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.