MAINTENANCE, FRIENDS AND GOING HOME

After six long to us days of driving from Yellowstone to Des Moines, Iowa, we were ready to revert to our more relaxed way of travel.  

We made plans to visit with long time friends, Margie and Lyle Sears at Fisherman's Cove on the Mississippi River.  We planned to stay there for three days in order for John to get some rest.  One day of visiting and two of chilling was on our agenda.  

I cleaned the Miata and the motorhome with The Solution and John applied tire protectorant  and cleaned the thingies the wheels are mounted on including hub caps. Whatever they are, they were shiny!

We caught only one sunset on the Mississippi.  Along the edge of the river were thousands of Water Lilies.  

Wednesday, we left Fisherman's Cove COE.  Due to the clowns in D.C, we had to be out by noon.  

We camped at Wally World in Hammond, IN for the night and headed toward our Michigan destination Thursday morning.  

Our fiber friends Bob and Deb own a fiber farm consisting of sheep, two Great Pyrenees and one Australian Shepherd.

The Pyrenees guard the interior of the pastures, keeping coyotes and wild dogs at bay.  

Just a few of the Polwarths

Fergus and Olivia keep the sheep away from the fence

After the sheep are sheared, Deb dyes the some of the fiber.  

 The fiber is then sold at as roving or yarn Fiber Festivals to spinners, weavers, knitters, etc.  We met Bob and Deb at a fiber event and have been fast friends since then.  

It was Bob and Deb that came to Indiana to visit and encourage John when he was in the hospital.  They also came back to help us clear out the barns when we were ready to close on the house and start our full time adventure.  

Bob helped John with a couple of repairs on our Tiffin Allegro Bus. Now I see John having more courage and energy to tackle tasks that he would have never tried before Bob and Jim Dixon worked along side John.  

John has caulked questionable spots on the roof, changed the generator's oil and all filters, worked on our T.V. antenna, etc.  

Ryan is mighty tall!

                                        Our microwave stopped working.  Bob, John and Bob and Deb's son Ryan worked on that situation. Ryan checked inside and outside.   


The diagnosis on the microwave is that we are going to need Tiffin make this repair.  Ryan checked out everything and said that there is a problem in the wiring in the wall. 

What a fun experience it was to try a new-to-me vegan recipe each night.  I was pleased that they liked every meal.  There is not one recipe that I want to forget.  We have found that eating the plant based diet is much more flavorful than the same ole meat and potatoes routine.  

When we were preparing to full time, I had to sell my floor weaving loom.  It was way too large and heavy.  We ordered a Glimakra rigid heddle loom from Bob and Deb.  

Three years ago, John took a weaving class at the Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival.  He had decided that this is something he would like to do.  Of course, I may just get to use it too.    

I can be using my spinning wheel and John can weave the yarn into whatever he chooses.  What a team.  

It did not take him long to open the box and begin the assembly.  

With all the wool behind my wheel, it looks like he will have plenty of supplies.  

Tomorrow, we leave Bob and Deb.  We are spending a day in Shipshewana, IN and then head back to Greenwood, IN to be with Indianapolis family for a few weeks.  While there, John will have all of his check ups.  

Bob and Deb head to New York for the New York Sheep and Wool Festival.  

OCTOBER 19th and 20th, 2013 Saturday 9AM-5PM Sunday 10AM-5PM

The End

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless!

Dad And Daughter. First Impressions And Maybe a Mississippi Monster?

We are still at Fisherman's Cove on the Mississippi near East Moline, Illinois enjoying a cooler, breezier day.  The May Flies are back, but not like they were the first day.  Many lie dead on the ground and I am assuming that it must be breeding season. 

The breeze feels like cool silk slipping over my arms and face.   The Mississippi shimmers as if there were diamonds on the water.  Birds are singing their morning songs.  What else could anyone ask?

Yesterday was a happening day.  After our jaunt to Wal Mart to stock up on more supplies for our extended then extended again stay, we returned to Fisherman's Cove.  As we reached our campsite, we noticed we have a new neighbor.  Walking over to greet them, we discover that the gentleman has a distinct accent and his wife was standing a bit behind him being very shy. He introduced his wife and said that they were camping so that he and his wife could practice their English.  He appeared to be Indian, but I wasn't sure, so I asked him where they were from.  He named a country that either I did not understand or have not heard of.  He said it is in the corner of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Hummmm,, the thoughts that sprung into my mind.  I'm not proud. 

