Onward to Michigan

 By day 4 we made it to Michigan. We planned a few nights in Howell, between Lansing and Detroit. This is where my BFF just moved. There were few campgrounds around, but I did find Taylor's Beach Campground. I called several weeks ago and reserved a spot. When we pulled up to the office and I walked in to register....the two men behind the desk kinda shook their heads. They told me, "You won't fit in the site you were assigned to go in."  Oh? Lovely! And what do you suggest? The men were endearing. They tossed around a few site numbers. Finally one of them said, "There are 2 sites at the beach. You won't fit in the sites, but you can pull up on the road in front of the sites, and have a lake front site!" Seriously? We were a bit skeptical, so we drove the truck around to see what they were talking about, and yes, it could work, if we had some extensions for our power cord and hose...which we have. So, around we came in what appeared to be a monster RV compared to most of the RV's in the campground. We got everything set up and totally enjoyed our stay!

Taylor's Beach Campground is a family weekend/summer escape for many folks living nearby. There were many RVs that were permanently installed, with decking and storage buildings onsite. There was a playground out of the 60's and several floating play areas in the lake itself. There were plenty of families there, with kids all around. Everyone was having a good time...including we dreamers! 

Of course, the girls were a hit with everyone. They received lots of petting and scritches, 

and I'm sure it went totally to their heads! 

We had the chance to visit with my BFF, Marjie, her husband and her son.

And of course, Marjie had to take me to the local quilt shop! 

It was wonderful....but I did resist the call to buy some lovely fabric!

KERPLUNK KERFLOOEY - Day Two-ee

Day two & three of travel:

We heard a THUNK!

 A very distinct, very loud, POP!

No warning lights lit, so we didn’t stop.

I did a quick walk-around inside,

But nothing out of place could I find. 

A bit later, the Mister, outside walked around,

But again, nothing out of the ordinary was to be found. 

We went on our way to our next campground stay,

And forgot about the POW that started our day.

We had time to relax, and go for a walk with the dogs,

Had a quick supper, and slept like logs.

In the morning, like a tortoise pulling in its legs,

We began to pull in our slides, to get on our way.

Uh oh, the one that yesterday had made the KERPLUNK!

Tried to come in a bit sideways, and it was stuck!

We put it out and tried again,

And the Mister put some pressure on one end.  

The slide came in as it usually does

But we now have a suspicion of what that THUNK was!

Some part of the slide that helps pull it in,

Was the part that went SPROING when our day did begin.

We will go on, only pushing the slide a bit out,

Until we can find a service center along our route. 

This isn’t our RV…thank goodness, our problem hopefully isn’t that bad!

  

Day One of our Adventure

 Is that adventure...or misadventure?! We had a bit of both today.

We were off and away by 9:15. Hooray! 

View from my window for the next few hours....or so I thought:

Three hours later:

It's love bug season! Poor guys... talk about coitus interruptus!

I bet you can tell what we did for the next few hours!  

No cool, blue swimming pool for us 

Nap

It All Adds Up

 How can that possibly be right?

Just the other morning my BFF and I were chatting on the phone. We were talking about fabric "collections".  My mind turned to getting rid of fabric, as in, making some more quilts with what I have on hand. 

Hmmm, I thought, how much do I have on hand?

I began estimating what's in the stash behind me in the picture.

Each 12" cubby (not all are visible in the picture) is split into two sections for each color; red, yellow orange, green, blue, violet, neutral, brown, and black. The left side of the cubby has pieces that are just under 1/2 yard to just over 1/8 yard. The right hand side of each cubby has pieces that are 1/2 yard to 1 1/2 yard lengths of fabric. I have 2 cubbies with pieces that are 2 yards or larger. In addition, I have "Charm Packs" (5 1/2" squares), some jelly rolls, some "Layer Cakes" (10" squares) and various and sundry other scraps. Oh, and yeah, there are some bins containing even more fabric already designated for future projects.

Sitting back in my chair I began estimating, visually grouping 4 or 5 quarter yard chunks together, 2 half yard pieces together, etc. (Oh...and some of my cubbies with quarter yard pieces have a whole 'nother pile behind the first!) 1, 2, 3.....7, 8, 9 yards....25, 26.....42.... 65........ 

Who woulda thunk that those cubbies house well over 250 yards of fabric in total! Yikes! 

