Golden Country Days.....

We have had a couple of exceptionally 'golden' days here in Texas! 

The temps have been so mild that we were able to turn the AC completely off for awhile!

I made a salad lunch and invited Sherry to come down and join us as we ate on the carport deck.

There had been a shower or two earlier .......

and then a really LOUD hard rain came while we were eating!

It had stopped by the time Sherry went back to work!

Dean has been in North Carolina since Friday on Karate business and Summer offered to pick him up at DFW airport and being him home. She is sweet and thoughtful like that! She stopped at the house to check things out and send me pics. I'm starting to miss home just the tiniest little bit. It's such a blessing to have two 'homes' in my heart!

Since it rained rained, we decided to meet Summer and Dean in Waco for dinner rather than have her drive all the way out to the ranch.

It was so good to SEE her!!

We each had a margarita - she's an 'on the rocks' girl and I am all about the frozen ones!

I sure do love these two people right here.

And I love how they love each other!

See the way Dean looks at Sherry?

I just love that!

They are so much fun and we are truly blessed to be in their life.

As we were getting ready to go home - us to the ranch and Summer back to Rowlett - she heard a scraping sound and realized the tire she thought she had missed on the Interstate had actually hung on something.

Dean to the rescue!

Sherry had a piece of wire in her car - she is always prepared - and he was able to wire the whatever it was that was loose up to the wheel well.

Step brother and sister!

A big hug and we said goodbye.

She made it home just fine and we all enjoyed getting that extra visit in!

Louis Dean brought me coffee in bed this morning and then he went down to the tank to dish.

He went fishing one day last week and caught a good sized bass - and threw it back to catch another day. This was not one of them. But he enjoyed several hours 'fishing' no matter that he didn't actually catch any.

I watched this movie while I did my housework.

The film is based on a true story and was full of Bible truths and inspiration.

Faith like potatoes! I like that.

This afternoon I finished my cat and boots painting!

I may touch him up a bit more before this week is over - but I'm calling it done for now!

I came in and took a nap and the weather was just perfect for that - it rained!

When I got up - the light was golden.

I sat out on the front deck and cut up the denim, sving some of the scraps to use in our smokers when we work with the bees. Sherry and I are planning on opening up the hives before I go home - just for a quick peek to see if they are making honey!!

Sherry came down this evening and we got out the Bernia serger my friend, Dee, gave me.

Sherry has used one before so she's teaching me.

See what I mean about it being a golden country day??

Our Anniversary Weekend!

 As of 3:30 PM Sunday, June 26th, Louis Dean and I have been married 16 years!

We were brand new to each other back then - having only met literally 2 months before we married.

We have been happier than either one of us ever dreamed we would be!

For the first few anniversaries, we would go to Galveston and we did that again just two years ago.

Now we simply celebrate each and every day we have together and no longer feel the need to go somewhere - and the ranch is a special place for both of us!

We did meet our goal of getting the decks cleaned up from all the tools and debris strewn about!

We had invited our friend, Rosey, over for a cocktail party and to catch up on our visiting.

Earlier Saturday afternoon, Sherry and I went into Belmead to pick up some 'adult slushees!'

We have seen this Daiquiri Express place so many times but this was our very first visit.

We had such a nice time sitting, sipping and snacking our way through the 'cocktail' hours.....

that being 5:30 - 8:30 here!

Sherry made her pepper poppers and Rosey brought quesadillas from a Mexican restaurant near her, and we had cheese and crackers and all manner of chips, dips, and fruit.

Of course, we had daiquiris - we sampled two of the three different kinds I bought.

And for dessert, we had blackberry cobbler with Amaretto ice cream!

Both Sherry and Rosey had critter chores to attend to so the party broke up before dark.

Louis Dean was really tired so we both decided to call it an early night.

I love how a good night's sleep can make all the difference in the world.

We start the day off fresh once again!

We watched Fellowship Church online and this morning Samantha was trying to see what was going on!

I traded the flimsy easel ......

for a sturdier one and we took our coffee, cottage cheese, fruit and cookies and sat down for a wonderful service where Pastor Ed Young interviewed Trey Goudy.

I love the testimonies of other believers and I especially admire Trey Goudy as he lives his life and shares his faith just as a matter of course. And I also love how he sirrounds himself with so many friends and that includes those who do not hold the same beliefs. It was a lesson for us all.

We are unique - every single one of us - and it's a good thing we don't all think and act alike. 

This afternoon, we could hear Sherry out in the fields running her tractor.

Dean is in North Carolina at a martial arts event.

When I talked to him on the phone this afternoon, I told him we had saved him some Amaretto ice cream! He will be home tomorrow.

I finally set up my art table!

We've been here two weeks and I only have one week left before we go home so I am glad to smell the turpentine!

My goal is to finish the paintings I have already started and then begin some new ones!!

I love doing art - especially when I am in the country!

Lunch Date With Terre and Critter Chores!

 Our Samantha wears a perpetual look of surprise on her pretty face!

