Then and Now

I haven't stayed in one place for three whole months in a long long time. It was lovely.

Today I loaded up the motorscooter and stowed most everything.
Then we had a chili dinner and played music until we'd worn ourselves out.

A last look at my campsite - if you look closely, you can see the trees turned green and the flowers are blooming in front of the wall.
I actually would have enjoyed staying a while longer - but there are family and friends to visit and vehicles to attend to... The road beckons.

The Beaver Lodge

Lori and I took to the water,

with 40 acres of swamp to explore.



Which Way? We eventually went both ways.

Baby cypress trees.

Beaver HQ

Springing Forward, Indoors edition

I was hoping to have the Spirit of Simplicity manifest in my home by now. Not so much. I still have clutter. But it's not on the top of my woodstove-looking heater. Actually, as I prepare to travel I see that I have accomplished a lot of de-cluttering and simplification - Just nowhere near as much as I'd hoped.




Recently there was a bit of electrifying excitement. It was pouring rain out, and thankfully I was home when some of said rain managed to get inside my walls and short out an electric outlet.

I heard a sizzle, looked up and saw sparks flying across the bedroom! Shut all breakers, unplugged the house, checked for fire.
As it turned out, we have campers here who do electrical and roofing work, so I got my roof sealed (no more water getting in causing excitement) and socket replaced, without having to go anywhere or into hock.

With spring comes all this wonderful daylight. And Reflectix over the windshield. And so much light coming in the east facing windows that I couldn't see. Having just gone through the basement compartments, I had a set of shower curtains I used to use for picnic table tablecloths. They have become my new dinette and living room curtains.

Springing Forward

As I prepare to spring forward from here, I take this moment to review. March and April. The sleepy brown world waking to yellow - and purple - and green. Here in Georgia, the sun is shining. Birds are singing. Snakes are slithering (only when I don't have my camera handy). I'm winning the battle of the swamp. The water level is down to where the dock is just above water

and the hill can be reached without wading. I have seen the beavers' house - but that's the next post. Here, I give you Spring in Georgia.


Why did the beaver cross the road? He had work to do downstream.

They block the culverts

I clear them, they block them again.

And again.

Good to look up sometimes.

Spring blooms Purple

And

Yellow.

Tonight's Yard (March 28)

View from the Hill

Water flowing in spite of the Main Dam.

Beavers dig mud off the bank and use it to build dams and block culverts.

Sometimes you're not sure which way is up.

Gypsy vs. Beavers, continued

If you've been reading, you know that my daily routine here starts with undoing whatever the beavers have done the night before, so the water flows downstream instead of into the campground. There are 4 places downstream from the road that they like to block, as well as the road culverts and the main dam. This morning I went to downstream spot # 1 and found an extra surprise.

I don't actually think the beavers did this one. The tree was long dead and riddled with holes for critters to live in, and was uprooted, rather than chewed and felled. Nevertheless, it landed on the little dam and made my morning - er - more interesting.

I'm really glad it was long dead and very dry, or I would not have been able to pitch the pieces aside.
I moved what I could and cleared the dam, but there are still two large chunks of tree in the stream.

Organizing progress - I think.

Part of staying in one place for so long is catching up with myself. So many things hadn't been getting done because it seemed I was always driving or working. That's part of the reason. The other is there simply isn't enough time in the day. Oh, I know, there are 24 hours. I'd swear mine are smaller than some peoples', though, just as 1/24th of a circle is a shorter distance when the radius is smaller.

Anyway, I've been working on the bedroom this week. Remember the nice uncluttered storage unit Danny & I built to hold guitars and stuff when I first moved in? Delete the word "uncluttered" from the description.

I have not managed to Get Rid of Stuff this week. The items I've been messing with are all stuff I need to use more often, not get rid of. But after some successful trips to Wally World for carefully measured plastic containers, stuff is more efficiently organized now.


A major coup of rearrangement for me was that I no longer have my laundry basket sitting out where it was convenient but looked awful.


Until this rearrangement, the alternative locations available were all quite inconvenient. That is not a trait you want in a laundry basket. Now it's stashed in the cabinet under the guitar's bed, right behind the door, easy to get at.


The whole area under there got revamped. The bits of Rendezvous gear I carry (so that I won't miss a 'vous due to all my gear being back in Virginia in the van) have moved from the passenger foot-well to under here. Other items that had been under here have moved to better locations elsewhere.

So while I haven't added much to the Get Rid of Stuff totes this week, I have lowered the clutter level. This is good.

I still wish I had Gay Deceiver, the vehicle/character in several of Robert Heinlein's novels. Really I do!

Upcoming Door Project

The wind came up and it started to pour down rain. The wind came up enough that I felt it would be a good idea to go out in the rain and quickly furl my awning. Oh, THAT's interesting - the coach door wouldn't close. Wonderful.
With the awning safely rolled up, I retreated indoors and bungee'd the door shut so the wind wouldn't open it.
It was a short storm, and when it was done I investigated the door problem. Motor-home doors are not made all that well, and this one's been opened and closed since 1992 and judging by the screws and screw holes, it was doing things like this long before I acquired the rig.
One problem is the door is very flexible. That's to avoid excess weight on the vehicle. The other problem is that road vibration loosens screws. When you find loose screws, you have to tighten them. In an ideal world, I would check over screws on a regular basis, but who has time? So when they get my attention, I tighten them.
I didn't take a before picture, but it was immediately apparent that some screw tightening was necessary as the inside of the door handle assembly was not flush against the door. The door panel doesn't tuck well into the part that goes around the edge of the door, either - that's why this is titled upcoming project. But for now, it's working again.