Our Friday.....

I took my 36 year old Bernina to Sew It Up in Hurst to leave it for a good cleaning and servicing.

I had a Bernina back when my house burned in June of 1983 when I lost all the contents - including my sewing machine! At the State Fair that September, I bought a brand new Series 930 Bernina.

I don't intend on ever having to but another one. They last forever!

I noticed these storm clouds and strong winds as I was nearly to the place and I managed to get in and out before the rain hit.

My next stop was Aldi for September First food!

My sister's Taco Soup recipe will be the menu along with all the toppings, chips. salsa, guacamole....

and a table of appetizers of cheese and crackers.

I saw this bottle of White Sangria and decided I will make a punch.

I love Aldi!!

Louis Dean had been working outside on the Gazebo wiring earlier in the day but came in when I got ready to leave for my errands. He was still napping when I got home. I am so glad he is pacing himself.

He made coffee for me this morning and mentioned he had a hard time opening the tins.

This is our coffee cup station and where I keep my flavored gourmet coffees.

He said he cleaned it up - mostly.

I noticed this morning a crunch as I walked through here but didn't think too much about it.

It was before I had my coffee and woke up completely!

When I was putting up the groceries this afternoon, I looked down and thought the potatoes and onions had water spilled on them. Not so! It was coffee!!!

Good thing I stocked up with new coffee from Aldi!

I opened them and filled my tins back up.

They smell heavenly! Especially the Maple Bacon!!!

I thought this would be a fun dessert for the First.

This will be a FIRST for celebrating my September First - hosting a family dinner!

Only 1 more day and a wake up!!!!

This evening we went over to the Bells for Pizza, Popcorn, Movie and Coke Night!!

Granddad is not always up for a movie - he prefers westerns with John Wayne - but he does love the Bells!

The kids were all so exited to see him!

Another friend joined the party - and she brought her 8 month old dog, Finley.
He was the star of the show!

Amber has a knack for choosing good family movies for their Friday nights.

This one was fun for everyone - including Finley and Granddad!

When the dogs would bark in the movie - Finley would bark!

It was a fun night all around.

Now I am going to take a hot shower and try to sleep this headache off.

The good news is my knee doesn't hurt nearly as much.

I hope it lasts for a good while.

In other news, Summer is making her way back home.

The coming hurricane to Florida has cancelled the plans that were made.

Plus her pain has come back much earlier than expected so she will make an appointment with the doctor once she's in town. She gets down and discouraged but she doesn't give up.

I do so admire that about her!

A Golden Glow...

I love the golden glow that has settled over most of the rooms in our home and am looking forward to enjoying all my fall 'debris' for the next 3 months.

This year I am leaving it all out until the day after Thanksgiving.

All my decorations are out and in place.

I saved a tub or two for the gazebo.

While most rooms received a heavy dose of 'fall' - our bedroom and my bathroom did not get one thing. Next year I am going to try to decorate the bedroom with 'Fall White' - as in white pumpkins and maybe some light green things.

I did go all out in the guest room.

The burgundy and dark wood just lends itself to the orange, browns and gold.

So I am done.

Now I will move on to the baking and cooking to be done on September First.

Fruitcake cookie dough will be mixed in the next day or two and ingredients for the special family meal will be purchased. I am hosting a Family Dinner on Sunday but it will be an easy peasy menu.

Louis Dean was out putting up some shade in the gazebo.

He asked if I had a large umbrella and I said I had a better idea!

How about putting the gazebo top on?

That would give him a lot of shade!

And so he did.

Now he's working on the electricity.

Or at least he was. He fixed up lighting to see by after the sun set and it grew darker.

It's still way too hot to work out in the sun and heat of the day.

I had my appointment with Dr. Sanders.

My knee is worse than it was when I started the injections in May.

Since my overall health is good and I have no heart/lungs/diabetic/kidney problems - and since I had my right knee replaced 11 years ago and it is still doing well.......

I opted for a complete knee replacement tentatively scheduled for January 6th.

I will call in October to confirm, schedule all my pre ops for December and get my house in order for surgery in January.

To buy me some time, Dr. Sanders had Lawrence give me a steroid injection that should last three month. The last month I won't be able to take all my regular meds - like Celebrex - so I will be cutting back on my Christmas activities.

I am just so very grateful for insurance and for the fact that there is something they can do for me.

The down side of the injection I had today is that it gives me a bad headache that last a couple of days....and it has already kicked in.

The water is on outside but the trash has already been taken to the curb.

All I have left is to go out and turn the water off, take a shower and try to get to sleep before the headache gets worse.

Praying for all my friends and loved ones in Florida tonight.

**source**

Marlin, Texas!!

Dean and I drove the back roads to Marlin, Texas this morning so I could get my driver's license renewed! It was time to go in person as it was 14 years ago when I had my picture taken and my current license with Chapman as my last name.

A sobering thought was the next time I have to go in I will be 85 years old! Hope I'm still alive and driving then!

I love everything about the country!

The back roads are a true favorite.

We seldom see another vehicle until we hit pavement!

The ranch is in Falls County and Marlin is the town that does the driver's license.

I'm telling you, folks!! If you need to go in person to get your license renewed - it's worth the drive to a small town! I was in and out in 15 minutes. No lines and friendly people!

