What ELSE have we been doing these last 8 weeks?

Well, glad you asked that!  OK, so I asked it for you...nonetheless...we've been BUSY!  As we walked the various trails, we'd occasionally come across cairns that kids or other hikers built and left for others.  We were tasked with dismantling the cairns when we found them, so that lizards and other creepy crawlies could have their homes at least returned to them, if not fully restored. Here's Driver, up at Cactus Rock Trail, at Warbler Vista returning neatly stacked rocks to their more natural, scattered state.

But, just around the corner, what did our eyes behold?  Holy smokes, someone must have spent HOURS arranging all these rocks, juuuuuust so, in perfectly concentric and even circles.  The entire structure was about 4 or 5 rocks high, and a good 10 feet across.  It must have taken over 2 hours to amass and arrange all these rocks. Oh well, c'est la vie. Or death, if you really want to get technical.  We killed the cairn...

But we thought the path here could use a little more definition, so we took the biggest, flattest rocks and lined the pathway with 'em.  You'll note, we left plenty for the lizards and other creepy crawlies...

This little cactus was nearby...the very littlest one was only about the size of a dime.  I really did want to take him home, but...yeah....we live in an RV and we already have a houseplant, what would we do with another one? Besides, I'm pretty sure since this is Federal land, it would/could be considered a felony to remove plant material.  Especially if it turned out to be a rare type of cactus.  So, in the end, we took his photo (I'm sure he gave consent, even tho I cannot produce a signed release form) and simply moved on.  

Back on the homefront, I was able to get a little bit of sewing done.  This is an applique project that I have had in a bag for several years now.  About 12, if I stop to really count them up.  The fabrics were purchased on my very first shop hop, which took place in Sarasota, waaaaay back when I first started my quilting journey.  Gail had talked me into buying the pattern and fabrics, but I always felt it was way out of my skill set to complete.  As I recall, I knew we'd have some downtime eventually, so I bagged everything up and stuck it all under by bathroom sink.  Well, I was looking for a specific cleaner one day, and I ran across the bagged fabric.  Since I wasn't doing masks anymore, I thought it was high time to get started on this puppy.  Over the course of about 3 days, it all came together, and it's ready to be quilted here.

Here we are at the end of June, and we ventured out to the grocery store.  We were pleasantly surprised to see this posted prominently at the entrance:

And, have you heard about the Saharan Dust Storm? We had never ever heard of it before, but, apparently, it's a normal thing, at least around these parts.  We didn't really know what to expect, but when it arrived, we knew it. It was super hazy and our eyes burned after just a few minutes outside.  The hillside we could so plainly see last week is hardly visible through the haze today.

Here's the newscaster, showing downtown Austin.  Usually we can see all the buildings plain as day, but tonight, it was only clear as mud.

The next morning, Cixto, the head maintenance dude warned us about a creepy crawly that was accidentally run over on our driveway.  This is what a very large, very dead coral snake looks like.  Coral snakes are rather reclusive, but they do come out in search of water and food during excessively dry periods.  They usually only bite when handled or stepped on, but, ya know, I'm really not crazy about taking that chance, and, sorry, not sorry, I won't be missing this little guy.  (Little, he was NOT.  He was about 2 feet long, which, for a coral snake, is pretty danged long!)

Red on Yellow, Kill a Fellow.  I think this is the first venomous snake I've ever seen whose head is not triangular in shape, nor could we tell if his pupil slits were vertical (venomous) or not (friendly).  Heck, we couldn't even see his beady little eyes! Yeah, sorry dude, not sorry.  RIP

We went out to another part of the Refuge, one that is not open to the public.  There's an old ranch house there, with 2 more campsites in the front yard, that we were tasked with cleaning up.  We were to trim trees, weed whack the flower bed and cut the grass all around.  You know, all the things Driver gave up when we sold the house in Crystal River.  At one of the campsites, we found another volunteer's rock collection.  There were some really pretty ones, and I was tempted...but, like the cactus, we just took a photo and moved on.  There's only but so much room in that camper, and I'd really rather have food and fabric.  Or maybe fabric and food, yeah, that's probably more accurate. 

And speaking of food, look what WE got gifted with!  Homegrown 'maters, with a side of fresh basil.  YUUUUUMMMY!

