Monthly Archive for July, 2007

In His Hand

Published on July 31, 2007 in Front Porch Musings, Pets and Spirituality. Closed

I read a daily entry from Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost for His Hightest” every morning with my first cup of coffee and most usually from my wingback chair….these days it is in the corner of my sunroom. When I’m travelling, I read from the recliner in the motorhome. It has been part of the start of my day for nearly 12 years now and is that time of quiet – of settling my mind and thoughts at the start of the day. I use the reading to quiet my head to “Be Still” (Psalm 46:10) and know that God is present and with me. It is a time of thanksgiving, of worship, of peace and reflection. I have been through all of the entries 12 times and still there are many days when I read something as if I’ve never read it before. It is astonishing to me in it’s revelation and wisdom! And the timing – it is sometimes SO timely as to feel like an angelic hand has rewritten an entry specifically to me to correspond with what is happening at that precise moment in my life. Last week, these words were in the reading:

God is not working towards a particular finish; His end is the process – that I see Him walking on the waves, no shore in sight, no success, no goal, just the absolute certainty that it is all right because I see Him walking on the sea. It is the process, not the end which is glorifying to God.

God’s end is to enable me to see that He can walk on the chaos of my life just now. If we have a further end in view, we do not pay sufficient attention to the immediate present: if we realize that obedience is the end, then each moment as it comes is precious.

The journey – not the destination… The time of NOW not the future or the past. NOW is the blessed time whether it is a joyous time or in the most difficult and painful of circumstances.

A beloved cat, Sam, who belongs to my folks has been very ill. Sam is special to me as well as to them. He was the inspiration for me adopting my first cat, Gus. Gus was my “angel cat” – a fierce and dedicated hunter but also a neck hugger and lover - with me for 9 years. When Gus was a year old we visited my mother and Sam – Sam, who never liked another cat, took Gus under wing and taught him to hunt. It was an incredible bonding between 2 male cats. I lost Gus nearly 2 years ago – as far as I know to another predator. It is still an incredibly painful loss and to this day I would gladly sell everything but my soul to have him back.

Sam is approximately 15 years old – senior for a cat, but still an active hunter – also an affectionate cat who loves to nap on my step-Dad’s lap and have his whiskers rubbed. Now, some mysterious infection – but as of yesterday he was eating and regaining strength – hopefully on the mend. And it is not just concern for Sam, but also for my folks who love him dearly and have shared his life. They and I are all well aware of the life span of dogs and cats and of the greater cycle of life that we are all part of. That knowledge does not make a loss or the endurance of pain any more endurable – it is always just hard and exhausting. And for me, a reminder that loss is part of life and there will be more loss in my own life – times of despair and sadness. What brings hope is the sure knowledge that “He can walk on the chaos of my life”…

Job 12: 7-10

But ask the animals and they will teach you or the birds of the air and they will tell you

Or speak to the earth and it will teach you or let the fish of the sea inform you.

Which of all these does not know that the hand of God has done this.

In His Hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

Interior “Decorating”

Published on July 28, 2007 in Home Projects. Closed

…home/house stuff… not exactly 1 step forward 2 back… but along that line…

Air conditioner – WOW, in terms of comfort level – not so wow in terms of aesthetics but since I don’t “entertain” and this time of year don’t use the “living room” much – comfort level outweighs aesthetics… The A/C – sometime in May, I received a flyer form Costco and one of the items was an Air Conditioner – couldn’t order until 7/14…so I went to CO, came back and 14th approaching plus it was HOT so ordered the A/C on the 14th early in the day. On the 15th when I went to the same A/C to get a link to send to a friend who asked – not available. Anyway, it arrived several days ago, was a simple install and I am enjoying the cool! It keeps the entire house at 72 (today was 94 at hottest) – not the most attractive thing but comfort level is improved – better temp, better air circulation and faster cool down for sleeping – we are happy!

It’s on wheels so easy to move to another location in the morning (east side of house in the a.m. – right photo… west side in the p.m.-left photo)

Living Room

AC Craft Room

For the step forward the subject is window treatments…I have no need of window coverings for privacy since I have no neighbors that I can see. BUT, there is the sun issue – not in Winter, but with the Summer sun angle and my wish to keep the house cool and sun damage (fading of surfaces) to a minimum… when I left for CO, I “hung” sheets and fleece blankies – I thought I would live with that until Fall, but aside from getting a bit old, there was a sale on the flat Roman shades that I wanted, hence – new window “treatments”… and away with the sheets and blankies!

Most of my favorite tools were out for exercise:

Tools

You can see 2 levels and some measuring stuff in the photo above – truth is that I mostly “eyeball” locations – considering that there is very little in “this old house” that is square, level or standard – eyeballing does just as well or better than precise measuring.

