About five or six years ago, I planted six fruit trees: three apple, two pear, and one cherry.
At the house before this one, I had some great luck with the apple
trees planted on a hillside. However, conditions here are different:
steeper terrain, clay soil,and more wildlife and insects. I lost one
apple tree after it was run over by the neighbor’s escaping steer. The
other two apple trees have had issues with late freezes and insects,
producing pretty much nothing usable. The pear trees, which were
purchased because they were different types known to play well together,
have never even flowered. The cherry tree was eaten up by deer and
then pruned poorly by me.
But this year has been different–at least, for the cherry tree.
We’ve already harvested 8 cups of cherries. Julia also went to a local
farmer and picked strawberries last weekend., along with her own
rhubarb. We’ve been enjoying fruit, pies, and smoothies. There’s
something special about walking up the hill to the Scamp and stopping to
pop a few ripe sour cherries in my mouth.
Speaking of the Scamp, modifications are coming along slowly but
nicely. The old smelly carpet is gone, and some nice gray vinyl plank
is in its place. Also, I installed vinyl wallboard on the space between
the floor and the walls. The installation is far from perfect, but
it’s acceptable to an ex-lawyer with few construction skills. Function
over form is my motto.
The bed was also ‘the subject of an upgrade.
When I bought the Scamp, the previous owners were using a three-inch
foam pad on top of the original cushions. I threw out the foam pad and
stored the cushions, replacing them with eight inches of memory foam.
Much better!. I have taken a few afternoon naps to test it out. I’ll
take some photos when I get closer to completion. The new dinette
table, created by someone with infinitely greater skills, will be the
focal piece of the remodeled interior.
The electrical system is still in the research phase. I will
definitely upgrade the battery before my September trip and probably buy
an inverter for laptop use. I may put off some of the other electrical
upgrades until I take my first extended trip and see what I am capable
of producing/using in amps.
We are continuing to put together the pieces of Justin’s puzzle.
There are some caregivers lined up for his college summer school in
July. He is working on backups in case something goes wrong. We’re
taking two steps ahead for every step back, but that is better than the
other way around.
If everything falls apart, I may be going to college as a caregiver
and living in the Scamp for a month. If everything holds together,
Julia and I have a special trip planned. Stay tuned.
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