Ah, a new TV

 Good afternoon.
Well, the last two days have been enormously busy. You know how when you start a project, it grows into a life of it's own. That's what happened here.
I've been wanting to put a new 32 inch flat panel TV in the mo-ho. I hated the big old 27 inch  one we had that was up next to the ceiling. I wanted one more at a comfortable viewing angle. So, we finally decided to do it.

 Here's the hole left from taking out the old large 27 inch TV.
That sucker was heavy!

 Here's me installing the bracket for the new TV. It's sitting down between the seats.

 I wanted the TV to be able to lower for a better eye view, then store higher for traveling.

 Here's the mount ready for the TV.
Of course, it wouldn't go as planned. The TV would just swing down, so I had to use bungee cords to hold it upright.

 After much finagling, and numerous trial and error, I finally got it set up to sit properly.
Took the better part of 2 days to achive this.
Then, when I tested the DVD player, all I could get, was black and white. ARG!
What was wrong!

After trying out a number of different wire configurations, I got it to work.  Ya!

Now we have a nice TV for eye level viewing that stores easily higher, for traveling.  :-)
Now we do plan on finishing off the gaping hole left from the old TV, but that will be another weekends project.  :-)
And for dinner, since we were so busy on the mo-ho on Monday, we had Turkey burgers.
And now that I've finished cleaning up after the installation, that's about it for today.

it's mo-ho time

Good morning.
Yesterday was a very nice day as expected, sunny and mild. I took full advantage of it.
I've got 2/3 of the mo-ho waxed now. 

I think it's looking pretty good for a 10 year old motor home.  :-)
I also cleaned up the portable gas grill we use on our trips.

We've had this now for 7 years, and cleaning it 3 times a season has kept it looking good also.   :-)
Between waxing and cleaning the grill, were several cocktail breaks on  the deck to enjoy the nice weather.
For dinner, I grilled a turkey breast, and a couple of potatoes, and Craig steamed some cauliflower.
We've also been watching the Olympics. Sadly, our hometown girl, Jordyn Wieber didn't qualify for the all around. Hopefully, she'll do better in her other events.
Yes, Jordyn Wieber is from Dewitt, MI. Just outside of Lansing.
And now, while Craig gets his beauty rest, I'm going out to work on the mo-ho.

Sunday

Good morning.
As usual, I've just returned from cleaning the Salon.
It's looking to be a beautiful weekend with temps in the 80's and sunny.
Saturday was a normal work day, and when we got home, we relaxed on the deck with cocktails. One good thing about it being so dry, virtually no mosquitoes.  :-) 
For dinner, Craig fixed a stir-fry of turkey sausage with onions, mushrooms, and red peppers in a sweet and sour sauce over rice.

Today, I hope to get some more waxing done on the mo-ho, we'll see.  :-)

Yes, I'm back :-)

Good morning.
Well, I've decided to come back sooner than expected.  :-)
From the comments and e-mails I've received, it appears there are a lot of people out there who enjoy boring dribble. So if that's what you want, I've got lot's to go around.  ;-)
So, to start with.........
We've finally got some much needed rain. Over the the last week and a half a total of a little over an inch. And a good chance for some more today. The temps are finally breaking too, with the forecast highs for the weekend in the low 80's.
Work has been steady this week, although I am working later today than normal.
My knee has completely healed as I'm able to kneel on it with no problems. I will be using knee pads for any projects that require extended kneeling.
I've been spending most mornings before work, reading blogs, and researching things to do on our next trip which, in a couple of weeks, will be Traverse City.
We also had a door come off one of the kitchen cupboards. One of the hinges just broke in two. That will be a project for this weekend.
And finally, a few garden pics......

Potted grasses and impatiens  next to a gate that goes to my compost/ storage area.

Pink and White Jo Pye Weed at the back of a flower bed.

6 ft tall Rudbeckia herbstsonne

of course, Black Eyed Susan.

