Getting Ready to Roll

 The furnace has been repaired and is working. I was talking to Susan V H about the RV furnace and after a while, she said Butch is a smart man and he will figure it out and indeed he did. I helped...with holding stuff, and writing stuff down etc. My training as a medical assistant comes into play now and then. It was a happy moment when he turned it on and it kept on running.

The route is established, reservations have been made where appropriate and we will be leaving Wednesday morning and should arrive in Trophy Gardens on Saturday, mid-afternoon. Being self-contained in the Motorhome is as safe as we can make it. We mask and glove when filling with fuel and that is the only outside contact we will have. The park is asking new arrivals to self-isolate for 10 days and that too is on our agenda. 

So Monday will be moving into MoHo day. It is a day of commitment as it is nigh on to impossible to live in two places at once. It is a big day and a busy one. Think of all the things you use and need every day and would need to move from one house to another and that might give you an idea. And be sure to add in all the things you would need for 5 months. There are some things we have duplicated. We have both said on occasion that it was much easier when we lived in the moho full time.

Tuesday will be "What did we forget day" and having water meter removed and Internet stuff returned to Jefferson Telecom for the winter. It is usually not that busy a day. We have purposely chosen a time of warm weather but this time of year it can turn on a dime. This past week the MoHo has experienced the coldest temps ever. Prior to this the coldest it ever saw was 18 degrees and that was only for a few hours and we were living in it at the time. We have learned one thing; our tiny little home in Jefferson Iowa is quite comfy in cold weather.

On another subject, we can now enter the pool hall without walking through muddy ground. I haven't actually done it yet but plan to very soon to take pictures inside and out, one last time before walking away from the project for the winter.

Freshly Poured Cement

 These pics were taken yesterday(Friday 10/30/20) after they left from pouring the cement. I wanted to write my name on it but Butch said "NO".😏

Not a break on water bill

 All the city would take off of the water bill was the sewer fee. That is a high percentage but really only amounts to about half of the actual water. So we still do not know what the actual number is but have been told in the neighborhood of $2500. Now the plumber will be responsible for a portion of that and that is not ironed out yet either. We hope to get all this nailed down before we take off for Texas.

And now we did get our approach to the Pool Hall/Garage cemented today. In fact, they just left a few minutes ago. At least we have one entrance now where we do not have to deal with mud. Cement at the rear entrance and sidewalk to the back of the house will be done next Spring.

So now when we get the furnace issue figured out and resolved we can be at a start over spot. I never have liked it much when you have several unresolved irons in the fire. Oh my, what a year it has been!

It seems our park managers and activity directors have been in touch with local officials on guidelines and requirements concerning Covid-19 for the RV parks. For some reason, the individual counties are laying down the expectations and it seems to be working. I don't know if this is a state mandate or county only but at least when they have a spike in cases it will be easier to figure out what the particular county did or did not do as a means to control it. One of the things they are asking for is self-quarantining for 10 days after arrival in the park. That was on our todo list already.

I think their adherence to simple rules like masks and distancing has a lot to do with their dependence on Winter Texans for their livelihood. They have always treated us well and this is just one more example and why Texas is our choice for a Winter residence. Not all of Texas is so nice but I can certainly account for the Rio Grande Valley. It feels good to be appreciated.

Rhymes

 I hesitate to call it poetry but I have off and on written "rhymes" for years. After going outdoors this morning enduring a temperature of 26 degrees I felt compelled to write a ditty...without the song.

When I stepped out to take the picture below I discovered the light was blue and dark and I lightened it some so you could see clearly that we are ready for the cement to be poured tomorrow.

Here is the rhyme.

Winter's Blue Light

 by Barbara Brooker

Bare-naked trees and the blue light of Winter,

Settle into old bones with the pain of a splinter,

Take me away, where warm breezes flow,

We don't need reminding, it is time to go.

And here is the picture.

OH NO!

 Butch says, "Look at that ugly spot on the back corner of the Motorhome!". I said, "What? Is something broken?" He said, " I sure hope not but look!".

Here is what we saw...

It is the icicle!! We have not had an icicle hanging from anything for years and years!!

Password Answers

 I simply feel compelled to give you important computing advice and this is one I feel strongly about. I have used Lastpass for several years now and have not had a problem. Wouldn't you love having only one password to remember? Lastpass or one like it can make that possible. With Lastpass, you create a master password and only you know it. If you forget it, even Lastpass cannot help you. And the standby of sending you an option to just change it will not work. They stress when you set it up that only YOU know it and even they cannot access your account. Hey, with the covid thing you have plenty of time on your hands, right?

