Homemaking, Caretaking and Life in General....

The week started out chilly enough for a campfire in the backyard as well as in the den fireplace before topping it out today in the 90's!

We love a good campfire and spend as much time outside as we can - while we can!

Texas summer heat will be here before we know it and we need to enjoy the nice weather as long as possible.

A campfire. a glass of wine and a platter of cheese, fruit, meat and crackers finished our evening off in style.

This was Spring Break Week and the Bells were off skiing so we went over a couple of times to check on our three grand-kitties. Bandit is the 'old man', Ginger is sister to our Samantha and Tabitha, and Bauer is the baby Mike adopted from his fall hunting trip.

Of all of the three, Bauer was the one who missed Amber most!

Normally a lap cat, he would have nothing to do with me but Louis Dean was able to engage him with a hockey lace and toys.

Instead of Tuesday Treasures, we did kitty duties and went home to prepare for our St. Patrick's Day dinner party with Ilene.

I made a shepherd's pie......

with a green pistachio cake for dessert.

It was cold enough for a fire in the fireplace so it was a warm and cozy evening.

Leap Year was our St. Patrick's Day movie of choice and it was really cute.

Wednesday I had made an appointment with Classic Chevrolet for a recall and to have them put on a bracket for a front license plate as well as an oil change and state inspection.

We took two issues of the newspaper Epoch Times and we enjoyed an hour or more of sipping coffee and reading.

I then took my inspection papers and such to Kroger to get the sticker for my windshield.

Alas, they needed a green thing that usually comes with the reminder you need to update your registration. But I didn't get that - maybe since this is the first year since I bought the car that I needed to register it.

So my mission for this week is to find a CountyTax office that includes the DMV.....

We went back to the Bells to visit the cats on Thursday afternoon.

This is Bauer.....the baby.

Old man Bandit....

Ginger would have nothing to do with us so no pics of her!

Bauer was our main concern since he is a kitten and never been left alone before.

We left the Bells on Thursday and shopped Home Depot for plants. soil and other things.

We arrived at 4:30 and did not leave until nearly 6:00!

It was an ordeal.

We loaded a wagon cart with things - Texas sage bushes, flowers, garden soil and herbs and tomato, pepper and veggie plants.

Then we went inside to pick out the seeds we wanted.

Louis Dean said he needed to go to the restroom so I stayed with the cart.

Then I needed to go - right then - and I guess I missed LD on his way back.

So I walked back to the cart and LD was not there. I walked - all the way across the building - to the restrooms and asked someone to check if LD was in there.

He wasn't.

So I stopped at the customer service desk to ask if they had seen an old man in denim overalls - when I heard my name being paged on the speaker system.

By the time we got home I was fit to be tied.

Scenes from Colorado....

The Bell family......

They had a great week at Wolf Creek skiing!!

Our sweet Tabitha...

I had Christmas tubs lined up in the hallway and she made herself a cozy bed of it!

I meant to take pics of the dining room before I started working on it.....

This was part of the before...

and things lined up to take to the Christmas storage house.

It's been a lot of work and I'm not finished yet but I am close to being done and, trust me, it looks a lot different tonight.

Louis Dean loves his morning coffee while watching his birds.

So far we have had 15 species visit our camera feeder.

Saturday night's supper was a good salad and Ilene and I watched the first three episodes of The Madison.

I had already seen them but loved the second viewing every bit as much as the first.

Ilene and I will be watching the next three episodes this week and we're really looking forward to it.

Caretaking is a challenge and it takes more of my time, energy and emotions then I ever imagined.

Louis Dean is an interesting man and loves to do things.

Here he is cleaning out the sump pumps from the bird seed growing and stopping them up.

My goal is to keep him away from the electrical things he seems bound and determined to do.

I'm constantly searching for things....today it was a huge trash bag of weeds and clippings.

I found it hidden in his metal storage building.

I hide my trash under the dining room table and behind the rose bushes in the front yard.

Louis Dean cannot help himself.

He does what he needs to do according to the way his brain works and I try to adjust and and make things work as best I can.

He is still my Knight in Shining Overalls and I am grateful for every day we are together.

Chapter 37 of Children in the Closet and a note about it.....

I am trying my best to finish this book and in pulling up past chapters - as in this one I wrote in February of 2024 - I realize I overlapped chapter 36 and chapter 37...

Having never written a book before - and knowing I am limted in my writing ability - I decided to go ahead with this chapter. I deleted the redundant parts - even though they were better written than that I had written in the Chapter 36 version - in keeping up with my purpose to finish this thing.

I firmly believe that Amber can edit these chapters and make them into a good book in time to come.