The results:

Blinds 1

Blinds 2

And in the kitchen:

Kitchen

Just the boys

Published on July 25, 2007 in Pets. Closed

Empty bowl

Eating

***Bob IS down to 19 pounds from 22!

Karl1

Karl2

Karl3

Karl4

RV Hydraulics – jacks and slides

Published on July 25, 2007 in RV Maintenance. Closed

The motorhome has been to the shop for lube-oil-filter and general maintenance check… AND for the hydraulic failure experienced on the way home from Colorado. Shop, in tandem with HWH (hydraulics mfg) believe the problem is a bad pump and a new one is on it’s way from Iowa – scheduled to be installed on Mon, 7/30. Too bad it wasn’t a fuse… But, I want to document the fuse locations – for RV friends the Smith’s also Adventurer owners and an ORS member with a similar Winnebago hydraulic system.

Some photos of the hydraulic pump/motor, inline fuses and what I think is the hydraulic fuse box (this post to document locations of fuses and hydraulics for jacks and slides):

Pump

Pump – looking down into the engine compartment, just to the passenger side of the middle, right against the front grille.

Inline Fuses

Above – the elusive inline fuses – circled with white…. These were “buried” in amongst the wiring for the slide-out solenoids and jack valves. I started tracing wires away from the pump to find them – once I had the description of what to look for. You can hopefully see the fuse I’m holding – I have the cap back to expose the actual fuse – others have their caps on. The photo is taken from underneath – I’m on the ground looking up into the engine compartment at the underside of the hydraulic pump.

Location

Above – looking in from the driver door under the steering column – behind the carpeted “board” is where the Above right “box” is.

Actual Box

You can just see part of the HWH (hydraulics mfg).

Taking back the Front Porch

Published on July 25, 2007 in Montana, Weather and Yard and Garden. Closed

adders

Outfit By popular demand…the outfit….

Day 2 was much less stressful – it was cooler by 10 degrees and my anxiety level was less due to the success of day 1 – there were no visible wasps – a second dose of the foamy spray, knocked down the remaining 2 nests and done. I did do another walk around and found one mini-nest – stragglers from yesterday rebuilding??? Not sure but I will have to keep a watch.

Last night I went out with a glass of ginger ale spiked with maraschino cherries – all quiet… spritzed some fresh hair spray – still quiet. We’ll see – hard to believe there aren’t some colonies in one of the wood piles but maybe reducing the population on the house will do the trick.

Flowers and Bob

At the moment, the front porch is ours!

Mad as a hornet!

Published on July 24, 2007 in Montana, Weather and Yard and Garden. Closed

Spray

- at Yellow Jackets – I think they are Yellow Jackets… they are some kind of wasp anyway and they are yellow and black and attracted to sweet stuff as in my glass of wine, tea, my hair (spray or shampoo??). I am pretty good at not swatting at bee type things and letting them figure out that I am not a flower (food) and they then go away. But these guys – actually I guess it is the girls that go out for food – not giving up! First sting on the back of my arm just walking and I assume she got caught between arm and the edge of my blouse – oww! but then not too bad until next day when swollen, hard, hot and red to nearly my elbow! So looked around and found a nest – a ha! – next morning I sprayed it well and knocked it down. Mission accomplished I thought…

But then, standing in the yard – stung twice more on the leg! Oh – maybe the first nest I saw was not the only nest so did a really good look around and found 7 more!

Nest

Most are small like the first, but 2 fairly large (photo left) and naturally in the peak of the roof.. requiring the extension ladder. It is not a seriously high peak on my little cabin-house but still I don’t want to fall and it has required some serious psyching up – dealing with the anxiety of possibly missing a few of them and having to remember to take my time on the ladder. I so BADLY want them gone!

And it is not just me – before tackling the 7 nests, I needed more spray. I stopped at the home and ranch supply place – none… the cashier said they had a run on it. Funny, I thought – I’ll stop at the hardware – none – same story… I go to a grocery and then thinking I’m being sneaky to a nursery and 2 convenience stores – None. And there are other people looking also – we are kind of following each other around chasing after Wasp Killer spray.

Apparently it is the summer of the wasps and no one can enjoy their decks or porches and lots of stinging. Yesterday, I even received an email from the fire department warning about them and reminding everyone where the Epi-pens were located in the medical kits – Yikes! – not quite Hitchcock but…

The hardware told me that a truck would be delivering about 1:00 yesterday – I phoned at 1:05 and was told that 95 cans were being unloaded. I wasted no time – hopped in the Jeep and went – grabbed up 4 cans and came home where they made me so anxious sitting on the counter that I had to hide them in a closet.

This morning, I donned my “outfit” – jeans tucked into boots, long sleeve denim shirt buttoned to the chin and wrists, raingear over with the hood cinched tight – ski goggles, gloves – no, I am not getting out the tripod to get a photo! I was nearly poached by the time I got to the ladder armed with 2 cans of spray which I had tested briefly. A little anti-climatic – it went well. I saturated the nests and didn’t fall off the ladder. I knocked down all but the 2 nests in the peak – those I will give another dose of spray tomorrow morning before I knock them down.

I’m sitting here dripping wet – it was 65 when I went out but still too warm for the amount of stuff I had on and it was closed down so tight nothing got in – not even air.

