Memories, lucky to have them.

Started looking through my pictures the other day, making a calendar for 2021.

As I flipped through the days past in January and before, I saw so many people that I can't see this year again. 

When we retired the plan was to travel, south in winter, and north in summer. Plans change. This virus has us anchored here at Arrowvale Campground, not a bad place to hang about. Close to our hometown, family and friends, close to all we remember from days gone by. 

Still the sweet memories of winters gone by where we traveled south have me thinking about friends we won't see this year.

 

A phone call away, but still will miss the fun times we had, at same time we know will have again.

Next is what to do, we keep busy doing what we love here in town. I plan to make a few changes in our trailer, and Polly is busy making Christmas decorations for our trailer. As the winter progresses i surely expect to see an early spring this year, as so far the weather is mild. 

I have a few projects in mind, finished my first today, a bench for a boy we have grown to love here at Arrowvale, River is his name.

 

Was a fun project, and with the few extra tools I aquired, band saw, router, circular saw as well as tools I brought here from my friends place, Table saw, jig saw, air nailer & compressor, and a few others I'm looking forward to completing a few more fun projects. 

November rains subside this Monday, the wether forecast predicts sunny days ahead till Friday. Plans, what's the plan 🤔

I'm thinking of the planter I started yesterday, I'll finish today. Then shelves beside the bed, shelves that fold up so is easier to make the bed, as narrow space between the bed and the slide walls. 

One of the things about working in or around a trailer, the space is limited. And adding things, always thinking of weight. And placement, no wood studs to screw into, have to plan well so not to punch holes and have to move your shelf. 

The rain has stopped, the Sky's bright. The dropped still on the windows. I'm sure this will be a great week. 😃 

I look out the window as I write, over top Polly's head as she leans back in her chair, and she says "oop blue Sky's coming!" The announcement I was hoping for. Polly has a very positive outlook, always seeing the optimistic possiblities. She is right, blue skies are here. 

I took some pictures as the day unfolded and looked at them, showed Polly, and I think we have one of the Beatles here in the tree lookin in on us.

What do you think? Lol 😆, I'll look different at that tree now. 

I start this week with a haircut today, booked on line with a very familiar person😃😊👦

I'm thinking I should write a Book! 🤔

This was my thought this morning as I was walking back from a long for me walk. Thinking as I was walking what could I write about? I have many subjects I could write about, but the one I know the best is Me, that's what I do know alot about. 

At first I thought about a couple conversations I've had recently about my working history, the last person that asked I gave a fairly in-depth rendition of my working history working in a logging camp, then about the sawmill. As I spoke I realized I have done a lot, many different jobs, and learned so much. 

Today I decided there is even more to learn about me then just about the woodworking history. I worked from early in life, gee I'm shaking my head right now, how far back do I go 🤣🤣

Picking up bottles and cans at 8 years old gave me money to buy candy and treats. Fishing for cod in the canal down from our house and trading for cash or sometimes a pie. Then shovelling snow for $ the winter of 68-69 gave me enough to buy a family and friends a present at Christmas. That memory is burned in my mind, is the year I learned the lesson to just keep going, even if I was tired, too tired. Just keep moving, the job will get done, can't give up! 

Determination is something I am not the best at, I do give up sometimes, but I do understand my determination is something that I'm proud of. Determination has carried me through life, and today, if I really want something, I know how to go for it. 

There is more. I need to think things through, I often act too quickly, that can be very good in a needed situation, and deadly in some. Hmm, is this introspection? I think so, and that I'm thinking is a very good trait. 

Happy, that's another

Positive ✅

Loving✅

Caring✅

Forceful ✅

😡 Angry ✅

Hurtful 😡✅

Generous ✅

Thoughtful ✅

Dog got stuck today in the bedroom, Polly tells me, LoL 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 couldn't find his way out 😂🤣🤣

That'll be me someday 🤔😃😂🤣🤣🤣

I'll write a book! 

One day 😃😆😊

Winter ready is our next project.

