Soda, Screens & Windows, Rest & Pretending!

Well...I keep trying to turn my camera on, but it appears to be truly gone. Oh, well!

I am sitting here drinking an IBC Cream Soda. Yum! Dave and I like their cream soda more than their root beer...and we both like root beer a lot. We don't normally buy soda, but we found it on special for a good price and decided to by a six pack of each. Normally, sodas are too sweet for me to finish...but I really like these.

It is raining today. After a few days of nice warm weather, we are dipping into the 40's in the daytime and 30's at night. Brrrrrr!!!! It is getting chilly. We put the foil insulation in the windows last night to help keep the warmth inside. It is a good thing we did not put the oil heater outside yet!

Last week I put the screens back into our big side windows. I take them out in the winter because of the ice that forms on the inside of the windows. On an RV, the screens go inside, not outside. When ice forms on the window, it freezes the screen to the window, making it difficult to remove the ice.

Darn! I just realized that I never took a picture of the ice on the windows before it melts. Thankfully, this last winter was nearly as bad as the winter before. We did get ice, but not as much...on the windows anyway. We got a lot MORE ice on the roads...which is where it really counts. That is where people's lives are at stake. I would much prefer to deal with ice on the windows than on the driveway and the roads!

I heard a really good sermon today on pretending. Are we real in our walk with God? Or are we pretending? Do we do things to try and look good...being hypocritical? Or are we being real about how we live? Dave and I love sermons that step on toes...especially our toes. We want to be challenged. We do not want to live a complacent life.

We are resting today between church and the evening class. Dave worked hard yesterday on the creek trench. So hard, in fact, that he came in sore. So, when he asked what our plans were for after church, I told him "rest"!

Well, I am getting a bit sleepy. Hmmm...maybe I will take a nap!

From our little RV on the hillside to you on this lazy Sunday afternoon...blessings!

Straw and Hay Bales Around the Rig!

Pat and Claudia at PBN Radio have mentioned several times that we had to put bales around our RV during the previous winter to keep the cold out. I figured I would post some pictures of what that looked like.

Back "Home"?

There are times when I miss the things of back "home". I put the word in quotes because I don't really have a home town. I moved throughout most of my growing up years and so I don't really "feel" as if I have a real hometown. But I have family where we used to live...and if home really is where the heart is...well, I guess my heart is in the broad area over which my family is scattered.

Would I like to move back? My heart is torn over that. It would definitely be nice to live closer to family. My fifth grandchild is on his/her way. I have a new future daughter in law. I have inlaws in different areas. But I could live with all of them any place. If I ask about going back and leave the family out of the question...it is very different.

There are two main areas where we used to live...where my children are living and where we used to live over the mountain from them. I would not want to move where they are...traffic, heat, etc. But where we used to live...it would be nice. There are a lot of things I do miss about that area, including a fantastic therapist and some friends.

I miss having more motorcycle riding weather. Although, since mine is not running, I guess that is a moot issue. We only had two seasons where we were living...warm, dry summers and wet, chilly winters. I was so looking forward to four seasons here. Well...we seem to kinda have three and a half. I miss the real snow of winter.

So, I am kind of torn on the weather. I also like the thunderstorms, something I really missed when we moved to CA. On the other hand...there are enough of them here to make motorcycle riding a bit of a challenge.

I hate tornado warnings. They make the gusty winds very unnerving for me. I would rather have an earthquake anyday. It happens and, except for a few aftershocks...it is pretty much over. And they rarely happen. I cannot count how many tornado warnings we have had since moving here. I find that to be rather stressful. It would not be nearly so if we were actually set up for them...like in a real house...with a basement!

What other differences? Oh yes! Health food stores. I had several I could go to and in the last place we lived I could even walk to one if I needed to. I could also walk to my therapist's office if I wanted. Church was fairly close by. There were all different kinds of stores. And there was Marie Callendar's restaurant, along with a couple of other favorite places. Within one county we had almost all that we really needed.

It was almost like a mix of semi-rural and towns. We had the ocean and the mountains. You could drive to the snow. We used to go to Lake Tahoe. That was so beautiful...both in the summer and the winter.

There were also quite a few retreat places around...Christian camps. We even lived at one for a while. There are definitely things I miss about that area. But I would also miss this place if we left...like the Autumn. I love the Autumn. It is my favorite season and it was not a very strong season at all where we used to live. I missed Autumn and Winter both when we moved to CA.

I miss the beach, too. It was not that I went a lot...but it was nice to drive along the coast...and nice to visit the beach when it was a little bit cool. I loved the waves. I loved the mountains. It was really pretty in the county where we lived the last 11 years I was there. The previous 30 were on the other side of the mountains...where my children live now. 40 years ago...it was OK. But now it is very crowded...highly congested.

It is easy to think of there when I run into difficulties here. But truthfully, we would have had difficulties there, too. It is a very expensive place to live. In fact, it was the rising property values that allowed to refinance our house more than once to live off of while Dave was out of work. Housing costs there are insane.

