Domestic Bliss (Boredom)

Hi all, Dianne here.  Well, we've continued mowing, watering, pulling weeds, and generally keeping our house in Pendleton ready for the realtor.  Not too much interesting to write about, so we didn't.

Our "grandpuppy," Cinnamon, came to keep us company while we worked in the yard.  She loves to run and play with our two dogs.  Surprisingly, her short little legs do pretty well against our made-for-speed whippets, and it's fun to watch them chase each other around the yard.   

Roger here...  When we are working at the house and leave the yard to run errands,  Jasper and Cinnamon lurk around by the driveway gate until we return.  Jasper 

is usually on full alert while Cinnamon lays down and chills out with her nose under the gate. 

 Chaplin, who is always in a fog, does not seem to realize when we leave and is usually sprawled out in the sun somewhere in the yard, looking as if he died several days ago.  

Thanks to a suggestion from one of you, I purchased a CD set of "Birding by Ear" and am trying to learn how to identify birds by their song.  The photo of Roger shows his expression while enduring our boring drive back and forth to Pendleton from Summit Lake as he listens to my birding CDs.  (He was mugging for the camera.)  (Roger here...  the bird tape is mind-numbing!  We eventually reached a compromise  - bird tapes on the outgoing trip, music on the incoming trip.)

   He might complain, but he's learning some songs, too.   We've decided Summit Lake is just too far to drive back and forth, so we're going to stay at a private campground which is much closer when we're in the area next time.

Anyone who knows cats knows how eccentric they can be.  Our cat, Charlie, is no exception.  His eccentricities include wanting our sliding doors inside the motor home open at all times.  If you shut one to use the facilities, he shows his displeasure by pounding on the door until you open it for him to enter.  Of course, if you do that, as soon as you close the door again he immediately wants back out. 

 His other eccentricity occurs EVERY TIME I make the bed, no matter where he is or what he's doing, he feels he just has to help by jumping up and laying down exactly in the spot I'm trying to make.  

 He also wrestles with our dog, Jasper.   Jasper takes it upon himself to scold Charlie every time Charlie tries to sharpen his non-existent front claws on the sofa.  They actually interact much more than Jasper does with Chaplin, our other whippet.

Our daughter, Amanda, and granddaughter, Kaia, came to enjoy dinner and a camp fire again while we were at Summit Lake.  Kaia has decided our new lifestyle isn't so bad, especially since she has all the comforts of home including the 

Jonas Brothers on TV and the Disney internet site,

 no matter where we are.   We can still make brownies together, and they turn out just as good as they did in my expensive Thermador dual-fuel range in the house.

Roger here...  Many of our friends and relatives don't realize this, but Dianne is an O.W.G. - Opportunistic Wood Gatherer.  She inherited this affliction from her grandmother, Clara, who was one of the thriftiest persons I have ever known.  She actually cut the ends off toothpaste tubes to squeeze out the last little bit before tossing the tubes in the trash.   (Dianne here:  funny he should mention this; I just now did the same thing to MY toothpaste tube! -- "Waste Not, Want Not.")   By the way, so no one misinterprets my little bit of fun, Dianne's grandmother, who lived to be 105, was one of the best persons I have ever known.  I miss her very much.

Anyway, back to Dianne's O.W.G disorder.  When we stay through the weekend in a state park, Dianne patiently waits for the weekend campsites to clear early Sunday evening.  She then lurks among the empty campsites gathering wood (often partially burned) from the fire rings and dragging it back to our site where the pyro-queen assembles her own unique 

conflagration.  During Amanda and Kaia's last visit, Kaia (in her constant search for snack food) asked where Meemaw was.  When I said that she was stealing firewood, she responded, "Oh, again!  Can I have a coke?"

We are now at Prophetstown State Park near West Lafayette, IN - in my opinion, the best Indiana State Park Campground - outstanding facilities, including full hookups, with beautiful, spacious, very private sites.  More on Prophetstown the next time.

Lake Weekend

Roger here...  Dianne and I, and the whippets, spent last weekend in a familiar and very comfortable setting. 