And that doesn't even account for the bits and pieces in these bins...which is where I pulled most of the fabric for the quilt I mentioned in the previous post! 

OK folks...time to get serious! When I return from my trip I better get to work sorting and snipping, and clipping and stitching! I have a long way to sew....

Suffering the DT's

 As in a Dire Tickle to play with fabric! 

Other than doing one paper piecing block for a Guild project, I haven't had the opportunity to sew for almost a week....maybe longer! I am preparing for our big trip, so I have been busy collecting things and finding a niche for everything in the RV. I've packed a Singer Featherweight and threw in a bit of fabric for a wall hanging...but wanted to have something more on hand...just in case I end up with time on my hands. I wanted to play with fabric now! 

The owner of Bold Notions Quilt shop sells APQS long arms and has a delicious stash of wide backings and quilting threads. She also has some collections of quilting cotton. She also posts frequent videos of quilts she is making or quilting as inspiration!

A few weeks ago Lauren posted a reel on Facebook making this happy scrappy quilt. I saved it as I have a lot of scraps! I decided that I'd try making a few of the blocks today, and if I liked them, I could cut the fabric to take with me on our trip. 

The blocks are easy to make and don't require any special rulers. That will be nice on the road when my cutting space will be limited to a 12" square mat.

After a few hours of cutting...tada! I'm ready for the road!

Does my stash look much smaller?

You'll have to take my word...it doesn't! I used a some 2 1/2" squares I had previously cut, and some 2 1/2" strips from earlier projects, as well as wider strips I have cut and stashed away elsewhere. I did pull out some of the pieces you see behind me, and I cut a strip or two off of them...but most all went back on the shelves! 

I feel better now. I am prepared! And, if I don't get to it on the trip, I have an easy project to tackle when I return! 

Paw-di-cures

 

Our momma tricked us the other day.

She asked if we wanted to go for a ride.

You bet! 

Then she took us to PetSmart.

The last time we went there we got a treat.

This time.....

some lady played with our toes. 

Bleech! 

Don't let the cute decorations fool you. This is not a happy place!

...even if I look kinda happy in this picture! 

I wonder... if I choke myself on this strap, will she let me go?

I am not having fun! She musta been a wrestler,

she has me in a cross body block! 

Oy, now she's touching my back toes - no, please no!

Hah! It's your turn!

She's gonna hang you from that noose!

Excuse me. I'm kinda private about my toes. 

Wheee, I can do an arabesque! 

I see you mom. I'm giving you the evil Corgi look of death and dismemberment!

I'm never, ever gonna forgive you! 

You are so on my doggy poop list! 

Don't let them fool you. No Corgi was harmed in this session, except perhaps their dignity! 

Sure, they weren't thrilled with their paw-di-cures

...but they sure loved the bones we picked out

...and the love and attention from just about everyone in the store! 

A Magical Meal

We had lunch at the Ocala airport a while back. The Elevation 89 restaurant's food is fantastic. The service...not so much! (This was my second visit) Our waitress was MIA. I needed a glass of water. This waiter had just finished clearing a table near us, and, as he walked by our table asked if we needed anything. I inquired about a glass of water, and off he went. 

In a bit he was back with my requested water. I still have no idea how we began talking about magic with the young man, but he smiled his delightful smile and declared he was a magician! 

Meet Ezra Delucca. Magician! 

We talked about our favorite magicians; David Copperfield, Piff the Magic Dragon, Murray Sawchuck, Penn & Teller,  all of whom Ezra has met, studied and/or socialized with. Ezra apologized for not having his cards with him. He left the table, grabbed a handful of the restaurant business cards from a display at the register, and returned to perform a trick for us. We enjoyed the trick. He was very good...even with business cards! 

We know we will see Ezra on stage some day. Can't wait! 

I Absolutely, Positively Will NOT Buy Any More Fabric

 

So she said when she went to the sewing guild meeting.

The meeting where they had the "Fabric Frenzy".

...with lots of fabric for sale that had been donated over the year,

at great prices. 

Both of the larger pieces are 8 yards long.

They'll be used for quilt backings.

The small piece is a yard in length.

17 yards of fabric for $17.

What's a girl gonna do?!

Give me some credit for practicing restraint! 

The tables ran the width of the room and around the corner...

and there were 5 more boxes that hadn't been unpacked.

The remaining fabric was offered to different charitable sewing groups.

One makes pillow cases.

Another sews shorts and jackets for kids.

