Have you heard of The Clam? It’s a screen room that sets up in 45 seconds. Really easy. And you can buy panels to go over the screens to keep out the wind or sun or rain. I’ve been thinking of purchasing one for awhile now. I read the reviews on Amazon, which are mostly 4’s and 5’s. Mary has the big one which is 140 x 140 inches, and Mary is shorter than I am and has no trouble setting hers up. So, I order the small one which is 72 x 72 inches, and I order the wind panels too. I am very excited when I receive it in Q on Friday.

When we get home I pull the 5 foot long box out of the back of the truck. It’s long but only 21 pounds, which is one of the reasons I wanted the small one. It comes in a really nice zippered tote bag. I go to http://www.clamcorp.com and watch the video a few times. Simple….

So I’m wondering if the same missing gene that is responsible for my difficulty backing up a trailer is also responsible for the fact that it took me 45 MINUTES, not seconds, to set up the Damn Clam!

I have a HELL of a time! I whap one of the ‘hubs’ into my left hand and it instantly swells up around my middle knuckle. I sit down and have a cry. If Joy could roll her eyes, she would be doing so. Shiloh is trying his best to keep his laughter under control, but the tail keeps wagging slowly, as I do everything but practically roll away with the Damn Clam when the wind gusts.

Finally though, I win!!  See?!

After all that, both dogs are willing to come inside, thankfully.  Here is Shiloh.

Today it’s cool, so I end up putting all three wind panels on.  I’m glad I bought them.

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In other news…

I discover there is a dog park in Q.  Oh happy day!  Twice now I’ve met the same lady there with her chocolate lab.  She’s traveling on her own too, so it’s not just the dogs who get to socialize.  I’ll take pictures next time.

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With Thanksgiving left overs gone, thanks to lots of help from Joy and Shiloh, today I decide to make lentil soup.  I cook it in the pressure cooker on the Coleman Stove.  Yum.

This should last a few days.

Having used my Coleman Oven successfully (it sits over a burner on the Coleman Stove, like this:

I now want to start using it more. I have baking powder biscuits and corn bread in mind.  Very likely one of those will happen tomorrow, to go with the soup.

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So in keeping with the season, am I thankful for The Clam?  (AKA The Damn Clam)  Yes!  Absolutely.  I really like it and how it extends home outside, even if it’s windy or cool or buggy.  But oh how I hope the difficulties that I had setting it up were because of it being the first time I attempted it, and not because of the missing gene!