Pioneer Living....

 This has been a challenging several days or so and I have not have enough mojo to post before now.

I thought I would start this journal entry with some happy photos from two of my children.

Amber is THE ultimate hockey mom and spent some of these Arctic winter days cleaning and sanitizing four sets of hockey gear for her four teenage hockey players!

Jesse and his bride along with Levi left this morning for a weekend trip to Seattle and the coast to La Push. They are such a beautiful couple!

They offered us their home while they were away - and more about that later.

I love how they can get away and see so many beautiful places and experience the joys of travel.

Our handsome Levi!!

He is a jewel in my heart.....

The temps have been seriously COLD here - as they seem to have been everywhere!

We hunkered down and kept our fireplace burning, watched programs, read books, cooked good meals and was loving these winter days.

UNTIL the weather warmed up on Tuesday and the pipe at the corner of the sewing room broke.

Louis Dean was Johnny-on-the spot and got out there and turned the water off and started repairing the faucet.

He said he would cut the pipe off and cap it....

He tried twice to repair the faucet - and each day meant we had NO water.

On the third day he did cut the pipe and capped it off.

Water back on!

Alas, when he turned it on THIS faucet had a broken pipe.

We had covered and protected it but it still broke.

Water back off!

We had tried to protect all NINE of our outdoor faucets so just two out of nine isn't too bad.

This was Thursday and the roads were safe to drive so I took us to Home Depot.

I went to get some cleaning supplies and found LD in the plumbing isle with an empty basket.

He had no idea what we were here for.

We bought ten times the amount of supplies he needed - but no matter.

We came home and watched a program while we ate dinner together.

We had water but now the toilets weren't flushing.

And water was flooding my bathroom.

LD turned the water off at the toilets.

I thought the sewer had frozen up.

Friday morning I called our plumbers at RWD services and within an hour Antonio was here to check things out.

We assumed it would be a normal problem with a normal fix....

But NO! They found that there's a break in the sewer line due to tree roots.

This is a serious problem but fixable. At a price, of course.

We could not find the clean out pipe so they had to go up on the roof.

The solution is to tunnel under the house and find the break.

At this point I was numb and felt like a zombie.

I had to make some descisions - financial and many other ways.

I reached out to Mike and he came over and took our cats home with him.

It was like I could not handle taking care of anything else.

I dearly love Samantha and Tabitha but I just have to eliminate anything that is possible.

Coming in and out the doors and watching for them to escape....plus feeding and taking care of them...

all of a sudden it was too much!

Thank you, Mike, for taking them home with you. I'm sure they will love being there with Bandit, Bauer and Ginger! I hope my cats behave themselves. Keep in mind - they are scratchers. Beware.

I called my super handyman, Hector, and he came that very afternoon and took the fence down and the deck up so the crew would have roon to dig.

Hector is one of God's best blessings to me.

Whatever I need - he can do it!

And look what was under the deck!

The clean out pipe!

Not sure what difference if any this will make but it does save us hundreds of dollars not to have one put in.

So here we are - the kitchen has water - hot and cold - and I can run the dishwasher and washing machine and I am so grateful.

No bathroom facilities but we have Home Depot buckets, plastic liners and kitty litter!

It could be worse.

We have the best neighbors!

Stephanie and Mark pick up something for us every time they go out on errands.

Burgers, fries, onion rings and chicken salad and sloppy joes, and more.

It's weird that preparing meals in times of stress is really hard.

I never knew this before but now it makes sense why people bring food to those who are facing hard times.

Stephanie and Mark have been there for us through many many years.

She brought snacks and a newspaper to the hospital when Louis Dean had a heart attack.

I can't tell you the number of meals she has brought to my door.

I am counting my blessings as in wearing these super warm socks sent to me from my friend, Jutta, in Finland. She is a comfort to me and we talk every day or so.

How amazing that I can hold the phone in my hand and talk to Jutta who is in Helsinki or Hanko Finland.

So here I am again... in survive and cope mode...

but this is so much better than what I have gone through before.

No matter what is going on - Louis Dean needs a project.

I gave hime one today and it served its purpose.

He was challenged and creative and he felt good about the results.

I'll show the results tomorrow.

We are waiting for Monday when the plumbing office opens to see what the plans are.....

