Linda & I would like to wish all our readers a very

Merry Christmas

Click on the picture to view the best Christmas light display ever, located at the Holman household in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

It’s a great time of year in the south. The weather here in ‘Sunny Florida’ is Better than it has been in weeks.  Maybe we’ll get out with the truck camper after Christmas.

When I checked the mail the other day, there it was, just what I’ve been waitin’ fer’.

****My Winnings****

That’s right Nellie sent my prize, yea! I got me some genuine Texas souvenirs, Woo Hoo doggies!

#1 - A “Don’t Mess With Texas” bumper sticker.

#2 - Some Genuine Texas Bubble Bath.

Don’t venture near the bathroom when I bathe with this!

The USGS will be monitorin’ my bath usin’ their seismographs. I’m interested to see what it registers on the Richter Scale, so I wont have to let you know when I use it. You’ll know even as far away as Las Vegas.

#3 – A genuine, personalized glass thingy-ma-bobber

This will come in real handy as a ‘Who Dealt Last’ marker.

Thank You Nellie. The gifts are a ‘Hoot’ & we loved it all. So sorry to hear about ‘el truck’ but Vegas is not a bad place to be stuck, at least you have your home with ya’ and all the glittery lights ya’ could ever need fer’ Christmas. We we’re stuck fer’ 12 days at Sam’s Town in ‘06, I can think of a lot worse places to get waylaid.

Well the girls are wrappin’ gifts so I’d better get a goin’.

Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

I’m Smellin’ Smoke.

Howdy Ya’ll! Since my knee finally seems to be on the mend, I can tell cause I keep forgetin’ where I laid the cane I been relegated to usin’. I decided to tackle a project again.

Before I get into that though I’d like to give a big Howdy’ and welcome aboard Gail of Gail & TC’S Travels, Denise & Dawn of Cruzin2some and Rick of Rick & Paulette’s RV Travels as new Followers to the blog. Don’t know if’n it will always be travel, but I’ll try an keep ya’ entertained.

So bein’ as how I got that first GE Florescent light hooked up and I purchased three more at ‘Wally World’, I figured it was time to install the second one in the Lance camper.

In my previous post I forgot to mention that in order to solder wires to the contacts in the light fixture, you’ll need to cut a hole in the base of the fixture near the battery spring contacts.

After removin’ the existing light from the underside of the cabinet, I tried the light for fit. The existin’ access hole for the wires would be used and the existin’ light would be moved a little to the rear to make room for the florescent. Wired , mounted the new light and pushed the switch. It did not work. What’s up? So off to get my test light. Turns out the switch in this fixture is bad. Goes to show ya’ Mr Murphy spanked me fer’ not testing it with batteries or after I soldered wires to it. Just assumed a new fixture would work out of the package. DUH! Ya’ll know what they say about Assumin’. So back to the workbench. Good thing I bought THREE lights at ‘Wally World’.

I tested another fixture of course with AA batteries, before I cut and soldered leads to it. Then I tested it on the battery, “Your not gonna’ get me this time Murphy”. All was good, so I tied it into the existin’ wiring, mounted it and;

We have ignition & lift off! Well not really but now Linda has a new florescent over the sink & stove.

Nothin’ to do now but "’Go Campin’ and ring out them new lights!

Well that’s all fer’ now. Hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Balmy Breezes? HA!

The weather here in ‘Sunny Florida’ is just great. At least most folks in the Northeast & the Midwest would be proclaimin’ that if they were here.

I swear I saw a polar bear drinkin’ from my sprinkler this mornin’ on the lawn. Maybe I just getting’ delirious from the cold.

Last night another record low, 26 degrees here at the rancho and 35 by 8:30 this mornin’. What happened to the warm, sunny Florida that was always depicted on those airlines TV commercials when I was a kid growin’ up? ‘Come on Down’ they’d always have some folks frolickin’ around in the sun & sand, while we were arse deep to a nine foot Indian in snow. Now I know why those airlines aint’ around any more, violatin’ the ‘Truth in advertisin’ laws like that. Well I guess it’s still better than most places this time o’ year cause folks are still flockin’ to the ‘Sunshine State’.

