The Mully Grubs are GONE!!!

I am finally feeling more like myself today! Thanks, in part, to Nicki's comment on my post yesterday!!

"As it is Sunday, I hope you are feeling better today. Will it give you a small chuckle (or maybe a big laugh) if I tell you I Googled "mully grubs" as I thought that perhaps it was a Texas pest of some sort.....after all you had been cleaning but could not get rid of the "mully grubs"....I had to laugh at myself when I saw what it meant - just another phrase I am not familiar with!!!!"

If you are reading this, Nicki - thank you SO much for the good laugh!!

And for those who are unfamiliar with mully grubs - here's the Urban Dictionary Definition -

"A period of time when one is feeling down and out. Depressed, hopeless, lonely and sad."

That being said, I am on the mend. This was our last full normal day at home. Since we were gifted with that extra hour this morning - I spent mine doing art!

This afternoon I attended a Wedding Planning Party for my niece - which was a lot of fun!

It was held at my sister's house (where my mother lives).

Tomorrow is Nita's birthday so it was like a double party!!

There was plenty of tasty tidbits to nibble on!

Yummy dips.....even a birthday cake and champagne to toast both the party and my sister's birthday!

(Thank you to Shannon for the pics! I left my camera at home!)

We were looking at ideas Leah had saved to her laptop.........

(Leah is the beautiful bride to be....)

and I MAY have been a little more emphatic about some points than I should have been!

It was all in good fun and we had a blast!

So, yes, I think I finally got rid of the mully grubs!

THEN.......I came home!

Still no mully grubs but there WAS a 'gnashing of teeth!'

I had waltzed off for the afternoon leaving Louis Dean UNATTENDED for several hours!!

It is really not safe to leave him home alone for more than a few MINUTES!!

Even then it is RISKY!

The area in front of the stone privacy wall was all uneven and hilly where it was supposed to be FLAT!

(LD has added soil a number of times to build up the ground for his cucumbers - which failed to grow!)

I had asked him if he could level this off and he had already taken 2 wheelbarrows of dirt and carried them to the back. (Now I did not ask to SEE where he had put them! Sometimes it's best to just not KNOW!)

Can you see the TV antenna LD bought?

 He could only get the picture to come in if he put the antenna on TOP of my lamp!

The plan was for him to watch football this afternoon and go out and get one more wheelbarrow full and take it to the back. WELL......when I got home he had dug all that ground up like a herd of gophers had attacked it AND uprooted the row of liriope plants and Asian jasmine that was perfectly FINE!! He MOVED these plants to an area where they do not belong and now will most likely die. He actually planted them where years ago he killed all the bushes by cutting them down to the ground with his chain saw! Perhaps he was trying to redeem that act - I don't know.

I decided to ignore all that disheveled landscaping in the front yard and come in and do some more work on my Santa paintings. I donned my paint smock, opened the turpentine and flipped the switch to the attic fan.

I smelled something BURNING so I called for Louis Dean to come fast and see what was going on!!!

He yelled, "Not to worry!!! That's just some TRASH I was burning!"

For some unknown reason he got the idea in his head to BURN all our trash.

I am at a total loss as to how his mind works!!

We live in the CITY and have trash picked up at the curb.

I didn't last long at the art table tonight.

Hard to be creative when the putrid smell of 'Burn' is sweeping through your house.

This is not to be confused with the sweet aroma of a wood fire in the outdoor fire pit.

No - this is more like what you would smell at a landfill. 

So thus ends my day.

No more mully grubs - they have been replaced with the gnashing of teeth and the pulling of hair!!

It may well be for the best that we will be returning to the camper soon.

It is a much smaller area and there is more control there.

Poor Louis Dean.

He just can't have ANY fun!

Our October Visit Home

We love our visits 'home!' Since we are gone most of the month every time I return it seems like I'm seeing all things fresh and new!! It's like going to a bed and breakfast and oohing and ahhhing over all the decorations and rooms and the gazebo and how BIG it all seems after living in a 31 foot camper for 3 1/2 weeks at a time!

We left Thursday in the early afternoon heading for home by way of the back roads to The Woodlands where we checked out the newest Trader Joe's!

Oh, my GOODNESS!! We love that place!!

We filled the trunk fairly full by that one stop alone!

I loaded up with $2.99 bottles of wine, Cookie Butter (Product of the Netherlands) that tastes just like COOKIE BUTTER, Milk Chocolate from Belgium.........

delicious cheeses, salami and crackers!

I also picked up a lavender plant and a pot of three herbs for cooking.

Never mind I have HUGE rosemary bushes at home!

I need some for HERE!! I even pulled up some mint and threw it in a pot for my teas!

We had THE most relaxing drive home! Collins Street Bakery is just an hour and a half or so from home so we stopped there for a light supper.

We were home sitting on the driveway with our feet propped up before we knew it!

I always clean the night before we leave so I can come home to a neat and tidy house!

Friday I spent the day with my Mother and three older grandchildren - aged 6,8, and 10.

What did Louis Dean do while I was away? 

(we came in our car so his truck was still at the camper!)