Were they here to blow up the dam and lock?  What were they up to?  After a bit more casual conversation, John and I walked back to our lounge chairs and I mentioned to John that I was not proud of my thoughts and he said "you too?"  It's sad that we cannot just accept people for who they are and that we have learned to be suspicious of people who are "different". 

We returned to our campsite and while sitting on our patio, I saw something strange moving in the water close to the shore.  Strange.....it looked to be about two feet in length and appeared to have spikes along its spine!  THIS was something I have never seen in ANY water.  Not the Atlantic, the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Michigan, Ohio River or the small lakes in Indiana. 

I called John to look and we walked the shore as the "creature" continued to swim.  It ducked under the water then surfaced and continued to swim.  Neither of us could decide what it was.   I laughingly said, "hum, you think THEY put that into the water?"  (not kind)  After following it for approximately thirty yards, I saw a head!  Wow, looked like a very large, black, rat's head, oh yuck...those beady eyes!  The THING continued to swim another ten yards or so, approaching the shore, Ah ha!  it was dragging plant life that that gave the critter an spiky back appearance...It was only a badger (I think).  Mystery solved.....no Mississippi Loch Ness like monster here and no terrorist attack on the lock and dam. We retraced our steps back to our campsite chatting about our "monster" and discussing about our thoughts and feelings.  Surely we are old enough to not believe in different species, but terrorists?  We do need to be vigilant, but not to the point of suspecting others when they have a different color of skin, dress differently and speak with an accent. 

Later in the afternoon, a tiny camper was pulled in by a minivan.  How cute was this little Scamp?  Way too cute.  Even though it was only about twelve feet in length, the driver was having a terrible time backing it into their campsite.  A woman got out and guided the driver in.  Ahh, success.  

A grey haired gentleman unfolded himself from the minivan.  If this man was less than eighty-five, I'd be surprised!  The lady had to be his daughter.  What I saw brought tears to my eyes.  As the daughter took firewood from the Scamp, she had a huge smile on her face as she talked to her dad. 

Then she took a back bag from the minivan and removed what looked like a chair.  But this was a special chair.  It was a lounge chair, recliner combination.  It even had a cushion for the lower back.  She showed it to her dad and what a delight to watch his reaction.  The daughter helped her aging father into the chair, adjusted the back cushion, showed him how to recline and where the foot rest was. 

The daughter returned to the minivan and brought out a blue bag.  Out of this bag came just a seat with a back...no frills.  She sat down to talk to her dad the rest of the evening.  Now, that is a great Father's Day gift.  A gift of time and attention. 

I miss my dad. 

Didn't quite make it to Indiana!

Monday night, we stopped in Davenport, IA for the night.  Tuesday morning, we decided to look for a camp grounds and stay for a day or two.  That would have made us leaving yesterday.  Well, so much for those plans.  We decided to remain here at Fisherman's Cove in Moline, Illinois until Saturday.  Moline is just across the Mississippi from Davenport.   

Fisherman's Cove is a campground of the Army Corps of Engineers.  It is well maintained with spacious campsites, at one of the locks on the Mississippi and this time of year, full of May Flies! The May Flies are the only negative and not much of a negative. 

I have had my spinning wheel out and have been spinning a lot of yarn as I watch the barges go in and out of the locks. Today, we will walk on the dike to the locks, do a bit of shopping and I will spin.  I sold a lot of hand spun yarn at the Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival and need to build my inventory.  Now that's not a bad thing, is it! 

The May Flies could fly away!  I wish.  They don't do anything negative, but just bug us....get that?  they bug us....ha!  They love to sneak into the motor home and tickle us.  Actually, they are not as bad as regular house flies. 

Something I forgot to mention is that I have some new Silkworms.  Why?  Who knows!  I wanted to try to raise at least one batch of them for the cocoons to sell and to spin in some of my yarn.  Selling them, I see no problem, spinning them, I just don't know.  I have never spun from the cocoon, so I don't know what I am getting into. 

The worms, hatched June 4th and now are about an inch long.  The literature on the web says that they will grow to about three inches then start to spin their cocoons.  I am not clear what I am to do next, but will find out.  Thanks to the Internet and the library, I will have my information soon.  I do know that I have about 2 to 3 weeks before the next step. 

Till next time, blessings and be safe....