Thanks to RV Face Book Groups my blog is being seen by hundreds of people either wanting to start to travel or are currently traveling in their RV. It is an unexpected pleasure to have my work seen by so many and the positive comments a surprise. I hope my notes are being read too, as I know that after the pictures are seen once and forgotten my words will still be here with comments on life as I travel or sit in place. As winter passes and the weather warms I will have more to say about this life style I’m loving in New Mexico..
Though Caballo Lake is a very small town, Truth or Consequences is 20 miles down the road with hot springs, art galleries, old mines and ghost towns to explore. As soon as I get my ‘smart car’ (next week)I will get out and about and be able to tell more stories. I’ve written about this nice place I’m camping at in other posts, I write camping only because I can’t think of a better description of this life style. If you know of another way to describe it let me know.
I’ve had and am having a good life . There have been disappointments here and there but nothing I can remember at the moment, memory is a funny thing, now I have only good memories while life hasn’t been always easy. But to come to now with only good thoughts is the test of a successful life, nothing in the past is more important than today.
I’ve been here irregularly not always finding the mood to write but suddenly I have people reading my stuff (tho it may be due to one recent topic of interest ) and it has surprised me and made me think maybe I have something to say!
I loved painting this, my dots period but I had to use it outside my RV when the cover to the hot water heater fell off!
The difference between having readers and not having readers is having something of value to say. My life may be interesting to people because of the choices I’ve made and how and why I’ve made them. So I thank my new readers. I don’t promise what I write will charm anyone but I’ll write in my voice of an old woman working thru her thoughts and concerns, some days down and some days up but always steady forward in my journey on this road less traveled.
Do remember that as I write here I do so as a kind of self- therapy, trying to beat back the troubling mental decline of age I sense is just around the corner..
My goal for this website is to have a place to organize my thoughts, communicate my hopes and share what I love to do.
This is a multipurpose site about how I as a 75-year-old single woman finds my world today, a general commentary on life, and my art notes.
I am the 2nd of 8 siblings born in Duluth Minnesota, I was a LPN for about 20 years in Panama where I went as a Peace Corps volunteer at 21 years of age and married a Panamanian with whom I had 3 children.
There were some interesting times living in Panama of which I will probably tell, check out my Panama stories.
I returned to the USA and finished up my status as RN working in Texas and Florida. I studied Chinese medicine in Texas and have Masters degree though I mostly needle myself these days.
I am a retired single lady, ready for new challenges as I travel here and there in my 22 ft RV.
Today I changed the tiles I’d put above my fridge and microwave because the abstract images didn’t look like they belonged. But instead of removing the tiles I just added new pictures up with Elmer’s craft bond spray. Because I printed the images with photo paper they are glossy so I think I won’t do anything more to them as I can change the photos whenever I want to. That blue flower looks lonely up there but I’m leaving it for now.
You can make tiles using your own photos , or you can order my mine
I make no excuses, I have trouble using the phone. I have trouble picking it up and dialing. This has been going on for quite awhile. I’ve tried many phones looking for an answers. I would probably have more friends if it were not from this condition. I blame the phones, I have problems with them all. My daughter suggests that the problems I encounter with the phones may not be the fault of the phones, and that I should reconsider the matter. My other daughter never calls, she must have caught it from me, so sorry it’s a beast.
Worse now with all the robo calls, if the voice in the phone says ‘unknown caller’ I refuse to answer, I know you do too. We should not surrender! I found out today that I missed 3 calls that I would have been happy to take. You see, I don’t have a problem talking on the phone once the call is made/received it’s the action of picking up and dialing…..well we don’t dial do we, we punch in numbers or codes, could that be it? I resent the system of making calls? I’m such a rebel!
What’s worse in this matter, those calls were not from today, they just turned up in my voice mail, they were not there yesterday, I had 7 voice mails pending today. What!! No one calls me (I wonder why) 3 were robo calls one for diabetic equipment (I’m not diabetic as far as I know) another was from Walgreens to tell me my rx was ready for pick up (in Plano TX) and three were from friends I had not see in years and I was delighted to hear their voices.
My friend Nicky suggested I’d gone into hiding and disconnected myself from the world a few years ago. Not true. Just my phone problem.
But now I need to return their calls.
Just do it! I tell myself, but a little voice says, what time zones do you have to cross to call one on the east coast another on the west coast You’re really tired maybe call tomorrow better?
Takes a lot of energy to pick up the damn phone
oh oh I just now looked again at a message on my phone that says this, “calls and notifications will be silenced while your phone is locked.” I saw it earlier today but it made no sense to me so I dismissed it from my thoughts until now as I write this.
My phone is locked?? It works, so what is this now?
I’m tired and medicated I’ll deal with this in the morning.
Yesterday I made lots of 4×4 inch prints of my paintings with the idea that people could buy the prints and make their own wall decor similar to mine in their RV. Also I needed to test my little printer and see how many images it would make to be cost effective. Would have been a great idea had I thought about it before I uploading to the RV face book sites, I had the attention of hundreds of RV Face Book members then. They may not come back here after they’ve seen my RV photos not realizing there is more to see. I’ll see if there is enough interest before I become invested in this project.