Good thing we ate well last night, and yes, those tomatoes were the star of the meal.  We waited till it got good and hot, then we headed out to Warbler Vista, to help Cixto put in the bumpers for the new parking lot at Quarry Canyon trailhead.  You can't really tell from the photo, but, just behind Driver's left foot is a 2 foot drop-off.  And, from what we heard, someone had already driven off the "cliff."  Or maybe the Refuge Manager was afraid someone would drive off the cliff.  I don't really know for sure, but I know we were there to put those bumpers in.  Neatly, and evenly spaced.  There were 15 bumpers, all told, but only room enough for 12, so we put the other 3 as parallel spaces, on the other side of the lot. Sure made me wish I understood geometry better.  As it was, we relied on the string, the measuring tapes, OCD and my eagle-eye.

Here are the masterminds, debating on whether or not the bumper is in line with the other two.

Every now and then, I volunteer to finish up a quilt.  Sometimes, it's just a collection of blocks, sometimes, it's a whole top that's been quilted and just needs binding, sometimes it's a top that needs batting, backing AND binding.  This was one of those. It is comprised of fishing-related fabrics, with a few Norman Rockwell scenes thrown in.  I had originally planned to donate it to Friends of Balcones Canyonlands, for them to auction off at a fund-raiser if we ever return to normal, pre-COVID processes.  However, it appears to have been made with fabric that is, shall we say, less than expensive?  There were a few places where the sewist kinda skimped on the seam allowances, and the fabric is fraying a bit.  And the only way to repair it is with fusible, but there's just no fabric to turn under, sooooo.....I don't think it's going to be good enough to auction off.  I know if *I* were to win a quilt at a raffle, I would expect it to be in perfect condition, and not already falling apart.

So, I'll fix the bad spots, and one by one, I'll quilt the blocks with this splashy-looking design.  I think it looks like the water splash made by a fish and it suits the fabric perfectly.

And, back out on the Refuge, the work never ends.  The couple that was here prior to us did nothing for the entire time they were here, because they got here just as the Refuge closed to the public.  Personally, I don't see HOW they could sit and do nothing - I can look around and see at least 16 projects that need doing, in every direction!  All I can figure is they were not the outdoorsy type, nor were they self-motivated.  Or maybe they were counting on doing office work only, and since the office was closed, there was no work for them.  I dunno.  Doesn't really matter, either.  Just so long as WE were busy, we were happy.  Here's Driver, cleaning up the Handicapped path at Doeskin Ranch.

Didn't he do a good job?

We traveled Cow Creek Road again on the way back to the camper.  Check out the babies head-butting in the back.  They were sooo cute!

Daddy kept a close eye on his harem.  He was a monster.

And the next day, we got to pack up a couple of shelving units and move 'em.

This is the Arts & Crafts section...just about rivals MY collection, doesn't it!  LOL  Yeah...I am NOT looking forward to moving our storage unit contents again, but I AM looking forward to accessing it!

And, this time, along Cow Creek Road, they were just walking down the shoulder of the road.  Well, it would be the shoulder if there had been room to have a shoulder...I mean, I rolled down my window, and SHE.WAS.RIGHT.THERE!!  I could have reached out and touched the end of her horn, but I didn't.  Remember, Daddy was somewhere nearby, even if I couldn't see him, and I didn't really relish the idea of explaining a new dent in the company truck.

That night we watched the weather forecast....y'all know I like it hot, but geeze, this is just a wee bit excessive.  Break out the icees!

And what ELSE did we do?  Well, at Doeskin Ranch, there's a trail that's a bit overgrown.  A long time ago, a Boy Scout Eagle candidate created and installed numbered posts, correlating with points of interest along Creek Trail.  I don't know if anyone has ever trimmed the foliage back from the posts before, but we decided the post numbers needed painting and the foliage needed trimmed.  So that's what we did, by gum.  Yeah, it was hot this day too.  

See, this is the same post.  Doesn't it look much better now?

Annnnnd, the next day, which I think may have actually been the next week, we're back at the new parking lot up at Quarry Canyon trailhead.  Talk about figuring.  Wow, this one was quite the challenge.  First, there are specific ADA regulations governing this sort of space, and they had to be in compliance or we might just as well not have a handicapped space.  But, regulations said we HAVE to supply at least 1 handicapped space, soooo....break out the protractor and string lines again.  

Boy, that looks good.  Cixto was sure proud.

All of our shadow selves were proud and happy to call it done (almost).  But wait.....look at the blue stripe, just over Cixto's hat....Look really close!  See that place the blue paint is missing??  What the heck???