This time of year the annual migration of a species of bird that normally ranges north of the Mason Dixon line durin’ most of the year starts in earnest. Seems like their migration is startin’ earlier every year, but I don’t know how long it will continue with the current weather trend. They may have to find ‘warmer’ pastures to frequent if the weather don’t change quick.

The Species I refer to that dots the Florida landscape, is the "’Snowbird”! They can be found in every park, shoppin’ center, Outlet mall & especially around restaurants durin’ the hours o’ ‘early bird special’.

I came across a You Tube video that illustrates the post migration nesting and daily rituals of the ‘Snowbird’.  

OK, OK I’m jesting about the ‘Snowbirds’, they are a necessary part of life here in Florida. They spendin’ keeps us from havin’ to pay state income tax and many eventually become residents, escapin’ the North altogether. Also the DW & I are creepin’ towards the ‘Cotton Top’ era so I’d better not “Cast too many stones”.

Well that’s all from ‘God’s Waiting Room’ fer’ now. Maybe we’ll bump into ya’ down the road as we’re:

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Just Ramblins’

I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I promised to do somethin’ and it totally slipped my feeble mind, Duh!

I told Linda’s cousin Sandy that I would post the picture of the deer her son Dan got on their property. I was on  Facebook and retrieved a ‘Friend Request’ from Dan. That sent a little message to the far,far reaches of my brain and a bell went off. “You Didn’t Post That Picture”!OK,OK, I remember now. Sorry Dan, here ya’ go.

Next up, 

We’re "’WINNERS’!!! Yea!!! Winners of what? Well Nellie over at Diary of a Midlife Cruiser held a “Which way did she Go” contest to guess where she was. First person to guess correctly wins a PRIZE. You can go to the ‘Winnin’ link on her blog by clickin’ on the image below.

“Am I excited? 

Just click below!!!

Oh Boy Oh Boy, what can it be. A ski trip in Innsbruck Austria, a Flight into outer space from New Mexico, or one of those little To-go packs of Bar-B-Que sauce from the ‘Salt Lick’ restaurant.

It don’t matter none cause “We Won”!!! Actually we won a second place but we still won! Jodi from Keeper of the House Adventures was the first place winner. Yeah she beat us out by 4 hours. Just getting’ an ‘Honorable Mention’ on Nellie’s blog was a winnin’ situation fer’ me. I don’t even want to mention who literally won the Booby prize, you’ll have to find out on your own. Oh, Oh, “OK stick me with a fork I’m done”!

SOoo…..While My knee is actin’ up again, I’m tryin’ to take it easy here at the ‘Rancho’. Linda’s waitin’ fer’ a package from ‘Bass Pro Shop’ with some new hikin’ boots. Sure hope they work out cause I been gluein’ her old ones back together but there finally ‘Glued Out’. I been after her to get some new ones fer’ months.

I fixed up another one of those fluorescent lights fer’ over the sink in the truck camper, just have to wire it in and mount it. The original light over the sink is all the way to the front of the cabinet, so I may see about movin’ it back to mount the new light in front of it. Time will tell.

Well that’s all I got fer’ now, I got to go email Nellie about my winnin’s. Hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

‘Redneck Engineerin’ fer’ yer’ Boondockin’Camp!

Howdy folks! It’s started to warm a tad here in the ‘Sunshine State’. That is, fer’ the next few days before the mercury dives deeper than it did this past week. Oh Joy! Last winter here in the ‘Tropics’ was a miserable one for all my friends, that come here to escape ‘The Frozen North’ & us folks that call this home. Linda said today “Here it is the beginning of December and we’ve had two ‘freezes’ already”. Yeah baby there more a comin’ real soon. If this is any indication of what’s to come this winter maybe we should open an outdoor ice rink or contract with the local landfill to bring in snow machines on the weekend & rent skis.

I still have confidence that the weather will turn around. After all we’re experiencing ‘Global Warming’ right.

Before I get into anything else I’d like to welcome to the blog new followers, Nellie & Jonathan at Diary of a Midlife Cruiser, Dennis & Donna at, Cave Dwellings & Chuck & Anneke' at Goldenshoe RV Trip. We’ll try an keep it interestin’ fer’ ya’ll.

