Saturday, November 14, 2020

We are Back in the Country!

 We took Thursday to prepare to leave and, unfortunately, Louis Dean did not sleep well so we were off to a late and slow start on Friday. We have had to delay coming back to the ranch since October! The rain caused us to miss our scheduled return and then our November visit has been pushed back a tine or two. We were determined to leave and so we did......albeit late.
It was 4:00 when we got on the road after stopping at Walgreen's to pick up a couple of my prescriptions. Not all older people have to take as much medicine as we do - but we are thankful that we have what we need to keep going. I wonder how crippled up I would be without my Celebrex.


I fixed us a good lunch of salad and baked potaoes before we left home.
I have been counting my calories and Thursday I did not pay enough attention to Louis Dean in making sure he ate. Turns out - it was night and he had not eaten anything all day long! I went in the kitchen and he was thawing out some frozen spaghetti while heating up a can of sauce and cooking some bacon 'for flavor' he said. He ate it and when I asked if it was good, he said, "No, but at least I'm not hungry now." Shame on me!!! SO I was sure to feed him before we left AND I even served him a toasted bagel with cream cheese that morning.

We made it down to the ranch with only mild stress. Waze directed us around a major accident as we neared Bellmead. By then it was dark. And neither one of us see well in the dark.
Still, we shopped HEB by dividing and conquering and arrived at the ranch by 8:00.
We unloaded what we needed - the groceries and personal bags - and within an hour or so we had a campfire going.


It may have been two hours......
nothing is ever easy!


Our 'AH' moment!
We are HERE!!!!


Feet up and all relaxed!


I love everything there is about being here at the ranch!
We get to be a part of Dean and Sherry's life and a part of country living.

I slept like a baby Friday night.
Louis Dean did not. I don't have any idea why he sleeps or does not sleep.
He was up early but I wasn't.


Breakfast was closer to lunch time.


But he was a happy camper!


LOOK!! The wildflowers I planted last month are coming up!
They are all perennials so I am hoping for a big show in the spring!!


I gathered all these peppers from my little pond garden!
Enough for pepper poppers tomorrow for Louis Dean's 84th birthday celebration!

Since he didn't sleep well, a nap was in order for him while I made a run into Mart for some things.
There was a good bit of 'traffic' for the country.
I met 6 trucks on my way into town.


This is on Happy Hollow Road which leads straight up to Texas Drive and the Dollar Store.
I thought this was such as beautiful picture.
So many abandoned homes were on this road and several have beed torn down and new homes built in their place. This one has a story to tell but I will never know what it was.


I hope our Country Home will not be abandoned one day.
But if it happens, I hope people will think happy lives lived here.
Since we are on Dean and Sherry's ranch, no one will see it until maybe after even they are long gone.


I have spent all afternoon and evening decorating the cabin for Christmas.
Louis Dean dearly loves the LED lights!


I think this may be the very first time I have really decorated here.
I think I put colored lights up three years ago when we first added the front room.


I love looking in through a window - or a screen door.


I bought some things from the Dollar store this afternoon to finish out my decorating.
This wreath came from home, though and I already had the truck sign.


The snowflake lights are new.
I bought them after Christmas last year.


LOVE this $6 Santa hanging between the windows.


It's 11:26 as I am closing out this journal entry tonight.
Tomorrow we will be celebrating Louis Dean's birtthday - even though it is actually on Monday!

Happy 84th Birthday to Louis Dean!!
You makes 'old' look really good!!






16 comments:

Chandy said...

Love this 🥰. The camper looks SOOOOOO COZY!!!! I wish so much we could decorate but next year I cant wait to see it here😍! And there is no way Granddad is a day over 22. He told me so. And hes ALWAYS right. Lol! I love you! Enjoy and relax!!!!

Elizabeth said...

Happy Birthday to Louis Dean!

Lisa said...

Your little country place looks so cute and cozy. Love the little Santa Hanging.
Happy Birthday Louis Dean!
Lisa

Changes in the wind said...

Glad you made it back to the ranch and all looks good. Wishing LD a very happy birthday!! Like the snowflake lights.

MadSnapper said...

Happy Birtday louis Dean, you are now as old as Bob. and you do make 84 look good, as does Bob. love those snow flakes, will look for them. i want to add something to my nook, instead of lights laying on the shelves i want them to hang from the ceiling and down behind the shelves. will see what i find. we use them year round like you do but only in the nook... they make us both feel happy. love your view through the window and glas you are back in your country cabin. You need a sign that says Chapman's Country Cabin....

Bluebird49 said...

It always looks magical out there. Please relay Happy Birthday wishes to Louis Dean! 😻 He gets more done in a week than Ed does in a year!

photowannabe said...

Wishing LD the happiest birthday ever on Monday.
YOU MAKES " OLD " LOOK REALLY GOOD !!!
So glad you can spend time in your Little Bit of Heaven.
Beautiful decorating too.
Sue

Carole said...

Big happies to LD for his birthday. Cheers

Luann said...

Happy , Happy Birthday Louis Dean! I hope you have a wonderful day.

Did the car port ever get put up and finished off? I can't remember, but do know the "red" factor of things LOL. I do hope you two get rest there and enjoy your time in the country.
Decorations look so nice. Perhaps even I will put up some this year. Time will tell......

Vee said...

Have a blast in the country! Louis Dean makes "old" look twenty years younger. He's doing something right. Please ask him what that might be. 😁

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Many good wishes to Louis Dean on his birthday and you will surely have a wonderful celebration in your favorite place and with family to help with the good times. Glad you arrived safely as we do not enjoy night driving as well. The Christmas decorations look nice. We plan to start decorating our apt around Thanksgiving since traditionally that's when decorations were put up when we were growing up. But this year lots of folks are doing it early to cheer them up!

Stacy said...

Ok, my visit here has decided it. I've been fighting all my urges to decorate for Christmas, trying to hold off until the day after Thanksgiving, but everyone is posting their decorations up early and if ever there was a year that we need a bit of good cheer, this is it. My decorations will be going up before Thanksgiving! Plus, Tim is promising to take that weekend off work so if the decorating is done, we can relax and have some fun. I'm with Louis Dean on the LED lights. They are so bright and pretty! Have a blessed week and I'm wishing a very happy birthday to Louis Dean!

Deanna Rabe said...

Happy, Happy Birthday to Louis Dean! Enjoy your time in the country!

Judy said...

You have it all looking so cozy over there! Enjoy your time at the ranch.
Happy birthday to LD!

NanaDiana said...

I am so glad to have a working computer again and being able to blog and visit friends. I hear you about being in the country. We bought that camper and I loved being there. Our places all close down for the winter but we have it from spring through mid October.

Happy, Happy Birthday to Louis Dean. Hard to believe he is 84 years old with everything he is able to do (and does). He is a blessing in your life for sure. You might want to try having him take Melatonin at night. John does not sleep well at all and has been taking that for about 2 weeks and the differencetruc is amazing. He started with 3mg but that didn't do anything. Dr told him 10mg and that does the trick. There are no side effects -it is something the body produces naturally. Even my little grandson takes it per his dr instructions.

Happy Thanksgiving to you. I hope you enjoy every minute with your family. It is just the two of us this year and with John's health we don't dare socialize even with family.

Love to you- xo Diana

Eva said...

Sleep is a challenge for me, too. It's genetic in my family. The camper looks festive!