Backyard Fire Pit and Going Camping!

The Wisconsin snows have melted, again, and we have some sunshine and temps up in the 50-60 range during the day, but we have been down to freezing at night.  Not time yet to start planting flowers or moving my coleus plants outdoors.  Some brave tulips have sprouted up and are starting to bloom!

Alongside our home is a whole row of red and yellow brightly colored tulips that come up year after year.  Some areas are thinning out a bit, with gaps in the rows. I am going to have to remember to plant some more in the fall to add to the bounty next spring.

Steve had trimmed a few of the branches for me on the lilac and bridal wreath bushes, and we also chipped in with a few neighbors on having our lawns "rolled" for the lumps and bumps in the terrain.  Now it will be much smoother for lawn mowing.

We also installed the two grave markers for Ducky and Duke in the backyard.  Sigh.  I miss that goofy collie Ducky with the sense of humor and clumsy manners... and that sweet boy Duke would kissy kiss injured birds on the beak, and play with frizzbee until he could barely walk to bring it back, again and again. Both of their collars and tags are hanging around the little doggie statue.

No matter how many pets we have over the years,

each one takes up a special spot in our hearts.

It has been cold and windy all last week, but it finally warmed up enough to finish the fire ring installation. Steve got a hunk of landscape fabric to go underneath the fire-ring and circle of stones.  So he got out the shovel and took up the sod all around.

Soon it was all put together.  Now we are going to put in a layer of sand and gravel in the center for the fire to burn on.  The landscape mesh is to keep the weeds from growing up through the cracks. Can't wait till it warms up and we can sit out with our first campfire in the backyard.  Thanks again Jesse and Heather for such a nice present!

Speaking of campfires, we are going to start packing up the motorhome today to GO CAMPING!!!  

Steve and I serve as the Camphost Coordinators for High Cliff State Park.  Our camphosts are scheduled to take one month stints at a time, and are all set up for the spring, summer and fall already.  But....  the folks for May called and said they are having a family medical issue for the first week or so of May.  We said don't worry about it, we will cover it.  We will toss our stuff in the motorhome tonight and head out there tomorrow, I think. The April hosts had to leave a few days early, so our site is empty and waiting for us.  I enjoy hosting at the park, and it's good for the dogs for extra socialization too. 

Loading up the rig and getting it de-winterized and ready to camp in is always an exciting thing.  We went out to the rig last night where it is parked in our backyard. I started making lists of things to be packed and stowed away, plus all the clean linens and towels since our vacation had to be put away too.  We load up the rig with clothing for the summer and leave it in there, and also the dry goods we keep on hand go into all the cabinets.  When we want to go camping, all we have to do it throw in the cold foods, the dogs, the computer and away we go!

EDITED PORTION:

WE LOADED UP THE REST OF THE THINGS AFTER DINNER TONIGHT

AND HEADED OUT TO THE PARK ANYHOW. 

ALL SET UP NOW ON THE CAMPHOST SITE

AT HIGH CLIFF STATE PARK! 

Steve finished altering the cabinet piece I wrote about in the last blog.  Colaw's RV Salvage got back to us and said the glass doors on their motorhomes in the salvage yard are gone. I seriously doubt it because there are about 10 rigs out in their boneyard that have them in that we saw 2 months ago. I think someone is just too lazy to go out to their huge junkyard and look for such a small priced item. ARGGHHH  It's in Missouri near Joplin, and next time we are through that area, we will go look ourselves for one. So in the meantime we will make up a new door, perhaps from a discarded entertainment center for the hinges and latch?  We will see.

Steve also installed his newest present from his birthday....  its a small table on an arm that clamps to the side of the anti-gravity reclining chairs.  I already have one on mine, and he mentioned he would like one for his.  I had to order it from RV Upgrades  for $15.98 plus shipping.  

These tables are so nice because the thing stays level, no matter what position your chair is in.  Plus, the cup area is recessed and less chance of dumping over your glass, cup or can!  (there are even little sections to allow for a coffee cup handle too) 

Ok, I will wind up this blog post with stuff for my crafty readers:

Saturday night the local coffee shop has a Crafty Night for us to come and hang out and work on whatever we are working on.  It's Terra Verde Coffee House located a block away from our home in Chilton.  Some folks bring card making stamping projects, some knitting, some jewelry making etc. 

We all bring a little something to munch on... veggies/dip, sweets, chips, and a couple bottles of wine to pass around too.  The coffee house is closed to regular customers during this time, so we can bring in whatever we want and enjoy the "girl time" !

 I FINALLY finished this second pair of Crocodile Booties.  Don't ask me for a pair, I am DONE with crocheting them. The novelty wore off fast, and they are a pain in butt to work on! 

