On the bright side, I have located an RV park very close to home in Dripping Springs and I am going to move the RV later this month. I plan on staying and alternating between the house and the RV as we move towards selling the property. I have the option of staying there for up to six months but I do want to take a trip back up to New York State to visit friends and relatives this summer. Anything to get away from the oppressing one hundred degree heat here in Texas. On the other hand, Texas is a great place to spend the winter. Of course much of this depends on Covid which being very much an unknown, can well shape my plans in a different direction.

The dogs, well mostly Sandy, are still taking me for a walk every evening and depending on if I go to the local HEB Grocery store earlier, we walk at least two miles, weather permitting. When I do go get groceries, I can easily add another mile to that just wandering around and walking up and down all of the aisles. I have got to meet some very nice neighbors on the walks, who, prior to Covid, I didn’t know existed. Some of them even call me by my first name. They probably told me their names too when we met but for the life of me, I cannot remember who they are so I just say hello and if they are interested in a conversation, stop and talk. One younger lady has this very strong British accent and she and her family brought me Mince Pies for Christmas. I haven’t had those in forever and they went down well. There are a couple of RV enthusiasts and we often exchange ideas and information. We pass people with dogs of all sizes and and with just one exception, Sandy goes nuts barking and screaming even if the other dog is twice as big. I usually have to grab her harness and try to calm her down as the other dogs pass by. We have even resorted to reversing direction or taking a side street so as not to meet the other dogs. For such a little girl, she is either very brave or exceptionally stupid and I haven’t figured out which. The exception is the little Cairn Terrier puppy that one of the ladies that I have met on our walks, has recently acquired. Maybe because it is still a puppy and is no threat. In any case, it is embarrassing to have a small dog like Sandy, act like Queen of the hill and be so noisy about it.

I have finished the remodelling of the RV and will write about that in a later blog. I do still have to attach drawer locks of some kind to prevent them from sliding open as we travel and have some on order. I also have to anchor the units to the floor and wall to keep them secure for the same reason. Trying to decide if I can anchor the small printer that I have with velcro strips so I don’t have to move it every time we travel. Nowadays, it doesn’t get used very much except to maybe print receipts and such. Most other things are stored electronically and as letter writing by mail is almost a lost art, not much else. I do very occasionally print out a photograph if it is very good so that I can frame it and hang it in the RV. I have noticed that my handwriting which I generally only use to take a few notes or mail a card or two and never gets used much anymore, has deteriorated to be almost unreadable. My signature for instance, which was never very clear in the first place has remained the same, still not very clear but as everyone accepts it as mine, I get by.

The Aquadyne filter on the 5000 gallon pond blocked up and was squirting water all over the place, unbeknownst to me as it happened at night, and emptied half of the water out of the pond. Didn’t harm any of the fish and on the bright side, the pond needed a water change. My water bill will go up by at least $50.00 as I refill. It took almost a day and a half to refill through an in-line water dechlorinator, a slow but safe process to safeguard the fish. While that was happening, I had to dismantle some of the filter unit to clean out the blockage and then reassemble it. No big deal and just another routine, albeit not very frequent, part of maintaining a pond. I did have one strange occurance when I found one of the many turtles. this one about six inches long, sitting on the bank. It did not move when I approached and upon closer inspection, found it was very dead. No idea why or for whatever reason. I did get to see Clarence, the very large twelve inch long turtle sunbathing. Good to see that he is still around. Have not seen Herbert, our adopted turtle but I am sure he is around somewhere. The filter episode really brought home to me just how quickly I would like not to have ponds in my life in the future. Sure they are beautiful to look at and watching the fish is a glorious and entertaining pastime but the ongoing maintenance does get to be a bit trying, especially now that my heart is no longer in it.

I have been using the weather as an excuse for not getting out to finish filling in the small pond but in truth, it is just laziness on my part. Not so much physically but mentally trying to get myself to just get out there and just do it. So easy to keep putting it off and then pay my Landscaper to do it for me. I do have to get serious about closing the house and all that goes along with it if I want to get it sold in the near future.

More on that later. For now, let’s do the fun things and finish anchoring the desk…

Written 01/03/2021