Staying Busy.....

 Tuesday morning I got up at 6:04, washed my face and brushed my teeth, pulled on my bee suit, sox, and boots, grabbed my phone and put it in a small denim bag and was walking down to Dean and Sherry's by 6:40.  We drove the short distance to the Boat Bees, got the smoker going, put the bee vac up on the deck and was ready to retrieve the last ball of bees from the boat cabinet by 7:00! Unfortunately, the bee vac still wasn't working properly so we had to leave the ball of bees containing the queen. The good news was the brood box we had set on top of the cabinet was well populated with working bees! We loaded our equipment back up, leaving the box of bees there with a plan for Dean and Sherry to borrow another bee vac and get them that evening - hopefully with the queen.

I was back in the girl bunk by 8:40 and slept soundly for another 3 hours!

Louis Dean and I left the ranch around 2:30 to come back home.

I took this photo as we were pulling away from the camper/cabin.

That was the last picture I took until today - making that some kind of record for me!

It's a little over 2 hours 30 minutes from the ranch gate to our driveway in Irving if you drive straight on and don't make any stops. We did that once. But normally we stop for potty breaks, to stretch our legs or to get something to eat. That day we did all three. Subway for a late lunch put us getting home right at 5:30.

We didn't have that much to unload and unpack this time so coming home was easier than the last time when we'd been gone three weeks instead of just 7 days.

Wednesday morning I had my appointment with Dr. Nuss and now I am waiting for the office to call  and we can schedule my bladder surgery.

It was such beautiful weather - not at all like a typical July day in Texas!

Louis Dean and I worked both in and outside. I did housework and yardwork and he did repairs and projects. There's always ALWAYS more to do than we will ever get to - but we keep plugging away.

My son, Jesse, finally had the surgery he needed after his motorcycle accident and was released from the hospital Wednesday. Praise God all went well and now he can begin his recovery.

So today I went over to see him, picking up lunch at The Burger Box just a mile from his house.

Grandsons Sam and Levi were there along with Sam's girlfriend so we all gathered around Jesse's bed and ate lunch together. 

I was glad I could see my son with my own eyeballs as I say....a mom just needs to be able to see and touch their children to make sure they are okay. And he is. He's a good patient and takes care of himself. He is an emergency contingency planner as part of his job and he is well suited at that.

He carries that over to his personal life as well and the house runs like a well oiled machine.

He has his bed organized with everything he needs where he can get to it easily.

The family takes good care of him, too. Sam put his wheelchair together for him before Jesse even realized it had been delivered. Levi is front and center anytime his dad needs anything as is the whole family. It just did my heart so much good to be over there today. I love how they do 'Family.'

After lunch, Jesse took his medication and went to sleep while the kids and I went to Braums for ice cream. Sam drove us in his car - my first time to ride with him!

And Jaelyn took this pic of me and my super cute and super tall grandsons!!

I meant to take one of the her and the boys and then forgot!

She's a real beauty and sweetheart!

We all had such a nice visit.....talking about our memories of the MiMi Camps when they were young.

The last one was July of 2014 when we went to the ranch and then we had a few years of spending an etire day in August at Burger's Lake.

It was a wonderful afternoon and I went home with a happy heart!

It's a wonderful thing to have grandchildren and to be so blessed by them.

The hugs and 'I love you, Mimi!' meant so very much to me.

I will be basking in this glow for quite awhile.

I spent the afternoon with one thing and another.

I think I could work from the time I get up to the time I go to bed without stopping and still not get everything done that I meant to do.

So now I take breaks to sit on the driveway with Louis Dean or watch a TV  program together or watch our cats play chase.

This evening I cut Louis Dean's hair.

We play act being at a barber shop and Louis Dean will sit down in the chair and say, "Mama sent me!"

He cleaned up nicely!!

AND he takes out the trash!

These are the canvas prints of the cat and boots painting.

Both are birthday gifts and I think I like them.

However, I am not a good photographer and the prints are from the photo I took of the original painting. I'm thinking I need someone else - like Amber - to take the picture I'll use for the print.

This is what I'm planning to do for my Christmas painting Giveaway this year.

And speaking of Amber......I just love the pretty banner she made for my blog!

There was a time back in 2010 wen I started blogging, that she made every banner and every background for me. I finally figured out how to do it myself.....but I'll never be able to personalize it like she does.

Thank you, Amber!

PS....I forgot to say that when Sherry and Dean went back for the bees, the queen and the rest of the hive not in the brood box had swarmed yet again.

They plan on putting the bees in the new box on top of another swarm hive in the apiary.