Last night I took this pic of her as she was wrapping herself around the legs of a stool!

Then tonight as I am writing my journal entry.....

she's peering over the laptop trying to see what I'm doing.

My friend, Terre, from California was in Texas visiting grandchildren and she was coming down Interstate 35 on Thursday so we decided to meet up for lunch at Jason's Deli in Waco.

We met for the first time two years ago......

when she and husband Joel were in Texas.

We all hit it off  just like we were old friends!

We visited at their hotel and then went out to dinner and later to Braums for ice cream.

We still laugh about Louis Dean jabbing a hole in his cup and leaking his malt all over the place!

This trip she is traveling with two of her grandchildren.

The grandson is a twin so I asked him how he and his brother got along.

We had quite the conversation and then I asked how he would like to be a quadruplet and told him a little about my grand quads.

He said his mother would probably have freaked out!

Lunch was a lot of fun and then we all went across the parking lot to the Half Price Book store where Garrett recommended a book for me.....

.....mind you, this young man is 11 years old and highly intellegent!

I bought the book for Louis Dean and he's looking forward to reading it!

Terre and her grands got back up on the Interstate heading for New Braunfels and I picked up a prescription at Walgreens, shopped HEB......and saved Hobby Lobby for my last stop!

There was a Michaels closer but it does not compare with Hobby Lobby!

HL ranks right up there with Starbucks for that amazing 'feel good' atmosphere that envelopes you as soon as you walk in the door! Target is another place that 'feels good.'

I basked in the sights, scents and sales and walked up and down every single isle!!

I KNOW it's June and I KNOW it's early for pumpkins but I do admit to feeling a little thrill in my heart when I saw them stocking the shelves for FALL!!

All I actually bought was some art supplies....and paper plates and plastic forks for a little cocktail/dinner party we are having tomorrow night.

I love the country roads.

This is Walt's Road that I turn off on right before you would enter Mart.

I call it the scenic route!

Sherry and Dean had already left for Irving when I got back to the ranch.

They spent Thursday night at our house as Dean had a super early flight out of DFW to North Carolina this morning. He is at a Karate event this weekend.

So close to sunset, Louis Dean and I went down to do Critter Chores.

I love these signs in Sherry's kitchen.

She used to have a t-shirt that said......

We all know how much Sherry loves her tractor - and any and all other heavy machinery!

They had penned the goats up before they left as they do not want Louis Dean to have to deal with them. He used to do them with no problem but through the years, it's become a little too much for him.

So we just saved our table scraps and some more husks from the shelled peas to feed them.

They were all standing at attention!

Bruce is the name of the new Billy goat.

We all still love and remember Buddy!

He will always be our very favorite Billy goat of all time!

We worked hard last night cleaning and organizing things here.

Louis Dean has been sorting his tools and supplies and I have been spring cleaning in June.

Nearly ALL of my art supplies are down here now and I organized them so they are out of sight behind curtains on the set of shelves Louis Dean put in for me 3 years ago when he was building this front room. I will be setting out my art table on Sunday and plan on painting for eight straight days as well as whacking up a serious tub or two of denim for my quilting.

I've given up on the idea of writing more in my book until we come back next month - or I can write at home since all I need is my laptop. I am praying God will help me finish  this book! 

As soon as I woke up this Friday morning, I got ready to go down and take care of the critters.

They left Rufus here and when we let him out last night, Louis Dean sat on the steps and watched him .....until he wandered off - up here to our place where he can always count on a hand out   treat!

It took awhile - and some more treats as in lunch meat - to get him to follow Louis Dean back down to their house and let him in. So I was anxious to make sure he got out to do his business this morning.

Louis Dean tended to Rufus while I took a can of feed to the duck pen.

I feed the ducks inside the pen so the geese don't steal it all.....

but I did throw them a handful for good measure.

Doing the ducks is my favorite critter chore.

Louis Dean and I both do the chickens/roosters/peacocks.

I do the feed and he makes sure they all have water.

This is the 'wild' peacock who arrived here maybe 2 years ago?

He's become so tame that he will follow us around fully expecting his meal from the little tin cans we carry about.

The chores are divided in half when we both do them.

You can see how calm this peacock is.......

and here is MY preening peacock - looking all Hollywood in his dark glasses!

I've been taking care and notice of him as we are working outside - both with the critters as well as in cleaning up 'our' place. The heat can be deadly and it has caused us to take lots of breaks inside the camper under the air conditioner.

It was such a pretty day! This is the upper tank aka Lake Toguchi.

And this is the other side.

As I was doing the chickens, I heard a familiar sound but it was out of place......

the geese were honking, the peacocks were screaming, the locusts were calling and the dogs were barking.....

but my ears were hearing the hum of bees!

There were hundreds and hundreds of them in this mesquite tree right beside the peacock pen!

Music to my ears!

There are other mature mesquite trees here on the ranch and I am sure the bees are all over all of them!

This may very well make the difference in whether or not we get a honey harvest this year!

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