My poor burned up ferns among the pachysandra. It was just to hot for them this year, but they just go dormant. They'll come back next year.

Even though my Japanese Maples re-leafed from the April killer frost, the leaves that didn't fall off have looked burnt all summer.
It's been a crazy year weather wise.
And now, it's time to get to work.

trip #5, and so long for now.

Good morning.
We've returned from our 5th weekend RV trip.
This trip took us to Johnny Appleseed Campground in Ft Wayne, In.
This campground is right in the city about 3 miles from downtown.
Here's a pic....

The campground is actually in Johnny Appleseed Park. The park is nestled along the St Joesph River. The campground is at one end of the park. Our motor home was farther back in the woods. Just outside the campground you can see part of the Ft Wayne Coliseum, and just past the Coliseum, is a mall. We were near everything.. It's a nice small campground with water and electric at each site, and only $22 a night.
Driving to Ft Wayne, we went by field after field of corn that was only maybe 2 ft tall and starting to tassel. The news said they were expecting a total loss of the corn crop. It's been so dry in Indiana, that they have water restrictions across the entire state. Michigan's been pretty dry, but not like Indiana.
While we were in Ft Wayne, we took in the The Rivers Festival. It was in  large park right downtown. They had numerous things going on. Canoe races, pole vaulting, a midway, arts and crafts, live music, and of course numerous food vendors.
I also managed to get in a lot of biking despite the heat. They have what's called the River Greenway. It's an extensive bike trail along the three rivers and ran right through our park. I went out every morning, biking between 4-6 miles.
And we arrived there safe, and returned home safe, and there were no incidents. Another good trip.  :-)
And I've been thinking of taking  a leave from blogging. I look back through my posts and I've really got not much to say. We have a routine life, and for the most part, pretty boring. Even our trips are pretty boring. So I've decided to spare the few readers I have. This might be a phase I'm going through and may be back sooner than I plan, but right now, unless I feel I have something worthwhile to share, you won't see much of me.
And with that, time to get on with my day.
Thanks for reading.  :-)

Rain

Good morning.
Well, we finally got some rain! Just over half an inch. A nearly day long off and on steady rain. The nice soaking in kind.  :-)
Work has been fairly busy. The phones have rung quite a bit this week, so my books have been pretty full.
My knee has finally returned to normal, although I'm careful now if I kneel on it. I have knee pads now at home and at work.
Craig is still liking his new car, and now Kia has become the car we tow behind the mo-ho.
And that's about all I've got.
Have a great weekend!

It's sooo dry

Good morning.
Our drought continues, and I've been watering like there's no tomorrow.
Looks like we'll be in the 90's for the rest of the week.
So far for July, we've had just .13 inches of rain. That's just over one tenth of an inch. June was dryer than normal, and so was May. It's currently raining across the state, but not here. I can actually hear rumbling in the distance, but according to the NWS radar, it's moving across the state just south of us. Hopefully, something will reach us. Today and tonight is the only chance for rain the rest of the week.
Anyway, I did manage to work on the mo-ho. I got almost one side waxed, the wheels polished, and the windows cleaned. I also checked and filled water in the house batteries and discovered corrosion on the battery terminal, so got out my cans of cleaner and protector and took care of that.
We haven't been on as many trips this year as in past years. Our work schedule hasn't cooperated. But we do have a number of trips still to come.  :-)
And now, it's back to work. The week is looking a bit on the slow side, which I would expect after last weeks record breaker. We'll see how the phones go.

