Water Woes

It seems our country either has too much water....or not enough. It seems rare to have it 'just right'! 

In California arguments arise over what percentage of water should be made available for agriculture, which is a huge industry in the state, and what percentage should be made for residential use. Complicating the argument is the use of huge open canals that transport water from the Sierra Nevadas to farm lands throughout the state. The water in open canals is subject to evaporation. The LA Times reports: 

California's 4,000 miles of canals and open aqueducts lose an estimated 63 billion gallons (roughly 193,000 acre-feet) of water to evaporation each year. This evaporated volume represents enough water to meet the household needs of approximately 2 million people or irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland annually. [1, 2]

There are growing concerns about drinking water contamination as well. 

Having lived in Colorado, where our annual rainfall total was only 15-18, and now in Florida where until recent rains we were well below our annual rainfall amounts and our aquifers are lower than usual, I am sensitive about water use. 

So, now after all of that blabbety-blabbing, I'll get to the reason I am writing this post!

Over the years at my California Condo I have made a little succulent garden. In February I was awed by how large and healthy my garden had grown in my absence! Look at the size of some of those 'flowers'!

The secret? My hose irrigation system that waters the plants on a schedule. 

But, my hose bib leaks.

 It drips.

And, those drips add up.

At one point I 'solved' my problem (assuaged my guilt), by putting a plant under the faucet, in line with the drip. But, that proved to be far too much water for the plant and it died. 

I decided to leave the irrigation off, letting the plants fend for themselves.

They are succulents, after all, and they don't require that much moisture.

When I arrived at the California Condo last week my garden was a sorry sight. 

By the time I thought to take a picture, I had already trimmed several plants,

but you can see it was a far cry from what it had been six months previously.

I kept thinking about that darn leaky faucet (it drips from the back blow preventer...next time I'm out here I"ll replace it) and my life-giving irrigation system! 

I thought of hooking up some sort of funnel, attached to a hose, to redirect the drips.

I grabbed a water bottle, and discovered that my hose would screw on the end of it. I could cut the bottom of the bottle, and suspend it under the drip somehow.

Then, I hit upon the solution. I had in my possession a brightly colored ceramic planter I found the last time I was here. I brought it in to wash it, thinking I might use it to hold kitchen spoons, spatulas and other tools. While washing it I noticed that it did have a small drain hole at the bottom edge. The irrigation tubing fit perfectly in that hole. 

Can you see my bright 'drip' pot amongst the succulents, under the hose bib?

Here it is...with a black tube coming out of the bottom on the right, going behind the blue pot.

(amongst the spaghetti of tubes going here and there!)

I ran the tubing under the door, tacking it about 6" above the patio,

slightly lower than where the tube exits the pot.

The tube runs behind the pile of stuff in the corner, 

continues down along the fence of the patio,

and drips on the ground by the pot I placed to hold the tube between the two plants. 

If you look closely you might see the end of the tube. 

And why did I bother to reroute the water to this side of the patio?

There is a large massive Sequoya tree at the corner of my property.

The local arborist has explained that the tree needs more water.

The residents do put out a soaker hose, but it gets moved, it gets turned off,

it isn't necessarily doing the job.

I've created my own version of a soaker hose! 

One drip at a time! 

I've Been Shot

 Covid self-isolation has taught me a number of things:

- I am an extroverted introvert. (Or am I and introverted extrovert?!) I am quite content being in my own little space. I don't need to get "out there", but if I am out in a crowd, I am not always a wall-flower - I might surprise myself and others, by standing out in the crowd!

- I can cook amaZing things just by looking through the freezer, cabinets and fridge. I don't always need a recipe, and I'm open to experimenting with alternate ingredients if I don't have one or more ingredients in a recipe. (Many of my friends are struggling because they can't eat out... that was never a problem for either of the Dreamers - we rarely eat out anyway - so we don't miss it.)