But I am 77 years old and want to share my story now - even thought it is not a polished version.

In future chapters, I think I had more clarity - but we will see.

 Chapter 37

        Once again, I was sick and tired and blue. I went home and unloaded the van, carrying in all the stuff by myself, as Jesse never helped me. I think I had been sick so long that it had worn me down. And my stay in the State Park was over and I am forced to look at my life. I was edgy, depressed, gripey and ill-tempered. I thought dressing up would help so I wore a black silk top and pants, fixed my hair and put on my make up – and went out to clean the van. By evening I was feeling better and Jesse said he would be starting the plumbing that week. So, my spirits were lifted only to drop again when Amber came home so exhausted she was crying.

This up and down emotional roller coaster was wearing me out. Jesse was acting differently towards me and not in a good way. He seemed irritated with me so I tried to avoid any blowups. I was simply too tired to keep playing this game.

I was still sick and had been for weeks so I finally broke down and went to the doctor – something I seldom did since I had no insurance. Jesse and Amber and Benjamin were covered – but I was classified ‘uninsurable.’ 

I arrived at 7:30 on a Monday morning and after filling out all the forms and paperwork, I saw the doctor at 8:00. It appeared I had several problems – blood in urine, possible liver damage, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Both my bladder and uterus had dropped and the latter was truly causing me a good deal of discomfort. To top it all off – she found a lump in my breast. Dr. Abraham knew I didn’t have insurance so she gave me free prescription packets of antibiotics to get me over the ‘crud’, overactive bladder medicine, thyroid medicine and Zocor for my cholesterol. She also ordered a mammogram for the next morning.

I felt numb and scared. I managed to get through the day and then took Nyquil and went to bed early.

The next morning, I was at the hospital early for a mammogram and ultrasound and Summer showed up just as I was about to walk in. Bless her heart. 

After the tests were done the radiologist came in to talk to me. He said he found what my doctor had felt and he assured me it was nothing! Praise God! As soon as I left the hospital, I called my mother and told her the good news. She had cried herself to sleep the night before and was so thrilled that at least that part of the checkup ended well.

Summer and I celebrated by having breakfast at IHOP before she headed to work and I went home. The blessing of a normal day was so precious to me especially after being badly frightened.

Jesse never expressed concern or offered comfort through this and certainly didn’t care enough to go with me to the hospital for the testing. I realized then that he didn’t care about me at all.

Jesse started on digging under the house and the decks were cantilevered at an angle so they could work. We tried to just stay out of the way and avoid any conflicts

Amber came home from work that night all excited because she had a $500 paycheck!

She also shared with me how she had turned things over to God. She said, "I love being 16! I'll only live this once!"

Summer's apartment was ready and she started moving in. Thanks to Amber who had lined up some of her guy friends to help and Ben and a couple of his buddies came as well. Jesse stayed home and worked on the plumbing project.

Depression continued to come over me and one Saturday I decided to dress up, put on my earrings and lipstick and join Amber and Benjamin in the den with several of their friends they had invited over. We all hung out together playing Nuts and Nintendo.

The next day, Jesse turned 58. I was 13 and he 18 when we met. I did not see the ordeals ahead of us back then - I just thought we would grow old together. Somehow that thought did not bring me any comfort. 

That night as I was turning the lights out before bed, I glance through the den windows and noticed fall had certainly arrived. The front porch was covered with piles of yellow leaves drifting around the chairs and in the corners of the flower beds. I walked outside and savored the fall scented air and strolled over the front yard, noticing in the lamplight piles of pecans had fallen. We were going to have a bumper crop!

No matter how dark things seemed to be - or how difficult the situation was - there was always something to be thankful for and I was.

Melania Movie and a Weekend of Hockey!

 I'm enjoying the food reels on Facebook and this was one of them.

It was every bit as good as it looks!

Fresh spinach, tomatoes, cheeses,veggies and eggs...

Since we had a full weekend of hockey planned for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 

Ilene and I had our weekly movie night on Thursday.

We started with a pineapple wine spritzer with a stick of pineapple and a sprig of mint!

My favorite librarian shared one of her favorite recipes with me during the book fairs over the last couple of years.

Alas, I missed the last book fair for 8th grade and they don't have them in high school so I missed a new recipe.

Delicious!

I made grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the soup.

We totally enjoyed this movie/documentary and will be watching it again!

The hockey season is over but the evaluations of players started on Friday morning.

Harrison played two games - one in the morning and another in the afternoon.

It was a warm Friday in Texas but I always look forward to the cold rink!

The scouts were evaluating each individual player and they all wore blind jerseys without their names so the out of town scouts would not have any bias in their decisions.

