Too, too hot to do much more this evening. Look!! Ninety-one degrees as we worked to hitch the T@B & KIA. I thought my helpers “forgot” so I tried to swing the T@B around so I had more area (to hitch up). The wheel/jack collapsed!! But my helpers had not forgotten, and quickly raised the tongue and dropped it on the ball. Hallelujah!! After six months, “Mercedes” and I will spend some quality time together?!?!
“Little Black Sambo“ is the illustration that came to mind when I was considering what to write today. Specifically, I remembered the story line: “They chase each other around a tree until they are reduced to a pool of melted butter.” ~~ The heat and humidity here in East Texas has robbed me of energy; I’m thinking of myself as a pool of melted butter. I’m told “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet; it gets worse next month.” ~~ Tentatively, I planned to take a brief travel trailer trip but I haven’t an ounce of energy to prepare… and less inclination to drive to an unknown destination and possibly “melt” at that location. ~~ Just thought you’d like to know!!
As I said in an earlier blog message, forty years on the Mojave Desert did not prepare me for the heat in East Texas!!
Break time!! I started my day prior to 7:30 (I sat on my patio talking to two visitors). Then I scrubbed the T@B. Later I cleaned two bird baths, etc., etc., etc.
Check out the other occasions when Mercedes got a bath: September 8, 2010; October 18, 2010; May 22, 2011 and September 29, 2013. I know of other times but must not have taken pictures. I remember a car wash near Plymouth, Massachusetts…. Found it; I remembered correctly.
Searching clip art, I found this picture. I want a bench like that for my yard!!
Too many pictures?? I’ve been notified (by Verizon) that I have used over 50 percent of my allotted data–in eight days. Yipes!! Hey, I love to take pictures and I love, love, love to prepare blog messages!!
Aches and pain, yes, but I’m enthusiastically enjoying the morning (and my first cup of coffee).
Not in my yard but within my viewing pleasure.
Yes, it is Sunday but I can’t “rest” because too much to do!! First, in anticipation of a short camping trip, I prepared Nature’s Head with Coconut fiber (in water) in the base. Then I started cutting up the foam mattress so easier to carry away to the trash receptacle. Now I know why the foam mattress was so beastly heavy: Gel packs throughout that created “water-bed” comfort. I long suspected it was a hospital bed mattress. The gel was flexible but did not run out of the pocket when I cut open. I’m really ornery today: I’m leaving the pile for maintenance to pick up; I’m not carrying to the trash receptacle. Then I struggled to wiggle the heavy table ten feet further into my yard. Now maintenance can mow half my yard and I won’t have to weed-whack. I’m weary of doing my own yard!!!!! Especially with the heat!! I also moved three planters and three garden flags from that section of my yard. ~~ 
About the fall: I was tugging at the foam because some was coming off in sections. A section gave way unexpectedly and I went down flat on my posterior, on the cement walkway, and my left hand and wrist took part of the shock of the fall. Fortunately, no broken bones!! (Last time something like this happened, I broke my right arm!!) ~~ I left the projects –about 12:30–for a break and iced tea.
Three-thirty PM update (94 degrees): I followed “the path of least resistance” and filled the fresh water tank with my premium quality garden hose. First I flushed the tank with gallons (and gallons) of water. 
I just didn’t have the desire to unhook one and hook the other. I don’t drink water from that tank; I haul filtered water with me. ~~ So one more item I can check off my “to do” list.
When I question (in my mind) “What will I write about next?” a new topic suddenly arrives. This inspiration follows a comment on yesterday’s message, a comment about tires. I searched Tab Teardrop Travels for my blog messages about tires. First: If life gives you lemons, make lemonade; second: Helping the local economy?. Regarding KIA tires Greetings from Concord, North Carolina.
As Bugs Bunny used to say at the end of cartoons “That’s all Folks!” ~~ I have a busy day ahead of me. First volunteering at Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store and then taking pictures at a Memorial Service.
Postscript: Almost seven PM and residents, and others, will gather in the multi-purpose room to watch the Liberty Opry. It’s nice to watch the live performance from our comfortable chairs and sofas. Tonight I am exhausted (wrung out) from a busy day. I almost don’t want to leave the comfort of my glider/recliner chair at home. Today, first, the store; second, the Memorial. I was busy for hours. (I’m not complaining!!) The heat just saps my energy and leaves me “wrung out.” ~~ I’ll go… because a great social time with “my adopted family.”
“Too hot, too cold.” Is there no happy medium? The multi-purpose room was colder than my refrigerator!! (The temperature is pleasant in my humble home.) The music was great: Marty Haggard paying tribute to his father Merle Haggard.
