A Busy Bee Kind of Weekend!

 Friday was a busy day around here - Cheyenne and his worker, Rusty, was working on the gutter and rain recovery system and they found a problem with the original roof that another guy had put up for us last summer, when we started this Big Red Roof project. 

It's hard to find a contractor who will come in and finish what someone else has started - complete with problem solving the mistakes and the fact that you have to think outside the box to make the whole idea work. Cheyenne is a master at resolving problems and is a total professional. Plus, he is a good man and has become our friend. He felt so sorry for Louis Dean and the awful time he was having with that toilet that he left Rusty to the gutter work and he helped Louis Dean with the bathroom problem.

Bottom line, he left here Friday saying he would be back on Saturday with a new commode.....or the part to fix the one we have.

Louis Dean was more than happy to leave the plumbing to Cheyenne and he went on to work on finishing out one of the bathroom walls. You can see the welding rig behind him. It will finally go home on Monday!

The Bobcat had spread the gravel for the road and Sherry had used it down at their place to move some serious dirt. Now it was being loaded up to take to the next job.

We had some rain on Friday but the guys worked in between the showers.

Our garden is growing nicely.

Louis Dean has a good number of cucumber and more tomato plants to set out pretty soon.

The rain recovery system will allow us to use mainly rain water for the garden instead of the municpal water you have to pay for.

Have I mentioned that our car port is BIG??

Still lots of space even when the big white truck is parked on the other side.

Friday was full of activity, but even so, my heart was sorrowing.

Amber and I lost a dear friend who passed away peacefully in her sleep Thursday night.

She meant so much to us. We loved her and she loved us and she loved the quads and we called her their Cyber Grandma....we visited with her and met her family when they came to Texas.

Her daughter sent me word Friday afternoon, knowing we would want to know and it made me cry to think of how kind she was - with her heart breaking at the lossof her mother - and still thinking of others. That's the way Donna was, too, so it's no surprise her children do the same.

I am thankful God brought Donna into our lives.....it was a blessing and privilege to know her.

That's who I was thinking about, sitting out on the porch under the big red carport.

I'm sorry we lost Donna and I am so grateful we knew her.

Friday night was a good time for comfort food.

Beans, fried potatoes with yellow peppers and onions...

I made pepper poppers and Sherry sent us down some cornbread because she knows how Louis Dean loves it so.

Later Friday night, son Dean came down and he and his dad were sitting outside and he asked, "Did you get the sink in?" Louis Dean told him he was having problems and Dean jumped right up and said, "Let me look at it." In practically no time - I had a sink with HOT water!!! Cold water, too.....but HOT water!!!

I was so happy I nearly cried.

Step by step.....

it's the little things, folks.

Saturday morning I took my coffee out to admire my herb garden and to pick salad greens for lunch.

I could live on salads!

Cheyenne came back from getting supplies (Rusty was already here working) and he said he had two options for our toilet problem. One - he bought a $170 American Standard toilet for just $97!

Or we could order the part we needed - for $54 - but it would be a week or two before we could get it.

That was a no brainer!! And then guess what??? Cheyenne installed the new commode for us!

Louis Dean asked, "What do we owe you?" and he said, "$97!"

So I now have a fully functional bathroom!!!

Tomorrow Louis Dean will finish the wall in there and I can go in and clean and decorate!!

After the guys left - they will be back Monday to finish up - I went inside the camper and went to bed...for several hours. I just did not feel well. Another UTI showed up on our way down here Monday but I could not believe I could have another one since I had just finished the antibiotics for the last one.

Azo is my friend until I can get back to town and contact the doctor.

Sherry was tired, too, and had gone down and taken a good long nap.

We both rallied in the late afternoon and took all of our honey supers out of storage and cleaned them up in order to put them on the hives. We had stored them in plastic bags with crystals to protect them from wax moths. It was wonderful to open them up and they were all in such good condition!

She and Dean went off to pick up their ATV where they had taken it for repairs and Louis Dean and I had a quiet evening sitting outside listening to the wind chimes before I went to bed early.

He stayed up and played music.

I got up from the girl bunk this Sunday morning just in time to catch the 9:30 service online from Fellowship Church.

Sherry came up to the porch on her four wheeler an hour or so later and asked me if I wanted to ride with her to the back of the property! WOULD I???

It was so much fun!!

She even let me drive some!

I whopped and hollered so loud you probably heard me!

I think I made even more noise than the geese!

We did a pretty full day of bee work.

First, we prepared the supers to put on top of the hives.

This year we invested in some of the Ross Rounds and we put one super with these on a hive.

The end product will be a cylinder of pure organic capped honey in the comb. Once the bees fill them, we will lift the frames out and pop a clear plastic cap on both sides - and end up honey untouched by human hands and as fresh as you can get - since it is capped and you will scrape the wax off as you drip the honey out onto your biscuit. How cool is that??

We suited up and went to work.

Dean took this pic from up on the gravel road.

Can you see the bees flying around Sherry?

I took this one with our place in the background.

Our apiary is in such a pretty location.

Lots of wildflowers and a good water supply just beyond the hives.

Overall, the bees looked good. There were lots of them and we found the queen in one hive and she had a good bit of brood. Some hives next to no brood and some hives with little brood.

We pulled a few frames out of the best hive, shook the bees off and placed it in the one with little brood and evened out the situation. Our bee meeting is on Tuesday evening and we will get some advice there about what to do. Since we are still new beekeepers, we have much to learn!

Tonight I am pleased to tell you that Lillian called me on Friday. I had been calling her but her phone mail box is full and I couldn't leave a message. The nursing home never returned my calls and I sent a text to her granddaughter. Lillian was crying...... she called at 7:30 in the morning. She had been down to get her shower and she asked me if I would bring her some cream sodas. I explained that we are at the ranch and I would be there to see her on our way home Wednesday but that I would call Nita and she would bring her some in just a little while. And she did.

Today Lillian's granddaughtet called me and we had a really good conversation. Louis Dean and I will pick up pizza and eat supper with Lillian on Wednesday. Thursday she has a doctor appointment and her granddughter is going to take off work so she can go with her.

I admit to being blue about Lillian and feeling like I have let her down but I am feeling much more encouraged after talking to Tara.

And now I have a beautiful update on Devin from his grandmother......

I spent the day with Devin today! It was wonderful and I am so proud of his hard work. To say he is daily overcoming obstacles is ridiculous - it's hourly!

So, so proud of him - he sends his thank yous to everyone that has prayed for him and hopes they will continue as he has now gotten into the healing portion of his journey. Still a long way to go, but he is pushing himself and his doctors!

Thanks from me, a very grateful Mimi, for all you've done and continue to do.

Mary