Home Sweet Camper!!!

Friday morning we were up and at 'em packing up that big old one ton white truck until Louis Dean finally said, "Linda, I am running out of room!"

We packed like we were moving!

Food. Clothes. Art. Music. Guitar. Books. Denim. My book materials. Fishing stuff. Debris. 

Tools, tools and more tools.

Just to make sure we don't come home to water leaks and broken pipes, we turned all the water off to the house and he even turned the water heater off.

We can't help heavy rain but at least we don't have to worry about the other possibilities!

During that last round of heavy rain right after Christmas, only the corner of the den by the organ got wet. I dried it out and left all the stuff sitting up on the sofa just in case it happens again while we are gone.

I forgot to put the drain spout extenders on but my son, Jesse, is going over there and do that next week. So we are good to GO!

We pulled out of the driveway before 1:00!

I said, "On to Fort Worth and the nursing home!"

Louis Dean said, "I forgot all about going there!"

I always go to Lillian's room first so I can leave my bags and then distribute the goodies without carting them all over the place. As I was sorting through the containers, she said, "Don't you go and be giving away all my cake!" I love it when I find something she really likes.

And look how pretty she is in her new white blouse I got her! She added the scarf and even stood up from her wheelchair to show me how well it fits! She knows I got it at a thrift store and was so proud of it. She said the other one fit perfectly as well! I told her we would be in the country for awhile and that Waco has some good Goodwills and I would be looking for her some more tops!

Meet Ester......the nicest man in the whole home.

He had requested ice cold milk and I had thought I would be clever.

I found a big mason jar with a handle and a lid, filled it with milk and popped it in the freezer to get really cold.......thinking I would take it out in just a little while and put it back in the fridge.

Oops. I forgot all about it until Friday morning by which time it had froze and the glass broke.

Plan B.....pack an insulated bag with some ice, another mason jar with a handle, go by the 7-11 and buy two bottles of milk, pack it in with the ice on top. Wella! Ice cold milk just as he wished!

I also took him some butter pecan cake slices with brown sugar frosting.

We had the nicest visit. I forgot all about Louis Dean waiting for me in the truck thinking I was just going to run in and hand out the treats and come right back.

No, I stood by his bedside (he is normally in his wheelchair outside his door) and listened to him tell me some of his stories. He's 86 years old and loved by all the residents, staff and visitors at Trail Lake Nursing Home. He was telling me once again about a brown sugar cake with plum jelly and how he worked for the family who made it for him. They had a plum orchard so that plum jelly was homemade. The daughter of the family baked the cake and it lives on in his memory. I told him we would be away for a few weeks but I would bring him my version when we visit again.

I next visited Roberta. 

What a beautiful lady she is.

We had a nice visit together.

She had met Deanie that morning in the beauty shop and asked if she was Linda's sister.

Deanie told her yes and Roberta said.....in her elegant lady voice....."Well, Linda and I are good friends. We are very good friends." As she was telling me this I felt like a line from The Grinch....

'I think my heart grew two sizes......'

Mother was asleep when I peeked into her room when I first arrived and she was still asleep when I checked on her in between visits with the others. She sleeps a lot now. So I took the easy way out and tiptoed in, said a prayer, and tiptoed back out.

Nita visited Mother on Sunday afternoon and took her a malt.

She said Mother was having a good day.

At last I dropped the rest of the baked goods off at the nurses station and wished everyone a Happy New Year. As I was walking to the exit, I could hear them quibbling about who was getting what....

'you already have a portion of that cake.....I want some of those muffins.....these tastes so good...'

Made me feel so good!

Finally! We were on the road and heading south on I35!

We were in such a hurry to just get there that Louis Dean got a couple of hot dogs at QT when he filled up with fuel. Then we drove straight through to the HEB in Belmead.

It was normal when we went in but when we came out it was like a scene from Alfred Hitchcocks 'The Birds!'

It was getting dark and I guess they were swarming in to roost.