Our comfort level increased with our new home, and making it ready for our winter stay is my next project. 

Water lines insulated, waste water protected yesterday got the trailer skirted all around. All roof cauking checked for cracks, even if new, I like to go up on the roof before the heaviest weather comes, just to check, and sweep off the leaves. Besides it's a nice view on a warm day in November ☺️

Inside our home heat is with our propane furnace and an additional plug in oil filled heater.

As we heat we close up the doors and windows tight, pull the blinds to help insulate,  this gives us the next problem to solve. Moisture, this can be a big problem if we don't deal with it. Having the fan on and open to the outside as we shower or cook helps, but as the weather gets colder we are trying to keep the heat in. Dehumidifier is next purchase, to help with keeping heat in and moisture low. 1cup of water yesterday in 24 hours. I expect more as the weather gets better and colder.

       Dehumidifier is a good investment

Now thinking problems solved, were ready for the rain and snow. Oops, not yet, awnings outside will be a problem if we leave them open, so tying them down to prevent them riping, of flapping in the wind will help, but always a concern if we leave, so have to manage by rolling them up if a storm aproches.

After all the winter preparation is done, I have planned to get busy on our small alterations to make the interior just right😊 This part of making our home a little more comfortable is my favorite part. The small comforts that the manufacturer doesn't always get right. Getting to make something from wood, that is a favorite part, creative & fun. Looking forward to some interesting creations this winter. 

Always something to do with our home, as well as the area around it. When you travel, most likely just put out the awnings, get the BBQ set up & chairs out is all that's needed, but when making our camp more permanent calls for just a little more preparation. Feeling satisfied we are almost ready. See how we fare as the weather comes. 😃

Love this life, even if stationary 🤗

"Covid Thinking" is there any other way?

A few days ago, (well maybe a few weeks) I started thinking about how we are all thinking. We as in this world full of people. We are all acting & reacting to information we have about this virus. Some of us are very well informed, some just doing what's told, and some going against the grain. As I thought about it I realized we are all acting in a way because of Covid and how we have been informed of it. Our many thoughts in our day have to do with this information. 

We talk about it with Friends & Family. We continue to live it, and we try to see the future after it. Most of us miss many parts of our pre-covid lives. Hugs, hand shakes,  a kiss, sharing thing's, just being close, and not guarded all the time. Oh and sports, can't go to a game, and concerts, can't even go out to dance! 

But we are alive!

I started to think how will this time 2020 will be remembered? Then I say to myself, ahh shit, what does it matter. Let's live the best we can now! Not throw it all to the wind, but act best we can now, as usual do the best we can with what we have. 

So, we bought a new trailer to satisfy the urge to travel, and instead stay put this winter.

Well not really, we bought this to update, and solve some problems we had with our other trailer. Bedroom was to small and not tall enough for me, and had a terrible step on the floor beside the bed, bathroom was cramped, no washer dryer could be installed, no decent closet, basement was smaller. So some big things, and quite a few small things helped make our minds up. The biggest thing that helped us decide was our comfort factor. Comfort with the cost, as well as comfort inside our new rig. 

We took time to decide, Polly was generally happy with the other one, but I was not happy almost right away. Needed that extra head space, and closet for all our clothes. So I kept looking, and after we our summer trip, when we had some quiet time I found an add for this trailer. I showed Polly and she said ok, and we decided to call a sales person we had met in Port Alberni before we had bought our last trailer as he told us he could have any trailer in Arbutus stock brought to Port if we wanted to.look at it.

Steve helped us just like he said he would, and I'm sure he will all along with our new home. And home 🏡 it is, we feel right at home here as much is the same just a little bigger, and the newness feels nice too. 

After we did the last look before we committed, on our way home Polly started with the ideas 😆 I love how she says "I was thinking" lol, such an innocent way Polly has as she thinks and says this.

So - Spice cabinet

Add a coupleshelves

Slideouts in the pantry again 😆🤣

Washer for sure, Drier maybe?

Install the satellite dish on top.

