It has cooled down considerably over the last week and my bird baths were frozen on top. It’s not very thick ice but it’s supposed to be colder tonight (19°F) then slowly warm up. Had a fire in the stove the last several days so it was cozy. It’s still easier to turn up the thermostat.

This morning I trimmed a few more bushes around the trees to clear it out. It will help with air circulation in the yard after it rains so it will dry out faster and more thoroughly. It will be a bit of work but it actually goes pretty fast.

I was planning to burn brush piles over the weekend but it was just too windy. Living and working in the forest for many years I don’t take any chances when it comes to fires. It can wait and I have plenty more to do.

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At the moment I’m erring on the side of caution; I am running a heater inside the trailer and I put some RV antifreeze in the drains. It’s 68°F inside with the electric heater going; I don’t want to use the propane furnace much as that gets expensive. I also don’t want to do a full winterization yet; I’m wanting to take a trip or two somewhere and not ready to give up. I don’t really want to dry camp but I could if I really wanted to get out. I don’t want to rely on public toilets or dining out so it takes a bit of creativity sometimes. It CAN be done, though. I’ve done it.

I’ve been doing a little cleaning and organizing my trailer this past week, dialing in the last few changes to where things are placed according to usability. I added a down duvet cover to my bed to help stay warm and cozy. Nothing quite like a chilly room and a pile of blankets!

I’m rethinking my parking situation. I have roughly three decent-size concrete parking spaces and I have the trailer over towards the far side away from the house. I think I am gonna move it over closer to the house. That gives me a huge patio my trailer awning will cover. That means I can put the patio furniture out there! I’ll put up a few privacy fence panels and that will be a nice outdoor space away from the trees

Speaking of trailers, Dave & Lori got their new-to-them 2022 Forest River Surveyor Bunkhouse trailer home last week and I went to see it. It’s a lot like mine and is laid out with the same basic floor plan except they have a slide and the bunks are not closed in as much as mine. Their refrigerator is huge (bigger than the one in my trailer) and I like the storage cabinets and wardrobe they have in the bathroom. The slide really opens it up inside but it’s still very usable when closed.

They are pretty excited about it and he’s been getting acquainted with the systems and doing a few things to it. They bought a few accessories and are getting it squared away inside. I told them my experience is that you will move things around a few times as you dial it in.

We are all anxious to get it out for its maiden voyage!

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I caught a story that mentioned a hack for cleaning your reusable water bottles using effervescent denture cleaning tablets. I already had something similar for my hydration pack bladder so I was aware of the concept but never thought about it as those tablets are expensive.

The generic denture tablets were very inexpensive so I’m giving it a try. They disinfect, clean, and deodorize a water bottle pretty easily and it’s fast. Just get the ones without mint!

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That’s it for now.

Shawn