After near freezing temperatures at night, well it seemed really cold to us, we are in Palm Springs and it is quite HOT here now. Who would have thought it would get over 100 degrees near the end of October??? The over night low temperatures barely dip below 70. While we were up in Silent Valley we put the comfy soft flannel sheets and the electric blanket on the bed.............but I'm pretty sure we won't be turning that on while we are here for two weeks.
Doggy updates: Millie continues to do well and is accepting the Hills Science Diet Kidney formula quite well, and her appetite has returned. YAY! Back in May, in New Mexico, Willie had what we believe was a kidney stone, caused at least in part by the higher than normal calcium level in the local water. He was treated with an antibiotic for a possible urinary tract infection, and recovered. Even though he has not had any more troubles, the vet said he probably should NOT continue on the high protein, grain-free diet he was on, but he doesn't need the prescription diet Millie is on. We did online research and decided to try him on the Natural Balance Vegan diet, which has nearly 10% less protein than what he (and Millie too) had been eating before. I am transitioning him gradually while we use up the high protein food, and he is also accepting the new food quite well. It is costly, but it will possibly save money on vet bills down the road. Again YAY!!!
This and the next two pix are at the site we had hoped to get into when we arrived here last month.
When we left on Saturday they were STILL working on their decorations! Even though this is just not our thing, I can see why this guy won first place in the decorating contest last year.
Jim just told me he ran into a guy this morning that he had met here almost two years ago. The guy remembered him and called him by name.....wow. He was the guy that suggested to Jim that he should see if he could qualify for VA medical benefits......which he, of course, has done. This guy told Jim that HE had been denied because he makes too much money, but he was glad to hear that Jim has been able to receive his care through the VA.
Even though I liked using our small washer and spin dryer so we didn't have to haul our clothes out to the laundromat, I am thinking about trying to sell them here tomorrow. Besides the craft sales they allow people to do on Friday mornings, they now have what they call "Yard Sale at your Site" on Tuesday mornings. My reason for selling is mainly because I am always trying to reduce the amount of stuff we carry around. This past month we gave away our Power XL air fryer, because it did not fit into ANY storage we had inside the RV. It also duplicated what we can do in the NuWave Oven, so we didn't need both. Diane and Jim were delighted to get it and love to air fry sweet potato fries and other veggies. They are vegans and say they are using it every day! They can use it for veggie burgers and so much more.
Jim got a bigger compressor, as the one he had took forever to do the motorhome tires, so he gave the smaller one, and his older power drill to Jim & Diane too, mainly Jim I would think. You might ask why we didn't try to sell them these items but we have a good reason. Although these items are currently working, they are NOT new, and we don't know how long they will continue to work. I would HATE to charge a friend for something that could stop working before long, and risk having them think we took advantage of them. Still, if they do work, and someone we know can use the items, we would rather give them away than throw them in the trash. We did trash a pair of outside chairs that felt like they were about to give out, and we gave our blue rug that we bought for the screen room we don't have anymore to Diane & Jim.
Anything we can get rid of is less weight to carry around in the RV or the car. Also, it means less for Jim to have to load up to move, and set up when we get someplace. We do like having our "toys" but we also have to consider the cost of carrying all that stuff around. Every time we went to one of Gail's lectures on ways to save space and/or weight in your RV, I would come home and get rid of lots of stuff............but she has stopped selling her stuff and giving lectures, so now I have to figure out for myself how to do all this. I do go through all our drawers, closets, and inside storage spaces to see what we have collected over the past year, or have carried around for another year that we are not using. I like to say "If we haven't needed it for the last 12 months, we probably won't need it next year." However, Jim doesn't always agree with that and says maybe we'll need this next year, and have to buy it for a higher price. Oh well.
Now we have a new items we want to save up for. We actually NEED a new stove and oven. That is funny because so many people never use their RV ovens, except to store things inside, but we cook and bake in ours almost every day. Our stove top igniter does not work anymore. Not too big a deal by itself, but the oven door won't stay closed so it is hard to bake when you can't keep the oven at a constant temperature. We also worry about gas leakage into the RV, so we open a door or the MaxxAir vent to make sure we have plenty of fresh air in here when we bake.
Once we replace the oven, we would like to get a new refrigerator/freezer. We have inadvertently broken off three or four of the cooling blades, so the refrigerator has to work harder to keep food cold, using more electricity. Also, newer models are more efficient and actually give you more cubic feet of storage in the same space we have now. Many people are converting to residential refrigerators, but we don't want to do that. Those only run on electricity, but RV units can also run on propane. We use propane when we dry camp, such as if we are at Elks lodges that don't offer electric hookups.
We also think we need to replace the mattress on our bed. We added a pillow top mattress topper when we bought this RV, which made it much more comfortable...........but we really think a new mattress is what we need, as soon as we can get it. Maybe it's time to start buying lottery tickets! LOL.
I think it's time to close now so I will summarize by saying that if you also have too much baggage in your life, maybe it's time for you to take stock of what you really need and what you need to give up. This can apply to more than possessions too. Are you holding onto a grudge or an old "hurt" that you should have let go of long ago? The possessions that you are hanging on to might be more useful to someone else. If you don't know who to give things to, the Salvation Army or Goodwill might be a good place to donate things. As for the pain or grudge you are holding onto, I think you know who to give that to. Many sermons and hymns have told us to take our problems and concerns to Jesus. He can take all of our burdens from us, so we can move forward without them. Let them go, and start anew without the unneeded baggage. Thanksgiving is just weeks away, and then Christmas and a New Year. Wouldn't it be wonderful to start the holy season and the new year without all the pain and anger and strife that you may have been carrying around for such a long time? I know I want to. Have a wonderful day, and week ahead, and so much more.
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