Barb B.

https://www.thundercloud.net/infoave/new/your-security-begins-with-strong-passwords/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thundercloud%2FIapJ+%28Cloudeight+InfoAve+Computer+Tips+%29

Best Ham and Beans EVER

 I simply had to share this one. I sure hope Juniors in South Texas have good ham hocks. This is my friend Liz's favorite meal.

Best EVER Ham and Beans 10/25/2020

1 Ham Hock

2 or 3 cans of navy beans (drained and rinsed)

1 onion (chopped)

3 to 4 cups broth of your choice (I used beef broth)

Directions: Add the ham hock and 1 cup water or broth to slow cooker on low for 6 hours or more.

Remove meat from ham hock and cut into bite-sized pieces. Return meat to slow cooker.

Add remaining ingredients and cook for 1 or more hours.

Only 4 ingredients and it is the best ham and bean recipe I have ever had.

I winged it which I frequently do but the outcome was so perfect I will definitely

use this same method again and again.

I also stumbled upon the best cornbread mix I have ever used. Picture below. (Fareway)

Doesn't Take Much

 It doesn't take much dark, dreary, bone-chilling days for us to want to be out of here. Who expects that in October? October is supposed to be a pleasant month with a hint of frost in the air and the fall leaves showing off their colors. More and more often in the last decade or so, October looks more and more like November/December, and these past few days have crossed over the line to January. These are deep winter temps! Highs in the low 30's and lows in the teens. We have a forecast coming up with a low of 11, yes, ELEVEN degrees. Well mark my words, October, we will not give you a chance to pull this stunt on us again! If we can help it...

The forecast is looking good for a week from now. We will have a day with a high of 55 at the end of next week or at least they are holding out that carrot, so when we see that it is going to be real we will load up as fast as we can and head south.

Last night I went about making the address change to our winter one of  Trophy Gardens, 800 State Hwy 495 Lot 189, Alamo TX 78516. 

It seems that is always the first step, followed by choosing the departure date, the route, making reservations where needed, and so forth.

And now for something completely different. I noticed that Fareway had ham hocks on sale this past week. Ham hocks are clearly the best choice for ham and beans so I bought a couple. Now I have been on Keto for a year and a half and it has worked for me very well. But diving off the deep end now and then is in my nature when it comes to food anyway so last night we had Ham and Beans for supper accompanied by cornbread. It was delicious. The ham was alright for me and I may have tolerated the beans if I held it down on the amount but the cornbread was my undoing. It tasted like cake to me. Very sweet. Butch will be getting the leftovers. I have suffered enough for one meal. Every now and then I have to test the limits. And that's all the testing I need for a while. 

Oh, and on the same subject of food; on our last trip to Costco I bought a couple of Cauliflower Crust vegetable pizzas. They were a test. Butch is far less tolerant than me for any food out of the ordinary. I told him they were a test. Sometimes I don't tell him. I added some cooked sausage to it and some extra cheese and they were absolutely delicious! Butch approved!

What the ???

 So they called yesterday (Friday the 23rd) to tell us the moho was ready for pick up. It was forecast to be a low of 20 degrees last night so we viewed the message with mixed feelings but decided to go get it so we were in control of what happens to it. After all who knows it better than we do having lived in it full time for 10 years and half time for 6 years. It looks great with its new topside. But...

The furnace wasn't working. We thought it started to work but we were wrong because it was not working this morning. Semi panic set in. Decisions had to be made. Butch worked on it for several hours before deciding we had no other choice than to winterize it. So the process began. Now those of you who do this annually have acquired a routine for it. We winterized our first RV once and vowed we would never do it again and haven't until now.

We toyed with the idea of just taking off for southern climes but the prospect of loading it up for our trek south was no more appealing in 20-degree weather than winterizing. So we winterized. The weather is supposed to improve next Friday with a high of 50 degrees. Now sounding absolutely balmy! So that will be our target date for getting moved into with all the things we need for the winter in Texas.

So bad news is we need to get the furnace working and/or repaired asap. The good news is every nook and cranny will be getting a thorough cleaning. In the winterization process, every cabinet and drawer must be scoured for items that might freeze and break. I have been looking at long-forgotten items in the far recesses of the motorhome. It is a perfect time to reassess each and every item to see if it is worthy of the space it takes to haul it around. Now doesn't that sound like fun?

I mistakenly posted this entry to the Trophy Gardens blog when I meant it for here. If you are looking at something to fill your time you can see that blog, the trophy gardens one, at this address. https://trophygardens.blogspot.com/