Loving our Time in Galveston!

 We left home at 10:00 Sunday morning and drove straight to Fairfield where we ate lunch at Sam's.

I love this place!

Louis Dean ordered chicken fried steak from off the menu and the portion was huge!

He had enough for our supper later that evening.

I love this old truck all decked out in flowers!

If our white truck wasn't at the ranch I would paint it and use it as driveway art at home!

It was two hours from home to Sam's and another three hours to Galveston.

We stopped in Huntsville and walked around at this scenic rest area.

The turtles were all hanging out together!

I used to stop here back in 2012 when I was driving back and forth to Houston while Amber was in the hospital for 52 days. Louis Dean stayed home getting the camper ready to take down to Katy after the Bell grands were born.

Praise God we arrived safely at the condo at 5:00!

The view could not be better!

Louis Dean loves nothing better than sitting on the balcony and watching the waves, people walking and all the different kinds of vehichles going up and down Seawall Blvd.

The pool and hot tub as seen from our balcony.

We enjoyed our first night of wine and wave watching.

LD went on to bed while I stayed to finish my wine.

The soft beeze was blowing and the sound of waves crashing had me so relaxed that I fluffed up a couple of pillows and went to sleep out there.

It was like a dream come true!

Going to sleep to the lull of real waves - not the ones on my sound machine at home!

I woke up about 2:00 AM and went on to bed and slept like a rock!!

Coffee on Monday morning!

This condo has so many small touches of hospitality.

Coffee, filters, and everything you need in the kitchen plus phone charging things and reading materials. There's even a washer and dryer in the master bathroom!

I set up a writing space and will be working on my book.

While LD doesn't have his room to piddle in - the balcony is keeping him totally occupied.

View from our bedroom.

We had shopped Kroger on Sunday for fruit and snacks which made for a nice little breakfast Monday morning.

THIS is what I have been yearning to see and hear!

Waves and seagulls....

I'm so happy we have the balcony to sit and watch the comings and goings on the beach because Louis Dean is not able to walk as he did just a couple of years ago.

Can you tell he's having fun???

We cleand up and went to my favorite place to eat!

Benno's on the Beach - where they serve wine in beer steins!

The owner, Benno, passed away three years ago but he was the one who insisted they use the same chilled steins for both beer and wine, saying it was too easy to break the stems on the wine glasses.

I always order the shrimp pasta salad!

Large shrimp on top and lots of small ones mixed in with the pasta.

The last time I ate here was in 2018....

It was our last sibling trip and ...I ordered the salad.

Alas they were out but one of the employees was sent to the other side of the island where they had another kitchen to get a salad for me.

Traditions continue!

Louis Dean was happier when his fried shrimp platter arrived!

Photo from 2012

Talk about memory lane!!!

It was as good as it ever was!!

We are having FUN in GALVESTON!!!

Another Day...Another Doctor...and Other Adventures......

It's been a busy week here at the Chapman home...

Wednesday afternoon we went for pedicures and when Louis Dean took his socks off they took one look at him and said we needed to get him to the doctor. Last week I had noticed blood on the floor in his music room... he as no feeling in his left foot and had an open ulcer on the bottom of his big toe. The toe was red and swollen so I cleaned and  put antibiotic cream and a bandage on it. In a few days the swelling was donwn a little and it wasn't quite as red. 

Alas, I was so concerned with keeping up with his new eye drops regime that I totally forgot to keep checking on his toe.....

Thank the Lord for our pedicure day!

The more experience lady did Louis Dean's - minus the big toe.

I immediately called his primary care doctor and we went right in as soon as we left the salon.

Dr. Maddox examined him and determined it was infected, cleaned and bandaged it and directed us to Dr. Garcia, the podiatrist right down the hall.

 

We arrived just as they were about to close the office but they were kind enough to let us make an appointment for Thusday morning.

Dr. Garcia found that Louis Dean was wearing leather shoes and he leans forward when he walks so the leather is stronger than his skin so it had caused an ulcer. I have a list of shoes that will be appropriate for diabetics but for now he is wearing a boot on that foot until we go back to the doctor next Friday.

Looking handsome!!

We celebrated by having breakfast at IHOP and then ran a few errands before getting home around 3:00. I started the washing machine and loaded the dishwasher and that's when the power went out!

That stopped everything so we went out on the driveway and stayed there until it was dark.

Candles lit and it's still dark in the house!

We spent the next three hours in the gazebo.

The neighbors behind us have allowed trash trees to grow up and the repair team could not get to the transformer  - so they sent out a tree cutting crew around midnight and then the repair crew came back and by 1:30 we had power again!!

This was our make-do dinner!

It's always an adventure around here!

Stephanie brought over a nifty lantern plus two phone charger packs!

 

It's good to have power!

Louis Dean rebuilt a bird house and ended up with Gorilla Glue all over his hands.

It took him hours to get them cleaned up!

My bulb are blooming!

Son Dean sent me flower photos from our yard at the ranch.

So pretty!!

I had cut the rose garden back when we were there - better late than never.

We leave in the morning for Galveston and our bags are packed and loaded in the car.

I am so excited!

