Chill-axing...

… or as my son-in-law would say, Just living the dream.  One might say we are living in an ideal fettle. 

This is the longest we've been anchored in one place since we moved out of our stationary home at the end of July 2019.  We have been here two months and plan to stay through the end of February.  The climate here is nearly perfect and we're loathe to move on to colder temps.  Consort has shaken off his worker drone mentality and is embracing retirement.  Me, I'm still making my to-do lists, but find I check it less frequently than I did in my previous life, and I seldom fret over things that don't get done.  Our days are filled with reading, music, and the pursuit of hobbies.  There are organized activities within the park; we ride bikes; we take the dogs to the park, work on obedience and walk them multiple times during the course of the day.  We go on excursions, make trips to the beach, and  we are surrounded by interesting new friends who are doing exactly the same thing.  While we're looking forward to traveling across America, it will be difficult saying good-bye to all these wonderful Winter Texans.

We are as busy, or as lazy, as we want to be each day.  We were treated to an amazing Bluegrass band who played for a dance early in the month.  We've been to hear the United States Air Force Military Band of the West perform the best jazz music I've heard in years.  There have been horse races and cookouts, trips to Mexico, happy hours.

Last week, here at 4 Seasons RV Park, was proclaimed Fun Week.  Each day we were presented with a variety of activities in which we could participate.  There were sign-up sheets, teams formed, and tournaments held.  Pentanque and shuffleboard, darts and horseshoes, billliards, pickleball, and a wide variety of card games.  I started playing Ponytail, a variation of Canasta, a few weeks ago with my favorite Canadian and a dozen or so others.  Because it is so similar to Canasta, I happily signed up for the Ponytail tournament.  My team came in third.

Consort signed up for a few different activities, including the shuffleboard tournament.  Most of the participants don't take the tournaments too seriously, they're just out to have a good time; but there are others who have a somber disposition when Fun Week rolls around.  My mother has been the champion shuffleboard player many times in the past years and has a no-nonsense attitude during tournaments.  I was a bit concerned for consort when he admitted he wasn't sure which end of the shuffleboard cue he was to hold and which end was made for shooting discs.  I was even more disturbed when I realized the partner he had been teamed with was also a first-rate shuffleboard player.  In the end, consort and his partner defeated my mother and her partner for third place in the overall standings.  Saturday night a banquet was held in honor of all the participants and awards were given to first, second, and third place winners.  The entire week, culminating in Saturday's dinner and dance, was quite entertaining.

One of my favorite Americans at 4 Seasons  invited me to her home yesterday for an impromptu party.  She asked I bring some of my embroidery work, and my sketch pad, to show a group of interested ladies.  As I mentioned in another blog, I don't physically possess much of my finished work.  I asked Mom if she had anything I'd made and hit the mother lode.  She had pillowcases, dish towels, bags, and even a framed picture I drew.  The ladies were attentive while I described the beginning-to-end process I go through when I embroider a picture and seemed genuinely awestruck by the end result.  Their reaction surprised me.  I've always felt embroidery was a lot like coloring with thread on fabric:  completely mindless and requiring very little skill.  And as for my "art," it's nothing more than Zentangle doodles, for the most part.  I enjoy it, it relaxes me, and I can get lost in it for hours.  But, again, it doesn't take much talent to draw loops and lines.  Regardless, the afternoon was done in wonderfully good faith.  Thanks for inviting me into your life.

On the stereo: Joe Bonamassa, Dust Bowl

In the oven: Bacon and cheese dog biscuits

Currently reading:  Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen

These are for you, C

A bouquet of irises from Grandpa Paugh's flowerbed

Hobbies

 Do you have hobbies, things you like to pursue in your free time? I have many, enough to keep me busy all day every day.  Birding, reading, drawing, and photography are some of the hobbies I faithfully follow, but the one constant over the years has been embroidery.

As young girls, my sister and I would spend time visiting with our grandmother.  It was our grandmother who decided it was a good idea for we girls to learn the art of embroidery.  We started with simple designs done in an outline stitch on muslin dish towels that my grandmother would hem in bright colors.  It was the perfect way to start; but in the years that followed, I began experimenting with drawing more intricate designs on all sorts of things.  When I find a picture I'd like to embroider, I download it from the web and print it out.  Very few of my embroidery patterns are original designs.  After choosing the design, I draw it on whatever medium I've decided to use -- dish towels, pillows, aprons, and bags.

Recently I've had people asking to see my embroidery work.  Unfortunately, I have very few pieces in my possession.   Once a project is finished, I almost always give it away.  I decided to post some pictures of my favorite projects.  Most are done with a satin stitch, but some are still done using the simple outline stitch.

For fabric to back my pillows, I weave ribbons together that I make from strips of fabric.  The pillow with hands and buttons, pictured below, were traced from my daughter, son-in-law, and three grandsons.  For the bags, I first draw the picture I want to embroider on linen fabric.  Next, I fill in the design with embroidery stitches.  After the stitching is complete, I tie-dye the fabric and then machine sew it into a tote bag.  The hands on the dish towel below belong to friends and was given as a wedding gift.  And I always crochet dish cloths to go with my dish towels.  It pleases me to make gifts for others.

