Happy Easter!!

We really enjoyed the Emmaus Walks we made. They were like the Cursillos we did in the 60s, but very improved and Emmaus had some extra surprises. Being sponsored by the Methodist Church, they were more truly ecumenical, not being tied to the Catholic rituals. It was a lot of fun for me to be an “insider” at Cathy’s weekend. I have gotten into a group reunion of 5 or six men to help with my spiritual growth – Cathy still has not found her “group”. Maybe she will form one at St Francis Xavier.

We have both lost weight and inches on the Dtour Diet and are now at the point of picking and choosing those meals that we prefer from the plan and introducing some of our own preferences. We have also been walking at the CNRA and Cathy has gotten out an aerobics DVD for rainy days.

Speaking of rain – we just had gutters put on the house and last night they got tested out and worked just fine. Now that we are getting into the rainy season I will be putting more of my efforts into yard work. David is coming up on Thursday to help us get some flower beds established and I want to do some weeding and seeding on the lawn to take advantage of the spring rain.

Our addition to the back yard that I mentioned in the last blog has turned out to be just that! The trailer will never be moved due to three reasons. The primary reason is that Cathy feels that, at her age, she doesn’t want to be left alone in the house all night. I have let the park know that I will not be hosting in the campgrounds. They are going to put me on at the nature center as a volunteer interpretive ranger instead. Reason #2 is that it is illegal to take it to the park or anywhere else without a license and, although I have a bill of sale, I cannot get a clear title. The serial numbers no longer exist on the trailer and the tag agency rules require either the old title or the serial numbers. Reason #3 is that the frame is not stable enough to move very far. Bottom line – it will be made into a guest house for visitors. The repairs are coming along pretty good – I almost have the plumbing fixed to the point of having a cold water supply. It looks like there will never be hot water, except by heating it on the stove. The main bed is ready for use and the dinette bed is ready for use. The upper bunk needs a new mattress and I have yet to find a source. The remaining repairs are the toilet supply line, the A/C fan (it’s stuck), the entry door framework, and a little cosmetic treatment for the water damaged walls. It’s still a fun project as far as I am concerned.

Cathy has been busy making quilts. Quilts for the quilt guild’s charities, quilts for Japan, quilts for baby showers and gift quilts have all kept her busy.

I was very involved at the parish for the Easter Week and am glad that I had this Easter off to write this blog. Our priest has to come from Ada to do mass, so our Saturday Vigil mass was our last mass of the week.

Gary has been moved to Hightower TDCJ facility for his final session of incarceration and we are now making plans to go visit him there. Since it is a long trip we will probably combine that trip with visits to our other friends and relatives in the Houston area. This is still in the planning stage! I’ll let you know what happens on the next blog!

Vagabond's Renewal

Here it is the middle of Lent. This year Cathy and I are not giving up anything - but we are adding more positive things to our lives.

Our doctoring has shown us some new needs. Cathy's bone scan has revealed that she has osteopenia - not quite as bad as osteoporosis. The doc sas that she needs to double up on the vitamin D and the calcium - and get more exercise. She is doing the double D, calcium and is taking OsteoBiFlex regularly now. We have also made time in our busy schedule for some trail walks in Chickasaw NRA. My colonoscopy had polyps removed - they were benign. The doc said I have diverticulitis - I'll have to see what is recommended for that!

Another thing that we have added to our life this Lent is a resolve to eat more meals every day by following the D'Tour diet. We are now two weeks into the diet and have lost some weight by eating the recommended foods (good for both heart and to avoid diabetes meds). It hasn't been hard to give up the sweets and fats, because the diet gives us lots of filling meals and snacks, and we stay full and satisfied. The meals have been great!

Another thing added to my life is hearing aids. I noticed that I was frequently saying "What did you say?" to everyone, so I guess it is time for that change!

Yesterday we added another thing to our lives. We bought an 18' Prowler travel trailer. I will be able to use it for hosting at the Park and Cathy will be able to invite "company" now that we will have an extra bedroom in the back yard - or at the Park. The trailer will also provide me with lots of challenging tasks to keep me busy. It is a true "fix'er up'er" having cost only $600. I guess I will always be an RVer - even if I don't ever take it out on the roads.

Next week I will be going on a Methodist retreat called "Cross Point Walk to Emmaus". The "walks" were born out of the Cursillo movement which we were very involved in back in Arlington and Kenosha. Cathy will make the women's walk the following week and we are both looking forward to another involvement in Christian community.

So, that's what's been added to our lives this Lent - what's happening in yours?

Picture perfect

I told you in the last blog that I hadn't gotten the Thanksgiving pictures - well they were sent to me. And since it was so cold outside, and I spent most of my time indoors on the computer, I decided that I would share them with you. Unfortunately, I am not too adept at doing pics on blogger - so I will just give you the path to my facebook album. Here it is:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=46001&id=100000709656885&l=ea3eb749c4
I hope I got all of that right - I'll test it when I get done with my update.

Our grandson in Indiana, Guy, Gary's son, got engaged! He is still in high school - we think he is too young - but who knows. I remember a friend of mine that was engaged in our senior year and married right after the graduation - and it was a good solid marriage. We're praying that Guy hasn't bit off more than he can chew!