Now – whether getting rid of these nests will allow me back on the front porch – that I don’t know … Killer frost, that’s what we need! And believe me, I am not the only one saying that – the grumbling, whining and general misery with the heat wave is getting to everyone – I feel better not being the only grump! From inside the house until further notice…

RV Plumbing – drinking faucet replacement

Published on July 23, 2007 in RV Maintenance. Closed

I know, riveting topic… but if you read “The Start” and “About” – I did disclose that RV “stuff” – including maintenance and repairs would be part of this blog – great thing is you can skip a post that is of no interest!

And if you decide to read on, don’t be afraid – it really is about the drinking facuet – this has nothing to do with the toilet part of RV plumbing…

Old Faucet

The old faucet fell off and sprung it’s insides when I was cleaning it after the last trip. So, I ordered a replacement from Winnebago Parts . The replacement is a much nicer faucet, but it is different which will make a bit of a difference noted later. The parts person said that his notes said to include a fitting kit – so I bought that. He did note that he rarely sent the fitting kit and people did not call to get it. I said send it as I can’t turn the water on without the faucet hooked up and I didn’t want to wait for a 2nd shipment if I needed it.

The best thing about the fitting kit was the instructions which showed everything and how it goes together… My favorite part, though is the first line about “Installation ….. being straight forward” – well, that itimidated me a bit. I mean, if I had trouble it would mean I was somehow incompetent.. and then the diagram with what looked like many pieces and steps. Well, nothing to do but proceed.

Instructions

The only things I used from the fitting kit were a plastic ferrule and a tube sleeve. The compression fitting that I needed from the kit was too small for the pipe on the faucet. This I discovered after the faucet was in place and bolted on and that required my neighbor, Nancy, holding at the top while I did a contortion act under the sink. Under a house sink is not that much fun – under an RV sink – less so!

The 1/2 way point…

Mess

However, a trip to the hardware with the slightly small compression fitting (1/4) and I found a 5/16 and a 3/8 so brought both home. The 5/16 was the winner and things went together – a bit of teflon tape per instructions was also used. Water on – success! – a working filtered water drinking faucet – much nicer than the original. Not so bad after all.

Running water

New Faucet

Midwest girl to city girl to wood nymph

Published on July 21, 2007 in Front Porch Musings and Montana. Closed

I was born and grew up in Northwest Ohio – Toledo and then Perrysburg. At 24, I took a job that moved me to San Francisco area and then several years later I moved to Los Angeles where I lived for 13 years before my move to Montana in early ‘94.

Karl will do a bit of a perimeter check on his own first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening, but he is a homebody dog – staying in the “yard” unless I walk out and then he happily goes with. We are in the habit of a walk down the driveway as soon as there is a bit of light for me. Karl will venture into the woods on the way back, but the trip out is along the driveway. I have a cup of coffee with me and I amble along as he stops to sniff and explore a bit.

Tree

Stump

A few days ago I was standing where I took the photos above, absently watching Karl sniff around and looking at the moss covered stump. When I lived in Los Angeles there was always a neighborhood bagel place that I could walk to from my apartment. Standing in the early morning – something about the stump and the trees - it brought a vivid picture to mind of the contrast between the surroundings of my current home and how I once lived in the city. In California and particularly Los Angeles, I lived in apartments that were mostly next to other apartment buildings and I had maybe one window that looked at a bit of a tree. I was fortunate to find smaller buildings where I was one of 2 apartments on the floor so had windows on 3 sides usually, but still – it was Los Angeles – the city… sidewalks, cars, buses, small yards immaculately landscaped, office buildings…

In Montana, even my first house on a 90 x 100 lot in a subdivision – was a treed lot and there were 2 lots next to me with no homes as well as a woods behind that was a buffer between my subdivision and the one next – a huge leap from L.A. The next move took me to a transitional rental on Flathead Lake – on the lake with my own little beach and also woods and orchard around and between the house and the road. Swan River Road was next – a little craftsman house on 6 acres with about 2/3 in yard/pasture and 1/3 in woods – the river across the road and Swan Range rising to the east. The house was surrounded with old growth birch and pines

Now, here I am in the 8 acre woods and cabin – turned into small ranch house – 175 yards off the road, on top of the first foothill before the Swan range, 40 acres of meadow beyond my woods opening onto vistas of the mountains, 40 acres of state land on the north boundary, and a nice neighbor who enjoys quiet and privacy as I do – to my west. The woods is newly thinned and healthy with grasses and wildflowers growing up in between the trees. The sun shines through the trees in a beautifully filtered pattern which changes from first light to last.

It is difficult to explain the thoughts and feelings that flitted through my mind in a manner of seconds – the contrast between the city and this woods. I have lived in the lush midwest, near enough to the ocean to walk to the beach, in a neighborhood, on a lake and now in the woods by the mountains. It is the woods by the mountains that I love best. I bought a poster when I was 16 – it was about 2 feet wide and 4 feet high – it was simply sun shining through the trees of a woods – I could nearly duplicate the poster with any photo of my woods…. from the front porch, Saturday, July 21, 2007.