While the dog’s away, the squirrels will play

Well, I made it back to Pioneer Family Campground early this afternoon.   It was a little sooner than I really thought it would be, and as I found out, shockingly earlier than what could have happened.  When I last posted, I was told it would take a couple of days for a part to arrive to install the new awning.  Little did I know that the awning that took over six weeks to arrive was the wrong one.  That one turned out to be six inches shorter than needed and was striped black and white.  My former awning was brown.  The awning company said they no longer carried the brown awning.  Apparently, Brown & Brown  RV called the awning company and threw a hissy fit! 

Viola!  In a day and a half the new awning arrived, and it was the proper fabric and color.  I’m sure glad I didn’t have to wait another six weeks, because I’ll be gone by then.  When I got back to the campground and set up, I was in heaven.  I could actually sit outside in the afternoon with shade.  Wahoo!

I also noticed a refreshing difference between sitting in the parking lot and being back at the campground.  My ears weren’t ringing.  Brown & Brown RV is just a stone’s throw from I-57, and there’s a nearby railroad crossing.  It was more than noisy 24/7 even with all the windows closed and the AC running.  When I sat outside on the deck, the silence was deafening.  All that could be heard were the sounds of nature… a woodpecker drilling, the tweet tweet of the American goldfinches, and the sound of the breeze through the

oak trees.  Oh my, the tension of the last three days just slipped away.

The before and after of the smooshed basement door panel.  I think the painter did an excellent job.  Now the rig is as good as new!

Of course, while Emma and I were gone for three days, the squirrels had a hay day.  I had filled the two feeders before leaving.

This is what I found when I returned.  The feeder was on the ground, and I couldn’t use it any longer.  The front feeder was empty, and its top was on the ground.  After setting up, my first order of business was to get the two seed feeders, and the hummingbird feeder back in operation.  I happened to have another one of those 2 liter pop bottle feeders in reserve.  The hummers returned within five minutes, and it wasn’t long before the finches were back to have a snack and have a drink at the replenished water bowl.  With both Emma and I on duty again, I think we’ll be alright.

This little collage represents the best that I could come up with for my stay in the RV dealer parking lot.  We are in the corn belt, you know. 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy