Bargains

The screened tent Gary and I bought for a dollar at a rummage sale yesterday turned out to be perfect for today's rummage sale at Mathom House. My friend Susan, her daughter Rebecca and her husband Andy   couldn't have their sale at the farm because there is so little traffic out in the country.  They felt they would do better in town during the citywide sales and I think they did. At least they went home with less than they came with. I immediately found a blender to replace one I lost years ago. I've been thinking of smoothies of late.  Gary found an electronic photo viewer which is now showing photos of his trailer. I really must find better pictures for it. 

I sat and chatted with Susan and family in the morning but then went off for lunch and a little rummaging with my own family.  But to hold Evan's attention we had to go to one of his favorite places...the library.  My grandson, at eight, is an awesome reader. He is never so happy as with a book.  Unfortunately, he gets up in the middle of the night to read.  One night he stayed up the whole night reading and fell asleep in school.

He had been to the Appleton library earlier this week but couldn't find the books he wanted to read there.  He had better luck at the Muehl Public Library.  He left with about a dozen books.

Later, I went out rummaging again and found two more bargains.  One is an embroidered pants suit, new with the store tags still attached.  I bought it for a dollar. At first, I thought the pants would be too long and I hate shortening clothes. When I brought it home, however, it fit perfectly. It will be perfect for summer parties. I found a set of drawers at another sale. The little dresser will carry my clothes on my way around Lake Superior in July.

When I returned home, Susan, Rebecca and Andy were taking down the sale. They may be back for the fall citywide sale. The tent will be ready whenever they want it.

Rummage Sale Buys

Despite the constant rain, Gary and I went out to the Friday rummage sales that always happen before the Saturday citywide sale.  They're often run by those who want their rummage sales on Friday to get rid of stuff so they can go to the ones the next day to buy more stuff.

Gary found a trolling motor and a few other things.  I found a pair of baskets for the grand total of five cents. At two sales, I found fake vines to put in my two window boxes at the back of the house.  If I were going to be around most of the summer, I would put in real flowers but with all the camping and traveling I wouldn't be able to water them twice a day.

I found an Ambercrombie and Fitch man's shirt, nicely embossed with the store's logo.  A&F stores no longer stock sizes larger than 10 for women because as the chain's CEO explained, they don't want overweight older women in their store, just attractive young women. So now I can wear my very own A&F shirt when I visit their store ... and I intend to visit a lot.

But the best purchase was a screened tent. I wanted to have a local authors site at the weekly farmers' market here in Seymour.  I thought the $25 fee for the summer was OK, one book sold a week would cover that, but having to buy a canopy or tent was beyond my budget so had pretty much forgotten about the idea until we saw that tent. This afternoon I talked to Francine and Lorelei who share manager's duties at the market.  They said they would have a spot for me to set up whenever I am in town.

Tonight Gary and I set up the tent so that the Manzke family can use it when they hold their rummage sale at my house. It should work well for that, too.

Tomorrow, I'll go out rummaging again looking for lightweight folding tables for the books in our local authors' tent.  Will I be lucky again?  

The Camper

Today, Gary and I had to go to the bank to work on money issues and to the insurance company to figure out coverages:  house, car, van, camper, renters insurance. Working together we saved quite a bit of money.

Next is for us to sit down and work out a joint budget.  Up until now, we've kept our accounts separate.  We'll still have our own accounts, but we need to know who is paying which bill.

This afternoon I went over to the Manzke farm to take photos of the camper:

Gary put out the extensions which made the rooms much bigger.  The living room is roomy enough so we can stretch our legs out without anyone walking by tripping.

There's a great window at the dining room, the same kind of window we had in our last camper.  We always parked so we had a good view of the lake with maybe some bird feeders right outside.

This camper's kitchen has all the conveniences including a microwave, an oven and a full refrigerator with lots of work space.

And finally, my favorite room which is a bedroom, but will serve me as an office. It's much like my office here, though of course smaller.

I can work at that little desk and at the same time keep an eye on anything that's on the stove in the kitchen...just like here.  The bathroom is right next door...just like here.  Yet there is a door that I can close for privacy and windows to keep an eye on the birds.   

It's a good camper.  In two weeks, we'll take it out on its first run.   

Concerning Money

During the night I began to obsess about the 2013 Subaru Outback.  How could I drive such a new car?  Would I wreck it in an accident?  Would I get it scratched when I drove it in the forest?  Gary would want it kept perfect, wouldn't he?

This morning, I came out of the house and there it was in front of me. At sunrise, a robin made a deposit on the driver's door.  That took off a little of the pressure.