A group that sews items for nursing homes also collected fabric.

Patriotic themed and colored fabric went to a Veterans' quilt group.

The rest will be boxed up and passed on to other sewing groups that make sewn items for charity.

This is for the birds!

 

Little Bird Little Bird

When I was in high school our English teachers took the class to NYC to experience some theater. It was a wonderful introduction to Broadway and off Broadway shows, city life, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Theater and the dark sides of city life. One of the shows we saw was "Man of La Mancha". It became one of my favorite musicals. I will still sometimes break out in one of the songs from the show....and know most of the words of each one! 

A few weeks ago our tiny little community theater put on Mary Poppins. I thought it was quite an ambitious show, and the cast and crew did a marvelous job. 

Feed the Birds

But, this post isn't about theater...it's about birds! This morning as I contemplated getting out of bed I heard an owl hooting in the woods nearby. At least I was pretty darn sure it was an owl...but if so, what kind? I downloaded the Merlin app (it's by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and identifies birds that it hears). My owl was a Great Horned Owl....and, according to the app, rare in this area at this time of year. 

Here are the birds that Merlin detected in 10 minutes, as the sun approached the horizon: 

We do feed the birds...and the squirrels...and the corgis who graze under the feeders 😟

Working on the Little Stinker

 Thursday was a sew day for a group of my friends. I found a project I began 3 or 4 years ago, or 5 or 6 years ago... to take with me. 

I decided that since it was just plain sewing, no fancy stitches needed, I'd take one of my featherweights.  I haven't used the white one in...well, I can't even remember when I last used it! The white one is named "Flower". That wasn't always her name! 

I pulled the machine off the shelf first thing in the morning and decided that she would probably like some oil. But when I opened the covers of the machine, I realized she needed a bit more than oil!

I grabbed my WD-40, oil and a bunch of Q-tips. The only thing I was missing was the grease that is used in the motor and in the gears. It's on order now! 

It is always gratifying to work on the machine and be able to hear a difference. When I was working on the head of the machine, I had the machine running as I sprayed in the WD-40. The sound changed dramatically, and I could almost feel that the motor didn't have to work as hard. After the WD-40 bath I oiled everything. Flower purred! 

Look What I Found!

We went to Ocala for a meeting and stopped at the Hobby Lobby store. I am going to be taking a beading class in a week and stopped to pick up the materials. As I perused the beading and jewelry items my eyes spied these:

I had to buy them... I had to buy every one they had (4 packs). it helped that they were 40% off! I wasn't sure what I'd do with them...but I would find something. When I came home I looked in a beading kit I bought recently, and it had crimp thingies. Aha....on the suggestion of my BFF, I can make bookmarks. Better yet, I can add the charms to the ribbons I put in the journals as place markers. I checked to see if the crimp thingie would work...that's why I have the lavender ribbon... I was testing it out.

I had to drop the Mister off to pick up his truck after it was serviced, so I ran by the local Hobby Lobby. They had four more packs of the charms. I was able to order three additional packs, which will let me put a charm on the ribbon of each journal. Hobby Lobby didn't have any of the crimp thingies in the right size and color, so I ordered some from Amazon. I can't wait for them to get her so I can embellish the journals! And of course, it will be nice to have something else to do, because, as you can imagine, I have practically nothing to do to get ready to leave for 3 months! 😂😂😂😂

Trip Planning

Sunday I became serious about planning our route from here to Kankakee, IL.  We will be meeting up with the Adventure Caravan travelers there, with our formal trip beginning on Sept 20. We will travel with the group from there to the Santa Monica pier...the official end of Route 66. 
 

So, this is my spreadsheet of our trip....and it has already changed! That's one of the things I find most challenging. I can't tell you how many times I block out a trip, locate campgrounds within a suitable mileage, make reservations.....and then discover that we need to tweak our plans...and I get to change or cancel some reservations and make new plans. It can be frustrating! 

Here it is Tuesday and we are still unsure if what I have set up is "set in stone". 

But, I moved on and have adopted a "Que Sera, Sera" attitude. 

Many years ago my parents had a large sailboat that they sailed on Lake Ontario. One of the other boats in the marina was named, "Que Sera". The dinghy had "Sera" painted on its transom. It always made me smile, and when I hear the phrase, I immediately think of the boat. Can't help it! 

