Dean's Birthday, A Visitor, Bees and Thursday!

Our country days here are rich and full!
There's always something pretty to look at and we seem to tumble from one adventure into another!

Seeing the horses graze in our 'front yard' never gets old.

Tuesday was extra special because it was Dean's birthday!

I wish everyone could meet him in person. He is one of the most charming, kind, funny and handsome men I've ever met. Probably ranks right up there after his daddy in my book!

To know him is to love him and there is nothing more fun to do than sit and visit with Dean.

He has a million funny stories and can keep you laughing for hours!

One of the best things about Dean is that he is always there to help a friend. No matter what.

He is probably the most loved man in Falls County and beyond.

I love the relationship he has with his dad!

We had a birthday dinner Tuesday night and I had this gorgeous bouquet of wildflowers.

Louis Dean had to go into Waco that day to buy a new tire for the truck and bought a great big chocolate cake.

I made a feta cheese/watermelon/mint salad....need to bring more mint down here to grow.

There were potatoes baked in the oven with olive oil and sea salt. Sherry made a corn salad and pepper poppers and I had rolls from Collin Street Bakery.

I used the new country plates I bought at the Hot Goodwill in Waco on Monday.

We had invited Ann (the neighbor down the road with the pups and goats) but she got tied up and couldn't make it. She missed a good party!

I am not a griller but I bought some really good steaks at Read's and I said a prayer that I would not ruin them. They.were.perfect.

I used the wire basket Louis Dean has for grilling hot dogs and it worked like a charm.

Instead of using the little ceramic electric grill, I did charcoal using the gadget Sherry taught me how to use to get it started really well. I was so excited they turned out good!

The party didn't last long into the night because there were still some critter chores they had to take care of and Sherry had to work the next day. But it was a perfect party!

Wednesday morning we slept so late we had breakfast for lunch!

I love the days here......we seldom pay attention to the clock.

We just do what we want when we want and our 'day' can last far into the night or end at sundown.

We had a visitor Wednesday afternoon.

Ann came to call and she and I had a lovely tea break in the air conditioned camper.

I'm so excited to be making a new friend here! She's my first 'country neighbor' friend!

She was intrigued with the camper/cabin situation we have here.

She had actually wanted to do something similar at her place and they said it couldn't be done.

Louis Dean made it happen for us.

Alas, when she left, she had underestimated the remaining mud down on the road.

Louis Dean had been in and out earlier that day and I had gone in and out on Monday.

Still, you gotta know when to gun it and where to aim!

Dean got her out with the tractor.

She decided she really didn't need to go to Mart after all so she stayed to watch us check on the bees.

Ann took this picture while I am getting my bee suit on.

Louis Dean and Ann sat in the truck and took pictures while Sherry and I did the bees.

I was so excited that I was whooping and hollering in the truck all the way over to the bee hives.

We have two hives and all looked as it should.

Those frames are HEAVY when the bees fill them up with honey.

They advise you to place them where you have easy access with a truck for hauling all that honey out!

I was so proud of myself for not freaking out or getting claustrophobic in my suit!

Sherry is so good! She stays calm and confident.

I know next to nothing but Sherry is so good to let me 'help' her.

We are BEEKEEPERS!!!!

Louis Dean could not resist taking a pic of his handsome son.

He was getting the truck to go into Waco to teach his Karate class.

I don't know if I got too excited about the bees or just came down with a bug but an hour after I got out of my bee suit - I took a shower and went smack dab to bed. I was done and didn't even have enough umph to look at the photos Louis Dean took let along journal.

This morning (Thursday) I woke up all better.

Amazing how restorative sleep and rest is.

Sherry was talking on the phone to Ruth Ann when she spotted something go past her door. 

She panicked thinking her peacock got out!

Nope! He was inside the pen with his feathers all out!

This one must have been attracted by the sound of the peahen.

We have no idea where he came from.

He's still up around the place and they won't try and put him in the pen since there is only one female and the males fight with each other if they haven't been raised together.

There is ALWAYS something cool to see around here!

Our camper AC quit on us and Louis Dean got up there to check it out this afternoon.

The unit is just a year old - or is it two?

The inside part has not been replaced but we have it. Also a new thermostat.

Louis Dean was going to do it his self when a friend (Jimmy Albert) told us on Facebook that it might have frozen up. We turned it on and it's been working ever since. We need to ask our master electrician friend to come finish installing the new parts soon.

I'm always so impressed with Dean and his love for food.

He makes gourmet meals for Sherry's lunch....not all the time but fairly often.

Today he was trying to cheer her up because one of the pups (probably the male) killed a couple of chickens. Training them is taking awhile.

My goal this strip was to paint and I set it out yesterday and even laid the palette.

Today I finally put brush to oil to canvas.

The last art session I had was not good.

I totally ruined a Santa painting and used Easy Off Oven Cleaner to remove the entire painting.

I will paint another Santa for my sister but not today.

I'm doing some cow paintings instead!

I've taken so many photos and it's finally time to start my series of painting them.

I'll be doing the owl that 'visited' the hen house and several pastoral scenes with cows plus a windmill landscape. I intend to paint this kind of thing until July when I will start Santa again.

I am looking into transitioning into Nativity scenes for Christmas.

I think I have painted enough Santas!!!

I am writing my journal entry early tonight.

I didn't want to wait until later in case I got too tired again.

Plus Louis Dean wants me to sit with him out on the deck and enjoy the evening together.

We have talked about going home tomorrow - storms are coming in on Saturday.

Sherry is staying home so we won't be on Critter Duty.

But this is our only visit here this month and we decided we don't want to miss a single day.

Tomorrow we will load up as much as we can and park the truck up by the gate Friday night.

Dean and Sherry said they can use their trucks to haul us and our remaining stuff up there on Sunday.