Well, here's the thing.  And, yes, you can imagine our disappointment when we discovered it.  This parking lot is GRAVEL.  And even though it was sealed, this paint laid just on top of the gravel.  And the least little scuff with your toe (or the end of the measuring tape, in the case of that blue line) dislodged the gravel enough to make the lines disappear.  Yup.  For reals buddy, for reals.  Oh.My.Gawd.  All that work.  Ugh.  Now what?  Well, let's think about this a minute.  There are firemen onsite....firemen have firehoses....So, Ben, the purveyor of those yummy tomatoes came up with the bright idea of nailing lengths of firehose into the gravel, then painting the hoses.  I'll be a son of a gun.  Genius!  So Cixto spent another day with us, installing the hoses and nailing them through packed gravel and rock.  It was hard, yes, and yes, it was HOT. But, after nailing and painting, boy, oh boy, did it look good. 

That's some even striping, even on a curve!

So, check out our campsite improvements.  In the front there, you'll see Driver's tomato plants - they're doing so very well.  Remember, they only cost 10 cents a piece!  And Ben gifted us with a little jalapeno pepper that got planted in the middle section; it's doing great too, just loaded with little flowers and little bitty jalapenos!  And, what exactly is that bright blue thing behind the camper?  Well, you've heard me mention it's hot, right?  Just how hot is it?  It's hot enough that we talked Amazon into bringing us a little kiddie pool.  Oh yeah, baby....  Yes, we have to put a few gallons of new water in every day, just to cool it off a bit, otherwise, it's scalding hot. But, whooooweeee, it is like sitting in a hot tub, very relaxing and refreshing after a hard, hot day at work.  Definitely worth the investment.

And, speaking of improvements....Cixto noticed the road leading to our campsite was eroded and almost impassible.  So he brought some bedrock and gravel up the road and started rebuilding it.  Just for us!

I tried to get him to let me drive, but, nooooo...he wasn't playing that game..

So, ya know I'm writing this post from Whitney, TX tonight, after a short day on the road.  We are on the way to PA, to clear out, and hopefully, sell my dad's house.  We have Craigslisted the darkroom equipment and stained glass supplies, and we have interested parties for both lots.  We also have 3 potential buyers for the house, and one appraisal that may or may not be done (long story, not worth telling).  But, I did want to catch you up on what we've been doing over these last few weeks.  Still lots more to come, so stay tuned!  And, YES, it stayed HOT!

What does a workamper do all day anyway?

Soooooo, just so ya know, today is July 31st, and we have left the Refuge.  (Insert frowny face here, and yes, it was a bit more emotional than we/I had anticipated.)  But, since I hadn't really been keeping you up to date while we were ON the Refuge, I thought I would share a bit of what we were doing during the time of self-isolation and quarantine.  (Jennifer, please be patient, you've already seen most of these photos, but none of our friends have...)   Btw, let's all welcome our Volunteer Coordinator to the blog - hellloooo, Jennifer!  And Candice, too...our neighbor from Crystal River, FL, whom we miss dearly - howdy, Girlfriend, 'sup??!!  Ok, let's get back to work now...  So, the Refuge Visitor Center has been closed since mid or end of March (can't remember, and it really doesn't matter, it's been quite a while now), and the staff has mostly been working from home.  I say mostly, 'cuz if you're a fireman or maintenance specialist, it's darned near impossible to telecommute, and so they have been coming onsite to do their work.  However....their work does not include making things presentable and pretty, sooooo, that falls to the volunteers! The Russian Sage bush is way overgrown and the butterfly garden is full of weeds, so off to work we go! 

And here is the railing - all poopy and chipped, and just generally not pretty.  Since I have to use it to get up the steps, I wanted to spiff it up some.

And so, we waited till a Friday night, prepped it with our fancy recycled box spatter shields, and our spray painter extraordinaire got busy.

When all was said and done, it was shiny and looked brand new!

The next morning we trucked on over to Marble Falls, about 23 miles away (only 11, if you go by crow), and picked me up a hand pruner to make it easier for me to work in the flower bed.  That's the closest Lowes Home Improvement store, and the ACE Hardware that is in Lago Vista doesn't have a pruner worth a dime.  We know, 'cuz we bought the one they had, and pardon my French, but it sucked.  It got returned the day after it was purchased.  While we were at Lowes, we found a rack of scrawny, half-dead, dried up tomato plants.  For a dime each.  Ever searching for the perfect homegrown tomato (yes, STILL), Driver just couldn't resist.  We came home with two!  And a couple bags of compost and dirt.  There was a discarded pallet on the burn pile, so we salvaged that and turned it into a planter box.

