Author: Julia

I am a retired software solutions architect. I have been married to my husband, Bruce, for over forty years. We went full-time RVing for 3.5 years and saw much of the United States. After deciding to stop RVing, we bought a ranch house halfway up a hill on five acres. After Bruce and I talked about names for our five acres, we settled on Blackberry Homestead as a homage to the wild blackberries on the hill. We are working on creating our homestead. I love cooking and enjoy sharing recipes. I am also an artist, and I’ll share my current projects. Gardening and reading are my favorite hobbies.

Determining Where the Leak Was on the Truck Roof

January 20, 2024 Bruce didn’t want to take the truck back to the dealership without determining what was leaking on the truck roof. Since we had rain coming, Bruce was trying to figure out how he could cover the sunroof. I suggested using a heavy duty garbage bag and wood blocks to hold down the […]

Cooter Pond Park in Inverness, Florida

January 18, 2024 We rode up to Inverness for some errands and lunch. We decided to stop at the Cooter Pond Park, a local city park. It is a beautiful park with a boardwalk on the edge of Cooter Pond. Cooter Pond is named after the Cooter turtle that lives in it. There was wildlife […]

Lunch with a Friend Who Moved to Florida

January 14, 2024 On Wednesday (January 10), we rode up to Spanish Springs (part of the Villages) from the Trails End RV Campground to have lunch with one of my friends. We worked together many years at FirstBank in Colorado. It was great to see him! He retired just a few months before me. We […]

Fort Cooper State Park in Florida

January 7, 2024 This post is out of order. I kept meaning to post about visiting Fort Cooper State Park on Christmas Eve last year. We took the motorcycle out for a ride to get breakfast out. On the way back home, we stopped at Fort Cooper State Park just outside of Inverness, Florida. We […]

Watching the 5:30 PM Bird Flyby Along the Withlacoochee River in Florida

January 11, 2024 In the evening, just before and during sunset, the birds start flying downriver. We love sitting on the pier and watching the different birds flying past. Sometimes, we sit in the structure at the end of the pier and other times, we sit on benches along the pier. Some of the pictures […]

Regular Living Tasks – New Shoes

January 6, 2024 Since we are in the Trails End RV Campground for two months, I decided it was time to replace my KURU shoes. They are mail order and it takes about two weeks to get them. The KURU shoes have been great for relieving my plantar fasciitis and heel pain. I really should’ve […]

Truck Still Has Roof Leak

January 5, 2024 We had a good bit of rainfall overnight on January 3 (Wednesday night). When Bruce checked the towels that were still stuffed behind the backseat headrests, he discovered the low point towel was wet. We’ve still got water leaking into the cab during a heavy rainfall. The truck will have to back […]

Regular Living Task – Nox Annual Veterinary Visit

January 4, 2024 Yesterday morning (Wednesday, January 3), we took Nox to the veterinarian for her annual visit. They did a couple of blood draws, one to check for heartworms and one for the rest of the blood work. Nox’s blood work mostly looked good, except for her white blood count. This is a bit […]

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2024 Wow, it is going to take a bit to get used to typing 2024. Last year went by so fast! Last night we rang in the new year at the communal fire pit with several other campers. It was a bit chilly, down in the low 60’s F at the start of […]

Sweet and Spicy Hot Mustard Sauce – Ready in 3 Minutes

December 28, 2023 The other day, I made pigs in blankets and to serve with them, I made this sweet and spicy hot mustard sauce. It was rather spicy, so you can use a different hot sauce. Bruce even enjoyed this sauce as a salad dressing. It seems he now has new favorite dipping sauce. […]