In my semi-invalid state of sittin’ on my duff, the wheels in my head been turnin’ & grindin’ overtime, at times fillin’ the room with smoke.

So bein’ able to sit still no more, I hobbled out to the Lance camper fer’ some deliberatin’. During one of our visits to NY this summer I picked up a GE florescent light that operates on 8 AA batteries, at Wally World, that I thought we could use boondockin’. I started thinkin’ 8 AA 1.5 volt batteries that’s 12 volts, why can’t I run this light from the battery? Well I tested it and it seemed to work fine. So I soldered some wires to the battery contacts and hooked ‘er up. I was concerned that the varying voltage from the converter, above 12V might affect the light. Well, before permanently mounting the fixture, I figured , One more test. I turned ‘er on and left it on fer’ an hour, no problem noted, no heat, no variance in the brightness of the light with the converter on or off, just runnin’ on battery power.

Here’s what I started with.

I mounted the new fixture in front of the existing incandescent fixture but centered on the table.

Redneck Engineerin’ at it’s finest, light cost $5.30, wire pennies, satisfaction, Priceless. Didn’t even have to break out the Mastercard. Now I have 3 more to rig, 2 fer’ the 5’ver & 1 more fer’ the truck camper.

Fer’ $5 each, uses two thirds of a watt per hour, half what those little incandescent bulbs use. I can use twice as much light with the same battery draw. I got me some cheap lightin’ fer’ boondockin’, just what I wanted.

Here it is lighted in the daytime.

For all those who may want to try this. This fixture is the 12” 8 watt GE version. ‘Wally World’ also has a 6” version that will not work as easily, cause it’s only 8 volts.

That’s all fer’ this episode of ‘Redneck Engineerin’. Next time ya’ll smell the smoke ya can reckon I’m figurin’ on startin’ somethin’ new.

Hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Frozen Palm Trees?

Help me I’m Freezin’ My Arse off!!! Where’s all the palm trees swayin’ in the gentle trade winds? It was 28 degrees last night when my son left work. They say we broke the record low by 7 degrees for this date in history. What’s happenin’? It’s only December 7th. Maybe we need to sacrifice a couple o’ ‘Tourists’ to the alligator gods or somethin’. Please send some virgin tourists this way, C/O Gatorland, Kissimmee, Florida and I’ll show ‘em how to pet the nice creatures.

I got a kick out of this one cause the US Park Service must feel the same way. Click to enlarge the photo.

Well I been workin’ on the 5’ver among other things, since we returned home. After settin’ fer’ the last seven months it’s pretty dirty inside. So I started in the kitchen and worked my way to the front bedroom. Walls, ceilin’, floors and all cabinets, drawers and hidden spaces inside and out. I must have sucked up 500 spiders from one end to the other. In the last couple o’ years I’ve noticed a new species has showed up here. No doubt brought in from some far away land. They are very slender almost wispy. Not aggressive just a pain cause they seem to breed like rabbits.

Along the way I’ve been make note o’ things that need attention, repair or replacement. Havin’ two RV’s is the same as havin’ two houses, and we’ve got both, Yikes!

Only one problem I’ve found so far. I seem to have worked my left knee into a frazzle cause I’ve spent the last three days sittin’ & tryin’ to let it heal, calm down or what ever it wants. Just so’s it goes back to normal. Don’t know if it didn’t like the scrubbin floors on my knees or workin’ on the roof figurin’ on space fer’ some solar panels. Whatever, my knee aint’ happy. It has seemed to improve with my stayin’ off it, it aint’ easy fer’ me to sit in one place too long, but I’m doin’ my best at tryin’. I guess I have an allergy to ‘Housework’.

Was thinkin’ on goin’ campin’ to one of the state wildlife management areas I been tellin’ ya about, closer to Orlando and do some visitin’ along with a trip to Bass Pro Shops. This weekend is lookin’ like ‘Ole Man Winter’ is backin’ down so we’ll see if we can get there if my gimpy knee quiets down. If not there’s always next weekend. Sure is nice bein’ retired!!

So long fer’ now and as always we hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.