it’s easier for us to be gone from the park. Since we don’t have to be selling fire wood, its not as big a deal if we’re gone in the evening.

So, yesterday we were able to stay for dinner with our friends. Tonight we’re going to fish fry with some of Kevin’s former co-workers. Next Saturday we’re going to a birthday party. I guess every cloud has a silver lining :)

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Doing the Happy Dance!

It rained this morning!!! It was only for about 15 minutes, but I heard the corn in the field behind us going “Ahhh”. It certainly wasn’t enough rain, but at this point we’ll take anything we can get.

We are about 30 miles from Madison. It turns out it was the driest June in Madison history. Milwaukee was third driest. June was also 5 degrees above normal in the temperature department. We are on track to have the warmest year in Madison history.

Yesterday we were under a heat advisory. Today they’ve changed it to an excessive heat warning until 10 pm on Friday. Today’s high is forecast to be 100 degrees and Thursday is forecast for 104. That’s the actual temperature. The heat index is supposed to be around 110. Dew points are near 70 which is tropical.

We only have one air conditioning unit in our 5th wheel. Normally, it’s not a big deal. But, when temps are near 100 degrees, we wish we had a second unit. Our next RV will have two air conditioners.

Our site only has two small trees which don’t give us any shade. So, we bake in the sun all day long. Yesterday afternoon our inside temp was 87. The air runs all day, but it just can’t keep up. We have all the shades down and have blocked every spot the sun shines in. We have three fans going. At least the humidity is lower inside, but it’s still hot by the end of the day.

It cools off enough to be able to sleep comfortably. That’s a very good thing. Kevin is working half days. There’s not that much to do anyway without the grass cutting. I’ve been staying inside and working on some sewing projects.

You may remember I wrote a blog post last September about some vintage camper fabric I bought. I was going to make a tote bag out of it. I cut out all the fabric for the tote last fall and started sewing it. The pattern requires you to sew the outside and inside parts of the bag separately and then join them together. When I went to join my parts together, I realized I really screwed up. I had cut the camper fabric in the wrong direction so my outer bag part was tall and narrow rather than short and wide like it was supposed to be.

I was so disappointed in myself that I put the project aside. This year I purchased some more fabric and ended up with two bags. The flip flop fabric is how its supposed to look. The camper fabric is my goofed up bag. I’m keeping the camper one for myself. The other one will be a gift. I learned a good lesson about cutting fabric from all of this!

I had two small quilt tops completed for donation to Project Linus. They give quilts to needy children. I’m now working on quilting those so I can donate them before we leave. Then I have a quilt pattern I’m anxious to get started on. It will be a Christmas gift.

I know most of the country is suffering from this excessive heat. So, try to keep cool everyone!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Fire Ban

Effective yesterday there are no campfires allowed in any of the Dodge County Parks including ours. The parks office had called people in advance to let them know, and we also informed them as they drove in. Kevin posted some signs on the bathroom doors. As of now, they are still allowing the use of charcoal grills.

Most people took it in stride. A few were not happy about it but understood. It is extremely dry. We haven’t had any measurable rain in over a month. June has gone in the record books as the third driest in history. Total rainfall was around .3 inches for the month. Many communities have instigated fire bans and are cancelling fireworks for the upcoming holiday.

It has also been very hot this week. Highs have been in the 90s each day. The heat is expected to continue through the upcoming week. I am so grateful for air conditioning. I sure am keeping my fingers crossed that it keeps on working!!!

The grass is BROWN. Kevin did not mow at all this past week, and he probably won’t mow this coming week either. He’s been doing other jobs such as repairing picnic tables and cleaning his work shop. This week he plans to spray for weeds, clean out fire pits and some other minor repair jobs.

Normally he spends two of his three work days mowing. If the grass doesn’t start growing again pretty soon, he’s going to run out of work to do. Less hours equals less pay :(

Yesterday we had our annual checkups. This morning the results of our blood tests were available online. The internet sure is a great thing. The good news is that Kevin’s blood sugars are good. Last year they were a little high, and there was talk he might be pre-diabetic. He had an A1C test which measures blood glucose for the past three months, and the results were very good. Good job, Kevin!

My cholesterol has been hovering just over 200 for the past few years. This year it is at 239. I’m guessing I’ll be getting a call from the doctor to start taking statins. My dad had very bad cholesterol numbers, so I figured it was only a matter of time. Kevin has been taking them for years, and his numbers are good. So, I guess my time has come.

I have been experiencing shoulder pain for the past two years. I thought it was arthritis, but after describing where it hurts, the doctor says it is tendinitis in the rotator cuffs. He gave me a pamphlet with exercises to do to help get things back to normal. He actually recommended physical therapy, but with our high deductible insurance, I told him I wasn’t willing to pay for it. I can do the exercises myself.

Otherwise, we are both in excellent health. Honestly, we haven’t felt this healthy in years. Our less stressful life is definitely agreeing with us. Even the doctor commented on how he felt less stress in our lives was keeping us healthier. 

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

She Lives!

The very good news is that our car seems to be just fine. When Kevin got back from golfing on Monday, he tried to start the car again. After some sputtering, she fired right up and has been working fine since. I had filled the gas tank over the weekend, so we’re thinking there may have been something bad in the gas. We’re not sure why it wouldn’t start Monday morning, but are glad the problem seems to have corrected itself.

It seems the weather is causing havoc all over the country. Flooding in Florida, fires in Colorado, lots of disasters for many people. The scenes of homes burning in Colorado are hard to look at. I feel so bad for those people.