Once I finished them, I took out my standard sock knitting two pairs on one large circular needle. 

Time to get moving here.

I was ill the last few days, 

so now that I am feeling better,

I have a motorhome to load up! 

Getaway Plans Official and Crafty Night at Terra Verde Coffee House

Yup, it's official...  we are going to GET AWAY for some vacation time this winter!   Steve's job at High Cliff State Park is a full time job, but by combining some vacation time from last year and some of this year, we will be able to go for a nice jaunt to Florida!

My folks live down in the middle of the state near Williston (between Ocala and Gainesville)  so we will probably end up there for a week or so, and explore around the area....  if any of you bloggers hanging out down thataways wanna meet up, let us know!  Plans made in jello... but we will meander our way down for a week and meander our way back for a week.  We do have to plan a few days in reserve to hole up in case of bad weather.  In case we have to wait for the right moment to dash through any snow or ice storms to get back home.  We are thinking of leaving mid Feb and coming home med March.

Steve has a large commitment at the park this spring with a couple of big jobs... one is finding and repairing a water main leak underground somewhere near the upper pavilion.  For now, it has wasted 40,000 gallons of water before they were able to confine to where it's leaking underground and turn off valves to stop it.  That means this winter there aren't any flushing toilets or water access in the upper level buildings in the park.  Next on his list is that the big showerhouse in the family campground will be undergoing some renovations, so he needs to be back in time to oversee those as each contractor is scheduled for various jobs to start in mid March.

We will start loading the motorhome up with our summertime clothes...  wheeheeeeee   and then load the final freezable and perishable things right before we leave.  Our neighbors will take care of things here (two widows with eagle eyes for any mischief) and their sons will take care of our snow.  Hopefully when we get back, the snow will all be GONE!


We had a sad start to our weekend, our daughter-in-law Heather's grandfather passed away.  We went to the funeral to pay our respects and also help wrangle the 4 and almost 2 year old grandtots. Allegra was perfectly behaved all the while. I had my purse loaded with little activities and treats to get them through the visitation. Little Mason got pretty bored during the funeral service, so Steve and I tag teamed him up and down the back aisles, letting him monitor which heat registers were blowing air and which ones were off.  Once that got boring, we hung out in the vestibule, and explored the holy water font, the stained glass windows, the brochures in the rack and best of all: the wheelchair!~    Soon we were wheeling him back and forth in the vestibule, sometimes with him sitting, sometimes with him standing up, sometimes balancing himself on the foot rests...  around the holy water font, in circles, back and forth.

After the service, the priest came to speak to me about the great use we got out of the wheelchair!  He had a hard time keeping a straight face during the service, as he was the only one looking backwards towards the vestibule....  and seeing a kid go back and forth and back and forth in various poses on the wheelchair!   What a great way for the littlest great grandson to send off his great-grandfather, with smiles.



The local coffee house here in Chilton hosts a monthly event for Crafty Ladies (no men- no kids!)  where we each bring in something we are working on, a dish to pass, and a bottle of wine or other favorite beverage.  It's a nice way to get something done that maybe at home wasn't getting done by family interruptions.   Social Networking with neighborhood gals is also a plus.

The name of the shop is Terra Verde Coffee House  and you can find them on Facebook.   I went last night to gather with the gals for a while.

Some gals brought sewing projects, even a sewing machine.  And wine glasses! 

Some worked on scrapbooking projects.

Here are some fleece mittens and some knit boot toppers from recycled sweaters.

While we sipped wine.

Taa dah!  Mittens from recycled sweaters. 

Some fancy double layered knitting, 

and some wine corks into a commemorative wall decor shape.

My oh my, did we drink ALL that wine? 

Intense sewing taking place, made easier by wine.

I brought along my antique sock knitting machine.  

It goes a lot faster than the needle knit scarf!

(behind the wine) 

 OH, did I happen to mention more wine? 

Well, it's Sunday morning.  After a good breakfast of homemade blueberry pancakes and sausage, now Steve and I are going to work on loading up an extra loom I have in storage.  A gal from my weaving guild wants to buy it--- but only if we come and set it up this afternoon for her in her home.  Sooooo  that is next on our list of things to get done.

The temps will be up in the 30's today before another cold spell drops upon us in Wisconsin.  I am hoping to get the pup out on a leash for a bit of some training and also start teaching him to go potty in other places than just his fenced-in yard.  Gotta train him for travelling now!

Here is a link to a little video clip (it's short, only 15 seconds) of the silly doggers this morning.  It's called ZOOMIES!!!