- I am not immune to events happening around me. OK, so yes, I know I can be emotional. And, yes, there has been more than one occasion where my mind/emotions rule my body and make my heart race, or don't let me sleep, or give me a sense of ill feeling. But, I didn't realize the extent of the impact outside events could have on the inside of me until the night before the election. Watching the news sent my blood pressure through the roof, and I ended up in the hospital for two nights of observation and tests! It's all better now and I was given a fast-acting, strong prescription to use in case it happens again. 

- I have learned how fortunate I am to live in these times where literally everything is at my fingertips. I can order things online and have them delivered to my door...including my groceries! I am grateful that we have the means to do this, to have a nice home and to pay our bills.

- I discovered how much I miss my family! I want to see my grand kids in person. I want to hug them, and hold them, and see how much they have grown. I miss my boys. We talk. We FaceTime, but it is not the same thing. 

So, today I was shot. I RECEIVED MY FIRST DOSE of the Moderna vaccine! This is THE MOST exciting thing that has happened to me since I earned my National Board Certification as a teacher in 1996!! No joke! 

Florida began offering the vaccine to the 65 and older crowd as 2020 came to a close. The roll out was a wreck! Lee County (where I used to winter) made national news for the audacity of having seniors standing in line overnight for the chance to get the vaccine. Our neighbors were in line beginning at 4 AM - wishing they had brought blankets and chairs! Other vaccination sites had their online reservation sites crash within minutes. We tried calling numerous numbers for counties around us, getting no answers, or out-of-order messages. It was very frustrating. The local news would announce a site where seniors could get vaccinations, and the available reservations would be nabbed within 5 - 10 minutes. I was discouraged. Yesterday, a friend sent me a message saying that the Lee Health system, of which I'm a member, was taking appointment reservations. I called immediately, and unbelievably had an appointment for the Mister and me for this morning. I was "over-the-top" excited! However, I remained skeptical until I walked into the facility and was directed to the clinic administering the shots. Whew! I can breathe again!

Now, we know that we can have our 2nd vaccine (appointment already scheduled) in 4 weeks, and after that, we will be free to head west. We sold "Big Red", our 40' motorhome. Now we have "Tommie" - our mini motor home. This will be our cross-country home on wheels. 

I feel like we have been given a 

Sorry, but no, I will not be selling this card! 

Five Hundred Miles (Times Six) and Then Some

It's our annual migration. You might say we are on a "repositioning cruise"!
We left the San Francisco Bay area and began our trek to SW Florida. The distance is over 3,000 miles. How many miles over is dependent on the exact route we take and how many side trips we manage along the way.

Here are a few highlights of our trip:

Tehachapi, CA (Day 1)

• Of course, meeting my blog friend, Inger was a huge highlight.
• Seeing the trains on the Tehachapi Loop was very special.

Seligman, AZ (Day 2)

• We stopped here, but didn’t have the energy to go into this historic Route 66 town. The campground host implied that there wasn’t much to see. The weather was cold and very windy. 
• Oh. My. Stars! When I took the dogs out for their evening walk I was treated to the most beautiful evening show of stars. Having lived in an RV resort with street lights, and a neighborhood in California with lights, such that I don’t even need a flashlight at night, I was stunned by the spectacle. It’s been a long time since I lived without light pollution and could see the amazing heavens!

Albuquerque, NM (Day 3)

• We passed this interesting building near Williams, AZ. This is the Kadampa Buddhist Temple. This is one of five International retreat centers for the study of modern Kadampa Buddhism. In Flagstaff, no less! 

• We try to get off the road by 3:30, or after 330 miles, especially on this long trip. We hit two construction zones outside of Gallup, NM that slowed us down. We were surprised at how much time they took off our trip as we got into the park in Albuquerque around 4:30. It wasn’t until the next morning that we dumb Dreamers realized we had changed time zones, and all of our time instruments had automatically adjusted when we weren’t paying attention! For all intents and purposes, we did get in at 3:30!!
• I discovered this black and red blister beetle at our campsite in Albuquerque. The bugs give off a toxin that can create blisters on your skin. In researching the beetle I found an interesting Navajo story. The bug is also called a Navajo Pot Carrier or a Water Carrier. Some of the bugs have rounded abdomens that look like Indian pots and oral traditions have a complex story to tell about the beetle. 

