Our Weekend with Mother and Quadville!

Louis Dean and I loaded up the Goodie Baskets, packed a cooler bag with a shrimp ring, cocktail sauce and a sleeve of crackers, picked a bouquet of honeysuckle and roses and drove west to Fort Worth.

Since we are NOT morning people, it was about 2:00 when we arrived.

They had not eaten much of a lunch - "It wasn't good!" Lillian said.

But they did chow down on the shrimp and cocktail sauce. Between the three of us - we finished it off. Mother especially liked the crackers and was glad when I twisted up the top and left them on her table. Louis Dean isn't fond of any fish that isn't fried, so we stopped at In N Out Burgers to get him something to eat on the way over.

They loved their baskets!!

Mother immediately found a Nutrigrain Bar and started munching away.

It was soft and her eyes lit up!

Lillian was precious! They sorted through the baskets like kids do on Easter.

Lillian ate a Lemon Crumb Cake.

When Mother saw that, she looked for hers and ate it.

I was smart in making their baskets identical.

Same items and same number!

Mother let me know that she is ready to go.

She held up the photo of her sister and brother with Mother on the right.

I told her I understood but it wasn't up to me.

Both of them were happy when I told them I'll be back next Friday with another treat to eat and more snacks. Oops! As I write, I realize I will be in Quadville this Friday. I'll be sure and call Lillian and let her know I will come the NEXT Friday! Their baskets should be empty by then.

The traffic to and from Fort Worth was awful. So many wreckers hauling off cars coming and going.

We got home and regrouped and waited until after 6:00 to drive east this time - to Dallas and Quadville!

It was Friday Popcorn/Movie and Coke Night!!

While Amber was getting the pizzas on to cook, Trystan gave us a piano concert.

She can't really play but she did make pretty music.

She doesn't bang on the piano as most children do.

She told me she likes soft songs.

Kailey played her guitar and sang her original songs.

Logan is just about to lose a tooth!!

This photo is courtesy of Logan.....I discovered lots of pictures on my iPad when I got home!

The movie was great and so was the food!

Lots of pizzas, salad, fruit, veggie tray and after wards......

Cokes in tiny cans and - instead of popcorn - we had Mexican bakery cookies that I had brought!

Win! WIN!!

Granddad and I spent the night.

Now the rule at OUR house is - You do NOT wake up MeeMaw!!

I leave snacks and drinks in their room and they may play quietly and then go to the den when Granddad gets up. But they CAN'T wake ME up!!

We have fun with this because at THEIR house, I tell them they CAN wake me up.

Sure enough, at 7:30 I was solid asleep when Trystan said, "Good morning, MeeMaw!!"

She likes getting up early so we can have some one on one time.

Back when they came over every week, she was usually the first one up at nap time.

We both treasure those extra minutes together in the gazebo while the others were still asleep.

Saturday morning I made coffee and gave her a real cup with coffee flavored milk in it!

It was a quick morning as the girls are playing softball.

By 9:30 we were off to their game.

Kailey held my hand all the way there.

While they were getting ready to play, the other set of grandparents arrived prompting Kailey to shrill with excitement - "Now our whole family is here!!"

Can you guess who this is??

After the game, 

we went out to eat lunch at Chipolte before going home and taking much needed naps!

Kailey was extra tired so she slept with me in the guest room.

She and I slept nearly 3 hours!

Amber and Mike had a date afternoon/night so when Kailey and I got up, the other three quads were in the living room with Granddad.

We had more activities to do than we had time for!

First, we made Dilly Bits!

They LOVE these!!

Then we went out in the front yard to do crafts.

They had been given stepping stones for Easter and this was a perfect craft for us to do together.

Talk about involved! They worked for nearly two hours on these! Every once in a while, one or the other would get up and run around the yard but then they would settle back down to paint some more.

It was rather involved as you had to paint carefully to not get the background on the other parts.

We didn't quite finish but we will be back over there this week and can paint the rest. Plus Granddad bought some clear acrylic spray to make them more weather proof.