And planted our 20 cent tomato plants.

Later that night, we still had some energy left, so we signed up for a Zoom square dance.  This would be our second one, so, thankfully, we were better than before.  We still had a time or two where we stepped out of camera range, and while muted, we had a discussion about where our phantom corners should have been.  Darn those phantoms, they could sure use a few lessons!  LOL, probably us, too, ya think?

Remember that Quilt of Valor I did a dedication block for?  If you don't just click on that there link, and you'll go right to the post that contains the original block.  I'll wait.  Well, apparently, it, and its quilt, turned out so well, the maker was tasked with recreating the whole thing for another Veteran.  In a month's time. So she sent me some more fabric, and as soon as it was received, I whipped out this little puppy.  I thought maybe we should change up the motif at the top, to more accurately reflect the land-based Army, rather than the ocean waves of the Navy, but she said the stars and scrolls were find, so who am I to argue.  Besides, I still had all the threads selected and readily available, so, BAM, plug in the new dude's name, and Save and stitch away.

The next day, or maybe another day, I don't really remember, but it was a working day, so it was Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, we decided we were going to work on an area of the Refuge that was open to the public, but was about 15 miles from our campsite area.  To get there, we traveled down Cow Creek Road, and we got to see this beauty.  

and a baby....

So, you see here, there is a sign posted, suggesting that the area behind the sign was closed to the public.  No trails were here at Shin Oak Observation Deck.  This area is basically just a gazebo to shelter the crowds from the hot sun or sporadic rain showers that might pop up.  The area is dedicated to the Black Capped Vireo, a small and endangered songbird that nests exclusively in this area of central Texas. People come from all over the world to catch a glimpse of this shy little bird.  We never did see or hear one. 

But, we did fix it so that people would know to stay out of their territory.

While we were there, we got to see one of the Prickly Pear flowers up close and personal.  (Actually, Driver got REALLY up close and personal with one of the prickly parts, and it's a good thing I have tweezers.....)

This is how we found the boardwalk to the Observation Deck...

And this is how we left it...

This is how the parking lot looked when we arrived (you see all that trash around the edge??)...

And this is how it looked after we did our thing...

Back up at Warbler Vista, another area that is open to the public, we found another hidden sign....that we uncovered...

And, again, back at the Visitor Center, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the hedge trimmer to take care of these bushes around the foundation...

It was hard, strenuous work...

but so very rewarding in the end...

And, speaking of rewards...remember back when I was making all those masks, and I got a kit of 50 from our MagneShade friends?  I had agreed to sew them all up and return some or all back to them in North Carolina.  Well, the kit came, and I put out a Facebook notice to all our friends that I would have masks available in a week or so, and just let me know how many they needed of blue or pink.  John and Lora asked for 2 (I'm pretty sure I made them 2 each, but it's been so long, I just can't say for sure) to be sent to them at Happy Trails, in Arizona.  They offered to pay me for them, but, since this whole project was a charity thing, I didn't feel right accepting money for the masks or shipping.  I suggested they just buy lunch for a cop or a bag of dog/cat food for their local animal shelter.  Well, in typical Lora fashion, she told me that there would be a surprise waiting for me at the Marble Falls Post Office when we arrived here.  It.Never.Came.  First we went there (remember, it's not even close!), TWICE, and there was never anything there....and finally, we started calling.  And calling..and calling.  And there was never anything there for us.  Eventually, Lora ordered another surprise for us, and lo and behold, this one ARRIVED. And, boy, what a surprise it was!  While we were in Sedona, AZ, we had the pleasure of tasting freshly-squeezed Prickly Pear lemonade, remember?  I rather liked it, Driver was on the fence about it. (but if you pressed him, he would admit to liking it better than the mineral water lemonade of Mineral Springs, CO) Well, now I can make my OWN Prickly Pear lemonade!  Or, pour the syrup over pancakes.  Or make my PBJs with the jelly she so generously sent.  Oh my, what a prize this surprise was!  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lora and John!!

So now you've seen a little of what we did the first couple of weeks we were on the Refuge.  There's much more to be done, so stay tuned!

Stay well and safe out there!