Yesterday when checking the weather I was excited it was calling for 80 degree temperatures, so we were surprised when Dean went out to the truck to start getting ready for the golf game that Dave had set up for them and Lin, that it was foggy with a fine mist in the air, leaving everything damp. He misses playing golf most mornings so when he gets the chance to play he looks forward to it. About 8:00 Nancy called to let him know Dave wanted to wait until later in the week to play since it was not looking so good today. Dean was disappointed but understood, knowing it will be better when this fog moves out.
I had a plan myself since Dean was going to be gone for the morning. All this talk about a possible combo washer/dryer, and I decided to move all of the stuff out of the pantry that was on the floor and the bottom shelf. That is the amount of space needed to house a combo unit. My idea was to see if it feels too cramped in the areas I had to move the "stuff" to, and if I can live with it this way. Dean is ready to buy one and have it installed NOW! He hates going to the laundromat so much that he's ready to get it done. I don't know if I'm in that much of a rush. Just the thought of only going once a week with much less laundry doesn't seem so bad to me. If we bought a portable clothesline and hung the clothes outside they would dry pretty fast on a sunny day here, or he could make the hangar out of PVC pipe to hang on the back of our rig. So we'll see where this goes!
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| The bottom shelf will be removed to make way for a combo unit if that is what we decide to do. |
After my blog post yesterday regarding a combo unit, I received a few comments from my blogger friends. One of them, Marcia, told me about a book she had read entitled, "Wrinkle-Free RV Laundry". I googled it and found a website "AboutRving.com" by Ronald Jones. His wife spent two years trying different techniques to find the best way to wash and dry clothes in their combo unit, then wrote a book about it. If we purchase the combo unit, I will purchase the book - for $5.00 how can you lose? Marcia told me she loved her combo unit and the book had been very helpful to her. It really helps alleviate my concerns about using a combo unit. I have many blogger friends who love their combo units, so I know they can work well. I suppose it's like anything new, there is always a learning curve.
With cleaning and reorganizing it seems you always need something to make the organization better so that involved a quick trip to Walmart for a couple of plastic containers to corral several small, loose items that were in the pantry. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner because no matter what happens the pantry is much better off with the containers.
Another thing on my agenda for today was to take care of some paperwork, make some phone calls and update our monthly budget spreadsheet. I was able to get all of the paperwork done, make all the phone calls and while I did go through the spreadsheet I discovered I had missed an expense in January, so I've decided to recheck the entire month to make sure everything was entered, and will do the same thing each month from now on as I want it to be accurate. One thing is for sure - the dining out line item is not high enough for here - or we need to stay home more. However, it's hard to do that when there are so many wonderful places to eat and we enjoying spending time with our friends.
Peg and Mike pulled out this morning and we'll miss our across the fence neighbors, but we will see them again soon at some of the spring Heartland rallies.
Dean decided to go to a nearby golf course to get a little practice in at their driving range. That is something he does not get the opportunity to do at home since we do not have a dedicated area at our course. I worked on my paperwork and making phone calls while he was gone, although I had to wait for him to return to make three calls since three were for him specifically, and they require his permission for me to talk with them.
Once he returned and after making our phone calls, he set to work looking for some new shoes for Bentley. He already was planning to replace the tires soon. When he was outside earlier, he noticed that one tire is worse than the others so of course now we want to get the tires replaced before we head back home. We've had one blow out and that was enough for us. He spent a good part of the afternoon and early evening doing research, reading about different brands and checking with a few of our RV friends to see what brand they are using.
Tonight I tried a new Instapot recipe - I made Dr. Pepper pulled pork. I thought it was pretty good but Dean wasn't as fond of it, but he will eat whatever I make, and he ate a second helping so it wasn't too bad. I talked to my daughter later. She told me she uses Root Beer and Dave's BBQ sauce and her family really likes it. I used Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. It was an easy recipe so I wouldn't mind trying it again and see if we can find a combination he likes. I have to mention my Valentine - my wonderful husband! He's the best! I'm so blessed he chose me to share his life with, and that we are having so much fun enjoying this amazing, wonderful adventure together. Thank you Dean! I love you!
Today was a good productive day! While it remained somewhat dreary all day the temperatures did warm up. According to the weatherman it is supposed to be in the 80's for the next seven days! Now, that's what we were hoping for when making the decision to come here for the winter. That also means we can get out and ride our bicycles. By the way, Dean made some adjustments to those today as well, so it will be nice to try them out tomorrow morning.
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| Rena's weekly article "Along the Avenue" where she mentions our blog. Leah Canfield, on the left, was a very special lady to me; and I remember Aroyo well when Karen was living here in Oswego. |
One other happening today! My sister Crystal was telling our friend, Rena, who is the editor of our local newspaper "Labette Avenue", about our blog. (See Rena's weekly article above) Crystal let Rena read one of the recent posts. Rena contacted me and wanted to know if I would mind if she mentioned our blog in the paper. One of the things they feature in our paper are pictures of readers holding the newspaper when they are visiting other areas. While we were at South Padre Island, Dennis took a picture of Dean and I while I held up my pone with the e-version of the newspaper on it. I emailed the picture to Rena and told her it would be okay to include something about our blog. I mention this because today we received an email from friends, who reside in Oswego, but have wintered in the RGV (Rio Grande Valley) area for many years. They read the article, emailed me and suggested we get together for lunch. That was really nice of them and we are going to do that soon. I've noticed our pageviews for the blog have increased, so I assume some new folks are checking in with us after the article in our hometown paper. If so, I'd love to hear from you!
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| Our picture in the paper with information on our blog. |
Too bad about Dean's golfing postponement but I'm sure he'll get out soon.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the washer unit, whichever you end up doing. It is not our goal, we would rather have the room for storage and don't mind the laundry. Everyone has their own agenda and likes and dislikes, thank goodness! :) I'm sure it will work great and that book is a great deal for tips.
Dean really wants the washer/dryer unit and I think he has me convinced. I ordered the book. The information is pretty straight forward and seems quite simple - as with anything it's a matter of doing it a few times to get familiar with it. Doing a load a day in the early morning (I'm usually up by 4:30) before we even leave the rig would be wonderful. There will be times we won't have sewer but hopefully we can catch up when we do and if we really need to we can use a laundromat if needed. He absolutely hates going to a laundromat. He doesn't like me going by myself unless we are in a park. He'll go but the idea of doing it "at home" makes him very happy!! Lol!
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