Our Home Away from Home!

Our Home Away from Home!

Saturday, April 13, 2013

We Have a Mess and it is COLD (again)

Well we went from winter to summer back to winter, hooray for Indiana weather. Been here my whole life and you should never pack away your winter clothes until after July 4th. :)  We had the air conditioner on one night and the furnace/fire place the next.
Oh well not boring that way, I guess. We are supposed to get up into the 70's this week that will be so nice.

We have a little mess on our site now.  Oh goody! More sticks to pick up.  The Forest Service cuts down dangerous trees that are dead, diseased or dying to prevent injury to campers. And unfortunately we had some around us. They had so many to cut this year due to the Ash Bore bug that is killing the Ash trees and the Popular dying due to the drought from last summer.  So basically in a nut shell it is just not a good thing to be a tree right now. 

This used to be a beautiful Sassafras tree. The Forest Service brought it to us after they cut it down since we had to do this......

Yes, that is us sitting out in the middle of the road.  They wanted us to move since 2 of the trees they had to cut down were behind us and they were big!!!

It had grown up into a V shape. So one went left, one went right.

The one that went to the right sounded like a bomb when it hit.  That is because it exploded when it hit the ground. See the inside is starting to rot. 

They also (Forest Service) said Woodpeckers are not helping the situation either. They love of course to put these holes in the trees and that isn't healthy and ends in them dying alot of the time. But oh Woody is so cute, how can we be made at him?

But not all is lost.  Aren't these nice "sit around the fire" chairs? They really go with our decor don't they?  My only complaint is they are hard!


This is a new view out of our kitchen window. :(  I hate seeing trees cut down. I know they need to be for the safety of the campers but seems like a life is gone. 
We worked most of the morning cleaning up our site. I don't like to see brush laying around and there were many big logs we moved.  I bought this new plant called a Senetti. This is the trademark name for a plant from the Pericallis plant.  Nope didn't mean anything to me either. But I thought I would throw that in there to appear smart :)  All I know is it is gorgeous and it attracted butterflies almost immediately.



This Western Tiger Swallowtail looks gorgeous with the yellow color against the purple. 

Cleaning sites all morning just wore Effie out. As you can see it was cold outside in the wind and so she was sun bathing in her camouflage sweater.

She is getting a nice tan wouldn't you say?  She seems never to burn. :))
Poor little Cooper is all worn out too.  He just conked out in the trailer.

This morning almost all of the hosts went out to a local restaurant where they serve a breakfast buffet. It is one of those little restaurants where all the chairs don't match, the silverware if not perfect, but boy do they serve great food! We don't work all the time we have fun too.

Starting top right is Mickey her husband Kevin, then Dee her husband Al.  Then top left is Jim, Jack, his wife Kay,  then Donnie and my plate, then Art (you all know him by now).  Al and Dee are the managers here and Kevin and Mickey are the assistant managers. Just a wonderful group of people.  But next time I am going to have them all say "cheese."  :)))

Here are their homes while in the park.....

Kevin and Mickey's on Holland Loop
Donnie's on Bluegill Loop
Jack and Kay's on Southern Point Loop
Jim's also on Southern Point
This is Bill and Abbie's. They are on White Oak Loop. They were not able to go to breakfast with us this morning.
Here they are slaving away cleaning the sites on their loop.
This is Al and Dee's motor home. It sits up at the office and affectionately called the 'Grey Ghost.'
There is still one camp host position available, so if any of you out there are wanting to come and join this amazing life style let me know and I will put you in contact with Al and Dee. 

This Swallowtail landed on the blue paint that they put around a tree that needs to be cut down.  Funny he landed on the exact middle. Maybe he was protesting the cutting of this tree.


     From Hardin Ridge in Hoosier National Forest best wishes and take care everyone.

35 comments:

  1. You need to take some dark paint and paint a big happy face (eyes, nose & smile) on that freshly cut tree which now faces your RV! lol

    Dave (and Marcia and Bubba and Skruffy)
    GoingRvWay.com

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    1. That's a great idea. At least I would see a smile when I look out the window. :)

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  2. With all your talent (that I stand in awe of) you need to make pillows to put on top of those stumps. That would really make them perfect. And once again, your pictures are gorgeous.

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    1. Thank you that is sweet. I should that is a good idea but I would need to figure out how to make them water proof :) I love taking pictures can you tell???

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  3. I might consider that position if I weren't already committed to Tamarac NWR. Maybe some other time...

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    1. Would sure love to have you, lots of birds to see in here.

