Sunday Visit With Mother and Monday Pics From the Country!

Sunday morning we woke up and had our coffee, devotionals and reading time just as we usually do.
We had planned on visiting a little country church we found when we 'took the road less traveled' as we left the ranch one day in our March visit down here. We turned left out of the gate instead of right.
Our church visit will hopefully happen next Sunday as we took this one to drive to Fort Worth and see Mother and Lillian.

It was about noon when we pulled out of the gate.

We seldom ever get anywhere early!

Our first stop was the Lonestar Cafe in Hillsboro for lunch.

Our sweet waitress saw Louis Dean struggling to take a photo and offered to take one for us.

I need to buy one of those handy 'knobs' for the back of my phone so it is easier to hold on to.

We did a couple of errands on our way to the nursing home.

Home Depot was one. Sonic was another. I picked up grilled cheese sandwiches for Mother and Lillian as they do not eat the food at the home much. I don't know what they live on! Both of them have lost a lot of weight but they say they don't want me to bring them any meals. I KNEW they liked grilled cheese and - sure enough! - they gobbled them down! AND the chocolate milkshakes!

Mother is looking and feeling so much better.

Hospice is taking care of the sores on her legs. It is cellulitis which can be very serious.

We arrived around 4:00 and stayed for a couple of hours.

They brought dinner in and Mother tried her best to eat a bit of it.

At first she liked the corn and potato dish....maybe corn chowder?

After a bite or two - she put it back on the tray and tried the sandwich.

We think it was some kind of shredded turkey but it was NOT good.

The only thing Mother and Lillian both ate was the dish of ice cream!

Good choice. That's what I would have done, too!

I'm determined when I get home to figure out what kind of nutritious snacks I can buy and they can keep on hand. Part of Mother's recent problems has been malnourishment. 

This is our Dear Lillian!!!

What a blessing she is to us and especially to Mother!

She helps her with her earrings and hearing aids and so much more!

Lillian is a true caregiver by nature and we have ceased telling her she doesn't have to do all these things for Mother. It is in her nature to take care of other people.....and we are grateful for her.

We always bring Mother and Lillian the same things......be it peppermints or sandwiches or milkshakes.....or whatever.

I had such a nice visit with her last night.

She is one of 13 siblings. Seven brothers and five sisters....and two step sisters.

Lillian has had a wonderful life. Her childhood was a delight and her parents were good ones. 

She and her siblings stayed close all their lives.

Sadly, all are gone but one younger sister in South Carolina. 

That's where Lillian grew up.

Lillian's husband was in the Air Force all through their marriage of 65 years.

That's how she ended up in Texas as are her daughters.

I love to hear her memories and I am grateful she has such good ones.

It takes about three hours to get from the country to the nursing home so it was late when we got into Waco last night. We still had to fill up with diesel and I needed a few things from the grocery store so we stopped at HEB on Valley Mills and filled both needs.

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It was nearly midnight when we got back to the ranch and had a glass of wine before going to bed.

It may have been the relief at seeing Mother doing so well or the absence of stress in worrying about her .....but I slept in until after 11:00 this morning!

Coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon!

One other stop yesterday was at Tuesday Morning where I bought peppermints for Mother and this coffee and tea for me. Both are delicious!

 I painted again today.

Finished the rooster for Denise.

I wasn't quite happy with it before but now I am.

I have a dear sister in law - there are no 'ex's' in sister in laws - and this will be a belated house warming gift for her.

It's the Paris Eiffel Tower......as in Paris, Texas!

I also painted wall boards. Or ceiling boards.

Louis Dean puts them on the saw horses and I paint them!

Speaking of Louis Dean, he was up and at 'em by 9:00 this morning and has worked steady all day long! See the commode back there? It is fully functional! Not much room and even less privacy - but this is a big ranch so that's not a problem! He's currently working on framing in the wall that WILL provide some of said privacy!

As the sun was setting, we set out for a little walk around the place.

Our resident chicken is still in residence.

She waltzes into the front room when the doors may stand open.....poops and then waltzes back out!

It's a good thing we have a deck for a floor and an outdoor rug that I can wash off easily.

Still.....she holds a soft place in our heart.

She had gotten pretty beaten up by the other chickens and has enjoyed being up here far away from the others. Her feathers have started to grow back.

We walked down to Dean and Sherry's and checked out the now not so little goslings.

That old goose still holds watch over them.

I have to flap my arms and hiss like a goose to get her to back off.

I love seeing new life on the ranch.

We walked up to the tank and back around to the third or upper tank here on the place.

Night sounds are my favorite.

The horses thought we had carrots or apples for them.

We didn't but they were friendly anyway.

In closing I want to share a pic of Summer, Rayne and Sabrina from over the weekend.

They all look so beautiful here!

Summer is enjoying her time there.

Sadly, she is still in a lot of pain and for every activity she gets to participate in - she must then rest and recover before she can do another - which means she's missing some things she wishes she could do - but can't.

Still - it's good she is there and I think they are all glad to be together!

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I am really happy to be here camping!
We go home next Monday so I am savoring every country moment I can get!!