Baked!! And baked and baked some more!!!

Friday was his cinnamon roll day!

I only brought half a dozen rolls back with me - we gave all the rest away!

Saturday dawned crisp and cool!!

This was his roll baking day!

My big chore for this trip was changing out my closet from spring/summer to fall/winter. I have a TON of fall/winter clothes so it is a lopsided exchange!

WHAT a mess!! My house was built in the late 50's and they had not heard of LARGE walk in closets!! Although I have to admit to having THREE closets.

One is in the hall and holds my denim wardrobe.

The other is a TINY thing in what used to be Summer's and then later Amber's bedroom. Their clothes were always squished in and wrinkled as all get out!

It looked strange to see it all empty! I did one side at a time since the closet has sliding mirror doors. Summer painted the 'Linda's Closet' on the back wall in 1983 after our house burned and we had to redo it all. I got a kick out of seeing that again!

 I DID get it all done on that lovely crispy cool day!

Summer, Raynie and Sabrina arrived that afternoon.

Summer had her work clothes on and pulled out all the lawn equipment to do the yard. She gave it a real 'MANICURE!' Trimmed buses and ground cover - she did the whole nine yards!

We all ended up relaxing in the gazebo!

This wasn't our first fire out by the gazebo this season but close to it!

Grand doll Raynie.......

She LOVES Cookie Butter!!

Sabrina says she eats like a little bird!!

This WAS the first fire of the season in the den!

Summer spent the night. As a mother, I am always thrilled when Summer spends the night!

I sleep so well knowing I have a 'child' under my roof again!
  Sherry came by for a visit.

Sherry is Louis Dean's son's wife and we love her dearly!!!

Louis Dean bribed her to stay for a nice visit with the promise of a batch of fresh rolls hot from the oven! She would have stayed anyway but he loves to gift his rolls out!!

Every roll weighs exactly the same!

We made a supper of cheese, salami, fresh bread and butter and a glass of wine!

It was heavenly!!!

Sunday morning Louis Dean was up EARLY baking chicken for the Whitfield Family Reunion at Mineral Wells State Park!

I always take a picture of the old court house in Weatherford which is a half hour from the park. Always!

Four generations!

My mother, me, Raynie and 'Mummers!'

Me, my brother, Lonnie, and his lovely wife, Michele, and HER granddaughter!

Raynie and Katie Love had such a good time together!

My super sweet sister, Nita, and Michele!

We had SUCH a good time!

While the quads were not there - they did get a lot of attention!

Not EVERY family has a set of quadruplets!!!

Fortunately we had photos and a photo book to pass around!

Mother is showing my Aunt Alice the 'Birth Book' Amber gave me.

Aunt Alice is 92 and just now quit driving and had to give up bowling - which she LOVED!! - because the lanes were too far away to walk!!

She and Mother are the two oldest members of our family now.

Mother enjoyed herself!

We were all grateful to be together once again.

Monday morning meant it was time to do last minute chores, clean house and get ready to leave........

but not until we had morning coffee with homemade biscotti from Sabrina!

It was DELICIOUS!!!!

TWO tins!! She gave me TWO tins!

I am being real stingy with it, too!!

Every October I paint a Christmas Santa.....usually painting TWO so I have one for the Fort Worth Family Gift Exchange.

Sabrina usually joins me but last year didn't work out and now we are 250 miles apart on art night - traditionally every Tuesday. I looked and looked and for the longest time I could NOT find the project I had ear marked for 2012.....and FINALLY!!! I looked BEHIND the blank canvas on the easel and there it WAS!!

This Santa is a gift bag I bought last year and I fell in love with it!

I cut the front from the back since it was printed on both sides of the bag and mailed off one of them to Sabrina!

We may paint separately or by Skype but we WILL paint!!

All too soon our 5 days at home were over!!

The car was packed as tight as a drum!

We had one last glass of wine while sitting on the driveway and then Louis Dean was off to bed! At 7:00 pm!!! I stayed up cleaning til nearly 11:00 - finally fell into a deep sleep right before LD woke me up at 2:30 this morning!!

I drive us home on Thursday and he drives us back down here on Tuesday mornings.

I sleep in the back sleep - and though it was a tight fit this trip - I slept all the way!

We arrived in time for me to make the 9:30 am Quad Squad feeding!

Tuesday is one of the days we both stay over there so Amber can take her laptop and get out to do some work.

Louis Dean has been awake since 1:30 this morning and is sitting outside waiting for me so we can light our first fire in the new fire pit he bought for down here!! Supper will be a simple spaghetti and meat sauce and I have promised him he can eat 'fireside!'

It's been a long day but we had a lovely visit back home and are happily settling in to our camper home - once again!!



My Mother's Surgery and My Sister's Bathroom!

It doesn't seem appropriate to have had such a good time on Mother's surgery day!

Even Mother was smiling!!

My mother is such a trooper! Her positive attitude on life has held her in good stead!

My sister, Deanie, is sitting in the corner. You can BARELY see her!

She said, "NO pics!!" I try to respect the privacy of my family when requested!