 Shamrock, TX (Day 4)

• On our drive we saw many, many RV’s. The most unusual, however, was an Airstream painted to look like a duffle bag. It was the Lands’ End trailer on its Heritage Tour. They were heading to the balloon festival in Albuquerque. 

This is the only picture of the trailer I could find on the Internet.
Luckily, we weren't driving in snow!

• We stopped at the Texas Route 66 RV Park, a small campground along the highway. The owners are delightful. They bought the campground a year ago and are working hard to make improvements. I like finding places like this, and returning to see how things change over time. I wish the new owners well in their venture.
• Texas has stickers and tarantulas! The grass at the Shamrock campground was recently mowed, but it still had all kinds of stickers that found their way into Tucker’s and Gypsy’s coats. I began taking the brush on walks with me to save my fingers from getting poked! While I was out walking the dogs, the Mister spied two tarantulas; a he and a she! They had a quick affair, she returned to her home in a small tunnel in the grass, and he ventured on.

• The rain in Texas was all our fault. We washed the accumulated dirt and grime from the storage yard off of the trailer in Albuquerque. So, of course that would bring rain.  We enjoyed the drumming of rain on our roof, and in the morning there was only a narrow band of rain right over us. As we began our morning trek to the east, we quickly left the rain behind. Thank goodness!

Historic landmark: Tower Service Station and U-Drop Inn

Alma, AR (Day 5 & 6)

• We always struggle to find a nice campground in this area. I found an interesting campground in Arkansas “Wine Country”, amidst several wineries. It was basically a dirt parking lot with hookups. The Mister didn’t want to drive that far to sit in a dirt parking lot (It was another 40 miles beyond Alma). So, I fell back on one we’ve used in the past. Last year we had a terrible experience. The campground encourages the guests to write reviews on various Internet sites, and even provides directions about how to do so. Instead of leaving a bad review, I sent an email, suggesting they wouldn’t want to see what I’d write. I informed them of some of the problems we had. So, fast forward to this year. I called to make a reservation. When I gave my name the woman evidently looked me up and their was some sort of “flag” on my name. She said she needed to so some research and would get back to me. I was fearful that they would refuse to allow us to come this year. A bit later she called and apologized for the problems we had last year and said they’d like to give us a discount for our visit this year. What a surprise. We still aren’t enamored with the campground, but it was kind of them.
• More sparkles in the night! The only flashlight in the trailer that works is a headlamp. So, after dinner I donned my “miner’s lamp” and took the dogs out for their evening walk. Oh, my! I had forgotten about the reflections one sees from spiders in the grass. Ugh! Then, I almost walked into a spider dangling from a tree. No stars here, but plenty of sparkles.
• We decided to spend an extra day and get some much needed R & R. We ventured into Fort Smith and visited the Fort Smith Museum of History, located in the 1906 Atkinson-Williams Warehouse, which once operated as a hardware store, soda fountain and pharmacy. We also visited the Fort Smith National Historic Site, which had another excellent museum. From there we stopped by the Ft. Smith Trolley Museum. The “Mister” enjoyed chatting with the docents as he used to volunteer at the Denver trolley. So even though we didn’t do a whole lot of resting, we did enjoy a nice change of pace, and an excellent lunch at the Bricktown Brewery. I had to try the sweet potato fries with caramel, sea salt and bacon. Oh. My! 

This was one of my favorite exhibits. These are life-size leaves that were carved out of the wood of that sort of tree. 

These are 5 tree samples from the Jesup Wood Collection that included 455 specimens
and was unveiled at the Museum of Natural History in New York in 1880.

My lunch!

Ft Smith

A replica of the gallows, where 86 people were hanged from 1873 to 1896  in this town on the border of the frontier.

Tupelo, MS (Day 7)

• We are in the south, after all. I guess temperatures above 90 are to be expected. We were all feeling sluggish from the heat.