He was feeling much better but Kailey still noticed his eye was slightly swollen.

She was alarmed when I showed her the pictures I had taken of him when he was first stung.

We had a great time with the kids and with Amber and Mike.

We all went to church together this morning and we will be going back over there tomorrow afternoon to help out with game practice and do dinner.

We are really eating up getting to see so much of them.

They have already grown up so much since Easter!

Look what I got when we came home!!!

My Blog Friend, Michele F. sent me this Happy Camper flag!

Even more precious to me was the sweet note that came with it!

We will take it to the camper next month - but for now it will fly in our herb garden!

It's nearly 10:00 on Sunday night and I must fly out of here and get to the airport!

Summer is arriving in 45 minutes and I want to be on time to pick her up.

She's going to spend the night with us and I can't wait to hear all about her time in Puerto Rico!

A Good Thursday!

It's been a good Thursday!

I had my annual Medicare Physical this morning with Dr. Suma Abraham.

I have been going to her for maybe a little over 20 years and am so grateful to have such a good doctor. I like 'history' and I have enjoyed seeing her through the years as she went on to have four children and shared some highlights from her personal life and vacations.

She knows all about my history and difficulties in life and helped me cope through some tough times.

I like doctors that are real people and treat their patients like real people, too!

I had a good check up although the questionnaires Medicare requires you to fill out would make you feel elderly if you weren't already. Louis Dean was quite offended when he had to fill his out last year. I just felt good that I don't have any of the problems they asked me about - yet.

Of course, it's not a good check up until the bloodwork comes

 back so I am trusting it will be good, too!

My friend, Jutta from Finland, is a doctor herself and she suggested I tell Dr. Abraham about Louis Dean's wasp stings around his eye - since I was there! I did and she said if he was allegic we would have known it shortly after being stung. The swelling continues to go down a little at a time so he's going to be fine!

I waltzed out of the medical building feeling relieved that was done!

AND I hadn't gained weight!! I actually lost 2 pounds. Win! WIN!!!

From there I drove just down the street to Big Lots and I hit the jack pot on snacks and goodies for Mother and Lillian!

My friend Christi said on Facebook:

It kinda looks like a teenager who's parents went on vacation and left them $100 for grocery shopping! :)

 Pretty much!!

What I didn't find there, I picked up at Aldi.

We needed a few things ourselves so now we are stocked up here at home and for at leeast three weeks of snacks to fill those baskets.

I'm not sending everything at one time. I intend to take a basket every Friday for the next several weeks and figure out what they like best and what didn't go over so well.

My next stop was to see my friend, Reaoma.

Amber did Facetime with us and I put the phone up where Reaoma could hear it and Amber reminded her about all the happy memorie

s she has of spending time with her and Doug at Rainbow's End.

I could tell Reaoma enjoyed hearing Amber's voice.

I had quite a bit to unload when I got home.

 I had taken refrigerator bags to put the perishable stuff in.

Louis Dean met me on the driveway and we got it all in the house before leaving to get our nails done.

I had a pedicure but Louis Dean went all out and had a manicure, too!

He was so cute! It wasn't the first time he's been there and they love it when he comes in.

He only wants a lady to do his all the ladies fuss over him!

He had the whole shop laughing and talking like we were all old friends.

They loved hearing his stories about teaching school, building the front room at the camper, how he can dive off deeper and come up drier! That's a Shep Woolie story. They couldn't believe he was what he called 'almost 80!" I squacked and said, "more like 82!"

He ate up all that attention.

He was wanting to go out for Chinese food and I had talked him out of it.

Well, he got to telling everybody about it and they suggested Uno China Super Buffet just down the street.

That was a lot closer than North Richland Hills where he was wanting to go.

He was a happy camper!

We were full and tired when we got home.

The joys of being retired where you can take a nap at 6:00!

I fixed up two baskets to take to Fort Worth in the morning.

They both have exactly the same things in them.

We are enjoying being home. I miss the sunsets at the ranch. 