While I won't say too much about this I do have to tell you what an amazing person Deanie is!! While suffering from some health issues of her own, taking some pretty strong medications which made her feel even worse  and when she SHOULD have been home in bed - she was right there making sure Mother received the best care possible! Mother can't always speak clearly and for medical situations Deanie is her 'voice!'

This is Mother waiting for the doctor to arrive. My wonderful sister in law, Michele, joined us so we made a party of four including Deanie and her husband, Charlie.

The surgery went very well and by 5:00 we were back at Deanie's.

She has THE most comfy guest room and it has been Mother's for the last week and she will continue to stay here until she goes for her follow up appointment.

I stayed with Mother while Charlie and Deanie went out to dinner.

I can't tell you how wonderful it was to just sit up beside her in bed! She reached over and took my hand and said, "NOW!! TELL me!!"

That means TALK! So I did! I told her all about the quadruplets and the sweetness and particulars of each precious baby! I told her all the horror stories of our trip down there with the camper and the first bumpy days when we didn't have hot water - or ANY water - and the microwave went out and all the hilarious things about fitting in to such a small space. Trust me - it was funnier telling her about than when we were actually living it!! We laughed and laughed!!!

We will forever laugh about her time in the recovery room! She wanted to close her eyes and kept lifting her RIGHT eyelid and pulling it out and then pulling it down......kind of like she had something in her eye. I could NOT figure out what she was trying to do! I said, "Just close your eyes and rest." She said, "I'm TRYING!!"

Then she reached over to her LEFT eye (the surgery was on the left side of her face and it was still numb!) and said, "OH!! It's THIS one!!!"

It was fun being with everyone. Nita (the sister Mother lives with) came by after work so I felt like I had seen quite a bit of 'Family' that day.

I had wanted to stop by and see Levi, Sam and Faith ( 3 more grandchildren) on my way home but it was pretty late by the time I left Fort Worth and they had a concert to attend that evening. We have made arrangements to get together with them on my next trip home.

That was the part about my Mother's surgery!

NOW to my sister's bathroom!!

This is the sister with The Fifties Kitchen!

Every room in her home is unique and while she requested me NOT to take HER pic - she did give me permission to take some of her bathroom!!

I love her collection of perfume bottles!

She has clever witty sayings!

Isn't THIS a good rule??

I should start hanging MY evening bags on MY bathroom walls!!

Interesting things EVERYWHERE!!!

I remember these! Leave it to Deanie to actually HAVE one!!

ON her wall! IN her bathroom!!

Now my sister, Nita, can tell you the story behind these ladies pictured on the tins.

She told me but I can't remember except it was something about WWII and airplanes.

I'll have to take more pictures of Nita's house in October when I come back.

Talk about collectibles!!

She and her husband have some awesome things!!

From dinosaurs to Watt pottery to WWII silk fringe pillow covers to vintage toys to YOU NAME IT - they've GOT it!!

Deanie has lots and lots of pretty things.

I, on the other hand, have lots of STUFF! Pretty stuff but still STUFF!

I have some amazing sisters and I am very grateful I am not an only child!

I told Mother, "It's a good thing you had more than ONE daughter!"

I have to say - it's been so nice to be home for awhile.

Babies and the elderly are both 'time sensitive.'

Neither stage lasts long enough!

I'm happy I get to be in both worlds!



Home For a Few Days!

Louis Dean and I are back home for a few days. Before we left I wanted to help feed the quads one last time before we left!

Amber managed to place all four babies in my lap and snap a couple of pics!

Poor things! Just look at how uncomfortable they look!

Next picture taking moment Louis Dean and I will sit on the couch together!

With both of us there will be more room to spread out!

Don't know why we keep forgetting to take a pic of all of us!

I MUST remember!

There are many reasons to come home but the biggest one is my mother.

She had a large black mole on the side of her face. She'd had this for years but when my sister, Deanie, had it checked recently it turned out to be a malignant melanoma.

Last week she had the mole removed - and it was a bigger job than anticipated.

She has spent this past week with Deanie.

Bless Deanie's heart! The brunt of Mother's care is on Nita and Deanie.

Mother has been well taken care of as you can see!

Deanie is worn out and struggling with some health issues of her own.

Nita came to the rescue and left work to take Mother for a follow up visit so Deanie could stay home and try to recuperate before the surgery. Good thing Mother had more than ONE daughter!

I will be going to Fort Worth in the morning to be with them.

We were told they got all the cancer so now they can fix the hole in her head!!

Mother got ever so excited when she was told she would have plastic surgery!

She envisioned a whole face lift!!

Not so!! The surgeon said he would simply take one wrinkle and pull it up and attach it to another one! That doesn't even SOUND nice!!

It's been a long day and LD is already in bed!

I'm heading there now.

This house feels like a MANSION! It is so BIG after living in the camper for nearly 3 weeks! You can WALK around the entire bed here!!

And I have my COLD cold A/C........

and my sound machine........

and my ceiling fan........

There really is no place like HOME!!

Whether it's HERE or whether it's THERE!

As long as we're TOGETHER - we're HOME!