Today I ran some errands and actually visited Walmart twice! I haven't been in Walmart in months. I do like going there for their veggies, which are usually the freshest in town. But, the parking lot is always crazy and it is always crowded inside. The Mister wanted to show me a small griddle that maybe we could carry on the motorhome instead of a grill. They didn't have the exact one we wanted at Walmart, but from what they had we could make a decision. He later found the grill at Ace Hardware, but they didn't have the connector  for using small propane tanks, so back I went to pick up the connector! 

I discovered that I enjoy cooking on a Blackstone griddle.  I like cooking everything at once...even hamburgers and steaks come out great. I have my formula for making slider sized, medium rare cheeseburgers with sautéed onions and/or mushrooms. Yum! That's what we had tonight! The Mister 'seasoned' the grill by heating small amounts of oil, wiping the grill down,  and repeating the oil treatment 2 more times. Then, I sautéed a bunch of onions in oil before cooking the rest of our dinner on it. 

I finished the last of 23 journals for our Rt 66 tour. I ran out of the Rt 66 fabric, so used embroidery on a simpler fabric. I actually like these last two better than the others! The leaders of the tour will get these:

We have had more rain. It is glorious! Our yard is loving it!

Aerosmith

Saturday evening we went to see an Aerosmith tribute band perform at a community center near us. Most of the Aerosmith songs are too "hard" for me, as in Hard Rock. But there are a few I enjoy. The band was very good, but much too loud.....and that's not just my advanced age complaining! I finally went outside and enjoyed the music from there. I could actually hear the singer's words more clearly outside than inside! I chatted with a few other folks out there...and they didn't even want to go back inside the building because of the overpowering sound. We left within the first hour. 

Pandora's Box Tribute Band

Steven Tyler

The Pandora's box Steven certainly had the look and the moves. The real Steven Tyler fractured his larynx in a concert in 2023 and no longer sings. 

We have had waves of thunderstorms throughout the day and evening. Just about every time either one of us stepped outside to accomplish some task or another...it would begin to rain. During the night, I was awakened several times hearing the rumble of thunder.  I am not complaining!! 

Saturday I fixed my $9.99 lamp! I bought the lamp a few years ago and really like it. At some point it was pulled to the floor and the fitting where the bulb connects was broken; the cleaning gal and the Mister both take credit for the damage! I ordered new pieces and installed them. I'm feeling accomplished! 

I have only two more journal covers to complete for the leaders of our caravan group. They are embroidered and are ready to be stitched. A job for tomorrow!

 

It's all in the Timing!

 Friday we had the plumber come by to repair a leaky outdoor hose bib. It has been a problem since we moved in,  but over time become even worse. The Mister was hesitant to attempt the repair himself, as the pipe is on the main line coming into our property. He feared that if he had a problem, we wouldn't have water at the house until we could get an emergency repair.

While the plumber was finishing the repair, a van with an official county seal cruised by, turned around, and came back. I walked out to greet him. He mentioned he was with the water authority (aka water police), and needed to read our meter, thus needed to know where our water meter was located. I told him he was in luck, good timing! The plumber had already unearthed and opened the box - making it easy to access and assuring that there were no wee beasties in the box. 

This also presented me with the opportunity to let the water folks know that our water usage may be higher than usual, as we had the leak (while pointing to the plumber at work) and reminding him that we had new sod, which gives us an excess water usage exemption for two months. Ahem, our two month exemption is over, but we have, on occasion, broken the *irrigation day "law" by irrigation a few extra evenings in the past few weeks. Maybe they'll chalk it up to the broken pipe - and heck, aren't we good citizens for showing our concern for our natural resources by having the pipe repaired?! (Who am I kidding? Their system is so sophisticated that they know when we are using the water, and just how much....but maybe, since our meter wasn't reporting, they won't have that specific data for more recent usage!)

*Citrus County is under a Modified Phase III "Extreme" Water Shortage Order through October 1, 2026, set by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Outdoor lawn irrigation is strictly limited to one designated day per week, with immediate citations and fines issued for non-compliance.

I gathered a few struggling orchids that had been hiding out in the garden. One wasn't even in a pot, the other had severely outgrown its container...which isn't really the sort of container orchids ought to live in. 

I pulled out my orchid bark and planted the two orchids in orchid pots,

where hopefully they will thrive in spite my general neglect! 

I had lunch with some of my lady friends.

I did a few odds and ends around the house....

and called it a day!