Remembering Nita on her Birthday......

 I miss my sister every single day and carry her in my heart always.

Still....birthdays and anniversaries are hard.

I so wish she were still here with us.

We four siblings would all be in our 70's this year.

I am the oldest at 77, Deanie is 74, Nita would be 72 and Lonnie is 70.

Sandra aka Mad Snapper sent me this photo of Nita back in July 2022.

She took made this using two pictures from our very last one of our sibling trip to Galveston.

I have this on the front of my fridge at home and another in my sewing room.

It is my very favorite as I can recall every single detail of that trip.

We were all so happy and they were such good sports as I had booked us into a real dump of a hotel!

So many of us have lost siblings and loved ones. Some recent like my friend, Denise. Others years ago. 

No matter, we still miss this as much as we ever had. It's just that now we pull out our treasured memories in our heart and rejoice together in spirit, knowing we will be reunited soon.

The time change seems to have affected us more this year than ever before.

We have been going to bed as early as 7:15 most nights and still sleep late most mornings.

***Source***

Except for today! 

I was up at 7:00 this morning and so enjoyed the quiet time all alone sitting outside listening to the chickens, roosters, birds and ducks; feeling the soft breeze across the front deck and thanking God for these precious days here in the country.

I nearly don't want to go home.

It feels like we are really living in the country - not just visiting for a few days.

I can feel the stirrings of home drawing me back in my thoughts as I contemplate Louis Dean's 89th birthday coming soon on the 16th followed by Thanksgiving with my first born son and then rolling on into Christmas.

But not yet.

We are enjoying our evening campfires.....

Louis Dean has been shelling pecans.

Our cats are having a wonderful time!

Life is good and I am grateful!

It's Been a Week in the Country and I'm Grateful for Each Day....

I've loved every single day we have been here in the country.

Campfires most evenings except during those two windy days.

This really is my Happy Place.

I've enjoyed making country meals from fresh eggs and vegetables and using rosemary from my herb garden.

I cooked 2 pounds of pinto beans along with the meaty ham bone from home.

I'm 77 years old and it's hard to open so many things....

as in the spout in this creamer and then pulling the 'plug' out so I could use it!

Louis Dean was still asleep so I resorted to using a pair of channel locks in order to put cream in my coffee!

The front room is now clean and this is where I cook our meals.

The 'new' air fryer is at home and our old one is here and it makes meals a lot easier to prepare.

I love how Remmie comes up to say hello.

I'm a sucker for a pretty face but I really do think she loves me even if I didn't give her ham bones and hotdogs and even quality lunchmeat!

Louis Dean is Tabitha's favorite person.

She is a lap cat only to him!

This has been such a good week here in the country.

Today was our 8th day here and I am still not ready to go home.

I am aware that so many of us are caregivers to our loved ones with dementia and Alzheimer's and my 'Caregiver Prayer List' is a long one that includes myself and members of my family as well as many of my friends in the world of blog as well as personal friends in my community.

I've joined multiple support groups on Facebook and follow several families on reels as they navigate the journey and experiences with their loved ones.

I have come to terms with the fact that I am a full time caregiver - as in 24/7 and 365 days a year....

and I am at peace with that.

It is my honor to care for Louis Dean who is the love of my life.

If the situation were reversed - he would be doing the same thing for me.

I've come to realize that one of the biggest blessings for us is that Louis Dean has a place - a room - a section of the back yard - both here at the ranch as well as at home - where he can do whatever it is he wants to do. It doesn't have to make sense to me or anyone else as long as it makes sense to him.

He was still asleep this morning when I went in his work room - which is right off the bathroom in the front room.

I go in when I can and gather up trash and debris and reclaim the things he has taken that belong to me.

He doesn't do it intentionally but if he sees something he likes, he squirrels it away in his room.

He never notices when I take it back or ever asks about it. 

I took this photo from inside his shop as you look into the bathroom.

He spends many happy hours in here sorting screws and nails and bolts and such.

He moves shelves from place to place and stays busy doing things I do not understand.

He likes to wash his overalls and other clothes by soaking them in tubs and rinsing them with a water hose and hanging them up on a clothesline he strung up.

He moves his storage bins from one side of the room to the other and then back again.

Nothing stays the same but that's the whole point of it.

It's his place to do what he wants to do and he's proud of himself and I am proud of him.

These safe rooms are therapy for him and I have come to realize how blessed we are that he has them.

Both here in the country and at home.

Plus he loves working in the yard - in both places - watering and pulling weeds.

Harvesting and shelling pecans is one of his favorite things to do and he can do this for hours which gives me some precious time to myself.

In addition, he has his music and YouTube and he can spend a good amount of time playing along with his heroes online. And then he likes to sing to me and that always melts my heart.

He still loves to do projects and Sherry gave him one yesterday. She had several lamps she wanted to use for an idea but needed the electric parts removed. No problem! He hopped right on that.

Bottom line.....everyone's journey in dementia looks different but we all support one another as we are in this together.

On a lighter note, we underestimated the amount of wine we had here at the ranch and last night we were completely OUT.

Our friend, Rosey, brought a beef stew dinner and I had pecan pie plus a garden salad while Sherry brought down pepper poppers and garlic knots!

It was a lovely evening catching up with a favorite friend.