My list, TV for bedroom 😁

Some new shelter outside to work in this winter

A new coffee pot, lol this one just don't fit

I'm sure more will come, but for now we are feeling pretty darn good. 

Has Covid changed our behavior, yes it has. I shook the hand of a friend yesterday I had not seen for years. Did I think about it, yes. But I was not going to pull back from that greeting this time. Darn it felt good to say Hello like we used to. 

Hunker down for now, but keep alive and prepare to move again when this virus let's up it's grip on our world. 

Loving this life just a little more today 🤗

Closeness in RV parks can be Mocho interesting

Being close to your neighbors is good if you get along, and mostly we do get along with our neighbors, so much so that I look forward to seeing new people moving in next to us, or us moving in next to others. Sometimes we strike it off right away, sometimes not until we or they are just about to leave. The part I realize is all it takes is a Hi, 👋 how ya doing. Or a "Nice 🐕 dog" or "Catch anything?"🎣 Then off goes the conversation to who knows where. 

Polly always jokes with me when I come back from a walk around and say "I met someone!" Usually she says "doo tell" 

When a neighbor pulls in often we wait to say hi, as the move in and parking is sometimes tense, actually most of the time it's a tense time. 

After our new neighbors are settled we meet and talk. The starting conversation often is where did you travel from? Where are you going? These two questions give both travelers much information. Always we are looking for information on where we are planning on going, and what we could, should see, where to stay, or look out for. This conversation can be vital for many reasons, it also "breaks the ice" as some say. I like to say brings us closer.

For me with smiles on our faces, we can now relax and enjoy the best part of getting to know each other. The beginning is like being at a party meeting someone, just not nervous as no pressure. We can walk and talk, or stand or be examining how the parking went. So much happens in a short time as we meet. We have much in common right away.

So many different people pass through our lives, and this closeness is similar or same as living in an RV of some sort, it's exilarating for me. We see, hear and speak with each other in so many ways. People do not try to hideaway usually, people are friendly, optimistic, freespirited, "Gypsies" some may say. 

Some travel in groups, but most we find travel on there own, for so many different reasons, work, family, touring, necessity, a place to live. We are usually traveling to see something, or meet someone.

We often have stops built into our trip to visit friends or family as we go, is nice to see people we have not visited with for awhile. 

Some of the best times are when we have no sure destination, and no predetermined time to be somewhere. Then we make our plans as we go. Polly is very good at saying "I was thinking 🤔",  many very good dreams develop this way. 🤗

I really like developing a possibly. When talking with others as you are just getting to know them, if I throw out what I'm thinking of doing sometime in the future. Never know where this might go, but it does explore a possibility list that I have. Some call it a bucket list, I think of it as possiblities. Never know if we will get a chance to do them all, but is nice to dream hey😀

This year we have committed to staying put here at Arrowvale till January 1st then we may just stay till spring, never know. But dreaming will continue, and plans will develop as we wait for the world to reopen, and our new reality opens up like blinds to the future. 

For now I'll dream of possiblities with friends we have, and new friends we have yet to meet. 

Life is so darn Good 🤗❤️🍀

🦃 Happy Thanksgiving everybody 🦃

What's next for this World/Planet we live on?

I'm thinking we are on our way to a new society on our planet. 

After Covid most all of us hope we go back to the way it was! I for one think that most countries have indebted them selves to the point of no return. People have jobs taken from them, companies have business lost, so much drastic change that just going back to where we were I think is not going to happen. 

Despondent thought on bathroom wall 😳

"I will never financially recover from this"

I wonder if this is true for many, how will we go on? What's next? Traveling the world has changed, and economies of many countries that depend on travel to support there country. If no travel, no jobs, no taxes = Broke! 

What's next then? 

History has proven that after disaster, we can and do pickup our socks and move on. Some won't have socks to pull up! 

Not being bleak here, I'm just wondering what's next. So much of what we all percive as freedom has been given up to government and now being directed by health science to the point of all asking what we are allowed to do. 

