Thursday, May 12

Wednesdays News

Plumber finally showed up. I know Butch's brother Bill is chuckling over the last few posts concerning plumbers. I would not recommend the guy we hired but as always it is slim pickings when it comes to plumbers. If more people would keep their customers in the know rather than have them hang around for three days waiting for them they would have happier customers. Just like when you go into a restaurant and it seems like the waitress keeps passing you by- if they stop by once in awhile and acknowledge your existence you have alot more patience.
Our plumber also did something a bit funky with the connection but it works so that is the most important part. We really got the idea the guy didn't enjoy being a plumber much. Not good when people do not enjoy their chosen profession.
So we have two RV sites ready for occupancy. Sewer/water/electrical are all hooked up and ready to go but now its raining and Butch doesn't want to get our rocks all muddy.
Also yesterday Butch decided to measure our neighbors lot. Remember he told us our garage was 2 feet on his property? After taking a measurement from the edge of the sidewalk we did not think so. Butch went to the assessors office and the assessor gave him a printout of a satellite survey of Jefferson taken in 2009 and we are both on our own property. So there, mister self-proclaimed bigshot!
So we have had a bunch of wait time in the past 3 days and we did get a fair amount done. I cleaned and reorganized the garage yesterday knocking down 10 to 15 years of cobwebs. Butch poked a hole in the ceiling drywall to see what all we might be dealing with up there. Getting the insulation out of the attic may be the toughest and most disgusting job of the whole renovation. We have yet to find a pain free method of doing that part.
So tomorrow we are going to Missouri to a first birthday party for our great granddaughter Elise. It will be different and we are ready for the break. We do not take many road trips without our MoHo. This will be a car trip. We have been spoiled. Packing a suitcase, finding places to pee and eat are things we are not used to doing after 9 years of fulltiming. I have a feeling we can adjust to it on occasion.

Another thing!!! Butch read the abstract on our new property and in so doing discovered that we are on the property owned by my grandparents in 1922. They lived there for 14 years. My father was adopted by Sam and Anna Brock when he was 3 months old. He was born in 1923 so this would be the home he would have grown up in. It is not the same house because the current house was built in 1946 but it is the same property. So we are now walking on the same ground my daddy did till he was about 12 or 13. Life holds many surprises.

Monday, May 9

Plumber Troubles

Butch waited for the plumber guy all day. When he called him this morning to tell him we were ready, he said as soon as he fixed a water leak in a front yard he would be there. hmmm... apparently it was a sneaky leak and went into hiding. Hopefully he was able to spend the whole day on it and get it done making us first on the list for tomorrow. Hey, I live on hope!
I spent the day cleaning the house. The one we currently live in. It had been too long between cleanings so it took some persistent cleaning. I ran out of steam but I did get most of it done.

Another glitch- our refrigerator is part of a recall. It is a Norcold. Fortunately there are two RV dealers in town so we were able to check on it at Harrison RV and found out that we were one that needed the new part. So they will order the part and put it in. It takes a week to get it. So they say... So do we wait here until they ask us to come in for the new part or do we go on into our new spot and then have to break down and take it to the dealer after being parked for only 3-4 days. I asked but didn't get an answer. No answer is usually an answer.
For our RV friends you may want to check on that Norcold recall. You will need model and serial number of your Norcold fridge and the VIN number of your RV. We found out about it on RVTravel.com.

Butch did get some things done while waiting today. One thing about it there will always be something to do while waiting for something else to happen. I have a feeling there will be lots of that sort of thing.

From Grandpa Gary

Elise Playing on a Saturday in May. 1 week away from her first Birthday!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XsQK1XFfIY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3PZ99uum4Y

Sunday, May 8

Friday and Saturday-two hard days

Friday the plumber told us he may be able to get to our sewer hook up on Monday if the pipe was ready to connect so our job ever since has been to get the pipe within connecting distance. Butch and I worked on it Friday and made considerable progress. We continued on Saturday and Leo came to help and a great deal of help he was too. Keri fixed us lunch and supper and that too was a big help. We are grateful and thankful. The hard part was digging out under the house to make room for the pipe and get the right slope. Leo was able to get his sizable frame under the house and made a bunch of progress on the dirt digging part. Butch brought up many bucketfuls of black Iowa dirt and took it outside to add to our pile. That had been my job earlier in the day and it certainly isn't easy. Butch had to use smaller buckets when I was doing it. Once Leo and Butch had a rhythm going I switched my job to pulling staples. I completed my job and they nearly completed theirs. Butch has more digging to do today but we should finish and be ready for the plumber tomorrow.
When Leo first pulled up in the back alley our neighbor to the northwest was hollering for her dog (Layla the pitbull). I noted the tone of panic in her call but the dog did listen and came to her. It apparently had gotten loose. At the same time her 3 or 4 year old daughter came running out the back door of their house buck naked. There was so much going on that Leo completely missed the girl. He was focused on the dog! It was a busy two minutes!! Butch was under the house digging a trench and missed all of it.
Here are pictures I took yesterday:




The tulips in the front yard are huge!

This is the black hole where Leo and Butch spent too much time the past couple of days.

My dirt pile beside the tree. It looks so small in this picture. I plan to plant some hostas around the tree. Do your hostas need thinned?


Leo and neighbors Everett and Bert Beebe

The cactus blooms!