Alas, I was so relaxed and enjoyed our visit that I did not take a single photo!!

After the evening was over and Louis Dean and I were sitting out by the campfire, he asked, "Is there NO wine to be had?"

That's when I remembered Rosey had gifted us with a German wine that boasted cinnamon and cloves and oranges....

We sat in the front room with glasses of that succulent wine before going to bed.

We'd already changed our clocks back so we were calling the night out early.

Did I mention we were completely out of wine???

This Sunday afternoon I drove us into Waco to shop Walmart and Louis Dean loaded up with wine!

So which of the eight boxes did he choose??

Chillable Red!

Wine watching the campfire....

followed by a country supper.

Gentle Days in the Country

 I am loving every single minute being in the country.

I start my day with a memory verse, coffee and quiet time reading, meditating and praying.

The small devotional book on the left has been such a blessing to me these last few days.

Scriptures about the strength and peace God gives us.

"So He fed them according to the integrity of His heart; and guides him by the skillfulness of His hands."

I am in a good place here and it's a blessing to simply stop and be.

It's been a long time since I have really cleaned the front room and look who my cheerful helper is!

I've started from one end and am working my way to the other.

Louis Dean has been cleaning and scrubbing the decks and here he is repairing a gravity chair for me.

Rugar and Remmie come down every day to visit!

What a beautiful girl she is!

I love that the dogs love me!

Remmie sat right beside me as I stretched out in the newly repaired chair and enjoyed the cool breeze blowing over me.

I love the fall scenery here....

and the critters!

It's slow gentle days here and we sit on the front deck looking out at the goats and horses and dogs and I have felt myself relaxing all the way to my bones.

I'm staying in the moment and living now.

"Now is the acceptable time."

II Corinthians 6:2

We've had some good meals.....and yesterday we woke up to cold windy weather.

Perfect for oatmeal, bacon and toast.

We decided to go to town since it was too windy for Louis Dean to do anything outside.

Not nearly as many abandoned homes in the areas as there once was - but still a few.

Town of Mart!

We shopped the Dollar General Store and Read's Grocery.

I love everything about being in the country!

Dean made us his chicken tortilla soup for supper last night and it was delicious!

I've been writing, reading, cooking, cleaning, sitting, thinking, praying and just being.

Not nearly ready to go home yet.

When Louis Dean asked me, "When are we going home?"

I answer, "I don't know."

Back in the Country after 80 Days!

 The last time were at the ranch was August 5th.....

I totally missed September but 80 days later we would once again open the gates to visit.

I packed up our medicines, books, Louis Dean's music, non perishable foods, laptop and journals and had it all piled up in the corner of the living room.

Ilene and I had our Friday night movie opting for something light hearted as it had been a stressful day.

This worked nicely!!

It's good to have a friend to watch a movie with and I always feel better after visiting with Ilene.

It had started to storm just as she was leaving so I thought it would be good sleeping weather and went on to bed.

Louis Dean surprised me by serenading me before I went to sleep.

He's such a romantic!

I slept so well and woke up at 8:00 determined to get on the road before noon.

More storms were to come in around 3:00 and I did not want to drive in the rain.

However, Louis Dean had stayed up really late so he slept until noon!

It takes him awhile to wake up even after he gets out of bed.

First, he couldn't find his wallet so I carried all our stuff out to the truck while he searched for it.

Once he found it he loaded the truck and then collected over three gallons of pecans! The storm had shook the nuts loose from the trees and he didn't want the squirrels to get them all.

Finally, we left at 3:00 just as the storms were rolling in and I drove the entire trip in the rain with some seriously heavy downpours. So much so that I got off I35 at Milford and drove the back way country roads arriving at the ranch at 5:38. Made it before dark and it was not an easy drive but we made it!

Louis Dean got out in the pouring rain to open the gate....

Then he had to shut the gate and if you look closely, you can see that the tail gate was down.

I remember when I was walking around the back of the truck when we were leaving and noticing Louis Dean's music books setting on the bumper.

He put them in the truck but didn't shut it securely so we drove all the way here with the tailgate down.

I am getting pretty good at backing that big old truck in under the metal carport.

We started unloading and discovered we had not lost a single thing but what was right inside got very wet! I even had a container of salad sitting in a basket that was still there!!

Thank you, Lord!

We meant to go down and eat supper with Dean and Sherry but it was too wet and too muddy and Louis Dean was too cold!!

He put on some dry clothes and made a pot of coffee, lit the Dearborn heater and warmed up.

Another early bedtime for me!

This morning I watched Fellowship Church online and then started cleaning the corner where we sit.

The windows were so dirty and everything was coated in a pretty good layer of brown dust.

This afternoon I went down to see all the things going on with Dean and Sherry.

They have done a lot in the screened in back porch and by Christmas it will be ready to party!

I want to string up Christmas lights and have a Happy Hour in there.

We are planning to come back down here a day or two after Christmas and stay for a week or more.

Sunday night supper was Sherry's charcuterie board which hit the spot!

Between the four of us, we wiped this out!

Louis Dean and I walked back up to our place passing the duck pond.

The small goats were still out and Sherry's 30 ducks were marching in to their coop like little soldiers.

Sherry sent us home with a dozen fresh eggs!

A good way to end this Sunday night in the country is with a campfire!