My Family Celebrating a Winter Wonderland in Texas!

While Louis Dean have stayed safely inside - except for a few steps outside the kitchen doors to spread some bird seed on the ice - but I have enjoyed all the pics from Amber and her family as they embrace this special winter occasion in Texas.

Bauer wanted to see what it was like outside and decided he is NOT a fan!

I took Tabitha out but held onto her....not sure she was struggling in my arms to go inside or get loose!

Speaking of cats...

Can you spy one in this pic?

I hit the target on Harrison's Christmas gift.

He stayed warm and cozy while he enjoyed being out in the winter weather.

It's not surprising that as soon as there was enough ice on the street to skate a hockey puck - the Bell grands were all out there playing!

NOT enough ice to use their skates but they did what they could.

Mike and Amber....

I am so enormously proud of them and their marriage and commitment to parenthood and most of all....

their faith and walk in the Lord.

Best parents I've ever known!

And perfect life partners....

Mike broke out his four wheeler!

Such winter fun!

Not the norm for Texas!

Sledding anyone??

Why not??

Fun and games after the cold weather activities.

Meanwhile, down at the ranch......

It's beautiful but so cold.

Good thing the mops have heavy fur coats.

Part of me wishes I could BE there....

.....but it's best to be here at home.

Thank you, Dean, for these photos!

Next best thing to being there!

And thank you for taking care of our truck during these freezing situations.

In news from home - Louis Dean is sporting a good black eye from his fall on Friday night.

So very grateful that's all the damage he sustained.

This morning I woke up and thought, "It's warm and why don't we just stay in bed awhile?"

And so we did.

I made a brunch for us after we watched Fellowship church online.

A tortilla with a filling of eggs, veggies, cream, seasonings, cheese and I also crushed up some cheese crackers for a little crunch. Baked at 350 for 25 minutes and it was really good.

We have been watching football all afternoon and are still watching the Rams and Seahawks....

Sometimes it's a good thing to stop the world and get off for a day or two - or three or four.

Embracing Our Winter Weekend....

 What a busy week this has been!

First of all, I'd like to wish Mike a birthday that is as wonderful as he is!

Amber made this collage and it is so 'Mike!'

Next is a pic Amber sent me of Harrison's goal he scored to tie up the game.

One of the dads on the team took it.

While Mike was with Harrison, Amber had taken all of her three daughters to Florida for Trystan's tournament.

Amber + Mike = Best Hockey Parents EVER!

Back here at home....

I put a turkey in the oven on Sunday night...

and spent a good part of Monday making turkey and dressing....

company mashed potatoes....

and candied carrots.

Sometimes cooking is good therapy and it's always nice to make enough food to share.

Tuesday Treasures with Brenda!

I felt like it was safe to leave the house for a few hours as Louis Dean was totally absorbed in repairing a bird feeder. I checked on him multiple times using the RING app and knew he was okay.

I made sure he had taken his medicine and had eaten a good meal before I left.

I admit that thrifting is all about the thrill of the hunt - and spending some time with my best friend.

I have - literally - hundreds of coffee cups - and yet I bought this Pioneer Woman cup just because I could. And I have enjoyed sipping coffee from it for the last few days.

The fake ground cover will join a spot where I have a couple of other patches. You can't kill fake!

And I'm so grateful for that! The same goes for the fake plant.

At this point in my life, I do not want to water, feed, or care for anything but the ones who are important to me. As in Louis Dean. He is my highest priority.

I'm getting a glimmer of how I want to decorate for spring and the lemonade sign will fit right in.

I bought this table runner and packed it in with all my fall things.

By the time I open up the tub - I will have forgotten all about it and it will be a nice surprise.

I'm a sucker for pillows!

I bought this yardage not knowing what I will do with it.

BUT - I will find a purpose!

These brand new warmer slippers from Bloch were less than $5 with my discount and when I googled them when I got home, I found they cost $69!!!

I felt foolish for buying them but not so much now...

Brenda found this Soma PJ bottoms - and even if I didn't need them - I bought them anyway.

I left Texas Thrift and dropped off some things at Goodwill and then did a quick run in to see if there was a treasure waiting. I love these clip earrings and have worn them many times this week.

Also this lamp shade has an overlay of metal and I could not resist.