Chattahoochee, FL (Day 8)

• We made it to our home state. Hooray! We stayed at a clean, no frills, family run campground. Over 300 trees were lost because of Hurricane Michael. The owner of the campground also owns a heavy-equipment company, so cleanup was quick and thorough. 

North Fort Myers, FL (Day 9)

• We broke our 330 rule (driving 330 miles or stopping by 3:30 PM, whichever comes first), by continuing on to North Ft Myers. We drove 426 miles, but due to an early start, actually made it in well before 3:30... so I guess we didn't break our rule after all! 
• We spent one last night in the Airstream, then the next day, got everything settled with the motorhome, unloaded the Airstream and put it up for a rest in our storage unit.

Now our winter adventures begin!

I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas (Florida...Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona) Anymore

After 10 days and over 3100 miles we have arrived at our house in Point Richmond, CA. However, it may be "our" house... but the dogs have never been here before. They don't know that this is "our" house. They were very confused for a bit of time.

When we arrived in the neighborhood (recall, we moved from one house to another in December. We moved about 125 feet. The dogs were not with us when we moved, and had not been with us when we occupied the "new" house.) we pulled into the parking area of the new home. We let the dogs out... well, we opened the door to the truck. Tucker jumped out and with a certain degree of hesitation and confusion, began to head down the street to our former home. Gypsy refused to leave the truck!

Finally after three days they are beginning to settle into the house and back into the routines we established last year.

Of course,  a visit from "their" boy made everything better!

California Here I Come

We originally planed to leave our Florida home in May so we could enjoy spring in the Bay Area at our new home in Point Richmond. That didn't happen, as we were delayed by the wait for the truck windshield. Then, the Mister needed his annual blood-letting to determine if the Doctor could safely renew his prescriptions. One of his numbers came back outside of the normal range. His Doc wanted him to see a specialist... another few weeks of waiting... then the specialist wanted an MRI... another week of waiting... then the follow-up appointment... more waiting!
I decided that despite windshield woes and medical stuff going on... I was going to CA - without my guy. I hopped on a plane and enjoyed just over a week with grand kids, kids, friends and family, before returning to Florida... where all the medical results are good and we are finally ready to pack up and head back to CA!

Here's just a bit of what I did on my "vacation"...

• I visited two different ukelele meet-up jam sessions with the "other grandmother"
• I played with the kids
• I went to the zoo with the kids and the other grandmother
• I played Mahjong with my CA friends
• I pulled weeds
• I watched the Richmond fireworks on July 3 from the Red Oak Victory ship
• I played ping-pong with a group at "Rigger's Loft" - a local winery
• I enjoyed a few family dinners
• I completed a quilt on the long arm
• I watched ships go in and out of the harbor...

Here are a few pictures of my days in CA...

Nonna Holly joins in the Ukelele sing-along with a little help from Kellan

Alexis in imaginative play

Alexis in a contemplative mood

Kellan's first carousel ride at the Oakland Zoo

What a fantastic view of Oakland, SF Bay and San Francisco from the Oakland Zoo  gondola

Alexis chose the eagle on the carousel

Richmond fireworks celebrations from the Red Oak Victory Ship

Fun play in the back yard

Back yard looking east - BEFORE

Back Yard  looking West - BEFORE

Back yard looking East - AFTER weeding

Back yard looking West - AFTER Weeding

Ship coming into Richmond Harbor as viewed from the kitchen

Now it's time to pack up and put away... and get on the road for adventures as we head west.

I Didn't Want to Interrupt the Riverboat Trip - So Here's Some Old/New News!

The Prides have moved... again.

The shortish-longish story is that on the day before the Prides were planning on leaving the California house for their FL home, they stopped into an open house for a house just down the street from their current home. Just because we could!

The blue point is the home the Prides own. The home the Prides bought just a tad bit over a year ago. The red flag is the house going on the market. It's about 125 feet from one house to the other, perhaps less.

We spent about fifteen minutes in the house. We were not impressed. Yeah, the house was OK, but.... on our brief stroll back to our house we chatted about the negatives.

