Posts from the ‘Pets’ category

A day that ended better than it started

Today started with a few glitches. Bob threw up a hairball at approximately 3:50 a.m. I was sound asleep and did not come awake in time to get his blankie under his mouth…hairball and the accompanying yuck made a direct hit on the down comforter – rats! I did a quick half-awake cleanup and went back to sleep.

On getting up for good, I grabbed the comforter and made for the washer. There was not actually much of a mess and the thought crossed my mind that I could clean the corner in the sink, but that comforter had not been washed for awhile so I threw it in and started the washer.

Background: I have had down comforters for most of my adult years and successfully washed them with some regularity. The tricks are: a good comforter, proper soap, and beating the down as it dries so that it does not clump. The place I buy the comforters sells a special soap. They also sell some poly-rings specifically for putting in the dryer to do the beating – they beat the “tennis shoe in the sock” thing that I used to do.

The second glitch was that after my first cup of coffee, on going to check on Bob’s meowing, I discovered that the washer had quietly overflowed. A lot of water was on the floor of the laundry closet, entry and the room that I now know is downslope – the workout/craft/boys room. The floors are all engineered hardwood – they do not like water.

It took every towel and my entire supply of old flannel sheets to sop up the water. And a lot of time. The runners that are in that area were soaked.

The good news is that floor has not been that clean since I moved in. Additionally, after an experimental small load to see what was leaking where, it appears it WAS an overflow vs something broken so I was able to wash and dry all of those towels and sheets. And the comforter is fine and clean. And the runners had a bath.

I will be going to Home Depot tout de suite and purchasing a vac that sucks up water, ensuring that I will never have another “flood” in the house being thusly prepared. Still… worth it! If I had one of those, the cleanup as well as the cleanup of the cleanup would have gone much faster. Lesson learned.

The other good news is that the day improved from there! The sun came out. There was a soft breeze and blue sky and moderate temperatures – a perfectly, perfect day.

The cause…

…unaware!

GoatsBeard: a pretty wildflower that is open in the morning and closes at noon. I saw it for the first time this year on the lunchtime walk.

A sunshiney flower for a sunshiney day…a day that ended better than it started.

Dazed and confused…a little bit

One minute Bob, Karl and I are at home in “Wild Thing”, rolling around the countryside seeing new things, working, walking in new places…establishing routine wherever we are parked. We all slip into the “rv” routine with ease and change from a pattern of living in our quiet, somewhat isolated spot to living right next to others. And the others sometimes change from one day to the next, sometimes stay for awhile or we stay for awhile.

We walk, Bob and Karl go in and out, I work, I cook meals, I take photos, I write – same as at the stationary house.

And then one day we are back.

Wild Thing is parked in her spot. She’s cleaned up and put to rights.

The grass in the yard and the woods has grown a foot, the front porch was draped with spider webs making the house look like the Adams Family had just vacated. But the porch is now clear and in a day or so the yard will be mowed and trimmed, some flower baskets will be procured and the house will look like it always looks in Summer.

For me, coming back is always a bit disconcerting. As I get closer to home I start thinking about the house and its rooms and its general comforts. Coming in the driveway I am relieved to have the driving done, glad to be home, looking forward to getting settled and rested.

The house always looks so “home” when I walk in.

But this first day home is also a bit of a shock in the suddeness of the return to quiet, solitude and the home routine. I really don’t know why the return has an unsettled feel to it. Every trip I think that it won’t happen this time because I’ve done this a few times before and now I know.

But today and I am a little bit dazed and confused.

Not Bob. He is making up for lost outside time by spending most of his time outside…lying in the tall grass.

A bit of digression. I received several emails and a comment about being careful with the wasp removal. Ha! … I am an experienced wasp remover-killer…Please try not to hurt yourself laughing:

Part 1: Mad as a Hornet

Part 2: Taking Back the Front Porch

***A word of warning regarding this last in the series – to Buck and any other beer lovers…I used cheap beer, the kind no self-respecting beer lover would drink.
Part 3: More Wasps

Elko Storm

A severe thunderstorm that passed directly over us sent Bob and Karl to their hidey-hole safe spots again.

Thunder, lightning, rain….

….and hail!

A lot of rain.

But after, that little bit of blue sky took over and the afternoon was dry, the water on the “road” was absorbed into the ground…

And then it did it again this evening.

This morning’s storm had me looking closely at the weather. Weather and work – I decided to start home tomorrow.