Memorial Day Weekend and Other Days....

 I'm back to preparing meals and for our Saturday dinner and movie night I used a Pioneer Woman recipe.

Peach-Whiskey Chicken which I served with company mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, watermelon/mint/feta cheese and it was all SO good!

For Sunday I made a tomato/egg/cheese/spinach  bake.....

And  that was really good, too.

Remembering Memorial Day and I am proud to be married to Louis Dean who served in the US Army as did his younger brother, Ray.

Their mother, Jewel, is ithe middle.

Sadly, Ray was killed in a hunting accident some years later.

Monday afternoon Amber brought the girls over to spend the day with us and it was an absolutely WONDERUL day!!!

There's always plenty of things to here and each did something different.

All three girls love to cook and Trystan asked if I needed help.

She baked the blueberry muffins for me and then asked, "Anything else?"

I had already planned to make oatmeal cookies so she made those for me!

Win! WIN!!!

I lovingly call Trystan 'Polly Perfect!'

She goes exactly by the recipe and that must be why they turned out so delicious!

Our Kaily girl took Home Economics at school so she was in the mood to sew!

A denim pillow was a perfect project and did it all herself!

Logan is a gifted artist and can draw anything.

Brenda lost her sweet Charlie dog a few weeks ago and I'm working on a canvas she bought at the thrift store because it looked like him.

Logan is sketching in the details that will make him look more like Charlie!

We set up an appetizer tray while we cooked dinner....

For lunch we all made good sandwiches and the girls loved the sour dough bread!

I absolutely LOVE this series but it was waaaaaay too slow for the girls.

That was a bust!

Dinner was good and we opted to play NUTS after instead of a movie.

It was such a fun day and night!

Goodbye traditions continue!

Louis Dean was fine on Monday but woke up Tuesday barely able to walk.

His knee was hurting so I put linement on it and a knee brace.

I told Brenda I couldn't meet up with her as Louis Dean was having to use a walker to get around even in the house.

I decided we needed to get out of the house for a little while and finally got him in the car.

It was good for us, but as I did errands, Louis Dean stayed in the car.

I bought not one but two walkers!

We already had one that we will leave in the car.

The second one I bought has a seat and brakes and will be good to use outside.

I asked LD if he needed me to look for anything and he said a coffee pot!

Lo, and behold, I found one!

$8

This bowl matches one I already had and they are the perfect size for cereal.

I'm a sucker for faux flowers.

Amen!

This hangs in the hall now.

I wish you could smell this fragrant candle!

I love this purse!

Not that I needed another one....but I bought it anyway.

We stopped at Dickies BBQ for some take out and our last errand was Aldi.

By evening Louis Dean was feeling better, thanl the Lord.

He's able to take the soaking baths he loves.

Wednesday he was doing okay but I was not.

I stayed in bed until noon and just piddled all day.

I guess we take turns being up or down.

Our cats are loving being able to spend time outside every day.

They can get on top of the house and they can get off, as well!

We love watching them....

I had special guests stop by Wednesday afternoon!

This is Mary Jo....she was my backyard neighbor for 20 years and I love her and her family dearly!

I don't know how time gets away from me but it does.

I plan to do more than I ever get around to doing but I'm learning to roll with it and not stress out about it. That is one of the reasons I let the cats go outside. The stress of always watching when we go in and out was just wearing me out. I am doing my best to avoid anything I can to make life easier.

Thoughts and Other Things.....

 Do you ever get tired of meal planning and cooking, serving and then cleaning up?

I was that way last week so I decided to empty out the bits and pieces from the freezer and use them or feed the possums.

The three shrimp were perfect for my salad one day....

Leftover Frito Pie hit the spot with Louis Dean.

For our Saturday night dinner and movie, I served navy beans (from the freezer) and fried onions and potatoes with garlic and bacon bits and Hot Honey cornbread from a mix I bought at Aldi.

Fresh sliced onions to go with the beans and Baskin Robbin's strawberry cheesecake ice cream that Jesse had delivered for Mother's Day along with a beautiful bouquet of roses and special chocolates!!

Our movie of choice was one Ilene had seen awhile back and it was excellent!!

I love Saturday nights!! 

Monday was another doctor visit to the podiatrist.

We've turned out to be frequent visitors!

He's been seeing two doctors there....Dr. Garcia and Dr. Lawler.....both excellent!!

If he hadn't stepped on that shard of glass, this would have been our last visit.

However, I will continue to inspect his foot and apply medicine and a fresh bandage everyday.

Our next appointment will be June 8th.....

The doctor said June 1st but that's the day I'm having my cateract surgery.

From the doctor we went to City Hall  to cast our ballots in early voting.

I'm taking a risk here and say that we are  concervatives and vote Republican.

No hate, please. We all have our political positions...

I accept yours and hope you will accept ours.

I try to do something special when Louis Dean and I go out on errands.

After the doctor visit and voting, we ate a late lunch at Angelo's in Irving on Pioneer Blvd.

It's an Irving tradition!

Angelo's Spaghetti & Pizza House in Irving, Texas, has been open for 60 years. The beloved local institution first opened its doors in February 1966, making it one of the oldest and most enduring restaurants in the city. [1, 2, 3]

My margarita was great and our server even gave me a sample of the peach bellii!

We will be back!

