Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday.....Catching up!

I've had some computer problems so I am playing catch up now on Louis Dean's laptop - you know he doesn't like to share - but he is being nice about it!

I made Pepper Poppers for the Family Dinner at Amber's on Sunday night.

I've been making them on a regular basis for the last 3-4 years thanks to the Queen of Pepper Poppers - Sherry! Those and her deviled eggs - made with the secret ingredient of Champagne Vinegar - are a given at any meal she is contributing to. Thanks to my granddaughter, Faith, and her encouragements on deviled eggs - she makes them every bit as good as Sherry's - I am now adding that to my repertoire! 

Back to Sunday Dinner at the Bell's......

Mike grilled the rest of the red snapper they caught on their beach trip in Gulf Shores.

It was delicious!

We came home Sunday night and hit some really serious rain.....high water on the Bush Tollway!

I followed the flashing lights of the car in front of me, having turned my flashers on as well.

There was a long line of cars with flashers blinking as we made our way home.

We woke up on Monday morning to severe heavy rains.

We had meant to leave that day but decided to wait.

Sherry sent us a pic of their front yard and a video of Dean trying to get his truck out of the mud.

So we had what Louis Dean called a 'free day.' It was for him and it was a good day for me, too.

I cleaned the house from the den all the way through to the bedrooms.

I lit candles as I left each 'clean' room.

I'm loving all my fall decorations.

Monday night we ate leftovers from the fridge......

I just hate to waste food and beans are so good even if they are a few days old.

Louis Dean got up Tuesday morning and made the coffee before coming back to bed.

I got up and brought us both coffee in bed as we talked about our plans for going to the country.

Thankfully, we did NOT get any water in our house and that was wonderful.

For years and years every time it rained, we had water in the den and sewing room.

It's been two years now that we have remained dry even during truly heavy rains.

Summer came over for a visit and to help us with a credit card difficulty......

Louis Dean had a Best Buy credit card back when we used the Geek Squad.

Alas, the Best Buy we used is no longer there and he cut up that credit card - but a renewal to the Geek Squad was automatically charged to him.

I had no clue until I started doing the finances.

They turned our account over to collections and I filed a fraud thing as we don't even HAVE that card anymore. Summer was such a trouper spending hours on the phone with six different people - none of whom could understand us and we could not understand them.

If I were the Mad Snapper - I would have a doozy of a post about that - but I am me and all I can say is that Summer has the patience of Job!

While she was dealing with that, we were getting ready to go to the country!

We were heading out of the rain by the time we got to Waxahachie.

We drove straight from our house in Irving to the ranch outside of Mart.

It takes nearly two hours. Roughly 100 miles.

We unloaded and put things to rights and then it was time to meet up with our friend Rosey at El Conquistador in Belmead for our traditional Mexican food.....

and margaritas!!

On to our bee meeting where we had a honey tasting party!

Not nearly as many honey pots as we have had in the past - but still a tasty delight to sample honey from different areas and of different flowers - sage to wildflowers to mesquite.....

so many colors and flavors!

Sherry brought honey from our very first year as beekeepers.

It is bitter and the flowers are called bitterweed - for a reason!

It tastes good at first - or at least all right. Then you get the after twang at the back of your tongue.

Louis Dean was left 'home alone' while we were gone and he did some mowing and cleaning up in the garden area. It was not hot and I didn't worry about him.

When I got home, he was a happy camper and, after I changed into my nightgown, we sat out on the deck and had a glass of wine to celebrate being back in the country!

He said, "Do you know what I like best about being back in the country?"

I said, "What?"

He said, "Being BACK IN THE COUNTRY!"

Today (Wednesday) Louis Dean has been working on his tiller and planning a new firepit designed like the one up at the cabin in New Mexico.

This morning the AC condensation thing went crazy and I had a heavy mini rainfall into a big bowl inside the camper. I called Dean and he was here in a short time and spent much of this day working on the problem. The water accumulates in the ceiling and it swells up and nobody wants that to bust open!

The mops come down to visit and keep an eye on Dean.

Rufus came down several times and I was hard pressed to find treats for him - but I did!

A large piece out of a rotisserie chicken, several hot dogs, two hunks of cheese, 4 dog treats that he did not like, and then the rest of the hot dogs.

I jus cannot say no to him.

I filled all the hummingbird feeders today. Louis Dean says he has seen them visit and fly away.

I fed Tarzan - the brother to our kitties as well as Amber's and Benjamin's.

He's pretty insistent and he's had several bowls of premium cat food and a chicken carcass.

Tarzan looks a lot like Tabitha but is more muscular.

I spent the day 'putting things to rights.' Stored the laundry away and cleaned everything up - lots of dust in the front room with the open windows. We close the camper up tight so it doesn't get dusty.

Last night when I tried to add photos to my laptop - I had an update and clicked on 'restart' - and then my computer problem began.

This screen came up and my mouse worked but it didn't.

I could not make it print the recovery code (that my computer savvy son Jesse sent me) in the box.

I gave up and brought Louis Dean's computer in.

I tried hard not to freak out and get all upset about my laptop not working.

I think I did pretty well!

I had resigned myself to waiting until we got home and could get the laptop over to Jesse's. 

Then this afternoon, Jesse sent me the recovery code in numbers instead of letters and PRESTO!

I have my laptop back!

THANK you, Jesse!!!

You are a magician!

After Sherry got off work this afternoon, she and I went to retrieve a bee box she and Dean had taken to Limestone county to try and capture a swarm.

A couple had a tree cut down not knowing it was home a large hive of bees.

Alas, the swarm found a home elsewhere and we drove over to get the bee box back.

I enjoyed our one on one girl time together.

Sherry is so precious to me and I love her like a daughter.

We stopped at Brookshires on our way through Groesbeck and picked up a few groceries.

I love shopping at different grocery stores with the way they have such different layouts.

It's a wonderful thing to be back in the country tonight.