 We visited Jay and Nancy (friends since college) at their lake home on Lake Cordry in northern Brown County, Indiana.  (Dianne here:  this photo shows the four of us having a traditional  mimosa on Sunday morning)

We have spent weekends at the lake with Jay and Nancy many times over the years. 

 During those visits we watched their son and daughter grow up.  Since their lake home was only a few twisting and curving miles from our campsite at Brown County State Park, it was simple for us to spend most of Saturday and Sunday with them.

Just a little background:  Jay was a fraternity brother of mine at Purdue.  He and Nancy introduced me to Dianne on a blind date during our junior year.  We were in each other's weddings during the summer of 1972.  We have remained close friends ever since.  (Dianne again:  those of you who follow our  blogs might remember our visit to Jay & Nancy's beach-front condo in Naples, Florida last winter.)

Weekends at the lake are always easy and comfortable. 

 We enjoy watching activity on the lake while lounging on the decks, going out in the boat, hiking along the lake road, swimming in the lake on floats, and eating and eating and eating.  Always lots of great food.  

On this visit it was great spending time with Jay and Nancy's son, Quinn, his wife, Shelly, their two sons, Will and Alex, and their dog, Bonzi.  It was particularly fun watching Will play in the lake under everyone's watchful eyes.  It was very gratifying to listen to Will frequently scold Jay, "Don't do that,

 Poppy!"  Bonzi and our "boys" got along well, lots of sniffing and tail wagging.  However, Bonzi, who is afraid of the water, was a little confused when Jasper plunged into the lake to pursue his favorite activity - swimming (of a sort), splashing, drinking the splashed lake water, and then peeing three gallons.  (Dianne again -- I insist that Jasper wear a life jacket

 because whippets are NOT built for swimming, and he doesn't know his own capabilities!  The others give me endless grief for my overprotectiveness).

A highlight of this particular visit was viewing the great fireworks that Lakes Cordry and Sweetwater sponsor, always on the weekend AFTER the 4th of July.  Many of the residents steer their boats to the center of the lake to watch the spectacle.  We had ringside seats on Jay & Nancy's deck. 

 Top-notch fireworks that everyone enjoyed.

We parted ways during the early evening on Sunday, but we know that we will see each other many times during the weeks that we spend in central Indiana.

Monday morning we moved back to Summit Lake State Park for a ten-day stay.  We are near our daughter, Amanda, and granddaughter, Kaia and, of course, near the house and yard that we are keeping in prime condition for potential buyers.  We are also using this time to organize the sale of the furniture inside the house and all the other possessions on the property.  Even though the house has not sold, we need to take care of this task before we leave Indiana in the fall.  (It would not be fun to drive back to Indy in the cold to sell our remaining "stuff.")

House Furnishings For Sale Listing

Forgive the self-promotion -- Here is a link to a web photo listing of the furniture, lamps, wall decor, lawn furniture, lawn ornaments, including some antiques that we have for sale at our sticks and bricks house in Pendleton, Indiana, along with prices and availability dates.  

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y14/DianneN/Furniture%20For%20Sale/

This is primarily for our local readers who know us and follow along.  We are trying to get the word out to as many people as possible about the furnishings that we have for sale, so feel free to cut and paste and forward the link to anybody you know who might be interested!

Items are for pick up only.   (We do not have a truck or any means to deliver the furniture.)   Our e-mail address is rogerdianne26@yahoo.com if you want to contact us about any of the items.

The left side of the web page has "tags" that you can click on if you are only interested in lawn furniture or lawn ornaments and don't want to wade through all the indoor furnishings.  

Now if somebody would only buy the house......

I will add a permanent link to the furniture photos along the left side of our blog for future reference.  

Thanks for checking it out!!

Another Guest Blog by Kaia

Sup! It's Kaia, and i had a super fun cool time with my grandparents.

SATURDAY: I arrived at brown county

and

it rained all day so i really didn't do much but we did play uno and i watched tv.

SUNDAY: Pop pop and i went to Nashville, IN and i got fudge, and candy. I also rode my bicycle around the campround.

MONDAY: We all went to the lake and i jumped in and Jasper

went hysterical because he thought i would drowned. Then Chaplin, well, he doesn't like the water but he fell backwards and into the water. Before that Jasper jumped in after me.