I finished my taxes in the cold. I guess that this winter cold spell wasn't all wasted. I also tested out the solar powered emergency supply and it runs the furnace and the refrigerator just fine. Being conservative with it's use, it should get us through any power outage that I anticipate we will have here in Sulphur.

Cathy and I were both very involved in Cursillo, back in Wisconsin and then in Fort Worth. We miss the Cursillo community and have tried to find it here in Oklahoma. It seems though that the ultra conservative hierarchy of the Catholic church have effectively put the Cursillo and Charismatic movements down here. We have only been able to contact one other Cursillo couple and they made theirs in Montana. We have decided to do the Emmaus Walk, sponsored by the Methodist church, and join their gatherings - since they are an outgrowth of Cursillo. The group is active here at the Sulphur United Methodist church. We will make our walks at the end of March and are looking forward to being active in their group.

The repairs to the Veterans Lake area of the park have been completed and the trails are open, so we will be able to go there and walk the trails, now that it is warming up. Spring is in the air and life is good! Enjoy yours as much as we are enjoying ours. I'll post again when something else important comes up.............

HOME IN THE COLD

It was fall the last time I blogged, now we are in the depths of winter here at 1416 Holly Ln.
That is a picture looking out towards the shed (now our emergency power source). Since it is so cold out, I decided that it would be a good time to catch up on my blog - Wow it's been two and a half months since I was here! Lots of activities and adventures to report.

Thanksgiving was a blast! 23 of our family members gathered and played catch-up on each other's life events. Jeff took lots of pictures, but unfortunately I didn't. So I will just have to tell you about it and let you imagine the good time we had. Of course there was lots of food and games and the grand-kids (and great GKs) got to meet and play with each other. I especially enjoyed meeting Remi, my granddaughter Claire's son. What a cute character he is - and really sharp for his age. Another neat thing was that, on Friday, Dave, Jeanne, Al, and Jeff all came back to have breakfast with us before making the trip back to their homes in Texas.

During the holiday Jim did a project and finished up the roof work on the deck and enclosed it's north end. Unfortunately on Sunday, while finishing up the trim at the peak of the roof, I fell with the ladder and later on the injuries became infected, causing me so lay-up time while I took my antibiotics.

We sold the Casita and traded the van for a Chevy Aveo. We kept the solar power equipment to put on our shed to provide power for the shed and mowing the yard and also be an emergency power source for tornado season. I have an RV plug on the side of the shed for visitors as well.

Cathy and I have been spending a lot of our time juggling doctors appointments and hospital time. We are getting checked out and fixed up now. She has had back problems and has fixed part of it with physical therapy. Then she found out she had a urinary tract infection and, after the medicine fixed that, more of the back pain went away. Now she is waiting for a bone density test and the doctor's evaluation of what to do next. During all of this she also had her colonoscopy - I have yet to get mine done. Her's came out perfect with no problems in that area. Since I have changed cardiologists, I have had all of the usual heart stuff done - EKG, scan, nuclear stress test, and angioplasty. My arteries only were 60% blocked, so the doctor didn't put in a stent, but changed my BP meds and added a statin to the pile of pills that I take. We both still have a few more tests to do - just to keep the doctor happy.

During all of this doctoring we also had our property landscaped (leveled) and made ready for a carport. The landscape crew also made a large gravel parking area out of the front and side of the house. Now we have less lawn to mow and a lot of space for our friends and relatives to park. I think we have a good RV park started, if some of you want to come visit us in our new home!

Over the Christmas holidays we made an extensive trip around Texas. First we visited Jim and his family in Arlington. We spent Christmas at the Ingurgios' with Victor, Kristi, and the GGKids. Next, after an overnight visit to my Lake Texoma friends, we went to visit my adopted family in Kingsville (BFFs). Heading north, we visited Mary and Matt in Wimberley - then Jeanne and David and their family in Terrell. Lastly we stopped overnight at Jeff and Al's in Plano, and finally got back to OK in time for New Years.

Our latest projects have been finishing up the solar on the shed (see first picture), getting a carport installed, and Sunday I built an extension on the deck and step into the carport.

Well, it's still only 10 degrees outside, so I guess I'll go find a good book to read.

It's been quite a while since I have blogged, so I was impelled to give an update! A lot of water has gone under the bridge and we have really been busy here at 1416 Holly. The house is pretty much ready for company - and just in time! We will be having about 24 relatives for thanksgiving celebration. About the only thing in the way right now is all of those vehicles in the back yard. The Casita and truck are still waiting to be sold. I think that they are going to sell separate and I will put the solar on top of our shed to provide power for my "workshop" and the lawnmower. It will also be able to run the refrigerator in case of a power outage - which is sure to happen in rural OK. The tent like structure that you see in the picture is a temporary carport that we will use until the landscaping is done and the "real" carport is installed. We celebrated our 55th anniversary by going to Outback in Norman and then on to the "old homestead" to play games with the grandkids.

