Kay remained in Maumelle over Sunday, and after church I bought another 40 bags of $1.27 mulch—too good a bargain to pass up.  After unloading the mulch adjacent to the lower bed where it will be spread, I drove to Quarry Marina, ran a power cord from an outlet to the back of the pontoon boat, and plugged in a battery charger.  We have had several days of warm weather suitable for boating.

Kay returned home on Monday, and we made quick work of spreading the mulch purchase on Sunday.  Warmer than usual weather is creating an lot of opportunities.  After our morning work we returned to the marina to unplug the battery charger and decided to take the boat for a ride.  We boated all the way to Cranfield Park and return, a 2-hour round trip.  The boat started great, and for the most part ran well, but began cutting out when full throttle was engaged—looks like a tune-up will be in our future.  The azaleas have burst into full bloom, and look like several small fires when coming up the driveway.  Combined with other blooms, they sure makes for a pretty site.

On Tuesday, April 3, we saw our first hummingbird of the year feeding at the dining area window feeder.  Later that day we saw our first summer goldfinch, though some winter or transient ones came to the feeder when we first arrived home from Texas.  Later in the week the rose bush bloomed for the first time this year.  Pollen is still falling, and we see a fresh dusting every morning from the day before, necessitating using the blower on all of our porches, pads, and the patio.

Next week, we head to Five Lakes at the invitation of our friend, Ed.  Five Lakes is an old traditional hunting and fishing club in eastern Arkansas.  We’ll fish for bluegill and bass, and enjoy the company of Ed and Linda, John and Sandra, and Dave and Joann.

The week was not without a few glitches.  We were scheduled to take the motorhome to Heber Springs on Monday for some warranty work on the chassis.  Starting it up after a few weeks’ rest to ready it for the trip down, the leveling jacks did not retract correctly, and a buzzer warning sounded.  Upon further inspection, I noticed a hole in the hydraulic line.  The rest of this morning (Saturday) was spent making arrangements for warranty work to repair this, likely in North Little Rock, as Camping World there is the only Arkansas Winnebago dealer, and they will take more than a week to repair it.  Seems like our most efficient way to get these two jobs done is to drive to Heber Springs on Monday, then to North Little Rock on Monday afternoon, then to Five Lakes on Tuesday, and back home Thursday night.  Guess the long repair time knocks us out of the RV rally at Fayetteville which we had so looked forward to.   It’s always something…