4 x 4 images for GIGI tiles.
I’d like to see if I can use resin here in the RV, It’s pretty fussy stuff but the tiles look very professional when the resin dries right. Maybe doing only a few at a time as they are ordered (smile) could work.
It took 50, 4 x 4 inch ceramic tiles to go around my door. I’m going to change the photos on the tiles above the micro wave to flowers instead of abstract tiles. They are up there with super glue so I’ll have to glue the photos to what’s up there, doubt they’d come down easily to be replaced, don’t think I’ll varnish them, too close to heat, I can just replace the photos if they get dirty.
I’ll have to include more images here, with the button to buy.
Yes, I’m thinking I could do this, I can make my own prints and make the tiles without much trouble, My new/old business.
It is said that having close social groups are important factors in longevity and health.
What if being alone doesn’t bother you? Worse, what if you like it?
If I had to choose to be alone or being with a person that talks all the time I would choose be alone. I would have to, to avoid the stress that it would cause me. I am lacking in social skills and tolerance.
My social skills are poor and they are getting worse as I find I am intolerant of conversations that mean nothing or are an annoyance to me.What does that say about me?
When do you have opportunity to just think if there is conversations going on? You have to think how to respond hardly listening to what is being said while you plan what you will say, so no one is really listening, just waiting for a break in conversation so you can have a turn to speak. with the people next to you or the one on the inside your head endlessly telling what to think.
We don’t give ourselves time to just think. Life gets too busy on the outside to be able to take the time needed to really think and understand ourselves and our world.
I’ve been who I’ve needed to be for other people, now I’m just here for me. Call me selfish.
There I’ve said it.
I may be rude and I have no small talk. Please excuse me,
I am a boring person
That used to bother me make me uncomfortable in social groups but now at 76 years of age I don’t try too hard to fit in., I am a boring person.
But if by chance you ask me who I am, you might be surprised to find that I too have a story to tell, but I’ll probably just write it here.
Comforting myself with a few spoonfuls of Nutella, chocolate always makes me feel better.
It was another windy day but not cold, without the sun it felt dreary. Today I planned to either varnish my tiles or cover my kitchen with the paper that finally arrived to do the job. I chose to do the kitchen.
It was tough to do the job alone, a helper would be good but two people in here makes for a tight space. The paper tore when I tried to reposition it for the 4th time, but I was able to piece it together
I made the mistake of covering a table when I should have been covering the kitchen counter. It was the counter that I bought to paper for (it came from China I believe, as many things do on Amazon do)
So when I went to do the kitchen, I didn’t have enough! I had to piece it in many places to cover it and it looks bad.
I’m disappointed.
I’ll have to do it over …some day,
Meanwhile it looks nice on the table…it’s not really a table, it’s the shelve that Jose made.
And I didn’t have enough to do the bathroom, that small bit of a ledge there.
I need to put the nutella down!
Tomorrow I’ll varnish my tiles, I have a couple new spots to put them, over the microwave and over the fridge. but I don’t have the adhesive , I wonder about the spray gorilla glue would hold them.
I see so many RV styles bigger and better, prettier than my little GG. I call my 22 ft class C GG because of her gas guzzling habits.
GG
But I like mine the best which is fortunate because she is all I can expect to have at this time of my life, (cuz I’m old) and that’s okay.
The interiors of the new RV’s are beautiful, I see women redecorating and rearranging to make them their own, men are involved as well but it’s the ladies that make them a home, their enthusiasm is notable and the sense of community I found on face book surprised me. Imagine that a question on wind chimes got over 100 responses ! Mostly negative. Would I like to have one? A new RV not wind chimes! I could never manage it on my own, the complicated electronics and management would be too challenging for me, I’d be afraid to drive it. I don’t see many solo women driving the really big rig’s, but I could be mistaken.
I’ve shared photos of GG and the problems I’ve encountered over the past 4 months…..I’ve only been full time for less than 4 months and there are times that I look at what I have and wonder how long I’ll be happy here. But most of the time I’m glad I’m here and when I get bored I can just move on. When I look at what I’ve been able to accomplish I’m satisfied to keep working at making GG as comfortable as I can within my limitations.
It was fun to add my photos on face book and I love that so many liked what I’ve done, and at least temporarily, raised my number of visits here! Thanks folks! Which is fun but not my reason for writing. I’ve been able to do my writing daily for a week now, hoping to make it a healthy habit.
Yesterday I felt restless, hard to settle into doing one thing. I haven’t been outside for several days, too chilly and I spent the time writing. I need to get outside and walk. I went to an art class in the morning with my friend, me to learn water color painting which I’ve never tried because I suck at drawing and Becca to practice painting on silk, she’s making some gorgeous scarves. I’m looking at learning Chinese style watercolor tho I’m not sure I have the personality to pursue this style that is so minimal. Just looking at what I’ve done in my painting makes it questionable. It’s another challenge I’ll give it a try, I’d like to paint with those cool Chinese paint brushes! Every new project needs new supplies! Now I wish I’d brought more of my art-how-to do books, I had so many, but concerned about space and weight I left them behind. Boo hoo.