We can't see them from our house so I just watch the clouds change color.

In the morning I will cut a bouquet of  roses and honeysuckle and take it to the nursing home.

Thank you for the prayers and thoughts for my sister.

Her Facebook post this morning:

Monte Rodgers Moved to heaven this morning.Can you hear the Marine Corp Anthem? Love you Sweetheart

Luann is an amazing lady and was such a blessing to her husband.

I hope he knew how blessed he was to have her.

If he didn't.....he knows it now.

Home Again!

We made it home last night shortly before dark.

It's a little bit sad to leave the ranch but then when I get here, I remember how pretty home is to me!

Louis Dean unloaded and I put everything up.  Then while he took a long hot soak in the tub, I went out in the front to see how things looked.

We have the nicest yard guy! Even when we are away and aren't here to pay him, he mows anyway.

I finally caught up with him before we left and paid him up to date and then paid for the next two times he does the yard. He doesn't come every single Friday but he seems to know when the yard needs doing and he has never failed to come right before I have a party or a gathering. 

We used to do our own mowing and edging and everything.

But back when we lived in the camper at Katy for 7 months, Summer saw that was too hard on us and she paid this Felix for a whole month of mows. We decided to keep using him as it is all I can do to handle the flower beds and such.

"Welcome Home," the house seemed to say.....

It was as if our house had bouquets for us.

All the rose bushes were covered in blooms.

The honeysuckle was so fragrant mixed in with the smell of the roses.

I am happy I got these front flower beds fixed before we left.

These are right by the front porch so it makes for a fragrant entry way.

I stayed out long enough last night to give everything a little drink of water.

Right as we were loading up to leave yesterday, Louis Dean was attacked by some really mean bees!

He was out by the water faucet taking the hose off to roll up.

They got him good around his right eye and on his head....so much so that Dean and Sherry helped me finish loading the truck. I wasn't sure Louis Dean would be able to drive us home but he did.

He had just finished his bath when I went in the house and that's when I saw what the bees had done to him.

It wasn't swollen like this when we got home.

 I say they were bees but they were really wasps.

There's a lot of honey bees, bumble bees and yellow jackets down around the shop - which is right behind the camper - and they leave us alone if we leave  them alone.

No, these were wasps and really mean ones to attack him when he was a good 10 feet away from where they nest in a wall at the back of the shop.

I gave him Benadryl right after he got stung and again last night when we went to bed.

This is what he looked like this morning.

Plus he ached all over similar to having the flu, he said.

He took it easy all day and said his eye didn't really hurt now and his vision was fine.

He even went in his room and played some music so I took that as a good sign.

I like coming home and having a day to settle down before 'real life' starts.

I went out in the back to check things out and pull up some weeds and baby trees.

The roses and honeysuckle out here are blooming as well as in the front.

We have great mounds of honeysuckle along the high fence now.

It's growing over the bushes. I really should pull it away but I just can't.

In the back pond area I noticed the seven sister rose bush that I tried to dig up last year has come back - and it has lots of flower buds on it!

This rose bush has long thorny vines so Louis Dean can't even get close to them since he is on blood thinners and bleeds easily. I went back there and strung them up through the metal lattice work.

It was a good day to do some light yard work. It sprinkled and then came a steady light rain and then sprinkled again - off and on - all day.

This made pulling up weeds easy.

It's been a long slow day.

I stopped for a cup of tea my friend, Sharon, sent me.

It's the little things that make a day so special. Tea. Cutting bouquets. Tending the garden. Doing the laundry....and we had lots of laundry to do.

Late this afternoon we finished the movie we started this morning......

Louis Dean has been wanting to see a western!

Filmed in 1997, this was one we had not seen before.

We kind of miss our Chicken Little!

I took this picture yesterday as we were finishing up painting all the wall boards.

She stayed right up there with us watching what we were doing and getting so close to the paint that she kept getting it on her!

I saw something so cute this morning on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/WeNeedThisbyattn/videos/198209047347635/

I hope this link works for you because it will make you smile!

