Hello From the Country!!

Wednesday.....

 It took us nearly all day to pack and load up the truck, taking just about everything including the kitchen sink! Our 'old' one which was really new!

We are planning on having a sink stand set up out in the garden using cinder blocks beside one of the faucets out there.

That way we can pick and wash produce later.

Louis Dean was looking pretty spiffy!

We left around 3:00 that afternoon and only stopped one time and that was at a rest area just past Hillsboro.

It's really country when we see the pasture lands....

We turn left on Walt's Road between the lone tree and the silo.

For the first time, we saw activity there!

I love Limestone County and this limestone county line road.

Glad we got down here before spring had fully sprung!

I am so excited!!

It's been a full six weeks since we have been here.

And here we are inside the gate!!

We arrived before dark!

We knew we would have some issues to deal with from the arctic cold a few weeks ago .....

and sure enough! No water in either the camper or the front cabin.

It appears the pump has cracked in the camper.....and a water line is broke somewhere under the 'shop' room. A line was busted outside and Louis Dean repaired that Wednesday night....thinking we might have water the next day when  he turned it on.......

Thursday.....

That was not the case!

I won't elaborate but, let's just say that I may have misplaced my Pioneer Spirit for a minute or two!

Louis Dean worked at figuring out the water situation - or lack thereof!

I tried to do the things I COULD do and not think about the things I could NOT do.

So I walked down and visited the ducks.

There are only 11 now.....but Dean says he's buying some more for Sherry....she so loves the ducks.

Sherry and  I walked up to Lake Toguchi......so peaceful......

and I checked out Sherry's new chickies!

Turkens.....with naked necks! They will have a ruffle of feathers at the base and on their heads.

Also some lavender ophingtons.....

The peacock was strutting his stuff!

And Remmie was being such a sweet girl!!

She and Rugar keep the ranch safe!

Tux!

Such a pretty girl!

I came back to the camper and admired my pretty girl!!

Tabitha is getting big!!

But Samantha eats more than she does and she's smaller!

I took this as I was walking back to the camper Thursday night.

I love looking in the window........

We went to bed early since Louis Dean had made an appointment with the power company to come out in the morning. He needs the electricity to be cut off so he can add 220 wiring.....

Friday........

and sure enough.....Louis Dean was awake before 6:00 and started setting things up and doing whatever it was that needed doing. I got up about 7:30 so I could get coffee before the power went off.

They arrived shortly after 9:00 and cut the power.....and then they lingered around while Louis Dean did whatever it was he did.....and they even helped him! Then they turned it back on! We had  thought they would leave and then come back later. LOVE the country way! Done deal in less than one hour!!

I had dreaded this - being without power. But after the arctic winter blast we had and being without power in freezing conditions.....ha! I wasn't scared now! But, then again, it wasn't 100+ degrees today but a pleasant 70!

For some reason, gardening seemed more important to Louis Dean than getting the water situation fixed. I needed to go to Waco to pick up a prescription, so he decided to go with me.

He'd been wanting to go to a feed store that sells seeds by the pound.

Son Dean told me where to take him so we stopped at the Brazos Feed Store on our way to Walgreen's.

We bought strawberry plants, banana pepper, two kinds of lettuce, lavender, rosemary, chili peppers, tomato plants and.....

seeds! By the pound!

Black eyed peas and purple hull peas - basically the same thing!

This bird lives at the feed store and is not for sale.

I think he took a liking to me and he was very interested in my purse.....

so I let him snoop around, thinking what can he do?

Well, I was watching him and he actially ate one of the teeth out of the zipper!

But he was very charming!!

We left there and went on to the drugstore where I bought some make up (foundation) and nail polish.

I had no idea how expensive things are now!

Must have been years since I have bought polish!

I have tons of it at home but I needed some here. Sooner or later I will have a supply of things here as well as at home. It's the little things I forget about.

And, then again, it's the little things I enjoy so much!

Like a trip to HEB!

Texas Pecan Coffee and a Made in Texas Candle with Texas Wildflower fragrance!

We came home and Louis Dean went out to plow the garden while I made a late lunch/early supper.

Salad using the roasted chicken from HEB along with strawberries, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, colored peppers, and anything else I could find!

Louis Dean loves his tiller!!

He tilled the rows and I planted.....

can I tell you how good it felt to walk barefoot along those rows of sandy loam soil??

I put every single plant we bought today in the ground.

I forgot to take a photo of the pond area which is where I planted the lavender, rosemary and banana peppers and lettuces.

But in the rows Louis Dean tilled up, I planted the tomato plants and strawberries and chili peppers.

Then I planted several rows of black eyed peas and purple hull peas.

Louis Dean watered them all in.

We had a couple of donkeys watching our progress!

We ended this Friday night with a campfire.

Campfires are a good way to burn the paper trash and it makes for a pretty fire.

I sit here inside the camper as I close tonight's journal entry.

I am listening to the voices of Louis Dean and his son visiting.

They made me think of the Robin Hood and Little John Super Bowl commercial of 2015 featuring Roger Miller.

While we still do not have water in the camper or the big bathroom,

I am still so thankful to be here.

Louis Dean always figures things out and today he needed to buy and plant seeds and spend some time working the land. His body is doing one thing while his mind is figuring out another.

My final thoughts tonight are with Susie.....she just lost her Teddy Bear....the love of her life.....

How trivial my daily dribble seems to be in comparison to her loss....

We  love our Susie Q and will comtinue to hold her in our hearts as well as in our prayers.