The next morning we finished loading the truck, turned off lights, turned down the heat, locked the doors and headed out to to the storage yard and hooked up the Airstream for our long trek back to our  "real" home in Florida.

We didn't talk much on that first day of driving.  I guess we were tired. Or, maybe we were enjoying the scenery.

The second day we drove through Nevada. There is a lot of nothing in Nevada. We had a lot of time to talk. 

This is the view as we came down from the hills in Nevada toward the Great Salt Lake. We were talking about what we liked about our house, and what we didn't like about the house down the street:

We really like the floors in our house. 

We didn't like the kitchen in the house for sale.

We like that the door to our patio is on the main floor.

We didn't like the powder room in the house for sale.

We like the built-in office and loft area upstairs in our house.

and so on,

and so forth.

That night we stopped at a small RV park behind a hotel just south of the Great Salt Lake, about 20 miles from Salt Lake City. 

Day is done, gone the sun!

The next day we drove through Utah. 

We talked about what we liked about the house down the street:

The views from just about every window on the south and west sides were AMAZING!

There was an actual driveway where one could park a car, or two!

There was no house on the west, and you could see through the bars of the fence and appreciate the view.

The next day we drove through Wyoming. We called the realtor we had used when we bought our house. We asked if he could check out the house down the street and tell us what he thought about it.

Then, we arrived in Golden, CO. The view from the hill above the campground was awesome. The weather was spectacular. We enjoyed two days... a bit of a break from driving,

and, we ran into Lori, or rather, she ran into us. As we were setting up camp she walked by and looked at me and called my name.. with a question mark after it. (As in... is it really you?!) Lori and her husband have a site in the same resort where we live in Florida. She and her husband travel around the country for his job, and had been living in the Denver area for several months. 

While in the Denver area we talked with the our realtor. He said the house seemed to be priced right, and looked like a good deal to him....

so....

we put an offer in, our offer was accepted, and we bought the house.

OK, it wasn't quite that easy. There were a few rough patches, but we worked over, around and through them. 

We returned to California on December 16, and in the morning we began carting things from one house to the other.

We loaded bags, boxes and bins and toted them in a wagon or in/on my MINI.

Trip, 

after trip, 

after trip!

For three days... and three nights

we packed, carted and unpacked stuff.

And... we had downsized on our first move to California.

Good Lord! 

What would it have been like if we hadn't done the first "paring" of stuff?!

My legs had shin splits where I didn't have shins! 

I mentioned this to the realtor who was going to sell our first CA home...

she commented that I was being pretty stupid!

After all, I had the choice of two jetted tubs, she pointed out. One in our first home,

one in our second. She prescribed a glass of wine and 30 minutes in the jetted tub.

OMG - she was right. I felt oh, so much better!

On the fourth day, movers came to cart the heavy stuff. 

They also took numerous trips with furniture dollies, from one house to the other.

It would have been more work to try to load it all into a truck!

So, we Dreamers supervised, pointing this goes there, 

that goes here, until it was all set to rights.

Three days later we had our kids over for our first Christmas in the new, new home!

(Nope... I didn't take pictures!)

But these pictures may show you just one of the compelling reasons why we decided to move just 125 feet from one home to another:

Morning mist... looking south:

... and the view looking west, toward the Miller/Knox Regional Park:

Evening looking west... 

(the same view as the picture above... without the fog)

...and a clear morning looking south.

Yes, that is San Francisco!

And a panoramic of our evening view...

OK... now that I've written this, I am itching to get back to Point Richmond and our new, new home!

Oh, and the other home? 

Although we dearly loved the realtor we used to buy both CA homes, we selected a realtor who lives in the neighborhood to help us sell the first home. It was provident! Before we could get it on the market, she happened upon a young couple walking on the sidewalk one morning. They mentioned that they were going to put an offer in on a house down the street from our house. She asked if they would like to see our house; it was the same floor plan as the one they were considering, but in a slightly better location and the yard was in better shape. They loved our home. We matched the price of the other home on the market, and our first house was sold!