Now back at home after that great camping trip to Fidalgo Island and the town of Anacortes, I settled in to pay bills, do laundry, restock the trailer, wash the truck and the trailer, and do a few other chores around home before heading out on the next camping trip.
One of the reasons I go camping is to see wildlife. But this day at home, I was sitting in my office/computer room paying bills online when I looked up, and looked out my window. The wild deer were here again. 🙂
There is a rule in this community (and it is in writing!) that we do not feed these deer. This allows them to find food that is natural to them. Many of us purposefully plant native plants that the deer like to eat. You can see the small arborvitae plants outside my office window … they will be uprooted and native plants that deer love to eat will be in their place soon.
Hang on sweetie, something more appetizing and delicious will be coming soon!
One of the household projects I did while at home between trips was to replace two of the ceiling lamp fixtures. The photo below is what was in the house when I bought it late last year. Oh my, not my style!
The photo below shows what I installed instead in the living room and in my bedroom. I still have two more to replace (one in the second bedroom and one in the office), but that will get done later this year for sure.
An interesting oddity (or so I thought) about this house that I bought, is that the wiring to the ceiling light fixtures remains “hot” even with the wall switch off. Turns out that the ground wire runs through the light switch, not the HOT wire. So the light does turn off when the switch is off, but the wiring to that fixture is still definitely and dangerously still “live” unless you know what you’re doing. Forty years ago, when this house was built, that system of wiring was legal, but today that system is not … it no longer meets code. So what I do is simply turn the circuit off at the breaker box. And I use a non-contact electrical tester (or “voltage proximity tester” or “volt stick” or “ticker stick” or a number of other common names) to double check that the wiring is no longer “live”. No problem.
My next project this week was to find a way to cover the power tongue jack on the very front of the trailer frame, so it stays dry during periods of rain. The tongue jack raises and lowers the very front “pointy end” of the trailer frame so it can connect to the truck, and so you can adjust the height of the trailer to make the trailer level while you are staying in the trailer. One can buy a manual tongue jack, or an electrically operated tongue jack … either way, it’s best to keep it dry.
During the winter, I have the entire trailer enclosed in a cover that protects the trailer and the tongue jack as well, from winter rain/snow. But during the spring and summer and fall, that large cover is stored in my garage. I wanted something to keep the rain out of the electrical tongue jack to minimize deterioration of the wiring and the electrical motor. I researched online and found the perfect waterproof cloth cover … I ordered the cover for a very reasonable price … it was delivered quickly … and I installed this brand new black cover on the tongue jack in about two minutes … perfect.
That was an awfully easy project. Do a little research. Buy the product. Then put the cover on the tongue jack and tie it down. But it still gets put on the list of “projects completed” and it feels good to have another important thing done.
The camping trip I just got home from, the one to Fidalgo Island and the town of Anacortes, was in August 2020. I went camping in September, 2020, as well … to Dungeness on the Olympic Peninsula. Let me get a few more chores done here at home and then we’ll head over to Dungeness for more sunshine and fun. Thanks for coming along on the adventure!