     Covid sign I made up for this winter

Here where we live we can still go to a restaurant, pub, shopping in some places, and most places without a mask. This is changing by the day, and pushed by many as the best way to prevent covid from spreading. 

We can't go over the boarder to USA by driving, but we can fly into the state's. Hmm I think, who makes the rules? I say this as there are so many that make no sense. I know I don't make the rules, I just make sure I go where there are less rules, and do what I have to when entering a place that has rules. 

I joke about having to move further north to get some freedom back, just not sure how far north we would have to go 🎅🤶

We have been asked by many "Where will you go next?" I keep answering "Not sure, see what changes as time goes on."

And that's it in a nutshell, plans many had are postponed or cancelled, stay put is our next move. Now I say break out the woodworking tools, I'm going to get busy having fun. And the hiking boots, as there are many places here in Port Alberni I have yet to hike. Netflix, that might get good use too. And Friend's and Family who are close will be in our circle to spend time with. Oh yeah, writing, I'm sure I will do more of that during the winter 😉

   Our camp is setup, rains about to come

What more can we ask for? Surprise to come around the corner 🤣😃☺️ 

Life has a way of sending us just what we need to brighten our lives, just when we need it! Arrowvale Campground is purfect for our winter of rest from traveling 🤗♥️

Loving this life, Covid restrictions and all😀

          Garden and view are still intact

Pictures I didn't get stay in my mind.

I have thought this on and off many times as I see that beautiful sight. Most pictures I like I take, and more. There have been a few steller (in my opinion) shots I couldn't take for different reasons. Sometimes I stop and freeze the beauty in the moment in my phone camera, and sometimes I just have to remember what that beauty was.

During our trip this summer I had many of these beauty's I missed, and a few I hold in my mind. Here are a few I'll try to describe. Might not be near what the picture would have been, but here goes. 

Dawson Creek, was after dinner with Uncle Doug driving around the roundabout I looked west as the sun was setting, the paving crew were still working, and all the busyness going on with paver, trucks, people, flags, and smoke and steam, with the huge sun behind them. I like to keep this beauty thought. I could have pulled over, I could have stopped. Then right after between the huge grain elevator's I see the huge sun going down, same feeling, I just didn't have the heart to stop. Uncle Doug might of understood, but no I let this one or 2 go. 

Driving and seeing a sight I want to capture is tough enough, but when we are driving with trailer on, almost impossible. 

So many times during our trip I wanted to stop, but just not a place to pull over. When we went up to Rainbow 🌈 lake the farming and animals! Just couldn't stop. 

These pictures I had to stop & take last night after the game, so beautiful at night

Today at 5am I wake and think of this again as yesterday as we drove from Terace to Prince Rupert the mountains were different than any I've seen before, like wet black slate, and rounded formations, one like a huge horseshoe, clouds swirling around them, sure was beautiful. Could not stop, I'll keep this in my mind too.

About 1/2 way along the fog and rain started, and the mountain view disappeared, sad, surprised, not really I read the forcast yesterday. Polly was surprised, she had not read about it. 

I pull over about 15 mins away from our Campground at a huge pullout for trucks, and ask Polly to take Bosco out, as he was being just a pain making lots of little doggy noises, mmkk, eww, argh, I'm not sure how to spell dog whine. Polly looks at me 😳 and says "It's raining" lol, I say "not much", hmm, well my little honey, wonderful wife, sweetie gets out with our Son as we call him often, and takes him for a pee. It doesn't take long, but if course he only takes one pee Polly tells me. I'm satisfied he will be quieter now till we get to our site, Polly shivers a little, I turn on the heat. 

The pictures I wanted are way back in my mind now, I have job to do now, find our Campground, and get there safe. We did, and got parked, (not a great place, but all hillls and rock here) and had lunch a snooze, then next on the docket was a pub to watch the game, as no satellite signal in this spot!

 Polly informs me, "Only two more chapters and I'm done this book!"

Darn Life is rough on the road,🤣🤣🤣

We sat about 5 ft from the screen 😳

Was a very good game 😃😃👍👍👍