I Feel Like Annie Oakley!!!

I bet lots of people don't even remember who Annie Oakley was!

This morning our grandson let me do some target practice with his rifle!

He gave me a lesson in gun safety first!

He's very responsible!

I don't think I have shot a rifle before. Ever.

I DID hit the rather large cardboard target!

Sherry and Robert and I all took turns!

Robert hit the Coke can! When we got it we saw that either Sherry OR I had hit it as well.

We'll never know which one of us did it!

Things have kind of calmed down. It's quiet in the country tonight as I write. The dog is asleep at my feet and snoring. We just finished chapter one of Cross Roads. It is a novel by the author of The Shack - Wm. Paul Young. 

We spent the afternoon and early evening working on Sherry's house. I am doing the trim and door frames the same as I did her bathroom doors and cabinet. Louis Dean and his son worked underneath the house on a flooring situation. The bathroom of the house is all finished - well, NEARLY! Anyway that's where we take our showers and that nice hot shower felt good tonight!

I put a casserole of turkey and dressing in the electric oven for our supper tonight. It's beginning to smell really good so I imagine it's nearly done. We have a TV here in the camper but it's not hooked up. The radio reception is not coming in good right now either. So we are having a truly quiet evening with the ticking clock being the loudest noise in here! We will have a bite of dinner and then go to bed. I have a Sue Grafton book to read and some Scrabble games to play. 

Life is simple in the country. I like that!

The Day After and Happy Hour at the Local Winery!

It got pretty cold down here in the country last night. Upper 20's I think it was but we slept nice and warm under our electric blanket WITH a heating pad for extra warmth!

We kept the small electric heater on low all night.

This morning the sun warmed things up nicely.

Maggie found her new favorite spot to sit! 

She used to fall down behind the couch - and then she couldn't get out.

This was last year when we were living in the camper.

It happened more than once! We would hear her from UNDER the couch and have to rescue her!

Louis Dean spent the morning fishing while I stayed in the camper to read.

The ranch has had some rain lately!

Normally this is NOT a pond!

This afternoon we had our THIRD Thanksgiving Feast!

My favorite dish today was Sherry's black eyed peas!

Next year they are going to grow a whole FIELD of them down here!

We all sat around after we ate and visited! This is what makes a holiday - visiting with each other.

Dean has so many funny stories to tell and we sat and talked and laughed and laughed!

Late in the afternoon we  freshened up and headed out to our evening's entertainment!

Happy Hour with live music at the local winery here tonight.

My handsome step son and his lovely wife enjoying a delicious glass of wine - made from grapes right there in his neighborhood!

Tehuacana Creek Vineyards is on Highway 6.

It is named after the Indian tribe who used to live in the area.

You pronounce the name - "to-walk-in-a-creek."

We had a wonderful evening!

Our grandson, Robert, is SUCH a good sport!

He was bored out of his mind but you couldn't tell!!

Our two wines of choice!

The Mulsum is a 2000 year old recipe!

There was live music and we had a BALL!!

"Mulsum - This is our most unique wine and our number one seller since its release on Valentines Day 2008.  This is the wine the ancient Romans used to drink before they sat down for their feasts.  It is white wine sweetened with honey.  They called it Mulsum which in latin means "mixture". We have recreated it exactly the way it tasted to the Romans using a 2,000 years old recipe.  It is a sweet wine, but because it is sweetened with honey and not sugar it is not overly sweet.  Instead it has a natural roundness in the mouth with all the delicate fragrances of honey.  This is a wine you can sip, slightly chilled, on any occasion or enjoy with hot ethnic dishes as the honey gently coats the spicy flavors.  But beware, just like the Romans you are apt to end up with empty glasses quickly.  This is the kind of wine that becomes the talk of the evening..."

Notice the white cup? It is Glogg!

This is a very special wine which is meant to be served warm.

It is flavored with cinnamon, cloves and other spices and is perfect for a cold winter's night!

I bought TWO bottles! One for my annual Ladies Christmas Tea on December 17th and another for the family gathering on Christmas Eve!

My favorite moment of the evening? 

When I asked the winery owner (pictured on the left ) what wine HE was drinking!

Chardonnay from a BOX!!

I LOVE that!!!

He said if he drank HIS wine he would be drinking up his profits!

We ended this day with a campfire!

Another perfect day from out here on the range!!!

Feeling FULL!!

It is Thanksgiving night and I am feeling FULL!!

 Full of blessings, gratitude, and food!

I love waking up on a holiday. It just FEELS special!! I was all antsy and wanting to get the day going! Louis Dean reminded me that NOTHING gets done before C.O.F.F.E.E.

Lucy was looking nice this morning. You can't really see it but I put her Jingle Bell Collar on her.

Maggie's collar is a bit more noticeable. 

