Sunday, September 6, 2015

Good Times on the Ranch!

We are having a good time down here on the ranch! That first night we slept like a couple of zombies!! I slept late and took both a morning AND an afternoon nap!!
I must have been tired all the way to the bone!
Saturday morning, after Louis Dean and I had coffee together, he headed to town to buy the materials he needed to build a deck outside our camper.
Remember the spring MUD from May? He was bound and determined to have plenty of decking to walk on in place of mud come the NEXT major water event!



Louis Dean has his stride back! He put most of the first section of decking together and just when he was running out of steam, his son came up and finished it out for him!


Lucy is thrilled to be back down here with her old pal, Rufus! 
I am trying to take pictures of him as often as I can hoping to catch one that would make a good painting. He's such a friendly dog that as soon as I point my camera at him, he starts wagging his tail and gets up to come over to me!


Everything is BIG in Texas!!! Even our spiders!
This one is often called a 'Zipper spider' because of that zipper like thread he weaves.



Saturday we had a big shrimp boil and it was DELICIOUS!!


We eat so well when we are here!!

Today was a hot one! Still in the upper 90's here in this part of Texas!


It's amusing that when we were here in May and we had rain.every.single.day. that this place was like a swamp! Now it's so dry the ground has cracked wide open and those cracks go down DEEP!


That is a long piece of bamboo!


Sherry stuck it down through the crack......


and you can see where her thumb is how deep it went!


It's almost kind of spooky!!


Louis Dean has been hard at work once again today on our deck!


My handsome stepson came up to help his dad out!


Dean kept nailing boards down long after his dad took up supervising from his chair!

While they worked, Sherry grilled some sirloin steaks to perfection.....


while I fried up some okra patties!
They were delicious!!
I saw a recipe on Facebook but then couldn't find it again so I just looked online for one.
Instead of the cornmeal/flour/baking powder - I used a box of Jiffy Cornbread mix.


Steaks, baked potatoes, okra patties, green beans and rolls from the Czech Bakery made a wonderful Sunday night dinner!


Even Maddie got to taste a little bit of it!


While the days are hot, the nights are gorgeous!
Louis Dean sat up for hours last night after I went to bed just gazing at the stars.
It is mesmerizing.
He's out there now.


14 comments:

Jutta said...

The deck is great! And your food indeed is so delicious!! What a wonderful ranch holiday!

Joy@aVintageGreen said...

So happy to see you back at the ranch. Great idea LD to build a deck. Even better, already in use.

Blondie's Journal said...

You are making great progress but remember---slow days come and go and your body will tell you when you need rest.

Your dinner sounds outstanding and I can't wait to see that deck! :)

Jane x

Marsha Young said...

Linda, HOW, I ask you, can you whip up these gourmet meals in a
kitchen the size of a postage stamp? It all looked wonderful and I'll bet it tasted that way, too. Blessings to you and L.D. - but I gotta tell you - there is just no way I would be able to sleep a wink, knowing there were spiders the size of helicopters on the loose nearby. Just sayin'

NanaDiana said...

Popping in to say Hello and hope you and LD are having a great Labor Day weekend- xo Diana

MadSnapper said...

i love okra and will have to try this. that is one spooky crack, like the earthquakes of my child hood nightmares where i was swallowed by a crack in the earth. flood or drought... love the pic of LD's son.. and glad LD is back to normal.

Small Kucing said...

That's a lovely meal you had there. Hmmm never thought of frying okra. Usually wiuld just steam it. Thanks for the idea

Arlene G said...

I am glad you are having a rest!! And I love your deck, it will be so nice to have a place to put chairs and tables.

Debbie said...

i don't know how you do the things you do.....but you MUST need 2 naps!!! i never sleep, can't sleep and don't do 1/4 of what you do!!!!!

Changes in the wind said...

That okra looks to die for:)

Linda said...

What a great deck, Linda! The food looks delicious, and it is good you got some sleep!

Linda @ Life and Linda said...

Wow, you do eat well. Kudos to you. the deck is going to be fabulous! Rest for awhile. xo

Cheapchick said...

Oh my - that is a huge spider!! I would be running away!

Penny said...

Ooh I don't think I would cope too well with that huge spider.... Apart from the spiders, it looks like you are having a wonderful time. Delighted to hear LD is doing so well x