Since we were in Marlin, we decided to check out a few of the local shops!

Dean and Sherry found this one not long ago when HE was in Marlin renewing HIS license!

It was actually closed today but the owner was there doing projects and had opened it up not really expecting customers.

It is such a cool shop!

Called Girlfriend's Therapy and I intend to come back soon with a brand new girlfriend I met at the bee meeting! Her bee hives are in Marlin!

I bought these fall place mats - just because!

We hit up the Walmart there. They also have a HEB store but Dean told me not to get excited because it wasn't like the ones we o to in Bellmead and Waco.

Lunch was at this burger joint and it was good!

I had a hamburger and did good to eat half of it.

Dean had chicken fried steak sandwich and I do believe he ate all of that! 

Except he didn't eat all the okra. I ate most of it and brought the rest home.

We came home by way of the back roads and went through Otto, Texas.

I don't remember the name of this white wildflower but it blooms towards the end of August and is a sign that the heat of summer is drawing to a close. At least the INTENSE heat of summer.

It can be hot right up to and including Thanksgiving!

I nearly got emotional as I stood in the road taking pictures - since there is NO traffic!

It is just such a special gift to have a place to go in the country.

I can't thank Dean and Sherry enough in letting us have this ranch experience.

This old road marker has bullet holes in it.

Old OLD road sign!

Who doesn't love a country road???

Dean told me the history of the people who had lived in this house.

All too soon we were back at the ranch.

It had rained while we were gone.

I made it just fine driving from the gate to the camper/cabin.

I only had one small bag and my laptop so it didn't take long to close up the place and load the car.

I'm always a tiny bit sad to leave.

But it was odd to not have Louis Dean there.

Sometimes when he can't sleep, I will go get in the girl bunk and he pulls the curtain over the bedroom door but I can still see the lights at the top.

Last night I slept in the girl bunk but I left the lights on and the curtain pulled on the bedroom.

Every time I got up to go to the bathroom - it looked like Louis Dean was in bed reading.

Did you notice that I got a little mud on my tires??

Mr. Jackson's cows were all across the road and saying goodbye.

Can you see the one that is outside the fence?

After I pulled the car through the gate and locked it back - I looked and he was inside!

Look what Dean and Sherry sent home with me?

A combination of hen and duck eggs!

It was sad to leave the ranch but good to be home with Louis Dean.

He could not find his tea bags and kept trying to make tea from the ones he did find - all herbal and flavored. I came home to a good bit of damage control and several pitchers full of tea!

Never a dull moment with Louis Dean!

Bee Meeting and Honey Tasting! Tuesday.....

I made my first solo trip to the ranch today.

It felt a bit odd but it was rather nice. Louis Dean, Summer and I finished up the last of her van conversion late last night and  I knew he would be just too tired to do anything else.

Summer was gone before 7:00 this morning back to Rowlett and she will head out tomorrow on her maiden voyage. It's been a full week since she received the injection that has given her so many days of 'normal' life. The first few were relatively pain free. Last night she had an episode where the pain came with no warning and gripped her so bad she lost her breath. It then shot down her leg and left her trembling and in tears. But it backed off after a bit. Summer is amazing and has been pushed to the limit so many times the last three years and yet she doesn't give up. The fact that she has been able to do what she's done this week has been a gift to her and she continues to be grateful and is hopeful they last as long as possible.

I drove straight from home to the HEB in Bellmead without stopping once.

And it rained all the way to 5 miles from the store.

I loaded up with bread for tonight's honey tasting and picked up some sandwich things.

I traveled light this trip with only one small bag that has a change of clothes and then the laundry I was returning to the camper. I put things away and then settled down to enjoy a little quiet time.

My sister, Luann, had given me a bag of magazines so I poured a glass of wine, ate my sandwich and browsed away!

Our bee meeting met at 7:00 and we had a good crowd. 

There were about 100 people there and everyone was so excited to talk about their honey harvest!

All who harvested brought a small jar of their honey to sample.

More jars were added after I took this picture.

They had information on a paper with each jar as to name, location of hive and the kind of honey.

Most of it was Wildflower Honey but there were also  jars of alfalfa, clover, mesquite and others.

They were all sweet but each one tasted at least a tiny bit different. Some were a LOT different.

It was such a fun meeting!!

I met a new friend who has a hive in Marlin which is close to us in Mart.

Our honey is on this table and the Bitterweed jar had quite a few tastings!

Everyone agreed it has a 'whang!'

It's an after taste that doesn't kick in fast but it does arrive albeit slowly.

And that taste seems to linger.....

Everyone agreed that it will most likely make a fine mead.

I'm still so excited that I am actually a beekeeper!

Sherry does most of it and has far more knowledge than I but I intend to keep learning!

Now it is late and I am all alone for the night - for the first time in two years - back when Louis Dean was in the hospital!

It's beautiful down here. The stars are brighter than they were when we were here last.

Dean says the Milky Way is even bright and that's what I'm going out to see now before I go to bed.

I called and checked on Louis Dean a few times today and he has been busy - with his music and resting! Although he did run to the grocery store the minute I left the driveway and bought more hamburger meat. When I called the first time that's what he was cooking!

I'm going home tomorrow so I guess he thought he needed to work fast!