How to please your dog

Bake cookies, lots of cookies.  Today I woke up in the mood to cook.  I really enjoy cooking and I love it when I can spend a whole day making favorite recipes.  I have never made dog cookies before, but I brought both the recipes for dog cookies and the cookie cutters with me when we moved into the trailer. There's something about baking cookies that comforts me, possibly the delicious aroma that fills the air.  No time like the present to try a new recipe. 

I was a little apprehensive about this recipe, though, because these are rolled cookies.  I bake first-rate cookies, the kind of cookies that make other cookies jealous, but I have never had much luck with rolled cookies.  This recipe, however, was remarkably easy -- and I already knew that my dogs have pretty low standards when it comes to food.  

I mixed up a batch of peanut butter dog biscuits, then wrapped and refrigerated the dough.  After procuring a rolling pin from my mother -- I had four rolling pins in my other life, how did I not bring one? -- we were ready to rock and roll.  Fifteen minutes in the oven and the trailer smelled wonderful. I was pleased with the end product; the cookies looked great.  I let them cool, and then it was time for the taste test.  Will the pups like them?  

There are dog-house shaped cookies, bones and hydrants, dog paws, and small round piles... use your imagination.  I broke one dog bone into thirds and offered a piece to each dog.  Their reaction was priceless.  Being dogs, they immediately lined up for seconds.  No, really, they lined up.  These dogs are hilarious!  I told the pups they had to wait until later to have a second cookie and began putting them away.  

Bella, the ring leader, stood up on her hind legs and begged.  I rolled my eyes.  Yeah, right.  I've seen that trick about a million times.  You'll have to do better than that.  I looked her in the eye and said, Sorry, Bells, no more cookies.  She then sat down and said, Puh-leeeeez! 

Some time ago, Bella started rubbing her paw over the end of her nose while ducking her head in a flirty way.  It's about the cutest thing I've ever seen.  I think my dog gurus would say I captured the behavior using the word, Please.  We've been practicing this new trick for months, and she knows exactly how to do it, although she seldom performs on command.  But today, for a cookie, she sat down and said, Please.  

I've been working with Annie on a "sit" command for nearly three years.  She obeys about half the time.  When she saw Bella performing "please," she immediately sat down.  D.O.G., seeing the girls displaying such grandiose behavior, was not to be outdone.  He broke into his happy dance.  What's a happy dance?   He bounces up and down with all four paws leaving the ground at the same time.  Reminds me of Tigger.  

Who can resist such delightful doggies?  They were all rewarded with an extra cookie.

Vacation from Vacation

We landed in Brownsville, Texas, December 3rd, 2019.  Our intent was to stay through the holidays, then leave on January 4th, 2020, for Goose Island State Park.  Unfortunately, about a week and a half ago, we were on the road heading home from the beach when we were hit by an inattentive 18-year-old driver.  We walked away from the accident, as did our wee mangy mongrels, but have had to deal with the fallout from the wreck. Would you believe it took an entire week before we could even get the incompetent idiot insurance adjustor to respond to us?  But that's another story for another day.

The accident has caused delays.  We are waiting for parts to come in so that we can have the F350 repaired.  Once the parts come in, we've been told it could be another week before the body work is completed.  It's anybody's guess when we'll finally be restored to pre-accident status.

Due to this setback, we have had to cancel our reservation for Goose Island.  Management for 4 Seasons RV Resort has been very helpful and easy to deal with.  We were told not to worry; we are welcome to stay as long as necessary.  

After a week of discussions weighing both the pros and cons, consort and I have decided to stay put.  We're taking a vacation from vacation, at least for a couple of months.

I suppose one could say we are on a permanent vacation, and I wouldn't argue the point; but traveling and moving every two to three weeks, which consort and I have been doing since August, carries its own kind of stress.  Have I ever mentioned that before this full-time RV life, neither consort nor I had camped in an RV?  Hitched or parked a fifth wheel?  In our pre-RV life, consort drove a BMW Roadster and I drove a VW Beetle, both of which would fit in the bed of our current pickup truck.  Yes, I know how crazy that sounds, but that's the way we roll.

So there you go.  You're officially up-to-date.  We're going to relax and enjoy the company of the wonderful people who surround us.  There are various odd jobs that need done which have been vexing me.  We will now have time to accomplish these tasks.  The dogs are officially off vacation and back in training:  No bark!  No jump!  Use your manners!  The most difficult problem I face is coming up with new and interesting excuses to avoid all physical sports proposed by my favorite Canadian.  As a rule, I am disinclined to exert myself.

What do you think?

Simply Sand 

And a banana tree because it's so cool

Interesting Finds

We strolled the beach yesterday and picked up some great finds.  I was looking for specific colors of shells and was rewarded with red, pink, and lavender.  We found sea glass, always a thrill for me.  We found long stalks of seaweed encrusted with shells that look like strands of Pukka beads.  The most interesting find, though, was a pink barrel-shaped shell cluster.  After consulting my brother and SIL who, in my opinion, are experts when it comes to tide pool sea life, we determined the pink barrel cluster was a barnacle.  What we didn't realize when we picked up the shell and put it in a pocket was that Barnacle Boy was still alive.  Check out the video at the top of the page.  Does this count as a new pet?

Obsessed with Birds