Saturday we went to another two games - this time all three Bell girls were playing - one in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Since these were not regular games of three 15-minute periods but only two periods each 27 minutes long.

Sunday there were two more games but we missed the first one - which was at 8:30 this morning.

We made the second one at 10:45, though.

I wore a heavier pair of pants - the bleachers are really hard - and my new Chico's jacket, which is really warm!

I went back to bed for a couple of hours before going back to my regular schedule.

Cold weather arrived this evening and we will be having a morning fire tomorrow so I cleaned the fireplace and brought in a load of firewood.

Between doing chores I have been watching some shows....

I'm really loving The Madison.....

And this one....

Tomorrow I plan on sleeping late and then start working on the dining room....

I was going to post a photo of it but maybe I will do before and after pics.

Monday Doctor Visit, Our Living Room and Tuesday Treasures...

 Louis Dean has elevated pressure behind his eyes and has been using special eye drops for the last few months.

Monday he had a follow up appointment and he may need laser surgery if his condition doesn't improve over the next few weeks.

I'm so happy to have the living room all cleaned and decorated for the next nine months.

This will be my only Santa wall this Christmas.

Our living room is small but seems larger due to the wall of mirrors.

We have seating for seven to eight people in here.

We love our Alexa but still play music from our CDs old school way.

I have loved transitioning from winter to spring and summer and will not do any redecorations until after July when I will add my fall celebration to the sunflowers already in place.

It took me awhile to get the living room gallery wall done.

I have a lot of art plans for this year and it includes updating and embellishing canvases I've already done. I've grown in my art and am excited about turning my old works into new ones!

This is what I call my 'throne.'

It's where I sit for my quiet time on the days it's too wet to sit outside.

All my paintings have a story behind them and reminds me of where I was in life at the time I painted them.

Candles are an important part pf my daily life.

If I am going to be home all day - I light candles in every 'clean' room.

On the days I have appointments or errands I wait until I get home.

For the first time we have put together a sitting area on our front porch.

It works well in  the mornings if the sky is cloudy.

Otherwise it is best after the sun rises and leaves shade on the porch.

I'm still tweaking all the things out here......

I love to take my first cup of coffee out and walk around the front yard seeing all the new flowers and greenery.

The daffodils don't last long but they make my heart sing when I first see them.

The crepe myrtle is showing new tiny green leaves...

We have lots of rose bushes.

All different kinds.

Louis Dean was busy on Tuesday morning in his music room so I took advantage of that and went thrifting with Brenda.

I didn't buy a lot but it was fun to shop together!

I do love signage and had perfect places for all of these.

Sometimes I relocate things and other times, I replace things.

This fall wreath was 75% off....

as was this heavy glass dish at 75% off as well.

They will be new to me in the fall as I will forget about them.

I try not to buy clothings as I have so much already.

Except how can one resist a unique Chico's jacket??

Dinner on Tuesday night was a frozen salsbury steak with gravy, garlic green beans, homemade mashed potatoes and buttered brown and serve rolls.

I've been working in the den all day and have made good progress!

All my Santas have been sorted and I have stored away the ones I want to keep and another stack with all the ones I want to give away.

I'm thinking of painting two Santas this year.....

I love this pink one from my friend BJ!

In other news.....

I'm so proud of all my Bell grands hockey accomplishments.

It's amazing to see that Baby A - aka Gatekeeper - is now an elite hockey player!

Trystan is #13

Who knew all THREE girls plus their brother would ALL love hockey!

Logan is amazing.....

and has grown up so well.

At birth, she was the smallest at 2 lb 6 oz.

And here is Kailey!!

She was the first of the babies to go home from the NICU.

She has a super heart....

At the age of four, she had open heart surgery to repair a half a dollar sized hole in her heart that had been there since birth. Amber has a mighty spirit and knew something wasn't right and spent months seeing medical help until she found a pediatric cardiologist that finally listened to her and this saved Kailey's life. Never underestimate that stirring in your spirit.....and praise God Amber did not dismiss this check in her spirit.

All four Bells will be playing this weekend for special consideration for placing in next year's hockey season.

I plan on being at all the games coming up this weekend as they will be at Valley Ranch since that's less than 15 minutes from home.

No pics from Harrison but they will be coming.....

All in all, life has been good here at our home.

Cleaning and decorating for me and Louis Dean working on his ponds and organizing his 'things.'

He woke up yesterday and could not find one pair of clean overalls.

He'd packed them up in tubs and taken them outside to the storage building.

He's always looking for something - 

as in his coffee pots and parts....

and his pond pump....and his wallet and electric shaver.

A new coffee pot will arrive tomorrow and the pond pumo next week.

The rest he will have to keep looking....