On Critter Duty!

We made it down to the camper yesterday. It takes us about 4 hours from home to here. That's a 2 hour drive plus we stop for lunch or, in this case, dinner, as well as a run at HEB. We forgot our small electric heater so we added a trip to Home Depot to buy a couple of small ones that worked great!
We stayed toasty warm even though the temps dipped down to freezing.

I have to say that God really loves Louis Dean!
Yesterday, as I was putting things out on the porch to load up in the truck, a lady walked up the driveway holding a wallet. She said she worked at a nursing home just up on Northgate an Story Road - a mere few blocks from our house. One of her patients had been out walking and found this billfold and brought it to her. It was, indeed, Louis Dean's!! How in the world did it get THERE??
After piecing the day together, I think we figured it out. Amber had picked Louis Dean up for an early morning appointment. After wards they had stopped by Sonic for milkshakes and he had pulled out his wallet to pay but  she insisted on treating him. Apparently he didn't want to struggle with getting it  back in his overall pocket so he held it in his lap. Then he forgot about it when he got out of her Suburban and it fell on the running board. as she turned the corner at Northgate and Story, it must have slung out onto the sidewalk. Enter TWO Good Samaritans - one who found the wallet and the other who found Louis Dean! This reminded me that there are more good people in the world than bad. His money and credit cards were all there and when I tried to give the young lady the $20 bill in the wallet, she refused. She said, "No! No!! But I WILL take a hug!" And I gave her one!!

It was getting dark by the time we got to the ranch.

I love the rituals of unloading the truck and putting things up as we feather our nest for the next few days. I had started having some sniffles and then my throat began to itch and I decided it was a good thing to be down here where it is so much easier to unplug and rest than it is at home.

Wonder why that is? Life is just so much simpler here.

Dean came down and we had a nice visit. He is teaching a training class in martial arts this weekend and we are here to help with the critters. As if I needed an excuse to come.

As Louis Dean and I were unloading last night, I said, "You gotta really want to be here!" and he responded, "No, you don't. You just have to love someone who really wants to be here!"

And I do. I really do.

I made up the bed in the girl bunk and slept there so - just in case this is a cold instead of allergies - I would not be sharing it with Louis Dean. We both slept like babies!

It was after 10:00 when HE woke up. I woke much earlier and sat out on the deck in the sunshine reading for awhile. I admit to not feeling well through much of the day and after our Bible reading, I went back to the girl bunk where I stayed until after 3:00. I think the rest definitely helped.

When I got up I saw that Louis Dean had been chopping up firewood.

I saw this bird through the window.

I love being so close to nature here.

My hero! He and I both love a good campfire.
Sherry gifted us with a load of firewood the night before we left.

LD just needed to chop some of it a bit!

He does John Wayne really well!

Around 4:00 we headed down to do the critter chores.

The goats needed to be fed and brought up to their pen and chained for the night.

A coyote got one of the younger goats a few weeks back.

We saw Maddie and she is alive and well.

I took this photo so I can show it to the quads who constantly ask about her.

There were baby chicks out in a pen and we had to get them and take them back to their brooder.

NOT easy. Louis Dean fashioned a crate to carry them and he caught two. I took them to the brooder and then it looked like it would take FOREVER to get the rest! There were 7 in all. I got tired of it and took the top off the pen, stepped over and as they huddled in a corner, I scooped them up one at a time and it was a DONE DEAL!

The food chain is always evident here.

Lots of bird feathers....

maybe some chicken feathers?

Just a man and his goat.....

This one was showing off!

Chained in and secure.

Aw....such a sweet face!

I gathered these eggs when I was feeding the chickens. 

Tomorrow's breakfast!

And now here we ar eat the end of the day.

Louis Dean has the fire well in hand now.

Happy Friday Night from the COUNTRY!!

*****update on Summer*****

Thank you everyone for thinking of and praying for Summer.

Her doctor appointment went well and they gave her a new medication for pain which is working much better. On February 9th she will have a test for blocking the nerve that is causing her such a problem. If successful, she will have a more permanent nerve block done.

I talked to her this afternoon and her voice sounded ever so much better!