Getting ready for the annual Ranchero Visitadores ride.

The yard is looking much better after lots of weed pulling, pruning, and general cleanup.

My large to-do list for the RV is also looking better. All of the major items have been taken care of but that still leaves 15 items or half of the list remaining to be done. These remaining items will need to wait until I am done with Rancheros which starts on Tuesday for me. After all, I will have all summer to work on them while Clyda rehabs from her knee replacement in May.

The biggest item on the RV was getting the peeling wax on the front and back caps removed. This is just elbow grease and time. All of it from the top of a ladder. I then waited for a cloudy day to put the new wax on.

The peeling is caused by the suns ultraviolet rays and could be taken care of by a cover. I can't use a real RV cover as it is too heavy for me to haul up the rear ladder. I may try something else as a cover.

Tomorrow morning I will go over the mountain and mow all the grass in the area we park our RV's and which will be our home for 10 days. I do this because of the “fox tails” which get into everything if they aren't mowed. I also remove all the “cow pies” or at least as much as I can remove from the cattle who for some reason like to spend lots of time right where we need to park our RV's. I guess they like the large oak trees in the area for the shade.

On Tuesday afternoon I will drive over the hill and start setting up the camp. There are a few days of not much activity before everyone arrives and we are then going full tilt for a week.

I took a few photos of some flowers Clyda had as a bouquet on the kitchen island.

 

 

 

Spending time on my knees.

Hard to believe we have been home for two weeks already.

The most pressing thing was getting our yard back in shape. Even with the small amount of rain here in the last 3 months the weeds were tall and thick in the garden. I have spent part of every day on my knees pulling weeds. I have filled nine or ten trash cans with them.

I finished the farthest back part of the yard today so now just need to spot check a few places more where some weeds are hiding. I had mowed the garden when we first got home but that has left stumps from the largest weeds. I need to keep an eye on those and hope they don't grow again. I also had a gopher.

 

 We did have about four tenths of an inch of rain the other day but it didn't help much. We need lots more. With the drought we are on water rationing. Of course, with us gone we had very little usage for 3 months. However, now, that will go up as I needed to water all the trees. I fertilized all of them, soaked them, and added mulch out to the drip lines to help hold the moisture in. I do not intend to lose any of my fruit trees.

I also worked on the sprinklers in the flower beds and the lawn. It is the usual job that needs to be done every spring. I know some of them need to be replaced as they are old.

I also started on my to-do list for the RV. It is a full page long, 30 items to be done.

I removed two of the window cranks the other day, both need to be replaced. I found replacements on-line and have them on order. They should be here in a few days.

Whenever we drive in the rain we get a wet carpet about where the wheels are located.

Today I added a wide rubber stripe under the large slideout. I removed some vinyl trim and then unscrewed the metal strip under it. I slid the new rubber under the metal strip and then replaced all the screws. The worst part of the job was working under the slideout in a very awkward position. By taking a break now and then to let my muscles relax I got it done. Hopefully this should solve the problem but we won't know until we drive in the rain again.

Rubber stip ready to be installed.

Strip installed behind the white trim.

I need to get some of these things done before the 28^th which is the day I report for duty at Rancheros. This will be my 18^th year gate guarding for them.