Hundreds and hundreds of grackles!

It felt flat spooky!!!

Now on to the ranch!

We had a little trouble at the gate with the lock.

I was no help with my crooked fingers but he finally got it unlocked.

He did a great job driving in through the mud. 

The key is not.to.stop.

He was so good he even swung the truck out and backed in pretty as you please!

I could not wait to get inside and see everything!

Guess what?? 

The cupboard above the right side of the bed was bone dry!

So was the floor on the left side of the bed!

I remember back to our days in Katy when my side of the bed would get wet when it rained and we were so busy helping Amber and Mike care for the baby quadruplets that we never addressed it until we had moved the camper back to Irving. When my side was wet, I would just go sleep in the girl bunk.

I lit all my candles and turned on all my little lights.

Jutta gave me the Summer book last year and I read it down here at the ranch.

This year she gave me the Winter book and I will start it on New Years Day.

My sweet tiny camper bathroom.

Just look at that teeny tiny sink.

I am so looking forward to when Louis Dean has the big full size bathroom all hooked up and running! I get excited when I think of a big  shower with hot water and a laundry size sink for Louis Dean's big hands. He promises it will happen this year!

Look what a happy camper he is!

This is the front room Louis Dean built and attached to the camper.

I think of this place as 'glamping.'

It's a camper on crack!

Pretty. Warm. Cozy. Rustic.

I may be the only one to decorate a place before it's finished.

Louis Dean has learned to simply accept this.

Smart man.

A tour of our humble camper home....which is our 31 foot Wilderness RV plus the 41 foot front room, bathroom and utility room.

We are HERE and we will stay for a good long time!

Saturday......

We slept so well Friday night! I only woke up twice in the entire 9 hours!

It was like old home week waking up and having coffee together in the cozy camper.

I have been struggling with allergies and coughing, choking and gagging for two weeks.

Now I am here in the country and was hoping whatever dust devil was tickling my throat and triggering a coughing spasm would not follow me. But it did. 

I spent Saturday reading and resting and watching Louis Dean work.

I am the Queen of Cover up and the Lady of Making Do!

The light above the kitchen sink went on the blink at our last visit here.

My eyes are getting worse - I must get my eyeglass Rx filled before March - can't believe I have put it off for so long. I need more light than I used to. So I took a light from the front room and hung it in the kitchen......

and my White Knight came riding in to the rescue.

It took him all day but he took a light from the bedroom and moved it to  the kitchen.

Camper lights aren't the same as house lights. We have a combination, thanks to Louis Dean and his love of all things electric! Asking him for a new outlet makes his eyes sparkle and shine and he jumps into action! 

Our entertainment Saturday night was a movie classic!

This was filmed in 1936 and in Technicolor.....

Louis Dean was just 3 years old then.

Later he sold newspaper at the Paramount theater in Abilene where they were showing the movie so he saw bits and pieces of it but not the entire film.

This is a terrible photo but in December 2009, we flew home First Class after visiting a month in Aberdeen Scotland with Amber and Mike - thanks to my son, Jesse.

It was a long flight and Louis Dean watched it and was so excited! He finally saw the entire movie!!!

So it is fitting that we watch it together nine years later.

Alas, we didn't finish the movie before I felt so sick I had to go to bed.

As it happened.....Louis Dean was sick in the night with a stomach bug.....

He was better by early afternoon and went out to do 'things' in the bathroom area of the new addition.

I not only struggled with my coughing, gagging and choking ....but Louis Dean shared his bug with me......

So Sunday has been a 'stay in my nightgown and try to feel better' kind of day.

Sarurday night we went to bed at 9:00 and got up at 10:00 Sunday morning.

It's now 9:00 on Sunday night as I write and we are just finishing the first half of Gone With the Wind......

I'm thinking another early bedtime is in order.

I'm already thinking about next Christmas.

I am going to do a Santa painting for all four of my children.

This one will be perfect for Summer - don't you think??