Friday in Fort Worth!

It was like old times - in some ways!

For years and years I spent every Friday in Fort Worth.

First I would take Mother to the beauty salon and then go do errands until she was done.

We would go out to eat and maybe do a little shopping.

This pic was taken 6 years ago when we took Mother to IHOP for her birthday.

Memories......

Today was the first time I have seen my siblings since late February.

It seemed much longer than that.

Nita is off on Fridays now and she hosted a sibling luncheon and I arrived early!!

I know! GASP!!! Shocking!

It was so good to see Nita and Mike's amazing home again.

There's always so much to look at!

I had to try out their new swing!

Zero gravity and so comfy!

I showed Louis Dean pictures of it this evening and he told me to order TWO!

One for here and one for the ranch!

It comes with a canopy but they took it off so they can sit out there and look at the stars.

It's perfect, isn't it??

Nita and Mike have the BEST neighbors and Sheryl and Byron will tell you THEY have the best neighbors!

It was such a pleasure to take a tour of Sheryl's gardens.

She is a master gardener.

Not one garden but many!

You can see what huge yards Nita and Sheryl have.

When they built fences last year - they chose privacy fences all around them except for between the two yards. Nita and Mike love to look over the fence and even placed their swing so they can see the gardens.

My photos do not do justice to Sheryl's work.

She has sitting areas that follow the shade.

What a treat to get to wander around her back yard!

Time for lunch!

 Good food! Good drinks! And really good to be together!!

 Nita made Taco Salad with the best taco sauce and diced mangoes on the side.

They added the perfect zing!

She had mixed up a small pitcher of margaritas that just hit the spot!

I brought dessert!

Cake with mixed fruit and whipped cream.

No one was in a hurry and we enjoyed every minute and every bite!

Deanie couldn't come but we caught up with her on Face Time so she joined us after all right there at the lunch table.

Just a few more pics together before the party was over.

Lonnie refers to Michele as 'my beautiful bride' and she certainly is!

I went over to Fort Worth early to shop for Lillian some treats and Nita had done the same thing the day before so we had several bags of goodies to take to the nursing home.

I had called the director last week and worked out the details and then called again before we left to go over there this afternoon. I talked to someone in the office and she said we weren't allowed to bring food in....however, I told her that we had already been approved to do that very thing.

We left the bags in the foyer. When we left, the attendant retrieved the bags and sprayed everything with Lysol. I told Nita I hoped they would take them to her and when I called Lillian to come meet us at the glass door for a visit, the lady was bringing all the bags in her room and asking if she needed help putting things away. That made me feel better. Nita and I sat in the car with the AC on for a few minutes while they put stuff up. It was 97 degrees in Texas today. The heat begins.

We met Lillian at the locked glass door to her hall and did our best to talk through the glass.

I had meant for us to talk by phone but Lillian was so excited she forgot and left hers in the room.

Lillian had given me a short list of things she would like so I had bread, lunchmeat and cheese, chips, cereal, breakfast bars, and snack stuff and toothpaste. Lots of snack stuff! Honey buns, cinnamon rolls.

All the things that are not so healthy but at this point - who cares? It's the one joy Lillian still has - she loves her sweets. Nita told her, "Linda brought you FOOD but I brought you CANDY!"

She sure did! A hefty sack chock full of it!

We all felt better for having seen each other and I assured Lillian I would be back before she ran out of goodies!

I came home to a happy husband!

He felt better than he has in days and was finishing up a project!

Now he has a light on the fence for when he's loading or unloading the truck in the dark.

I was happy to see my yard guy here!

He has mowed twice when we were either not home or at the ranch.

So today I owed him for three mows and extra for trimming some bushes last time.

I told him we are out of town some and I could leave him a check or mail him one.

He is such a nice guy. He said no, no, just when you get back. Is okay!

I really like him! He's been doing our yard since August 2012 when we moved to Katy, Texas for 7 months. Sometimes he's mowed 5 or 6 times before we catch up with him.

And he kept mowing. You don't find people like that every day!

He does a fine job edging and mowing and trimming some bushes but he doesn't do the cleaning out of flower beds and such as that. He does blow the leaves in the fall. 

I can still do the beds but it takes me awhile. When I can't do it anymore, I know a service I can hire to do just that part because I will always use my 'yard guy' for the lawn.

Do you know I don't know his name?

He's from South America - not Mexico but farther down.

I had his name and number in my phone - the one I dropped in a 5 gallon bucket of white paint.

It starts with an 'F'....I will have to go online and look at the check to see how he endorsed it.

It's not right to not know his name.

Maybe I can get his phone number again!

This was such a special day for me!

I was given four treasues and it's not even Tuesday!

Judy gave me this cute ceramic mold.

I just love it!

And LOOK at this!!!

My friend, Debbie sent me a picture and a text - do you want this???

Of course, I did and Louis Dean went right over to pick it up!

Brenda left these two pretty frames on the porch for me today.

They are already hanging in the guest room.

I will paint some still life florals to replace the prints sooner or later.

They look pretty as they are!

And Sheryl sent me home with lots of seeds!

WITH the name, planting instructions and notes.

I have such wonderful friends!

Thank you, ALL!

It's been busy since I got home. Laundry and housework.

We are getting ready to have the Bell kids for the weekend so I had some preparing to do.

The kittens are doing so well and so so far, they have been confined to the guest room which is soon to be occupied by three 8 year old girls. The 8 year old boy opts to sleep on the chaise in the living room.

AND since the guest room was a mess of all things kitty - I had some cleaning to do!

I loaded the water pistol and began their training tonight.

No more walking on the dresser and knocking the lamps over.

Once squirt and they got down. 

I hope they are quick learners. 

Louis Dean put cardboard in the kennel we bought and set their beds inside of it.

The kennel is in our bedroom and I covered it with a cloth.

So far the kitties are sleeping fine.

We can left them back in the CLEAN guest room in the morning.

They are going to get a lot of attention this weekend!

But at night they can sleep in the kennel in our room.

It is really late but I was so excited about this day that I wanted to write about it before I go to bed.

Today was a truly BEAUTIFUL day!

Y'all pardon me for scooting out of here and going on to bed.

I didn't proof this journal entry yet but I will check it out later.

Now that I am printing up my blog into books - I see the need to make sure I proof read them first!