Monday

Good morning.
The work week ended as it began, very busy. I had by far the best week ever, money wise. I was exhausted.
Sunday morning, I spent just over 2 1/2 hours cleaning the Salon. Did a real thorough cleaning. Spent most of the rest of the day relaxing. After that busy week, I didn't feel much like doing anything. The only other thing accomplished Sunday, was designing new gift certificates for the Salon and ordering them.
This morning, I washed the mo-ho, KIA, and the Hyundai. I was planning on doing some waxing. I've got most of the back of the mo-ho waxed, but the wax isn't drying. I wanted to do the waxing early, as it's suppose to hit 95 today, but even though it's only 73 right now, apparently it's too humid for the wax to dry. I decided to come in and do a post, hoping it'll be dry when I go back out.
Our drought also continues. I hate to see our water bill when it comes.  :-)
And with that, time to check on the wax....

Friday the 13th

Good morning.
As expected, the work week has been crazy busy. 11 hours Wed. and 10 hours Thur. And I'm working late today and tomorrow. 
So with nothing else going on, here's some of my approximately 50 daylillies.........

The foliage is looking a bit worn from the dryness, but the flowers are blooming fine.
Now I'm off for my busy Friday at the Salon.
Oh, and happy Friday the 13th!

we need rain

Good afternoon.
It's been a beautiful weekend. Temps in  the mid 80's and sunny.   :-)
 Here's a pic of the driveway with the sealer done.....
Looks like new again....if you don't look too close.  :-)
To see how the drought has hit us, look out at the end of the driveway and across the street. Brown grass. The grass in the front yard is still  some what green, thanks to a large tree shading it.

 

And this will show you how dry the back yard is. It's fairly sunny by the pond and is looking pretty brown.
And this area is under another large shade tree, so it looks much better.

I did wash and wax Craig's Honda today, and cleaned up the compost storage area, which is behind that gate in the above pic.
Tomorrow looks to be the start of a very busy week. I'm pretty much completely booked this week, so if I get many calls, I'll have to work later than usual.
And with that, pray for rain for us.   :-)

Hey

Good afternoon.
The massive heat wave is finally over, and we are back  to normal temps of mid 80's.
Our drought though continues. Corn fields are shriveling, and I'm watering like there's no tomorrow. Our usual water bill is $18. Last month, $67. And that's just the perennial beds. No lawn.
I didn't do my usual Sunday morning post, as I was out sealing the driveway.Here's a couple of pics.....

The driveway is cracking up so bad, it took 4 gallons of crack filler and 3 1/4 five gallon buckets of sealer. I use to be able to seal it with just 2 five gallon buckets. It's gotten so porous and full of cracks. We really need to replace it, but I keep nursing it along hoping for another year. It actually looks pretty good after all the crack filler and sealer.
You can see how dry the grass is in the above pic. Brown. It's like that all over except for the few who have sprinkler systems.
And here's a few pics of the gardens....

They're looking pretty good despite the drought. I try to water them at least once a week.
And that's pretty much all I've got for now. Craig made a big batch of potato salad to go with dinner which will be pork cutlets on the grill.
Since I did the driveway this morning, tomorrow, I'll clean the Salon.

a short week.

Good morning.
Our heat and drought continues.
We had storms blow through during the night. Lot's of wind. Just enough rain to wet the ground. I awoke to discover numerous large branches scattered over the yard. One 15 footer was hung up on the mo-ho windshield wipers. Didn't look like it did any damage. During the last couple of days, I did manage to clean the inside of the moo-ho for our next trip, and washed the outside. Did those things in the morning before the heat really built. It's looking to be hot and dry the rest of the week. The lawns around town where people don't water are as brown as hay. Looks more like late August than early July. Can't be good for the corn crops either. And thanks to the warm March and late April freezes, Michigan has lost 90 % of it's apple crop and nearly 100% of it's grape and peach crop. Not a good year for farmers.
Anyway, it's back to work today after our long weekend. Should be crazy busy after being off so long, and being a short week.