By now, I had figured out enough of the controls to follow Gary and his van to Neenah and the Quietwoods RV center to pick up his new camper.  He had never pulled such a big thing behind his van before and he thought it would be a good idea to have me driving backup. In the end, he found out that this camper was even easier to pull than the previous one, which was smaller. 

We took it to the Manzke farm where it will be stored until after Memorial Day when we will take it to the national forest. Bob and Susan came to take a look.  It didn't look that impressive until Gary turned the switches and the extensions went out.  Then they could see how big our living room/kitchen was and how nice my little office will be. Gary suggested we spend a night or two camping on the farm.  

We needed insurance for the car and the camper.  Gary has had his insurance coverage with State Farm for years. I've had my own insurer for 27 years, but when we talked it over we realized that we would have better coverage for less if we bundled our policies.  I suggested that if we were co-mingling our insurance that would be as good as a civil union.  He said "No."

Insurance covered, Gary went back to his camper to begin the preparations he deems necessary and I went back to gardening.  He has to pack every corner with necessary gadgets. I have to pack every inch of my gardens with flowers.  Each to his or her own, I guess. 

Subaru Outback

Gary decided I needed a better car.  I've had the Mercury Sable for five years but I've put on a lot of miles and lately, minor repairs have been adding up.

I queried friends about the best choice of cars.  The Subaru Outback got the most votes.  I had to admit the heated seats sounded good in a state with such cold winters, but good miles per gallon got my attention, too. I liked that it would be roomy enough for me to camp in it on rainy nights when I couldn't put up the tent. I decided a used Subaru was exactly what I needed, one with a few miles and perhaps a dent or two.

Gary started doing his Internet research.  He finally found plenty of used vehicles at Gustman's in Appleton. They had a fleet of cars that had been rented out or leased, all with extremely low mileage on the odometers. Yesterday we went there and began to look around.  Ed came out to talk to us immediately.

I have never been fond of car salesmen, especially the kind that play mind games with their customers but Ed was different. Right away I felt he was dealing with us honestly.  I did a test drive on a used vehicle and liked it fine. Gary did some preliminary bargaining but we decided to come home to think it over.

Gary researched some more and found another dealership with lower prices, called and came up with better figures.  We took those figures back Gustman's in Appleton. Along the way, he began to dicker about a new Subaru, figuring out for $2,000 more he could swing it.

By this afternoon, he and Ed worked out a new deal.  Tonight we own a 2013 Subaru Outback.

Gary and I hold the title jointly.  He plans on driving it, too because its excellent mileage is better than his van  has.  

Thinking back, Gary realized he hadn't had a new car since the late Sixties when he came home for the army to buy a Corvette.  When I was married, we once had a new Pinto and later a Jeep.  Both of them were lemons, but I suspect we'll do better this time. 

Wiped Out

I have only one allergy that I know of.  Cladisporium mold does a number on me every spring.

Yesterday it hit me just before I was to meet with Chris, Tisha and Evan.  I looked all over the house for my usual remedy, Alka Seltzer Plus, but none was to be found.  I finally took Clariton, Gary's remedy, which promises relief for 24 hours and is non-drowsy.

I don't know about the relief from allergies, but it was definitely non-drowsy so I didn't sleep for most of the night.

I got through today but now I am too exhausted to do more than mention in this column that I can't write a column.

Early to bed for me. 

Mother's Day

I've written this before:  if I don't like a holiday, I don't celebrate it. Gary feels the same.  He doesn't like Thanksgiving so we have gone our own ways on that.

For years, Chris and I did not celebrate Mother's Day. When he was around eleven or twelve we agreed not to.  It's a holiday I can do without. I thought that the nation needed a Holiday Anonymous self help group.

I mentioned that I hated Mother's Day at a gas station this morning and the young clerk said, "I do, too! There's no children's day.  Not fair."  Two older women started telling us they didn't like the day either, though neither said why.  Perhaps they had no children or their children never came to see them, I don't know.

Maybe the high expectation of the day is at fault. Our children don't worship us, nor should they.

One of my problems is the music.  The songs written for mothers are outright sappy. The best Gary could come up with when I asked his opinion was Jerry Jeff Walker's "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcBOcwgb4OA  Another friend suggested "Mama Tried" by Merle Haggard about a guy in prison saying it wasn't his mother's fault. Perhaps only country western singers can write about mothers.

This Mother's Day, however, I went out with Chris and his family.  That is because my grandson Evan's birthday is tomorrow. To celebrate we went out to eat at Happy Joe's pizzeria where he could play the many games and collect tokens for prizes.  

Instead of giving him a present, we went shopping later and he found a great Spymaster gadget, a sensor that detects movement and sets off an alarm.  Later he tried it out on Dante and Brodie, the two cats, who didn't appreciate it all that much.

I think I enjoyed that as much as the Mother's Day present they gave me.