So, here I sit, in my little RV on the hillside, thankful for what I have. I heard the other day that if we have a house, a car and clothing, we have more than 98(?) percent of people in the world. Well, I am not sure if you count a tiny RV as a house...but we do have a shelter plus the other two. *smile*

I am thankful most of all...to be wherever Yahweh wants us to be. There are good things about being here. I love the view. I love the animals. I love the butterflies in summer. I love the creek...even when it is high...just wish we did not have to drive through it. Life is hard here. I won't deny that. But it also has a beauty of its own. And we are growing as a result of living here. We are having to trust our Abba/Father in so many ways...and that is good. Life is an adventure! But the greatest adventure of all is yet to come!

Beautiful Day, Butterflies & the Mail Box!

It is cold today...freezing...literally...as the thermometer reads 32 degrees. But the sun is shining. I love the sunshine! It is much harder on cold days when they are gray. But when the sun is shining...it just does not seem to be as cold. Of course, I guess it also helps that the wind is not blowing, so there is no wind chill factor.

I actually walked down to the mailbox today. I know...that probably sounds kind of silly...like, what kind of accomplishment is that? Well, I have noticed that living in a place where there is no place to walk...the tendency is to sit a lot. And it all contributes to a kind of inertia. It is hard to get going. And when the weather is icky, it becomes even harder to move around and easier to just sit. And yes, I am VERY out of shape. I won't deny it!

So, walking down the driveway to the mail IS an accomplishment...for me. But the sun was calling and it really did not feel that cold. Of course, I did have to be careful on one part of the driveway. Lately, there has been so much ice that I did not want to dare to walk down it if I did not have to. But today there was only one place I needed to be careful. It actually felt good to be outside walking around!

Oh, Spring...hurry up and come! I love winter...but what we have had is NOT winter. It is more like what the transitional weather between winter and spring is like...except that it has been like this ALL winter long! Ick!! I am tired of mud and ice! I love snow. But I do not like winter rain and ice.

I am thinking about our meadow and wondering if we will mow it or not this summer. I am so torn. When we did not mow it last summer we had so many butterflies all around that they would actually fly into you when you walked down the driveway. I like the idea of a mowed meadow...but I also like the idea of a butterfly sanctuary! *smile*

So, today is a beautiful day!

Ice Dams and Frozen Hearts!

We have a whole routine we have to follow in the winter regarding our windows. This is a very old RV and it is made for warmer climes. It was also made before they started putting doublepaned windows in them. Even now, double-paned is only an option on a lot of RV's, not a standard. Or at least that is how it was a few years ago.

We use foil insulation sheets in the windows at night. They look like foil covered bubble wrap...the kind with the tiny bubbles. Cut to size, we put one up in each window. This makes a HUGE difference on the amount of heat we lose. Then we slide our curtain blankets over the two main side windows. Considering the size of the RV, these are big windows. The window on the couch side runs almost the length of the couch. The one across from it, behind me, is slightly smaller.

Even as I sit here, I can feel the cold air coming in from the one across from me where I have taken the foil back out of the window to let light in. Hmmm...light or heat. What a choice! I have not taken the one out of the window behind me yet...and I may not. I may leave it in, especially today, since I will be gone part of the day. In fact, when we go somewhere...on those very rare days that we do...we will often leave the foil in the windows to conserve energy. It is 18F out there right now and I have just shut the blanket curtain. I am thinking of putting the foil back in for awhile because of the cold. The condensation makes it hard to see much out of the window, but it is nice having the light. I also just turned the heater up. :P

On nights when it drops below freezing, taking off the foil insulation sheets can get very interesting. There is so much condensation that forms on the inside of the windows that the foil is often frozen to the window with bits of ice...or even a sheet of ice in the bottom part of the window. The fact that the ice can form is a testimony to how much heat the sheets are deflecting back into the RV. I have to very carefully peel the sheets off.

When it is not freezing, I simply pull the sheets off, wipe off the window sills and squeegie the condensation off the windows. The window frames are made of aluminum, so they act like heatsinks to the outside and the inside of the frames get very cold and condensation will often form on them, too.

When it is freezing, there is a whole other routine I must follow. First of all, the condensation has run into the little holes in the two ends of the window frame and frozen into ice dams. So, the water that would normally drain right out of the track is stuck. Well, if I don't get those holes thawed, the condensation on the windows, along with the melting ice, will overflow the tracks.

Along with that, the window is in two pieces...one stationary and one sliding. The sliding one is on the inside and the track gets very narrow between it and the inside wall of the track. During the night, enough condensation has formed and dripped down to make that little part of the track fill completely, or almost completely, with ice. So any water that drips down from the sliding window will automatically run right over the ice and onto the sill.

Thus starts a whole new routine for the winter. My son has a little experiment kit. OK...now you are probably thinking "huh? What on earth does THAT have to do with winter window routines?" Well...read on and learn! :) In that kit is a little plastic pipette. The first thing I do is fill a cup with very hot water and the pipette.