trip # 4

Good morning. Happy 4th of July!
Well, we did make it there safe, and returned home safe.
We left Friday after work for Indiana Dunes State Park, arriving around 3:30. Filled our fresh water tank, and got into our site. We didn't book this campground early enough, so the site we got was 3 sites from our usual. It was actually a better site. The weekend was stifling with heat indexes of 100-110. The site we ended up in had a big tree behind us and gave us much needed afternoon shade. We were also fortunate that this campground is one of a very few state parks that has 50 amp service at each site, which for any camper but a motor home wouldn't need. But with 50 amp, I was able to run both rooftop air conditioning units which kept the mo-ho nice and cool and comfortable.  :-)
Our weekend itinerary included a day in Chicago, a day in the park, and a day in Michigan City.
It didn't quite work out that way. Like I said, it was a stifling, hot, humid weekend. We made it into Chicago on Saturday, did a little shopping in the Lakeview area, and headed downtown. Got parked , and grabbed a little lunch. Our plan was then to head over to the loop, catch some artwork, go into Grant Park and view the Gold Coast Art Fair, head into Millennium Park for a sculpture exhibit, then out to Navy Pier. By time we got to the loop, Craig was nearly having a heat stroke so we ducked into Macy's to cool down and rest. I don't know if we're just getting to old, or if it was truly just to damn hot and humid, but we couldn't go 2 blocks without becoming a dripping mess. We decided the weather had won, and slowly made our way back to the car, plans abandoned. There was nothing to be done outside the rest of the day.
Back at the campground, we relaxed under our awning, with fans to try and keep us comfortable. Craig decided to cook dinner inside, and we turned in early.
I did manage to ride my bike each morning before the heat started building. I'd go out at the crack of dawn, when it was in the low 70's, and very comfortable. By the time Craig got up, it'd already be in the mid 80's, but still nice enough for our morning coffee walk.
I will take this moment to tell you, if you buy a bike and it was pre-assembled, make sure you double check everything before riding. The first ride of the weekend, my side slide down. I had to re-tighten that, then near the end of the ride, one of the foot pedals came off. I had to walk the bike back to the campsite and get out tools to fix that.
Anyway, the plan for the day was to fix breakfast, do a morning hike, hang out at the beach in the afternoon, and fix a past salad to go with dinner. We made it through breakfast. The heat and humidity had already gotten so bad, I was a perspiring mess by the time I finished grilling breakfast. We decided there was no way we could hike in this, and no way we'd sit on the beach in this. So, we decided to go up to the Four Winds casino where it'd be cool and comfortable. Spent a couple of hours there. They've added a large expansion that included another hotel wing, a show room, and a Hard Rock cafe. This place is getting huge! Of course, as is usual one of us wins, and the other loses. This time it was Craig who got lucky. We headed back to the campground and stopped at a store to pick up deli salads, as Craig didn't want to cook in the mo-ho in this heat. So it was pork steaks on the grill, and we ate inside.
Monday, after our coffee walk, we headed into Michigan City, and the Blue Chip casino, where after a couple of hours, I was ahead, and Craig behind, as usual. Then lunch at an outdoor cafe, and over to the outlet mall, where we got some shirts, socks, and egg cooking rings.
Back at the campground, we slowly took out time breaking down camp for an early morning departure.
We left the campground around 8am, arriving home around 1pm. We got there safe, arrived home safe, and everything functioned as expected. despite our change in itinerary, it was a good trip.  :-)

We're back, I hope

Good morning. Yep, my lack of posts usually means one thing. Road trip!
Actually, I pre-wrote this post Last Friday, and scheduled it to be published this morning. If everything has gone as expected, we left last Friday after work,  for Indiana Dunes State Park, and left the park this morning for our return trip home.
I don't have a smart phone, and there's no wi-fi at the park, so I have to go all weekend unconnected.
It's actually feels a little bit liberating, because when I'm home, I'm on the puter every day. It's kinda funny, I don't miss it much when we're gone.
We hadn't been on a trip since Memorial Day and we were really looking forward to the extra long weekend. I had a full schedule planned for the trip and I'll fill you in on all the details tomorrow. That's providing we do arrive home later this morning as expected, and the trip went as expected.   :-)