Mom is on the mend. It is a slow process, but the pace of healing should quicken over time. Mom could always set a good example for her children, and some things never change.
Yes! This morning the temperature on the outside thermometer read 1C. This morning the first signs of spring were felt, as a very large beetle was observed, slowly traversing the edge of the cast iron frying pan on the range. He crawled willingly onto a piece of paper, and was then escorted out the back door.
Iris
It seems we were not the only people interested in purchasing Iris. The week before we purchased her, a couple from the USA travelled to see her. Apparently two hours after we purchased Iris, they called the dealership to say that they had decided to buy her, only to find they had missed her by only a few hours. It is serendipity that we travelled to see Iris, and bought her on the spot. I think she was meant to be with us.
On Saturday Attila and I left home at 6:30 a.m. to a brightening sky. The day was overcast, as we headed north to pick up Iris at the trailer dealership. The further we travelled, the colder it got. We drove through several pockets of snow flurries, but nothing that obscured visibility, or lingered on the roads.
We arrived at our destination shortly before noon, and began the process of introducing Tank to Iris. There were a few quirks to work out. Iris will be forty years old next year, and Tank is a youngster by comparison, so there were some technical communication gaps to work out.
The fellow in the machine shop at the dealership told us that the propane system was in great shape, and that the heater and the stove worked well. He didn’t know about the refrigerator, as he couldn’t test it in the cold. The real relief was that the road lights all worked as they should, and that there was a key to the door and a working lock.
While we waited for the license plate to arrive, we enjoyed our first meal in Iris, sandwiches at the kitchen table.
After the license plate arrived I signed the ownership registration papers. Last week, after we purchased Iris, I had arranged for insurance coverage, so that was already taken care of. We were off and away, towing Iris for the first time.
Actually, neither Attila or I had pulled a travel trailer before. Attila had pulled huge farm equipment on the highways, with a tractor. I had driven a large motor home to the Carolinas, with five passengers aboard. But neither of us had ever pulled a travel trailer.
It turned out that Iris was very easy to tow, so that we had no problems at all on our journey home. We backed her into our driveway at about 5:30 p.m. It was a very long day!
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Yesterday, Sunday, the sun shone bright, so Attila and I bundled ourselves into the car, having decided to take a drive into the countryside. We headed north, to visit the areas where there are Provincial Parks and other campgrounds.
There was a lot of snow up there in vacation land! We bravely waded through knee deep snow, breaking through a one inch crust of icy white at every step, to see the views in various locations along the way. I was quite surprised that this did not seem to bother my knee, stopping after each step to assess pain levels, ready to abandon the path and return to surer ground if the need arose. But no, no pain, no strain, my slow lumbering through the snow seemed no problem for my knee. Attila theorized that is was the soft “under cushion” of snow below the crust, that cushioned my knee from any harmful effect. So, for a very short joyful time, I relived my youthful agility.
Attila and I now have two fair weather activities to dream about during the winter months; camping in Iris, and planting and tending our garden at Mist Cottage. How very lucky we are!
It is definitely still winter, weather wise, to the north of us, and where we used to live in the country.
It is spring, weather wise, at Mist Cottage!
Worldly Distractions
Weather
1°C
Date: 5:00 AM EST Monday 7 March 2016
Condition: Not observed
Pressure: 101.6 kPa
Tendency: falling
Temperature: 1.1°C
Dewpoint: -1.0°C
Humidity: 86%
Wind: S 19 km/h
Quote
“The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.”
Joe Ancis
Congratulations on a successful result with Iris. If all the various lights work as required, you should be good to go whenever weather and time permit.
I wonder if another part of the reason your knee did well is because of the cold snow itself. Inflammation didn’t get started, so you didn’t move to favor it, leading to off-kilter motions and more inflammation. Whatever all the reasons, I’m glad it worked out for you.
Thanks for he well wishes Wendy!
That is an very interesting comment about the cold blocking inflammation. I hadn’t thought of it that way. Temperatures below freezing definitely affect my knee, bringing pain if I move about in the cold. The temperature around my knee during our snow trek would have been above freezing, so no worries there. I will now be on the watch to see if my knee is less inflamed when the temperature hovers just above freezing!
I just love Iris. So sweet…. with a very sweet name. My in-laws had an air-stream trailer that they bought after they retired, and they bought a piece of a trailer park down in Punta Gorda, FL, to keep it in but they would take off for parts unknown all around this country and Canada, as well. They loved that thing. They called it The Crow’s Nest and had a sign next to the door hand-made by a friend. I swear, they loved that trailer more than their old colonial style home in Marblehead (where we were married) that my father-in-law and his Dad built by themselves. They were both craftsmen (and lobstermen). But nothing compared to the fun they had in that air-stream. So I just know you will have a lot of enjoyable times and memories from Iris. xox
Bex, what a lovely story about Paul’s parents! I can understand why they loved their trailer!
We won’t be able to travel too far, not for a while anyway, because Attila gets one week vacation this year, and possibly two weeks next year, so we will be travellng wherever two weeks will take us and back again.
We do want to make extensive use of the trailer relatively close to home, and also plan to spend time at our camp beside my Granny and Grandpa’s old house.
We don’t plan on any improvements for the trailer this summer, other than what is necessary for road worthiness and safety. Otherwise, we are will just park and relax, trying out different parks in different areas, to establish our favourites.
I will be pleasantly surprised if Attila and I ever have a time of retirement together, he may be working for as long as I live… so we plan on making the most of what we have now, and do what we can with what we have!
That Iris looks like a real little beauty. Happy times ahead!
Thanks Kate! We are having a great time just thinking about getting Iris on the road, the anticipation is part of the fun. Most parks won’t open their gates until the latter part of May, so we are concentrating on getting Iris all gussied up for her debut.