Now, the size of the plastic tube on the pipette just happens to be the perfect size to fit into the drain hole on the window frames, IF the hole is not dammed up with ice! Starting to get where I am going with this? I very carefully take a pipette filled with hot water and squirt it where the hole is. I keep doing this until I can stick the pipette into the hole. With each squirt, I can get it to go in farther and farther until the ice is melted through and the water can drain. This must be done immediately for the ice on the windows starts to melt as soon as I pull off the insulation sheet.

Immediately after that, I have to go take care of the ice dam on the sliding window side of the track. Again, the tube on the pipette is the perfect size for fitting along the track between the window and the inside wall of the track. Very slowly, I slide the pipette from the middle where the sliding window meets the stationary window toward the end of the sliding window, while gently squeezing out the hot water. I have to squeeze it fast enough to get it out while it is still hot, but slowly enough that it is not just running over the ice and onto the sill. It takes a little practice, but is not really hard to master. In fact, it is kind of fun! I get to be an adult who plays with water and ice! :)

The main thing is to NOT let the hot water touch the frozen glass! THAT would NOT be good!

I just keep sliding and squeezing the hot water into the track all along that side of the window track until the ice dam between the window and the track is completely melted. It takes a few minutes to do this as the pipette does not hold much water. Once the holes are unplugged and the track is clear, I can squeegie away and the water won't overflow. Although, I do have to squeegie slowly on the sliding window because the track on that side, being so narrow, can still only hold a certain amount of water at once.

So, there you have it...ice dams! But what about the frozen hearts? Well, this morning as I was working with the windows I thought about how this can be a parallel to spiritual life.

When the cold winter storms of life hit is my heart kept warm by the fire of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit)? Or am I allowing them to freeze His fire out of my heart? I know that, as I look back on my life, there are many times that I have allowed my heart to grow cold. Thankfully, and only by the grace of Yahweh, I don't think my heart has ever totally frozen. However, I DO know that He has had to warm up my cold heart many times over the years when I have allowed it to get cold due to anger, or frustration, or despair.

My abusers tried to freeze my heart toward God. But they never succeeded! I have always, since the time I was very young, had a heart for God. I was not always able to live it, but I strived for it. And He blessed me in it. Yet, there have been times when my heart grew cold...sometimes due to being blessed...sometimes due to being overwhelmed.

We each have those things that tend to make our hearts grow cold toward our heavenly Abba (Daddy). What is yours? Do you have so much that you don't feel a need for the fire anymore? Are you hurting so badly that, instead of running TO Him, you run FROM Him? Have those who call themselves by His name wounded you so deeply that you have forgotten that He is NOT those people? Whatever it is that temps you to let your heart freeze, please don't let it! Run from the temptation. Ask Him to put that fire back in your heart. And remember that this world is temporary. It is not all there is. And not everyone who calls themselves by His name... are really His!

Are YOU His? That is the key most important question you can ever ask yourself! The answer settles your destiny. Do you think you are His? Make sure! Sha'ul (Paul) wrote:

2Co 13:5 HNV
(5) Test your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don't you know as to your own selves, that Yeshua the Messiah is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified.

If you are sure, rest in it, for Yeshua (Jesus) said:

Joh 6:37 All those who the Father gives me will come to me. Him who comes to me I will in no way throw out.
Joh 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
Joh 6:39 This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day.

And we have this promise, too, along with so many more!

Heb 7:25 Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them.

I will try to write more about our day later...but for now...have a good day from all of us here in our Little RV on the Hillside!

Appointments on Ice & Hand Goop!

I pretty much have a standing once a week appointment. Today, I was not sure if I was well enough to make it, but I did drag myself in there. He knew that we had all been sick, and so had his family. Oh, what joy...sharing germs! So, I shared with him about the hand sanitizer we use.

It might seem odd sharing about it since we have been sick, but it has actually been awhile since we have been this sick. Dave has managed to dodge most of the stuff going around. We use it on shopping carts and after shaking hands, especially in places like church. We noticed that it really seemed to make a difference once we started using it.

We all feel as if we are on the upswing, but we are very tired and still feeling very drained. Because of the road conditions, Dave insisted on taking me to my appointment. I drive so seldom that he was concerned about me.

When we got back home, we could not make it up our driveway. He is now trying to get the van turned around, but it is not in a good place for turning around. I love the winter, but this is the part that is hard. And salt won't melt ice if the temps drop below 20 degrees F, which it will do tonight. Which reminds me...we had better leave the water dripping! It is no fun to have a frozen water hose.

Well, I am just updating quickly here, then I am off to lay down again...after I see if he got the van turned around. If he cannot turn it, I don't know how he will get to work tomorrow.

The Storms of Winter

We have been experiencing a LOT of rain. It has raised the creek to the degree that it makes it difficult to get across at times. Dave had difficulty getting the trash across the creek this morning for pickup today. Poor guy went to work with his feet wet. :(

I love to look out across our meadow. From our little RV on the hillside I can see over our meadow and across the creek to the road. Come spring, when the leaves are on the trees, you won't even know there IS a road! But what a difference the starkness of winter brings!