Two of our dearest friends, Dave and Arda Tole, came to visit Monday and Tuesday, on their way north to Chicago and Grand Rapids. We had a great time sharing BBQ at Smokin' Joes and playing games. We hope to have many more visitors from our Arlington, Noble, and Escapee friends. Call us and tell us you are coming - we'll leave the light on for you - and as you can see there is lots of parking in our front yard.

Well, I guess that is all for now. I'm going to head out to start geocaching Sulphur.

Times are a changing!

Times are a changing. The house is ours. Repainting turned out to be the least of our challenges. We found major roach infestation and water leakage problems, not to mention the badly wired electrical in the house. My kids joined in to help me fix all of the problems and we now have a like new house! The kitchen had to be torn out to the studs, re-wired, re-walled, and all new cabinets, counter, sink, hood, etc. There is still some minor work remaining but we have been living in the house now for a few weeks - and it is home.

The biggest change for me was moving out of the Casita into a huge (1040SF) house. The biggest change for Cathy was moving out of the double-wide house (1400SF) and squeezing into a tiny new home - and having to share her space with another person (the once vagabond husband). We are learning to live with each other again and it"s working out well. Saturday we had a very successful yard sale in which Tom got rid of the construction leftovers and Cathy got rid of a lot of excess fabric and books.

We reallly enjoy the country style town of Sulphur and have even made time to take a walk on one of the trails at the park - a lot more walks on a lot more trails to come. I have decided that I will not go back to working for money, but I may park host aagain - this time in a tent.

Another of the challenges that the move has made is vehicles. I want to give the Casita and the van both new owners - someone who will benefit from owning them. They would just age and sit idle if I kept them. What I have decided to do is to try to sell them as a unit to someone who would appreciate their unique solar capabilities and take them back on the road. If I can't find that buyer, I will sell the trailer first, strip the solar off of the van and put it on the house as emergency power, then sell the van with ladder racks to a local construction person. I have rented space at the local flea market, starting October 17th, to display the pair, and a dear friend of mine has spread the word to some of the Escapees. I really hope that an Escapee will buy it because I know that it will go to a good home and be appreciated. And I hope that my Escapee friends will not forget me, but come and visit (20amp hookup) in our side/back yards where we have room for several rigs (see blog on June 18th). Chickasaw National Recreation Area is about a mile away and has regular RV camping facilities as well and should not be missed by any of our friends.

If you are interested in the vehicles, here is a brief description:

THE VAN (and solar) is a 2008 Chevy 2500 Express Van (VIN 1GCGG25CX81192400), with about 60,000 miles on it. It is white (matches the Casita) and has the towing package. It is the regular (not extended) length and has been insulated inside, so that the van can also be used to provide a second bedroom for the Casita - or used as a side trip "stealth" RV. The bed consists of three storage boxes with a folding plywood top (folding to allow access to the storage boxes). The solar is mounted on the roof on ladder racks and provides 300 watts of solar power to charge the 7 batteries. The batteries are all advanced glass mat type except the primary van battery. GM engineering advised me that the alternator can be used as a charging source by using a switch method to connect to the battery bank. I have installed the switch as they advised.. I have only had to use the alternator a couple of times when encountering too much rain. An extra advantage of the switch is that you can connect the van to the battery bank and "jump start" the van if it's battery is low and if connected when stored it will keep all of the batteries at a well maintained 13.5V level. The entire solar system is regulated and has a monitor to tell the charge and usage condition at a glance. The inverter AC power is 1800 pure sine wave watts that will take a surge to 3600 watts. It goes to sleep when not in demand so as to not drain the batteries when they are not needed. If used conservatively it will power everything in the Casita except the strip heater. The air conditioner can even be run for short cool downs (like at meal time) several times a day and I have run it all night on hot summer nights after the sun went down.

THE CASITA is a 2007 Spirit Deluxe model (VIN 1C9TB171X71213600) with large and small dinettes that both convert to beds. I have added propane connections for an Olympian catalytic heater and, with the exception of a furnace, I bought all of the optional equipment offered. In addition I have installed a wall mounted 19" LCD DTV. For the description of the trailer you can go to www.casitatraveltrailers.com - they have hardly changed anything in the design since 2007.

If you are interested in both (or either) of these vehicles contact me by email at vagabondmarlatt@gmail.com and I will get back with you.

Never say never!

I said I would be a Texan for the rest of my life - never be an Okie. Today I got an Oklahoma drivers licence and became a certified, licenced, Oklahoma resident.

We are getting very close to closing on the house - it may be as soon as Friday. Or it may have to wait until we get back from Indiana/Illinois at the end of the month.

This month has been very hectic, but enjoyable, getting the preliminary things done for the moving process. I rented a storage compartment and have taken all of the excess RV stuff out of the trailer and truck, including my bike. That makes the trailer big enough for the two of us to take the northern trip next week. I have also taken two van loads of the early move in things to the storage shed. That way Michelle will have some minimum items to use when she comes down for a few days to help us with the re-painting of the bedrooms and kitchen. We won't move in until the house is ready for us - probably the end of August.

I am going to look for employment (part time or seasonal) to help support the new life style.

All in all - this is a great adventure in the life of the Vagabond (do I have to give up that nickname? - I don't think so!).