Perspiration is running off me like water runs off in the shower!! No lie, I am wringing wet with sweat!! I spent the morning on outdoor projects. It’s “break time.” ~~ “Stanley” helped me vacuum the KIA. I scrubbed those orange containers before returning them to their storage and travel location. I scrubbed the fountain/bird bath because it was full of debris and slow running. The bird feeders were caked with wet feed stuck to the bottom(s) like cement. Cleaned… and filled. See how high the weeds are?? Very soon, I have to get out the “weed whacker.”
Late afternoon, I needed to make an unexpected quick trip to Walmart in Livingston. When I drove past the Bank the temperature registered 93 degrees. Less than an hour later, en route home, I ran into a torrential thunder-storm. I got soaking wet running from the car to the trailer. My thermometer said 71 degrees outside and 80 degrees inside!! Over twenty degree drop in less than one hour!! One and one-fifth inches of rain in my gauge; the yard looks like a lake?! ~~ This morning I took the tarp covering the mattress off so it could dry from previous rain storms. Even when it was dry, I could not lift the mattress (very heavy-duty foam). I hope to eventually find some strong considerate man to load the mattress in his truck and haul it to the dump. There was a time when that mattress would provide comfort for another person, another family. Our weather, this last month, has ruined the mattress.
The T@B is almost ready for another trip!! I’m so excited because things are moving so smoothly. I dreaded a dead battery–but it is fine. The tester needed two new AA-batteries but quickly supplied. The original RV electrical cord, and extension RV electrical cord, was under the awning but got wet in the rain storm. I dried the connections with my hair dryer… and prayed all would be well. I sat on soggy grass, and mud, to attach underneath the T@B. Pleasant surprise: Power!!
Break time. I’ve been working on projects in the T@B and want another cup of coffee. Yesterday afternoon I did two loads of laundry. All… from the T@B and originally put away clean. However, I want to eliminate any possibility of remaining mold spores. Only a portion of the things that came out of the trailer went back in. I have more-than-enough without adding a green blanket, blue blanket, brown & white striped towel, etc. A large winter-weight sleeping bag needs to be washed or sent to the cleaners. To my delight, everything is almost ready for another trip. I need to flush the water tank and a few more mundane things. FYI: I purchased the small orange fry pan and tiny cooking pot at Walmart in Quebec, Canada. The rugs came from Hingham, Massachusetts. If I remember correctly (because undocumented), I believe the pillows came from Ollie’s in North Carolina. Like that “tote bag”?? While traveling, it holds snack items and non-perishable food items (and easily shifts from the bed to the floor [near the door] at night).
When I get tired and weary of the heat and humidity, I come into the BIG trailer for iced tea. At 1:30 I turned on the air-conditioner and began uploading pictures. I was hoping the rain would cool the air but (at 2:40) the outside temperature is still 91 degrees.
Today, late morning, early afternoon, I began to gather items from numerous storage places. I want “a place for everything [T@B] and everything in its place.”
When I travel with the T@B, I put my clothes in a soft-side duffel bag, and soft-side tote.
FYI: The Locktite glue patch did not hold. It pealed away as though no adhesive had been applied. The Gorilla Glue holds perfectly. (So, I returned to the glass gallon jar [with Gorilla Glue] and “glued” the washer to the glass. Maybe that will stop the leak?!)
Four PM: It is blistering hot and humid!! The earlier rain did not last five minutes. It’s beginning to rain again. Maybe this time the air will be cooler??
Five PM: Good grief!! While trying to put things away (or box for a donation) I found another sleeping bag. Why do I have three sleeping bags? Why did I have so many blankets and towels? It is such a big job trying to “get settled” and get organized. I must, eventually, tackle the on-site storage building plus the storage unit down the highway. To my credit, I emptied two large storage containers today. Eventually… things will be stored in them, in the “basement” of the BIG trailer.
Actually, it’s Friday, June 13, 2014. This message (of no significant value) needs to follow earlier message. I could have named this post “Third Times a Charm” or “Try, try again.” Persistence pays off and I have a usable gallon glass container–thanks to Gorilla Glue. Not a single drop of moisture on the paper towel overnight!!
Confession: I bought that small bottle of Gorilla Glue–several years ago–to (hopefully) repair the broken assembly around a T@B taillight. Sadly, I never updated T@B Teardrop Travels with details and pictures (2010 trip) and–as you can see–I never repaired the broken plastic.
Three Quarters & Counting 