Well, our day is done.

 I have my annual check up in the morning and a list of errands to do.

Thank you all so much for the great suggestions on snacks for Mother and Lillian.

So many good ideas and I have jotted them down and taking the list with me to the store tomorrow.

I thought I would make a basket for each of them so they have their own.

I do have an extra fridge - one of those small ones. When I visit them on Friday I will check if that would be a possibility.

I close with a better photo of Louis Dean.

He's such a tough guy.

He's been listening to Waylon Jennings and playing along with him on the Riff Station he has on his computer.

I'm going back to the real world tomorrow but Louis Dean is going to take a few more days to rest and recover and I think that's a fine idea!

The Gift of a Day.....

We have had such a wonderful last day here on the ranch. The weather has been perfect. Not too chilly. Not too hot. Not too windy. Just right.

Louis Dean took the feeder down from the first tree we had it in and hung it up in the tree next to it.

This way he can easily see it from where he sits in the front room.

Last year very few birds even noticed the feeder.

This year it's a regular gathering place!

There is much activity going on all day long with the red-winged blackbirds with

as many as five, six and seven of them taking turns at the feeder.

Our Chicken Little likes to eat the seeds that fall to the ground and I saw both chicken and bird eating close together this afternoon, not taking any notice of each other.

I admit we have become attached to her.

She was pretty beaten up when we arrived but her feathers have grown back and she seems as happy as she can be.

It was a good day to be in the country!

The flowers are popping out left and right.

When we return in May there will be bouquets all over the place.

Dean and Sherry mow in such a way that they leave living bouquets around the place.

I'm going to miss this place.

But it's time to get back to the city.

I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday and I am going to go over and visit Reaoma after wards.

On Friday I will be heading to Fort Worth to see Mother and Lillian.

I plan to shop in Irving Thursday afternoon and buy some nutritious snack things they can keep in their room. When I talked to Lillian last week, she said they went to the dining room for a special dinner and it was awful. They served shrimp with no sauce of any kind and noodles.

Now that I know Lillian likes shrimp cocktail, I'm going to pick some up at the grocery store and take it in an insulated bag for us to all eat when I visit. Maybe take some crackers to go with it.

I'm truly open for suggestions on what kind of snacks would be good for them to have. Mother has new teeth that are still bothering her some. I need things they can keep without refrigeration.

Louis Dean was so happy to have such a good work day.

He's finishing out under the eaves and putting in two electrical outlets.

He thinks they are for flood lights and maybe so.

But I know I will be able to hang my fairy lights all over the place and plug them right in!

We have had a stack of boards piled up that needed painting and I got all of them done but two.

We both agreed that we can get up and work for a few hours before we pack up and load the truck.

Just as long as we get home sometime tomorrow. Hopefully before dark.

We are simple food today. No cooking.

I was able to finish whacking up the denim into squares, write another chapter for my book, feed the goats, do some housework and read.....in addition to painting all those boards for Louis Dean.

Our last campfire for April.

My favorite time here is the hour or so in the evening as the day fades away and the night drifts down. The day time sound of the goats, chickens, roosters, horses, and dogs and cows change to the night sounds of frogs and insects and things I can't even identify.

Once it is fully dark, we longer a little longer looking at the starry sky.

Now we have come in for the night.

We want to try to go to bed earlier since we still have a few things to do before we close up the camper and head home.

I close tonight with thoughts for my sister, Luann, and her husband, Monte.

Monte is on hospice and she wrote that he has taken a turn for the worse.

I took the following from her Facebook post:

"Thank you for all your continued prayers. Know that they are being felt. God has never felt closer, Know that Monte is transitioning, pain and anxiety free. God is so good! A new season of life is upon us both. I know he is looking forward to being pain free, mentally and physically for the first time in a VERY, very long time. The effects of the Vietnam war are almost over for him. Godspeed my love."

My thoughts and prayers have centered around Luann and Monte this past week.
I can't imagine what they are going through but I am lifting them both up to the Lord in prayer.