Weedwacking

A few weeks ago Craig started the weed-wacking on one section of the yard, but the weed-wacker broke.  He got it back on Friday and cleared the upper hill and what we call the meadow below the house.

Most of our land is steep hills and covered with forest.  The area around the house is less than an acre, and we do not "cut" the grass with a lawnmower because the hill is to steep.  We also do not water it, so it actually only grows in spring.  He has to clear it twice each spring, and after that it is just dry land.

It doesn't rain much  from May to October.   Later in summer we will be in "fire" danger and that is why we keep the grass down now.

Daily countdown:

542  days, or 1 year, 5 months, 23 days to go.  

Exercise Goal:        

1000 miles on the treadmill     2 miles yesterday, and 3.5 miles today! 

Total walked = 119.5 miles   

         Someday I will be hiking in National Parks!

Book not worth it

Two days ago, I mentioned downloading an e book about how to buy a used RV.  I really don't think it was worth the $27.00.   Much that was covered would be good for a buyer of an older trailer, but I think it was too elementary for someone looking for a larger motor home or fifth wheel suitable for full timing.

 Much of what was covered I have already learned from reading blogs.  I'm just getting into the maintenance forum, but I'm sure it will give me things to think about.  I don't intend on actually doing any of the maintenance, but I can tell my husband what needs to be done!  :-)

 When it comes time to buy we fully intend to have anything we are serious about fully inspected by a certified expert.  I think it will be well worth the cost.  (Now how do I find one?)

Going to a Birthday party later today.  But I did get my walking in!

Daily countdown:

544  days, or 1 year, 5 months, 25 days to go.  

Exercise Goal:        

1000 miles on the treadmill     2.5 miles   today.    

Total walked = 114 miles   

         Someday I will be hiking in National Parks!

Nothing much to say today

Nothing much to say today.  I've spend way to much time reading blogs this morning.  (I almost always do!) But I did do my treadmil and did toss a dozen things out of a bedroom drawer, and now I'm going to get some art work done.

Daily countdown:

545  days, or 1 year, 5 months, 26 days to go.  

Exercise Goal:        

1000 miles on the treadmill     2 miles   today.    

Total walked = 111.5 miles   

         Someday I will be hiking in National Parks!

Downloaded "How to Buy a Used RV"

I downloaded  How to Buy a Used RV today.  I think it will be helpful and does seem to put many suggestions in one place.  Hopefully it is worth the $27.00.  It also came with a link to some videos on buying and maintenance tips.  It all seems so elementary, but having something in hand before starting to look is reassuring.

I feel I am learning a lot of what to look for by reading the blogs and the forum comments.  This is a great community of independent helpful people.

Daily countdown:

546  days, or 1 year, 5 months, 27 days to go.  

Exercise Goal:        

1000 miles on the treadmill     2 miles   today.    

Total walked = 109.5 miles   

         Someday I will be hiking in National Parks!

(Gotta go hunting and fill the garbage cans for pick up tomorrow!)

Good days on the home front

The last few days have been really nice around here.  Spring weather has finally come.  On Sunday we got out the cushions for the deck furniture and had an early dinner outdoors.  The air was soft, no bugs, and a beautiful view.  On Saturday I saw a Doe in the grassy area below the deck that had two  spotted fawns at her side.  Craig had seen her just up the road the day earlier.  I expect we will see her often over the summer and be able to see the little guys grow.

Another major decision about the house has been made.  We put a deposit on a new roof.  They will do the work the first week of June.   We still have to decide the color, but that will be done over the weekend when we have all of the samples that we want to see.

It is a big job.  A big roof!

This is the left side from the yard above the house.  Low slope area is the 3 car garage.

This is the right side from the same area, the flat roof to the right is the separate garage that

will also be re-roofed

.

This is a view of the house from below.  We started painting a few years ago but got bogged down.  We did the supporting beams for the lower deck and rebuilt and painted the louvered area under the lower deck.  We may have to repaint the trim.  I wasn't crazy about the color at the time, and now it won't go at all with one of the roof colors we are considering.  Painting the main part of the house may be started this summer, but we may not be able to hire someone to do the high parts until next summer.

Oh, how I wish these $$$ were going toward buying an RV.  Well hopefully we will recover most of it when we sell.  (The roof is coming to about $30K.)

The first WHY NOT on my list

I've never really given a lot of thought to off shore drilling, either pro or con.
I've seen the rigs in the distance and thought, "hey they aren't so bad,"
Even after the oil spills from ships have come into the news, I had hoped that improved hulls and other technology would prevent more of them and so quietly accepted the transportation of oil from country to country on the big ships.

When I travel down to Southern California, I have passed some small oil fields, and thought that the strange pumpers were not  intrusive on nature.   Once in place they just rock back and forth.  What about the pipelines?  If there are ways for the wildlife to go over and under, well they don't mater either.

But with this spill, my feelings have changed.  The coastal ecology is very fragile and will be damaged for a long time.  It will come back if there are no further insults to in the future, but if we keep in drilling off shore, there is no guarantee it will not happen again and again.

So how does this all turn into a Why Not to going full time in an RV?  It has made me wonder how responsible driving around a huge gas or diesel motor home is.

But, I really want to see the country. Perhaps taking a long road trip in our Prius with a tent, or just staying at home, would be kinder to the environment.

Nah!  This house sucks a lot of energy too.  And those fulltimers who stay put in campgrounds for months at a time don't use as much power as I do.  The thing is that we want to travel for a couple of years.

This is a reasonable consideration.  Our pleasure, vs the good of the world.  Can our not going make a difference?

Daily countdown:

547  days, or 1 year, 5 months, 28 days to go.  

Exercise Goal:        

1000 miles on the treadmill     3 miles   today.    

Total walked = 107.5 miles   Plus pool time.

         Someday I will be hiking in National Parks!  (or not)

Miner's Lettuce

Free wild salad greens!  The miner's lettuce usually peaks a little earlier than it did this year, but we had wonderful salads twice last week. It looks like this:

And grows all over our yard and garden in spring.

The gold miners picked it and ate it for the  Vitamin C.  I pick it by pulling up the entire plant, (it is not rooted very deeply) and fill a large paper grocery bag full to make two salads.  I then lay newspaper on the table and sit and pick off the round leaf are below the little flowers.  I discard the stems and flowers although if a few get in it is OK.  As I pluck them, I put them into a bowl of cold water.  When I'm done I usually push all the leaves under water to help rinse any floating debris (or little critters) and then run them thru the spinner.   A simple dressing of balsamic vinegar and good olive oil is all that is needed.

I have notice large beds of miners lettuce growing along the road, but I would not want to pick it from there because of the exhaust film from the cars.

I wonder if we will find it in other parts of the country.


I hope all of you who are traveling in the current stormy weather are safe.