October Days Here at the Ranch

We have been here eight days so far and have settled in nicely.

When we stay more than a week it's like we really live here but that's not an option.

Our doctors are in Irving and family and grands and church and friends, but it is absolutely wonderful to make our monthly trips to the country!

October is generally a rainy month for Texas but apparently not this year!

Ducky! DUCKY! Ducky! 34 of them!! I told them I saw them hatch out of their eggs back in the spring. They all just quacked at me!

Goaty, Goaty, GOATIES!!!

That's what Sherry calls them and they have many!

Campfires in the evenings - now that we have a water hose hooked up to water just in case we need it!

Louis Dean found a new box wine!

Low in alcohol and really good.

If we were at home, I would add a sprig of mint but all I have down here is rosemary.

I have buckled down to writing the last couple of days and feel certain I can finish chapter 37 before we go home. I get the feeling I am watching a movie....

Tuesday we bought a new refridgerator! Louis Dean had them help him load it and then he unloaded it all by himself. It had to stand upright for at least 12 hours before we could plug it in so it sat on the deck overnight. Wednesday he swapped them out and, of course, he doesn't throw anything away, so he has a new 'storage space in his shop room. He had to take down shelves and move things around - but that's what he loves to do! I wasn't going to cover it with magnets - but we scratched it getting it inside.

No worries! I will never see them now! Carla, do you recognize the Christmas card you sent us several years ago? Louis Dean insisted we put it back!

I've been helping Sherry work on her master bedroom in the 1925 house!

She took the panelling down and these boards are original to the place. 

All the rooms are like this but the others were covered with wallpayer.

Each room is a different color....this one is green, another is yellow and another one blue.

They are keeping the ceiling!

I love it!

OUT goes the panelling!!

It will end up in the firepit they have for burning trash or they will pile it in a hole on the property.

Keep 'em coming!!!

We may very well be painting this weekend!

Louis Dean has rebuilt the two fire pits - twice - since we got here.

He fixed the plumbing under the bathroom sink.

He's mowed the yard and Sherry used her zero radius on the back meadow part.

He screwed the ceiling that had fallen in about the couch back up and will be doing a real repair job later this fall.

Dean has been down several times to work on the AC drain on the camper.

No lack of things to do down here!

I love to see father and son together.

Dean is so good with him and patient.

After he went back down to his place, Louis Dean went out and dug ditches around the front deck for the water lines Dean will put in for us. I'm always amazed at how much Louis Dean loves to dig ditches!

I fixed a good supper for him and he ate every bite!

A few times I caught him chewing with his eyes closed - like a little boy does when he gets too tired.

I gently took his tray and he slept for a half hour right there in his chair.

I'll close tonight's journal entry with an October Treat!

My friend, Shannon Hopps, has granted me permission to share her Great Pumpkin Project Posts with you......

She is such a gifted writer and photographer - I know you will enjoy her words and photos.

October 1st- The October Sunset: It is a transitional time of year. October but still warm here in Texas like summer is trying to hang on so the telltale signs of autumn are harder to spot but they are there. The shadows are getting longer and the days shorter. The light of the fall sky starts to change in the sunset once the Golden Hour is over and the blue in the sky takes on more of an indigo with the magenta and pink- seriously, autumn sunsets rarely let you down. This Jack drop was a race for the light, to find a spot and catch the last lingering moments of the Blue Hour before darkness began to take over. On this project, there are many photographers capturing glorious New England style locations that look so classic and beautiful but my contributions are uniquely Texas, a taste of the west and the small towns around me. The light changed every 10 seconds as I kept shooting this open field with nothing around me for miles. The sound of the wind, the caw of crows nearby, crickets, a groaning old fence and the tang of hay in the air. Hello October, I have missed you. #gpp24 #thegreatpumpkinproject #greatpumpkinproject