Thursday, October 4, 2012

Chores? We Have Chores?

Elkhart, IN    High:  67    Low:  51

Yep! We have chores to do when we sit for a bit...like we gotta mow the lawn...And our readers are saying, "Hunh? Thought you were full timing!?"  We are, but every so often, there are things that need to be done, like the grass needs mowing!

We didn't see any signs that the campground was going to mow any time soon since we moved right into our site after the last guy left. They apparently didn't have enough time between renters to mow. So, Sparky saw a guy with a lawn mower, checked with the campground to see if she could borrow it, and told them she wouldn't mind mowing our site. So she did!

Sparky LOVES to mow grass...She doesn't care if it's pushing a traditional lawn mower, or a riding mower but draws the line at the old fashioned push mower. She misses that. It only took about 10 minutes to mow the site, and now, it looks great! Eldy would have been glad to do it, but really, Sparky insisted-- she really likes to mow! And she likes to rake leaves, too...If she could get hired for a weekend of raking leaves, she'd do that, too! Although the old body might complain a bit.  Guess that comes from a dad who made his kids do yard work every single fall weekend. There were LOTS of oak and maple trees and the leaves just covered the backyard, it seemed constantly. That was back when you could burn them in a pile in the driveway. Sparky's dad would work the kids so hard, pushing one of those old lawn sweepers with rollers, we were tuckered out at the end of each Saturday and Sunday. We were barely tall enough to be above the handle on the old roller sweeper. Then you'd take the cover off after about two rows of pushing through the leaves, and go dump them in the driveway and back at it again. Sparky's brothers would take turns with Sparky, manning the burning driveway pile so they could get a rest from pushing the sweeper. That was REALLY hard work for kids back then! We'd get blisters on our hands from raking so much.

Eldy changed the bulbs in the outdoor porch lights by the front door, both were burned out. In case anybody in a Phaeton wants to know how to get the covers off, there are a trio of "lips" on the plastic cover that you can pop out with a screwdriver, but you have to be careful "digging" the cover out, the potential for scratching the paint is there or snapping off the lip.

There were no screws holding in the plastic cover. Speaking of changing light bulbs in a Phaeton, ever try to change one of the INTERIOR lights? Untwist the white glass receptacle to remove the cover, then pull the halogen bulb straight out. Try to put the NEW halogen bulb in without touching it directly with your fingers (supposedly that shortens the life of the bulb) HA! That's a real trick. The angle of the two little pins on the halogen bulb is just about impossible to see in some of the angles of placement in the receiving holes in the bedroom lights and the living room lights. NOT a good system!   Gr-r-r-r-r....

OK, that's about all the chores for today...Sparky met her friend, Carol, for lunch today....Girls' Day Out....Carol and Sparky had a great time catching up, we only see each other about once a year now, or less...

Lots of laughs...comparing age related complaints, that sort of thing...Checking on our memory status..."Do you think this might be a sign of dementia?" and off we'd launch into the latest goofy thing we couldn't remember and were worried was a sign. We both decided, naw, we're ok for now....but we might want to check in with our doctor just to be sure! Sparky always checks with her sister, who's eight years older, and if sis isn't worried about Sparky's mental condition, then Sparky is not going to worry. Eldy always says Sparky is ok, so he's not the best person to ask. :-)    Just teasing....Sparky always asks him first, then sis second, then her friends, just to confirm!

And the day passed by quickly...tomorrow...doctor's appointments for Sparky. Sparky will ask about dementia....We'll let you know what the doctor says... Bye for now......

8 comments:

  1. It's part timers, or old timers. . .or something like that. . .I can't remember. . .just keep mowing the lawn and staying one step ahead!

    Janice
    ReadyToGoFullTimeRVing.blogspot.com

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  2. If you ever get the urge to mow, we have the yard for you! Nice that you made the extra effort and enjoyed it at the same time.

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  3. I love to mow too. And I love to rake leaves...I especially love the smell of burning leaves. Out in the country you can still burn them :)
    And nothing smells better than fresh cut grass, unless it is freshly mown hay. I think I am all about smells today, wonder what is up with that? Maybe I am trying to remember too :))))

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  4. Replacing those lightbulbs reminded me of when I was teaching and we had to replace the bulb in an overhead projector (I know that is ancient technology now !) - we had to hold the bulb in a piece of tissue to avoid the oil from our fingers ruining the bulb. My husband has been replacing some of our halogen bulbs in our MH with LED's. It helps with battery life when we boondock - not quite as bright but with a little bit or trial and error we have found some that work for us.

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  5. Enjoy cutting the grass too as long as its not our property and I don't have to do it all the time.

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  6. I like mowing grass too. Guess we'll be doing a lot of that in Oregon, 15 acres worth! Hope my hay fever doesn't go 'hay-wire' :)

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  7. Raking leaves was never one of my favorite chores. Burning them at the curb was its only redeeming factor. :)

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  8. Cutting the grass was never a favorite thing of mine. Can't imagine doing it now!

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