Happy Birthday, Quinn . . . and Floribunda Improvement Projects

Wednesday January 22, 2014

Happy 26th Birthday to my wonderful granddaughter, Quinn, who was born on 1/22 (1988) at 1:22pm in Marin County, California and has been a joy for me ever since.  I love you, Quinn.  Hope your day is filled with wonderful things.

During this wonderful stay in Abbeville (over a month now) I’ve received so much help with lots of big and little issues / travails of owning a motor home.  People, mostly guys, have been 

Johnny-On-The-Spot to help me with all kinds of issues and I’m so appreciative.  Generally speaking, I believe that RVers are friendly and charitable people; these friends have gone above and beyond the call of duty, especially Marvin. All RVers understand that there are always “to do” lists; some of which can’t be accomplished solo – especially for me with my limited (albeit expanding) electrical, building and plumbing abilities.

Now I'm at a point where lots of these current projects can be completed by me without help from others; I need time to cogitate - try things out and (if necessary) regroup to finalize the current storage choices, etc.  When I bought Floribunda in June she came with three wardrobe closets; I immediately made the one located next to the kitchen into a pantry.  I simply decided what I wanted to do, measured and purchased masonite-laminated plywood shelving at Home Depot and installed four shelves, utilizing the bracket strips that were already in the wardrobe.  At the time, I didn’t bother with the fact that the space had need of a cutout in each shelf to accommodate a wiring/plumbing area behind the cupboard.  I simply measured each desired shelf as a rectangle and left open space at the rear.  Well, several months later, I  realize how inefficient that is – traveling shifts contents and I’ve had things from one shelf fall through the opening to the shelf below, etc.  Ugh.  So, I’ve wanted to revamp pantry wardrobe with shelves cut to fit the area exactly.  In addition, I wanted to make one of the two bedroom wardrobes into shelved storage (also needing each level cut to fit the space correctly), as well.  Marvin has been so wonderful – accompanying me on shopping trips and doing the skill saw customization of all the shelves.  Our experience at Lowe's and Stine's is fodder for a short story one day.  He’s also going to build a fold-down shelf for me on one wall in the bedroom to use with my laptop.  I’ll buy a folding chair and be able to leave the computer set up whenever I’m parked.

I also utilized Marvin and others’ knowledge to determine that I needed to buy a new TV.  Then Marvin worked on removing the old tube TV, carrying it off to a charity, customizing the cupboard giving additional storage space behind the new flat screen TV, which he also installed.  I’ve offered to pay him for all his help but he flat out refuses, saying he has the time as, “I’m retired!”  So, I’m treating him to some restaurant and home-cooked meals; that’s all he’ll accept as remuneration.

This morning I’ve taken some down-time;  I need to get all the new and different storage areas organized in a way that works for me.  Nobody can do this for me and I’m enjoying the process in ‘retirement mode: ’  work a little, read, work a little, blog, work a little, take a shower.  Aaahh, that’s one great bonus of my life these days.  

Okay, I’ve had my blogging break; time to get on with de-cluttering!

Happy Days to All!