Yesterday we got notice that our county is now under a burn advisory. Our fire danger is HIGH. We are on track to have the third driest June on record. Temperatures for the next week are expected to be in the 90s with no rain in sight. Some communities have already cancelled the 4th of July fireworks.

So far, we are not under a burn ban. We have been instructed to tell people to keep their campfires small and in the ring. Fireworks have never been allowed in the park. Crazy!

The birdfeeder continues to be a busy place. It’s rare to see cardinals in the park, but one of them did visit the feeder a few days ago. Someone told me that cardinals like pine trees. We have very few pine trees in the park, so maybe that’s why we don’t see many of them.

There was another new bird at the feeder yesterday. I haven’t been able to identify it. Maybe someone out there in blog land can tell me what kind of bird this is.

It’s funny, but it seems the sparrows are the main birds that actually sit at the feeder. They knock food down and then the bigger birds eat the food off of the ground.

I’m off for my morning walk before the heat gets too bad. The rest of the day will be spent inside the air conditioning. Stay cool everyone!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Can You Hear Me Now?

Things were very busy in the park this past weekend. All of our sites were rented and both shelters were rented for Saturday and the hut was also rented Sunday. It’s graduation party time.

With the graduation parties came some young people. Most of our clientele at this park is usually older people who enjoy peace and quiet. Saturday’s graduation party group had five sites in the park rented as well as the shelter. They brought more noise and commotion than we’re used to.

On Saturday Kevin had to deal with some teen boys who decided it would be fun to set off a firecracker in the bathroom sink. They were very apologetic and behaved after that. Luckily, no damage. I had to shoo some little kids out of the bathroom. They were filling squirt guns in the sinks and had the floor soaking wet and very slippery. I sent them to an outside water faucet. What is it with kids and bathrooms. Overall, nothing serious happened, just lots of activity.

There was another group in the park with ten sites reserved. They were from the Rock River Radio Club. They come on this weekend every year to participate in an international ham radio event. They set up all kinds of antennas in the park and spend most of their time inside their units talking to other ham radio operators all over the world. One site had this trailer on it. I think they slept in it. Do you see the antennas they put up on top the trailer?

The event is to help practice in case there were some type of emergency where regular communication was not available. It made me think of some of the movies where the world has some kind of catastrophic event and ham radio is the only type of communication available.

There is a contest involved for who talks to someone the farthest away and the number of people you talk to. One of the guys told us he was able to speak to many people in Europe, but the weather in Asia was bad so he didn’t reach anyone there. He also spoke to people in every state except Alaska.

These people had a small tent but a very large antenna. It’s on the left side between the tree and the tent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They spent a good deal of time throwing wires into the trees using fishing poles. I guess these wires boosted their signals. Some of the wires had rectangular pieces between them. If you look closely at this picture you can see the wires between the trees with the white boxes between the wires. This was then attached to a pop-up camper. (Click on the picture to enlarge and you can see it better.)

On Sunday our son Eric and my mom and her friend Richard came for a visit. It was a belated Father’s Day visit since Eric was on call last weekend. We had a nice visit together although it was a bit hot and humid out.

Eric was pretty exhausted from a long week at work due to hot weather. Unfortunately, the second half of this week is supposed to be hot and humid again with highs near 100 degrees. Eric is looking forward to fall, not winter. Winter brings the opposite problem for someone in the HVAC business.

On Friday Kevin replaced our water pump. A few weeks ago he was sitting outside and noticed some water dripping from under our fifth wheel. Upon investigation, he found that our water pump was leaking, causing our basement area to be quite wet. He rigged up a ramp made out of aluminum foil to divert the water down the ramp and into a bucket since the space under the pump was too small to place the bucket. Even though we aren’t using the pump, it was still leaking. Twice a day he would empty the bucket.

The pump is in the top right hand corner of the picture. If you look closely, you can see the discoloration on the wood near the bottom left from the water that was in the basement.

This is the second water pump that has failed on this unit. Last year in April the original pump was replaced by an RV dealer because it had stopped working. Now, just over a year later the second one was leaking. Jayco agreed to send us a replacement pump. Kevin was willing to install it so we didn’t have to unhook to go to a dealer. We sure are pleased with the service Jayco has given us. Our unit is almost four years old, and they are still standing behind their product.

This new pump is supposed to be an upgraded model. It was tight working in the confined space, but Kevin was able to get the new pump installed. It’s working great and is much quieter. Hopefully it will last longer than a year. Kevin’s thinking about purchasing a seal repair kit that Shur-Flo sells for the leaking pump. That way we’d have a back up. Does anyone have any experience with the repair kits?

Today Kevin is off playing golf with some friends. He was planning on driving the car, but it wouldn’t start this morning. It would turn over, but wouldn’t start. He was running late so he just threw his clubs in the truck and took off. Hopefully, nothing is too seriously wrong with the car.

It’s a 2000 Grand Am with 184,000 miles on it. We only use it when we’re in Wisconsin in the summer. The rest of the year we store it at my moms. It is sure nice to have two vehicles in the summer. The car gets better gas mileage than the truck, and we don’t have to put all those extra miles on the truck.

We did one other small project on Sunday. Our storage cabinets above the big window in the back of the unit have glass inserts in the doors. The glass is frosted, but you can still see the stuff behind the glass, and I didn’t like how it looked. Two years ago I bought some frosted contact paper and put it over the back of the glass. It looked better, but you could still see some of the stuff behind it. After two years, the contact paper was starting to come off, so I needed a better idea.

Kevin suggested poster board. I bought some black poster board and cut it to fit. We secured it with some duct tape at the corners. It looks more like smoke colored glass, and you can’t see what’s inside. The two on the left have the poster board, much better. No one needs to see all my junk, I mean treasures, in those cabinets.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!