I bought myself a new Tarot deck on Amazon last week with the last of my birthday gift cards (the rest went for a refurbished Hoover Floormate and a Porter & Cable random orbit sander, both very practical items). Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going to be losing most of September to surgery, it looks like, but hoping to get in at least af ew vending events this fall- Dachshund Days in Cleburne on the 9th of October, and then the Aussie nationals later in the month

I got up early this morning to be ready in case the Duck Pond Trail at Cedar Hill State Park was open, since I was going to go hike it with Courtney and her dogs Franny (Cardigan Welsh Corgi) and Thor (Dachshund.) Unfortunately, the rain that gave us our nice cool morning also got the trail closed due to mud.

Anyway. I let Kaylee and Lizzie out, closed the door behind them, and went to get dressed. Then proceeded to have a heart attack as I walked past the window because the GATE WAS OPEN. By the time I got back to the door, the dogs had reached the gate. Kaylee came RIGHT back when I called. Lizzie chased the Little Red Dachshund That Visits back down to his house (he lives 4 houses down) and had to be retrieved. Fortunately, everyone is home safe. I’ve got to get back in the habit of locking the gate when there’s a thunderstorm- the wind blows the gate open, which is pretty impressive, since it’s a heavy chain link gate!

I’m moving the camper stuff over to it’s own blog on Blogspot, just so my non-campy people can feel free to ignore it. (And so my camper-people friends can avoid all the dog posts.) Posts with significant non-camper content will still get mirrored over here, though, in all likelihood.

I feel so, so clever and crafty.

I just ordered a palm sander (A 5″ Porter-Cable Random Orbit Sander) off Amazon. (Thanks Awesome Handy Curtis for deciphering the specifications for me and figuring out what would work best for what I plan to use it for. Curtis belongs to Emily @ Dreameyce.)

Also, today I went to the auto parts store and bought Bondo, which has a bunch of scary warnings on it but will apparently be exactly what I need to fix the dents in my camper.

I found a blog with photos that have confirmed for me that this trailer is almost certainly a 1964 Winnebago. That blog is located here. (I’d put it in the blog roll but the writer sold the unit after restoring it and it’s no longer being updated.) There is one small difference that isn’t accounted for by the inside of my camper being stripped, and that’s the quilted-patterned siding at the bottom edge of my camper, which isn’t present on the one on the other blog. I’ll continue to research.

I’ve drawn up a variety of floorplans but I’ve got a ways to go before having to make a final decision, so I’m just spending a lot of time thinking about which one will work best for me.

(I may be moving RV posts to their own blog- anyone have any opinions?) I know most of the dog people on my blogroll probably could care less!

Anyway, Jessica and I (along with WHV puppy Reed) drove down to Mabank today in her Ford Escape (my car doesn’t have the hitch on it yet) and picked up the camper. Along the way, we stopped (immediately, and yes, it was a planned stop!) and got some new tires for the camper. The tire store folks were very kind to us, and hitched and unhitched the trailer (I need practice, but greasing the hitch so it doesn’t require a hammer will help, as will it NOT being 105F- my brain shuts down about 99F and I start feeling awful around 101F and just staying upright becomes Interesting.) and installed the new tires while we ran down to the auto parts store and picked up a set of magnetic towing lights so we could be legal, as the electric connector on Jess’s towing hitch didn’t match up with the connector on the trailer!

Mike, the fellow I bought the trailer from, is apparently as much of a camper junkie as I am, because over the weekend while he’d waited for me to pick up the mystery camper, he’d found himself another project- a 13′ 1964 Shasta! (no wings, though!). It may be up for sale, and it’s already restored, so if anyone in Texas is interested, drop me a comment and I’ll forward you his information.

Getting the camper into the driveway was another adventure, but we got it in (with some assistance from the guys across the street), and she’s now sitting in my driveway, waiting for me to start work on her.

My birthday present to myself – thanks Mom & Grandmother (who don’t read the blog and Do Not Approve of This Camper Nonsense).

She’ll need a lot of work, but has already had most of the really hard parts done (mouse sh!t removal, major leak repair, and stripped down on the interior) but she’s going to be just perfect for me and plenty light to tow with my Pontiac Vibe. (I love my car, I can’t believe they aren’t making them anymore! Boo!)

The camper is a mystery camper- title and registration are LONG lost, but I suspect may be a Winnebago from 1962-1964 or a Midjet that’s even a bit older than that. (The Winnebago is somewhat more likely numerically, but I believe Mid-Jets may have been made in Texas or OK as I’ve seen a number of others for sale locally.) She’s 10′ and features a dinette, tiny closet that previously housed a portapotty, and a counter where a stove sat on top, which PROBABLY had an icebox mounted underneath (but which has been ripped out. Plans are still pending, and Jessica and I are going to pick it up on Monday!

Things I am currently missing:
-My motivation to write anything resembling regular blog posts and non-fiction (although I’m doing okay with my fiction projects)
-1 quart of Sun Ray yellow paint that I bought to paint the contacts on my dog walk
-My MP3 Player, an adorable Sansa Fuze.

Lizzie and I went to her first agility trial last night (TDAA at Waco Agility Group). Our first run was awful (I tripped on the third obstacle and she zoomed and went out over the ring gate to go run circles in the empty field..) but our second was not bad! She ran FEO (For Exhibition Only) so I could leave a tab on her (I decided that if she went to zoom, I was going to grab her and put her bakc in her crate before she got a chance to get going) but she stayed with me REALLY well!

I can see lots of things for us to work on, but it was a good start, too! We had a really great front cross that worked just like I planned, and her teeter was really controlled, despite an equipment failure (tab got caught as she jumped off, which didn’t phase her at all). This was her first time running under lights at night, too, andI think that affected her tunnel performances.

Where the hell did spring go?

Oh well. It’s getting HOT now. Lizzie and Kaylee are doing well on their weaves and I’m hoping to take Lizzie to some TDAA and CPE stuff soon.

I still do not understand crosses. I need like, Sesame Street Agility videos with “FRONT CROSS.” “REAR CROSS” “FRONT CROSS” “REAR CROSS” demonstrations.