I made meamaw get in. She said quote "It's too cold!!!" We had a deal every time i jumped in she took one step.

Pop pop took pictures of me jumping

in the water in case you don't believe me.

(Ha ha ha!) There were boards and there were even this thing that you could put a drink in

and relax. I saw fish in the lake but none came near me.

Well i guess thats all i have to say so remember, recycle, help the environment, make sure travel with whippets is your website, wait for a new topic. Until then, peace!

"Way Down Yonder in the Paw Paw Patch"

Hi all -- Dianne here.  With the Garden Walk over and another realty open house under our belts, Roger and I escaped to Brown County State Park for a couple of weeks to rest and regroup.  We made reservations here last January, because we knew we'd have to plan ahead to have a place for the July 4th weekend.

  Roger here...  For those of you who are not familiar with Brown County State Park, it is the largest state park in Indiana.  It is somewhat unusual for the state because it is in an extremely hilly locale.  Not too many hills in Indiana until you get to the southern third of the state.  The topography of the hills is interesting, as valleys were gouged into the hills by glaciers during the ice age.  The hiking here is a lot of up, down, up, down, ad infinitum - a good test for the new hiking shoes we just bought (more later on that).  Regular cars can enter the park through the north entrance through the 

 double covered bridge that is pictured.  RVs have to travel another 10 or so miles to get to the west entrance where they have enough height clearance.  

Dianne again:  Here at Brown County State Park we have a GREAT site (#62), with a view of the pretty brown

 barn out our front windshield, and a large private grassy and tree area on our patio side.  It's got a slope to it, as shown in our elaborate leveling setup.  In fact, we ended up using ALL of our plastic leveling "toys," including our chocks behind the front wheels, which we normally don't need to use with a motorhome.  (Roger here...  usually leveling takes about 2-3 minutes with our automated leveling jacks.  This time it took about a half hour.)

 

Our dogs are THRILLED to be out hiking in the woods again.  

They really get excited and a bounce in their trot when we go for a hike. 

 There are some great hiking trails here, which we've taken good advantage of.

Our first hike was around Ogle Lake, where we saw sassafras, oak forests, and paw

 paws.  (Roger here... as we walked around the lake we saw dozens of trees that had been felled or were about to be felled by

 beaver.  We've included photos of two of them.)

The second day we took a  break from hiking and went

 into the small town of Nashville, Indiana for a chocolate soda (Roger's favorite dessert) at our favorite lunch spot, the 

Hob Nob.  

Then, yesterday, we took another long (over 6 miles), rugged hike that included a lot of uphill and downhill exercise.   Vast

 areas

 of beautiful ferns, interesting

 mushrooms (Roger here...  Dianne loves to photograph fungus - I'm not sure if I should be concerned about this), and moss with spore

 pods are just some of the things we spotted.   The weather was cool for this time of year (low to mid 70s), so it was perfect for a long hike.   We packed snacks and water for us and the "boys."   

Roger here... After three beautiful days, it is raining here today - a good day to read, watch TV, and stay dry in the motor home.  We are supposed to pick up our granddaughter, Kaia, later today so that she can visit for a few days :).  The weather is supposed to be great after today's rain, so we are looking forward to having fun with her.

On the way to Brown County from Summit Lake, we stopped at the Edinburg Outlet mall on I-65  for the purpose of buying underwear and socks at the Jockey store - how exciting :).  We parked the motor home in an out-of-the-way location.  Dianne and the dogs took a nap while I went to the store.  On the way, I noticed a hiking shoe display in the window of the Hush Puppy store.  I have been looking for a good pair of hiking shoes, preferably Merrells, for a couple of  years, but could not find any in my size.  I have embarrassingly small feet for a guy.  I dropped in the store expecting that none of the shoes would fit (as usual).  To my surprise, the shoes were Merrells and there was one pair in my size!  It was meant to be.  When I got back to the motor home, awakened Dianne from her slumber, and showed her my new shoes, she hopped up (not to be outdone) and promptly went to the store to buy a pair for herself.