Our kitties are enjoying their time in the back yard.

I found Samantha tucked in under the trumpet vine roots..

Brenda had previous plans with Billy so I dressed up for my Tuesday Treasures!

Louis Dean went with me but he stayed in the car while I made a quick walk through.

Candles - especially NEW ones are such a score.

I bought two of these! 

The wooden wick kind.

Love these two seat cushions!

I am using them out on my morning quiet time on the kitchen deck.

Do you see the Scofield Bible?

It was Copyright 1909.1917

Copyright renewed 1937. 1945

by

Oxford University Press

 New York, INC

I  do not know how long I've had this Bible but it has been my favorite for at least 60 years.

I will treasure this Bible and am blessed to read it every day.

For the year 2026, I am reading Proverbs daily. 

31 days to the month and 31 chapters,

What blessings I've received from this book and continue now....

I love changing my decorations out according to the seasons....seasons in nature as well as seasons in life.

All my seasons are changing ...Louis Dean continues his journey with his dementia and I am adjusting to my own mental and physical changes.

So decorating is therapy for me.

I love all my beautiful lacy outfits.

Perfect door art, 

I took out the black comforter and some of the other things......

This is my view from the chair in the corner of our bedroom...

It's one of my 'secret hiding places' when I want to be alone.

I love our bedroom and redid all the chests, mirrors and frames from the furniture from my 'past.'

Instead of replacing the pieces - I redeemed them!

I always have this saying where I can read it every single morning..

To bear all cheerfuly, 

Do all bravely.....

Isn't that what we do?

Some Days are Diamonds.....

I woke up one morning earlier in the week with this song on my mind. 

Over the years, John Denver's music has reflected much of what I was feeling about life.

Back in a couple of lifetimes ago -  I would start singing this as....

Some days are diamonds and some days are just hard rocks!

I've felt this way for several days but I am wise enough to know that feelings never last.

So, I am embracing mine and will be glad when they move on.....

Saturday night Sherry was dropped off by her niece as Sherry's car broke down when she was in the DFW area for a family gathering. The car was towed to the niece's home and Sherry spent the night here as Dean was back at the ranch, but their truck was also broken down, and our truck is there but it's not running either.

Sherry went in to visit Louis Dean in his music room and noticed blood all over his floor.

She asked him, "Does Linda know??"

I did know that he had stepped on a piece of glass and I had put ointment and a Band-Aid on the cut, but I did not know it had started bleeding again. This cut was right in the middle of the meaty part of his foot, and he could feel the pain!

I had an appointment with my urologist on Monday and it was good to see both Dr. Bloom and his associate....the doctor always comes in to visit for a minute or two.

I baked cheesecake squares and took a tray to them - it's a tradition to bake something every year for my annual visit.

It appears I may have a UTI for the first time in well over a year.

Tuesday was supposed to be Louis Dean's final follow up appointment for his toe injury...

however he stepped on a jagged piece of glass over the weekend and that presented a more serious concern.

Still wearing the surgical shoe!!

Since I missed connecting up with Brenda, I took Louis Dean with me to two thrift stores and he waited for me in the car. The doctor told him to stay off his foot as much as possible.

I didn't find a lot but I love the things I found.

Four brand new candles - all extra nice ones.

The Rae Dunn olive oil dispenser and I never pass a garland up.

The butterfly is diamond art and it is beautiful.

We picked up prescriptions at Walgreens....seems we do that every other day!

Wednesday I had an appointment for my annual eye exam and showed up only to realize I need to schedule cataract surgery and get that done before having my eyes tested!

What was I thinking? I guess I wasn't but I had taken them some baked goodies and said I would be back later in the summer!

( I now have cataract surgery scheduled for June first at 8:00 in the MORNING!!)

I was feeling a little blue on my way home and decided to stop at a thrift store on the south side of town and I did find some treasures that cheered me right up.

I'll share those soon.....

Louis Dean was instructed to keep the foot bandaged and DRY but when I woke up Thursday morning he had taken all the bandaging off and his foot was dripping blood on the floor. 

He said it had got wet! Like how did THAT happen?

I cleaned it up and rebandaged it and we were BACK at the doctor's office again that afternoon.

He just put together that these were two separate injuries - not just one.

The foot is still infected and he's still on antibiotics.

The doctor told him this is the kind of infection that can ger really BAD really QUICK!

Our friends, Joel and Terre, moved to Texas a year ago this month and we met up with them for dinner at Mexican Sugar along with Ilene. She drove us and I was able to have a margarita!

First one I've had in ages!

The food ws good and all five of us had a great time - even though it was really LOUD!

It's our tradition to go to Braums after dinner and it was much quieter there.

We all decided it would be fun to have a monthly dinner date. This month was in Irving and next month will be in Cleburne where their new home is.

I was so excited to see tham that I totally forgot to take pics!!

This pic is from our visit in 2022....

We met them at their hotel and went out to dinner.....

And then to Braums!

Louis Dean punched his straw through the Styrofoam cup and made a big mess.

We still laugh about it!

Today has been 'uneventful' and I greatly appreciate that.

I am now on a strong antibiotic since the culture came back positive for UTI.

I'll close tonight's journal entry with this pretty pic of  Samanthat!

She and Tabitha are loving going outside - backyard - for awhile most days.

Thank you all for being my friend!