 

Catching up - Again

 I don't know how time gets away from me and I fall behind in my journal entries!

Hang on because I have six days to 'catch up on!'

Louis Dean and I have been working on the backyard and I'm loving the open look of the gazebo by taking down the netting and rain curtains.

In the past I've tried to cover up the views from where Sanford and Son used to live.

I love this view from our gazebo to the kitchen deck.

Lights in my herb garden.....

Our view from the bedroom patio....

View from the gazebo....

I do so love my fairy lights....

Saturday movie and dinner night with Ilene.

Our movie was an excellent choice!

Thank you, Ilene, for recommending this one.

Sunday was a good day!

Fellowship Church online and working and walking in our gardens.....

Summer gifted me this miniature rose bush and it is thriving.

I used to kill plants but maybe I have figured out how to keep them alive.

Monday morning's breakfast - served in the afternoon.

We tend to sleep late so it's our norm to have two meals and a happy hour.

This was something I saw on Facebook.....sliced tomatoes and I added onion with fresh herbs and eggs - and I added cheese. Cooked on the stove and then inverted it onto a plate and slid it back in the skillet to finish the other side. Topped with sour cream and chopped avocado  and served with buttered sourdough bread - delicious!

Louis Dean had an eye appointment with his retina specialist Monday afternoon.

I forgot to take our traditional selfie in the doctor's waiting room.

Maybe because this is our least favorite doctor visit and we both see her so that makes the visits more often.

I guess I was not paying enough attention because I thought it was a followup appointment but instead it was for the laser surgery on Louis Dean's left eye.

It went well and within an hour and forty five minutes we were on our way to the pharmacy to get his new eye drops. He now needs three different eye drops with two of them three times a day but at least five minutes between. Then his normal eye drops for glocoma at night.

Medicine is complicated!

I prepared what I thought would be a good meal that night.

You can't go wrong with roasted veggies......

and Louis Dean cut up the cucumbers, onions and bell peppers for the salad.

I made the dressing from sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, seasonings and dill weed.

So GOOD! So far so good......

I thawed out what I thought was chicken breasts 

and used a recipe from my step son's karate cookbook.

Alas, it was not chicken breast but what I thought were chicken tender pieces.

So I proceeded to fry them up - only to discover they were actually chicken skins and parts I'd saved for the possums.

My bad!!!

I fed them all to the critters!

I had nor seen Samantha all day on Monday and feared she had got out and perhaps someone had taken her since she's so pretty.

I wanted to take my mind off of what could have happened to Samantha so I watche the Stars game on Monday night. It was extra exciting in that the Bells were there!

I stayed up late to watch and they won!!!

This morning (Tuesday) I looked up to the sky and prayed for Samantha's return....

I had been praying but when I walked down the hall right after my prayer, Samanthat strolled out of our bedroom! No clue if she had been in the house the whole time or if she had come in through an open door. I had put Tabitha in the guest room during this time not wanting to lose both of them.

Between keeping up with these two cats and Louis Dean I stay busy!

We are loving the camera bird feeder Amber and Mike gave Louis Dean for Christmas!

We are up to 24 species that have visited our feeder.

I didn't get up until nearly noon today.....and with the extra attention I needed to give Louis Dean with his medication schedule....I told Brenda I couldn't do our normal Tuesday Treasures.

I truly misss my time with my best friend but life changes do change things.

It was late in the afternoon when Louis Dean and I left for our thriting adventure.

My best treasure was this beautiful lace - what? cloak? No matter what it is - I love it!

The details are amazing....

alas...it is a bit small for me so I can't button it closed.

No problem.....I am going to remove the fasteners and use it anyway!

Another good find was this pair of ladies overalls.

It has spandex and now Louis Dean and I can be twinkies!

Amber gifted me a great key chain that can easily be found in a purse.

Now I have FOUR to choose from plus the one Amber gave me.

I probably love sunflowers more than anyone I know.

This beautiful cobalt blue pitcher with the bright yellow flowers look perfect on my sewing table.

I scored on three Tuscany candles - all brand new and never been lit!!

All the candles I thrifted today were brand new.

Infused with CBD oil???

I love GooseCreek candles....

We are going to Galveston on Sunay the 26th.

Louis Dean and Ilene and I. 

If I had stayed married to Jesse - this would have been our 63rd anniversary.

I am so ever grateful that Louis Dean and I will be married 21 years on June 26th.

It's just like God to put things in place for us.....

I needed a new swimming suit and I found one!

Actually I found TWO!!

Ilene hasn't been to Galveston in over 20 years and she will be so amazed at how much it has changed since Hurricane Ike happened in 2008.

It has rebuilt and is a more tropical experience than ever!

I bought us two leis to wear when we walk the beach.

I had thrifted three of these napkins and today I found the fourth one!

I love signage!

$5 each...plus the sunflower wreath for another $5!

Louis Dean is my Knight in Shining Overalls.

If  I ask him to do something - he is Johnny on the spot!

He said, "Linda, if I don't do it now, I'll forget."

Be still, my heart.

No matter what - I know how much he loves me and he knows how much I love him.

God is good and I am so grateful for these years of being married to Louis Dean.