odds and ends

I've been moving all week long, and now have most of my earthly possessions here at the mobile home. It's been a week of ups and downs, and there is still much to do. Today Culligan will see that our water softening equipment is installed; and the central air conditioning will be hooked up and charged, just in time for a heat wave: I'll have A/C for the first time in my life.

Also, an exterminator will come by and treat beneath the trailer for ants. He was going to be in the area treating a local church anyway, so he gave me a deal. No guarantees, though: "If you live in Missouri, you will have ants," he told me. Thank goodness for Terro, which has killed literally thousands of the little varmints in the past few days. Amazing stuff, and I read about it on somebody's blog. I may be the last civilized person to discover this stuff, because both my sister and my daughter were familiar with it.

Those are dead ants you're seeing. I love dead ants.

Although not everything is hung up or put away properly, the inside of this trailer house is feeling like home. As for the outside, that will probably take all summer. We will eventually have a driveway and a yard and some add-on porches and a deck; right now we're simply in a trailer house in the middle of the pasture, out behind the barn.

You can't believe how much quieter it is, five hundred feet further back than the old house. I haven't seen a single dog crapping near this house. Sadie used to spend half her days barking at the numerous mongrels roaming through our yard; now the only dog she occasionally sees is the retarded boxer she hates with a passion.

I can barely hear motorcycles going past on the gravel road, or on the highway.

I'm throwing away clothes I don't wear and items I don't use (except for the silly old things I love, and in this house, I can keep those in reach and revel in the memories they evoke). I sold my Kitchen-Aid mixer for $75 on Craigslist, because at this point in my life all I need is a hand mixer. I don't bake like I did a dozen years ago when I bought the thing.

I am thoroughly enjoying having a second bathroom, another first for me. No more waiting for Cliff to hurry up and get ready for work so I can "go". Ah yes, an addition to my list of life's simple pleasures.
I rode my horse twice this past week. One of those days, I was surprised to see a young lady park her car and take a walk on the river bottoms; it's so secluded down there, I'd hate to be on foot all alone.
This is a rambling bit of nonsense, I know. I usually try not to cover numerous subjects in one entry, but since I already have, I'll share a couple of pictures of Cinch, the pup belonging to the couple who board their horses here. There he is with his proud owner, Adam.
He's a difficult dog to photograph because he's so seldom still.
Here he is practicing his herding techniques on Secret, who is neither impressed nor intimidated.