I simply replaced a worn out shade for this one.

I shopped Aldi on my way home and stocked up with everything we would need for this coming winter weekend!

Wednesday was Louis Dean's appointment with his neurologist and we always enjoy seeing Dr. Shahdad and her sweet assistant Shanna.

A selfie in the doctor's waiting room is a tradition.

I think we are some of her favorite patients as we always laugh and make them laugh, too.

As when I told her about seeing Louis Dean get matches from the kitchen on my RING while I was out with Brenda thrifting. I headed home immediately but he'd already discovered a bag of paper trash I had hidden and proceeded to dig a hole in the back yard and burned it.

By the time I got home the deed was done - so we put a couple of firelogs on the smouldering pile and I poured us each a glass of wine and we sat on the deck and watched night fall around us.

Lemons to lemonade.

It's important for Louis Dean to eat and he simply forgets!

How do you DO that??

Maybe I did back when I was young and skinny but it's not safe for him to not eat what with taking meds and his glasses of wine at night.

Thursday evening we went out and inspected all nine of our outdoor water faucets.

I had a stack of work pants given to me to make quilts from and we used them to double wrap all the faucets.

Our sweet Samantha!

What cat doesn't love a good box??

I look forward to watching movies here with Ilene and I was afraid if we didn't have a movie date on Thursday - it might not happen until next week.

Our movie of choice.

It's time consuming even FINDING a good movie to watch.

I would love it if any of you have suggestions....

The cold rain started on Friday and I decided to make firestarters from the sawdust Louis Dean saved when he cut up firewood for us earlier in the week.

He put the sawdust in a bucket...

and I melted candle wax that no longer worked.

You know when you burn a candle down and yet there's still a lot of good wax left?

I usually burn this on a candle warmer and add it to the candles where the wick is long instead of cutting the wick off. Waste not! Want not!!

I lined my cupcake pan with paper liners, added a big spoon of sawdust and maybe a piece of bark before pouring the melted wax over the top.

I found a metal can in Louis Dean's room when I was bagging up trash the other day.

He is a hoarder and it makes him happy to fold up packaging and wrap it around with tape.

It doesn't matter since I gather at least two to three black trash bags full every week.

It's his therapy and he has never missed anything I have thrown away.

As long as he is happy, I am okay with it!

These make great fire starters and Ilene joined us for another movie date on Friday since we knew we would be housebound from Saturday to maybe Tuesday.

We had leftovers from the fridge for dinner but fancy cocktails before with pepper poppers and cucumber salad for appetizers.

We struggled through finding a movie and settled on a BritBox program 'Bookish.'

Louis Dean had joined us for the last part of the program but when he got up to go to his room, he lost his balance and fell into the fire screen and bounced onto the floor.

Which was a blessing as he landed on the carpet instead of hitting the stones on the fireplace hearth.

He fell even though he had a cane.

He bloodied himself up a bit but no major damage.

I'm so grateful he did not hit his head!

Praise God that Ilene was here as she is such a calm presence and support.

God greatly blessed us with her friendship.

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland.

Louis Dean felt fine but I did bring in a metal walker from the storage building just in case he needs it.

He has several canes and two of the 'quad' ones but I am ordering a few more so there's always one easily accessible.

It's been a peaceful day here...

I've spent the day organizing my earrings, routine housework

I've gone out a few times today just to enjoy the quiet of a winter day.

I close this journal entry tonight with a guilty confession.

When Louis Dean fell last night, it was an emotional moment for me in knowing how fast things can change. In the blink of an eye or the beat of a heart.

The thing is - I needed a day.

A day of peace and quiet and not having to 'deal' with things.

So....I needed some 'me' time and I gave Louis Dean a basket of pecans earlier this evening - knowing he fixates on shelling them and then picking the meats out.

I've been in the den all evening vacuuming, cleaning, keeping the fireplace going and watching BritBox programs....and writing this journal entry.

Next door neighbor Mark brought over a bag of salt and left it on our front porch yesterday.

This afternoon Stephanie dropped off a container of beef stew and rice for our supper tonight.

I'm about to close this entry and heat up the stew.

I'll collect Louis Dean and entice him to the den where I promised him I would put on the DVD of CATS.

Can you relate to this?

I do....