Country to the City! And a Visit With Mother.....

Late Wednesday afternoon, I went down to say goodbye to all the critters.

Fed the last of our table scraps to the goats.

This is Thumper!

I followed the chickens and roosters around taking their pictures.

Thought this goat igloo looked pretty with the sunlight streaming down.

We are going to miss hearing all the country sounds!

I never get tired of hearing the roosters crow - at ALL times of the day and night.

The colors of the hens are just about as pretty as the peacocks!

The 'baby' goslings are not so small now!

One is really LARGE, three are big and only one is small and still wearing his coat of down.

They will soon be relocated to a large aviary Dean is building.

Time to say goodbye.......

I got out and unlocked the gate....

and he pulls the truck through and I lock it back up....

and we are gone! But we will be back so soon the critters won't even have time to miss us!

AND......Sherry said we could get our Chicken Little back when we come.

We missed her but since we were just here a bare 48 hours, we didn't want to take her out of her safe pen. By the way, all her feathers have grown back and the chickens she's boarding with now are being nice to her.

I don't usually post pictures that can gross you out but I betcha haven't seen one like this lately - if ever!

I was walking down the hall and into the dining room when I happened to look up!

At first I could not figure out what it was......

two water bugs mating! EWWWW!!! On my dining room ceiling!

Texas has water bugs. Period. Big fat ones.

We have such an open door policy around here - meaning our house is not air tight - that we keep a container of spray handy and we spray regularly. Most of the water bugs we see are dead and belly up. Never have I seen THIS!!!!

Louis Dean sprayed them good and yet they were still up there.....attached.

Louis Dean was going to LEAVE them there but I threw a hissy fit and said 'GET THEM DOWN!!!'

I did NOT want them to fall on me when I walked through the dining room.

He batted them down with a fly swatter and only when they hit the floor did they separate.

Louis Dean finally got them in the trash but turned around and grinned at me.

I said, "WHAT??"

He said, "Well, you know they died happy!"

I could not have slept a wink that night if he hadn't killed them. Bugs are okay IF they live outside.

The ugly ones I hope to never see and the interesting ones I will stop and admire.

But I do not want them in my house!

Thursday morning I got up and went straight to the kitchen to bake a batch of pumpkin muffins!

I made a salad lunch for my friend, Brenda.

She and I try to have lunch once a month and some months are easier than others.

We are all so busy these days but it's still important to take the time to reconnect in person -

over lunch or a glass of tea or a cup of coffee.

My sister, Luann, and I try to do the same thing - meet up once a month.

We are behind but we will work something out in June for sure.

Brenda and Billy are the ones we are traveling with on our Alaskan Cruise in September.

I'm looking forward to meeting some of our blogging friends on our way home since we are renting a car and taking our time driving back to Texas.

After Brenda left, I went to the dentist.....again.

It is just for little readjustments to my lower denture.

That's a whole new ball game having that! Someday I will tell you all the funny stories about the glue jobs and what I have learned about wearing lower dentures. That will be AFTER I finally learn!

 I left the dentist and went to see Reaoma.

She is tired. While she can't speak, I know she hears me and she knows I'm there.

I miss being able to talk to her but then I realized I can still do that.

She might not be able to talk to me - but I can talk to her!

I told her how much  I love her and what a blessing she and Doug have been to me and my children.

I told her that I know it's hard....what she's doing.....and that I'm so sorry that she has to go through this. I told her how proud we all are of her. And what a wonderful attitude she has had through it all.

Then we did something truly precious. We cried together.....head to head and with my arms around her. I have been guilty in times past of not being real when faced with a friend who had a terminal illness. There was one special friend, and when the cancer came back, she wanted to talk. Real talk. And I couldn't do it. I have always regretted letting my friend down and I remembered that when I was visiting Reaoma. That's not to say that I'm going to make her cry again - I'm not.

But at least she knows how much I love her and the admiration I have for how she has handled this unseen turn her life has taken.

I meant to blog last night and actually started but a terrible headache put me in bed instead.

It is allergy time across the country and something hit me hard when Louis Dean and I sat out in the gazebo yesterday afternoon. I plugged along and even fixed supper and painted a little bit.

I'm painting the Texas Eiffel Tower for my sister in law and all those lines made my headache even worse. I did enough to say I started on it and then I cleaned up the art table, watched NCIS with Louis Dean ( Poor Clay!!! I didn't see that coming!) and went.to.bed.

I finally cried Uncle and took a couple of Tylenol PM. Trying not to take things that can further damage my liver but I had to take something. It eased up during the night but by 7:30 this morning the headache was back so I took two more and went back to sleep. It's been better today but I still have a headache. Tomorrow it should be much better!

We drove to Fort Worth to the nursing home this afternoon for a visit.

Louis Dean waxed eloquent and kept Mother and especially Lillian entertained!!

He loves to tell his stories!

The thing is, Lillian is interested and asks questions and can respond.

He does love and audience!

I brought chili from Chili's and chips and hot sauce.

They had both eaten their lunch - and said it was good - so I left theirs in case they wanted it for supper.

Mother doesn't even try to use her words anymore.

She communicates with facial expressions and gestures and muttering.

She's looking good but I noticed she didn't have any make up on which she normally uses - especially on Fridays when she gets her hair done. She's always been a Girly Girl!

Lillian is beautiful and looked so pretty!

We had a good visit.

Their snack baskets were EMPTY so I was glad I had brought a big basket full to replenish them!

I call Lillian on the phone several times a week to check up on them.

We told them we would be gone for two weeks but we'll be back!

Now I think I'm going to do a bit of cleaning up here in the sewing room.

I plan to make aprons from recycled denim for the Quads for their birthday.

I must needs be getting to it!

I close with these beautiful photos from my friend, Jutta.

She and her husband own an island in Finland and they are just there opening it up for the season.

It is so pretty!

I look forward to seeing her photos.

I share my life on Facebook and the blog.

Jutta shares hers with me on a messenger thread.

I think the message I have on my mind and in my heart is how important it is to share our lives with each other. I think that's a gift we can give to others and that others can give us in return.

I'm truly grateful for all the people in my life.

And if you are reading my words tonight, please know that YOU are one of them!