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.

Tuesday Treasures and Wednesday Lunch....

It's good to be back home as much as I loved my time in the country.

I'm blessed to have the best of both worlds and appreciate Dean and Sherry's hospitality.

When we met them for lunch on Sunday afternooon, Amber thanked them for keeping an eye on us and taking such good care of us when we are down there.

Even when we are at home in the city, they call regularly to check in and see how we are doing and if we need anything.

It was good to get Tabitha back home and Monday I worked for hours in the sewing room getting rid of the cat pee smell under the library table and rehanging the curtains.

Then I went back to my decorating in there and noticed that all but one of my lamps had warm light bulbs so I took the bright one out and pulled out the storage bag I had all my extra bulbs in.

I noticed it was wet on top - the bag was vinyl and had a drawstring closing.

Maybe I sprayed it with the Odorban solution?

I dug down and all the bulbs were wet as was the cardboard some of them were in.

AND the smell!

Tabitha had peed all over it!!!

Doggone it!!!

I was beyond upset but set about cleaning all that up and having to wash dozens of different sized lightbulbs and setting them out to dry and then clean the bag she peed on!

I don't think she has a UTI but if this continues I'll let Amber know as she said she would take her to the vet that has taken care of all of our kitties since we got them.

I decided that if - for whatever reason - Tabitha wants to pee under the library table - then I would put a regular litter box there. So I did and when I woke up the next morning I was thrilled to see she had indeed used it!!

Perhaps she was tramatized by the tapped in a basket experience - and I can understand that.

So I continue to check on the situation and am on high watch duty until I can be assured that she won't keep peeing where she shouldn't.

Monday night's dinner was a salad using up all our fresh veggies and hard boiled eggs.

We are all out of fresh things and milk and bread and more.....

Tuesday I met Brenda for a little thrifting before whe and Billy went to pick up their beloved Charlie's ashes.

No dog was loved more than sweet Charlie....

WE shopped one store together and then I went to one more.

I could NOT pass this up!!! $6

Brenda arrived at the thrift store before I did and snatched up two sunflower garlands - one for her and one for me! That's a good friend for you!

I spied this bouquet while it was still on the cart to be put out.

It never reached the shelf!

I plopped it down in my red watering can on the front porch!

I pulled out a bunch of faux lavender and plunked it down in the middle of an arrangement I already had on the porch - from a past thrifting find.

I spent just a few cents over $20 for all I bought.

Four yellow placemats, a new sunflower pillow from Hobby Lobby and a bath towel wrap.

I was unusally tired and didn't feel like going to Aldi for groceries.

I did go to Whataburger and after I ate I found myself just sitting and looking out the window.

Depression can sneak up on you and it did me then.

Louis Dean and I still have a good quality of life and ever so much to be grateful for......

but every now and again....I grieve a bit. His stories are getting jumbled up and there are other subtle changes. I'm thankful that Louis Dean is still Louis Dean. His personality remains as does his love and devotion to me and love for all his children andgrandchildren.

He will be 90 in November and I plan on doing an Open House to celebrate.

If any of you, my dear blogging friends, are local, I would love for you to join us.

Instead of buying groceries, I came home and went to bed for a few hours.

Win! WIN!!

We seem to start and finish our days outside.

The back decks in the morning and the driveway at night.

We do our gardening and such and today I cut back the roses along the back fence while Louis Dean removed debris from the bedroom patio.

We decided to eat lunch at Spring Creek BBQ before buying groceries.

Instead of shopping Aldi and the Dollar store - we did a one stop shop at Walmart!

Another Win! WIN!!

I'm nearly done with the sewing room transformation from Christmas to spring and summer...and I am loving it!!

I hope to feature it tomorrow and I am looking forward to doing some sewing amd mending!

My next project is the dining room which I am going to put in order and intend to start up my Thursday Art Days again with my friend, Shirley.

God has a way of working eveything out....

All's Well That Ends Well!

 We - or I should I - was not ready to go home so we decided to stay Monday and then Tuesday and then Wednesday!

It's been such a blessing to be here and it ended up being a full week!

Loving all the flowers.....

My rosemary is thriving!

I love that herb and use it often - even making bouquets of it since I dearly love the fragrance.

The kitties are enjoying themselves and play hide-and-seek nearly every day.

I break an egg and mix it up really well before setting it down for them to enjoy.

If I don't mix it up - they just eat the yolk. Mixed up - they eat it all.

Louis Dean didn't mind staying and that made me happy.

He spent several hours dragging dead tree limbs to the front yard that Dean had arranged for him to use for firewood.

 Plus Dean loaned him a 'gator' cutter and this kept his dad busy for more than a day AND we enjoyed several campfires.

When I woke up Wednesday morning, I saw what I thought was a frog - or a rat - or a mouse.

In fact, it was a baby bunny!

He stood motionless in front of the kitchen sink cabinet.

I have no idea how he got in the camper because when I took him outside and released him, his back legs were so wobbly I thought he may be injured.

He disappeared under the front deck where we knew rabbits live.

Did one of our cats bring him in? There's three steps up from the front room into the camper and no way he could have come in on his own.

Tabitha would be my first guess as who could have escorted him in.

As it turned out.....I did not see Tabitha on Wednesday. At ALL!

It's like she disappeared!

I spent most of Wednesday in the girl bunk as I woke up not feeling well at all.

Louis Dean and I both looked for her all day and evening and on Thursday morning. We checked all the deck boxes and anywhere she could have gone and be trapped. Under the sofa area in the camper. In all the nooks and crannies of the camper, front room, bathroom and Louis Dean's work room.

Bottom line - we left the camper with one cat!

We assumed she got out and either ran away or met her demise since there are coyotes and all sorts of predators in the country.

Dean and Sherry both assured us they would keep a look out for her and if they spotted her - put her in the front room which had a litter box, water and food OR in the camper where there was the same.

To cheer us up we stopped for BBQ at Joey Victorian's place.

The food was delicious....

We ate every morsel and will eat there again on our next visit to Mart!

He was featured in Season 2 of Netflix Barbecue Showdown.....

Poor Samantha! She kept looking for her sister.

I admit I did too, unreasonably.

The reason we came home on Thursday was because I had an appointment with my eye doctor on Friday. Good news...my macular degeneration has not progressed....but the cateract in my left eye is ready for surgery.

Sherry called to check on me that evening and told me she and Dean had found Tabitha - safe and sound! Long story short - while they were down at our place listening for and calling for her - they heard a faint 'meow.' They finally found her wedged into a basket under the bakers rack in the front room by the camper door. HOW she got in there was amazing and then once she squeezed in - she could NOT get out!

Sherry had to move gallon jugs of water and several pairs of mud boots plus other debris to get to her!

Praise GOD and thank you, Dean and Sherry!!

It was Saturday night dinner and movie with Ilene and my heart was so much lighter!!

We had homemade hamburgers and chips with baked beans for dinner and had a really good time.

Although next week we hope to find a more light hearted film.

I watched church online Sunday morning and we were dressed and ready when Amber came to pick us up after church.

It was such a blessing to have her drive us down to meet Dean and Sherry in Hillsboro.

We had lunch at Lone Star Cafe and enjoyed visiting together.

Together again!!

I know it's been a week since my last jornal entry and I do have more to say but I'll save it for the next entry....