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  4. Awwwwwww it just breaks my heart to see a tree come down. I know, sometimes its necessary but I still feel sad!! Have a good weekend!!

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    1. Me too. It was making me sick too. I know sometimes they have no choice, and so many are dying very sad. Thanks!

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  5. Hazel, of Class A Greyhounds...RVing with the big dogs!April 13, 2013 at 6:32 PM

    This is great photos and your pets are so cute. The camp hosts look like a great bunch to work with. Thanks so much for sharing!

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    1. Effie and Cooper thank you! They are and some more came in today. You are welcome, love to do it.

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  6. I know what you mean by cutting a tree it seems a life is gone. I fell the same way when the road safety guys cut down two very old pine trees along the road where our house is. I felt so bad and I had tears of sadness in my eyes. It changed the scenery instantly.

    Oh the poor dogs, you have to stop working them so hard...

    I love your photos and 'm glad that you are taking time to have fun too.
    Hugs,
    JB

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    1. Hi Julia, you are so right the scenery is changed forever or at least until some more trees grow in their place which can take many many years.
      Don't we though, bless their hearts.

      Thank you, yes, the work is easing up and the fun is beginning to happen. Take care.

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  7. I hate to see those beautiful trees dying and having to be cut down!

    Breakfast is my favorite meal...nothing like a yummy buffet!

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    1. Breakfast is one of our favorite meals to eat out too. And a buffet is even better, get to eat all that bacon and not fry it. Me too it was a sad day.

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  8. I agree... hate to see the trees cut down... great photos, Tammy! what fun and the fooooood

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    1. Thank you Carolyn. I think all of us who love nature really hate that. But I guess people's safety has to be considered too.

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  9. I wish there would be no humidity there. Camp hosting that close to our family would be wonderful! But...John would not do well there.

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    1. Unfortunately we do have humidity. I hate it too, it makes the heat unbearable. Maybe one year you could think about doing it a couple of months in the early spring or fall when the humidity is not so high.

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  10. Sure is nice there and would consider visiting , but to stay in one spot much more than a wek or two, no for us, gotta keep moving about to visit more places.

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    1. Hope some day you can visit. I understand different people have different likes and dislikes. One day we hope to travel more too.

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  11. I hate to see trees cut down too. Not only do you lose the trees, but I always worry about any bird and squirrel nests that are in them. Of course having one fall on you isn't good either.

    Those poor dogs. You really are going to have to quit working them so hard!

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    1. They cannot cut the trees down after the 15th of April due to the animals. The bats in Indiana start to live in the trees then they told us. The squirrels would have homes in them though. It is very sad all the way around.
      Yes, Effie and Cooper are really getting a work out :)

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  12. In my next life I want to come back as one of your dogs they have it made..

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    1. That was so funny you say that, because Art has said the same thing...:)))

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  13. I agree with Kenny and Angela...the dogs have it made.. and they are adorable.

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    1. Thanks so much. We wouldn't have it any other way. They are our babies now and we love spoiling them.

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  14. Great post and photos. Effie and Cooper are adorable.

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    1. Hi Linda, welcome to the blog and thank you for your comment. I will tell Cooper and Effie that you said so they will love hearing that. And they are spoiled for sure.

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  15. Nice photos of all the tree cutting. I agree, it's sad to lose a tree and it looks like the park is losing a lot this year.

    Your poor dogs work so hard, they sure deserve all these naps!

    Beautiful butterflies. :)

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    1. Thank you! Yes, the park has with all the bugs and drought the trees have really suffered. The dogs are just worn out picking up all those sticks. We need to give them a vacation! :)

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  16. What a sweet crew to be surrounded by...thinking of all that fallen hardwood and the furniture my husband used to craft. Might want to take up some whittling :O) Seeing Effie always tears at my heart strings...I could just squeeze her to death! And Mr. Cooper too!

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    1. They are and great workers which we sure needed this year with the park being in such a mess. I love to work with wood and used to do a lot of woodworking. Unfortunately don't have my saw any longer. Effie would love that, she loves all the attention.

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  17. I just love Effie & Cooper -- they are just too cute! Looks like fun there. I'd love to camp host some day. Those poor trees were really effected - pity. Do ya'll save them for firewood?

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    1. Thanks Cyn. They are cute and they know it just like kids do :) Yes, we do use it for firewood, one of the hosts brought in a log splitter and has split a lot of it for the hosts. And the campers are aloud to pick up any that they want to use. They can even bring in saws and cut it up. So that helps with the loss I guess.

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  18. Great butterfly pictures. And your dogs are adorable as always. I enjoyed seeing the way the camp is set up and all the other workers.

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