Let's just say she wasn't THRILLED at first but here it is nearly 9:00 tonight and she still has it on! We packed up the food we fixed for the Thanksgiving meal on the ranch which we will have tomorrow. LD loaded the truck and we tucked Maggie in the back seat, put Lucy in her kennel and  headed for Fort Worth. I was texting Benjamin who lives in California thinking Louis Dean could get us out of Irving without my directions! NOT! He missed the exit for the Toll road SOUTH - drove to the next exit - circled back and STILL didn't make the turn. Circled AGAIN - didn't go far enough and although we could SEE the road we wanted - we could NOT get to it to save our life! SO the THIRD attempt he decided to get on the Toll Road going NORTH and then exit and turn around. Even THIS didn't work!!! We ended up on 183 for the FIFTH time so we just stayed on it! Forget the TOLL road - just GET THERE!! It took us 30 minutes to get on the road! I was laughing so hard I was crying! Lost most of my eye makeup!

The party was in full swing when we arrived!

Loved this pic with Mother laughing!

Every holiday I give thanks that I still have my mother.

I stepped outside on Nita's porch to admire the new ceiling her husband put up.

They have the classiest porch around!

Isn't Deanie beautiful? She made special cookies in honor of her grandson's birthday!!

Two more beautiful ladies! My sister, Nita, and her daughter, Leah.

We had so much fun today!

 There's always a lot of laughter and the sound of children playing and people visiting. 

I am the oldest of all my siblings......and the shortest!

Just for once I got to be taller!!!

We were the last to arrive and the first to leave!

But we had both critters in the truck patiently waiting for us and we still had a drive to get to the country.

The traffic wasn't bad since most people were already where they wanted to be!

It's great having our camper down here! It's a real home away from home.

Louis Dean enjoyed talking football with his son and his grandson.

Today is Robert's birthday! It's the first time November 28 has fallen on Thanksgiving in 11 years.

The pattern for his birthday to be on TG is 6,5,6,11.

Robert and Dean had to go do some chores - like rounding up the goats - so I settled in and made the bed up with the clean FLANNEL sheets! It's COLD and the flannel will feel good. We also plugged in the electric blanket and our small heater.

Louis Dean was warming his toes as he listened to the rest of the game on the radio.

He changed from his 'city' clothes to his 'country' ones!

Can you tell??

It's been a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

EVERY day is a good day to give thanks!!

I Love it When a Plan Comes Together!!

It is finally coming together!!! This is only the second time I have ever decorated for Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving! The only other time was in 2003 when I had some major surgery and knew I would not be able to decorate afterwards so I did it all BEFORE !

This year is the second and the reasoning is we are leaving town tomorrow and will be gone for a few days.

These would otherwise be DECORATING days. So I did it BEFORE we leave!!

None of my decorations are expensive or even new. They are aged and loved....having been through many, many Christmas seasons.

This day started with a prayer for Raynie!

She had her adenoids removed this morning and I am happy to say the surgery was a real success!

I am so grateful she will now enjoy the whole holiday season with NO earaches!

Louis Dean headed over to Quadville this morning - after all - it IS Wednesday!

I arrived in time to join him in the nursery after their naps!

Oh, my goodness! Can they GET any sweeter???

Yesterday I entertained my young visitors with a basket or two of gold unbreakable Christmas ornaments.

They worked just as well today with the quads!!

Kids and unbreakable just go together!!!

We enjoyed hanging out with Amber and the quads for awhile this afternoon.

You can't get much past Kailey!

We came home early enough to spend some quality time in the kitchen where we 'danced' around each other! He cooked the turkey. I made company mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole. He chopped onions and celery for the dressing and I chopped cranberries, pecans, oranges and apples for cranberry relish. He washed dishes while I made the pumpkin pie.

Together we got it all done - along with a couple of batches of Popcorn Crunch for the Fort Worth Dinner tomorrow!

My stepson bought the Cool Whip! I made the pie!

We will be heading down to his ranch tomorrow afternoon.

Hopefully we will be the only ones on the road!!

In between my time in the kitchen I finally got our bedroom and my bathroom cleaned up.

I do, indeed, have a tree in every room - including my bathroom!!

It stays lit 24/7.

The bedroom tree is year round.

I piled all the silver stuff I had on this one little tree......

I love the smell of 'Clean!' Add candles and room fragrance - ahhhhhhh!!!

That's not wine in the glass but it's water for Maggie! What can I say?

She is a classy cat!!

At long last our bedroom is clean! 

Candles make every room a little more romantic!

That and the glade plug ins!!

It is a cold winter's night in the DFW area - supposed to get down to 28 degrees tonight.

We shall definitely use the electric blanket

 and we will NOT be opening the door to the patio as we so often do!

Only ONE room left!

The guest room will have to wait til we get back!!

Now that our work is done, it's time to put another log on the fire, pour a glass of wine and do a bit of reading or just talking by the fire.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."

Thomas Moore