Good Books and Life in General

 In a day, a given number of times, we have received alerts for rain. It seems that nothing substantial has come from the alerts, very little to no rain. We have hope. Roy is faithfully watering his apple trees and the tomato plants. He also waters all the newly planted zinnias. The first year here we experienced drought and we are in heading that way. 

Wednesday morning around 5:15 I woke up with some pain. It was on and off all day. So, I practiced what I preach and forgave myself for not doing anything productive except to feel better. Bit by bit it is working but it emphasizes the need to have a routine and sticking to it. I've not done so the last few days and paying the price now. Some of the strongest pain I have ever felt and yesterday morning I considered if I needed to go to the ER. But, it subsided and was gone by mid morning. Last night I finally had a solid night's sleep. Today we have scraped our original plans mainly to set a routine that will help until the tests are scheduled. Got one on the calendar yesterday. 

 Roy went to the grocery store for us. He used to have to do all the grocery shopping while I recovered from various procedures related to my heart. Then he shopped for himself in Houston. Pretty soon he will know Publix like the back of his hand. All during the pandemic grocery shopping had been my excursion out of the house but since, at least for now, we are going to more things, I don't need the trip like I did. 

Roy has certainly changed his tune about The Feral Fam. He has fallen for the Moe's and that is what he calls Tappy's kittens. He always greets them when he goes into the garage and he has been helping me feed them by working as the enforcer as well as serving the meals prepared. Haha!  His presence keeps the bigger cats out from underneath my feet and can get food served quickly. This morning he did an admiral job at keeping Mama Cat from swatting any of his Moe babies. There are four left. I ordered some antibiotic animal cream to help with the eye boogers. This morning Mo-nay was eating and looked much better. So glad I learned about what could really help them. Mo-nay has strong consideration as a keeper. Just have to watch and see which other kitten she bonds with and make it a package deal. Sweetie looks to be recovering from some kind of attack. A couple of weeks ago she looked like she had been stung by the side of the mouth. The swelling went down but she lost a good bit of her fur underneath her neck. Two puncture wounds, looks like from another cat. I believe that is when she lost her kittens. She had them in the garage and then moved them outside. King Herod usually does damage to ligaments in the back legs, so I don't know if it was him or not. I think that's why she took such an interest in Barney. Yesterday, she had Barney, Benny and Beanie nursing from her. She is not the mom and they are too old. The vet once talked about the trauma of cats living the feral life. It is terrifying for sure.

The rare occurrence has happened, reading two good books in a row. I finished up The Deepest South of All this week. Published in 2020, I purchased it and it found its way onto the TBR pile. Since reading has of late held  little interest in the past year, reading it was delayed. It is not at all what I thought it would be and not only was it entertaining because of eccentric people, it held deep truths and how a town is trying to overcome it's racist past. It is a slow journey but progress and reconciliation are being made. The stories of the recent past coupled with the story of an African Prince sold into slavery in the 1800s is powerful. I've ordered a book written about his life, out of print but found a copy online. Now I am reading The Ballad of Laurel Springs. The story is situated around NC/TN as the Great Smoky National Park is coming together. The author brilliant in how she is telling the story building it chapter by chapter and the literary device she uses to emphasize the narrative. 

I just read an article on an author's early love for the library. It stirred up those memories of Mom taking my brother and I to the Meyer Branch Library. In a life with little excess, the library filled that need by  checking out numerous books and taking them home to read and ponder. During the summer Mom set aside time in the afternoon for reading, resting or playing. Doug in his room and I in mine and I'm sure Mom took that time of quiet to rest or recover from energetic children with a propensity to fight with one another, everyday. I loved that quiet time. Getting up on the bed with that stack of books, oh my, no better feeling to see what to read and then the accomplishment of what I read, all stacked in front of me. Horse stories were the majority of the books or stories from the olden days. Once I began spending six weeks or longer with Grandma in Illinois, out in the country surrounded by farm land, I brought books or found comic books at the grocery store. My grandmother never learned to drive, so no trips to the library but she had Reader Digest Condensed books. A quilt, books, and lemonade out in her side yard under the trees certainly was a lovely way to spend an afternoon. Sometimes I brought coloring books too but it was difficult trying to color with only grass and a blanket providing support. 

I finished up the Laurel Springs book. Wow, just wow. It is one of those books that after you finish reading, you need to go back and read the first chapter again. It all comes together then.  

Thursday Post That Began on Monday

 Several times on the ol' Monablog, I've written about viewing life as a now perceived "elderly" person verses life in your 30s and 40s. What is witty commentary or funny when you're younger doesn't always translate into those older years of life. Antics of the bygone don't always travel well and those words or actions need to be filed away in the good memories department. It's funny as we get older we work extremely hard at delaying the inevitable with moisturizers, skin care products, hair color, workouts we did when we were thirty...it's a job looking young, younger. Some enjoy the job whereas, here of late, I've gone to part time employment in the application of all that the work entails. This came to mind on Sunday afternoon because Roy was the object of attention in an overview for a Lay Renewal Weekend. Our church is considering having one of these weekends in the fall. The speaker presented all the info of what the weekend entails as well as the prep work for it. Roy had his iPad to take notes. He is a big believer in the app Mind Mapping. It  basically looks like you're diagraming a sentence. To a speaker it probably looked like Roy was playing a game or something. When it came time to discuss the presentation, the speaker directed a comment at Roy, calling him young man. Roy looked up from his note taking and the speaker asked Roy if he would feel more competent in doing something if he knew people were praying for him. Ah yes, the famous Roy pause happened. I watched him as he thought and calculated his answer and the speaker said, something to the effect of the answer is yes. Somewhere in the exchange Roy "playing" on his iPad was mentioned. Roy, wasn't going to let the moment pass without his response, which was a little ragged because this man had pushed a button, so to speak. Roy said, if I was involved in something where the Lord is using me, I have prayed for this myself and he briefly gave the example of being robbed in December, how God gave him supernatural peace with a gun pointed at him. The only response the speaker could give was, you are much farther ahead than most of us. Velda turned to me and whispered, Roy is who we go to when we want someone to pray for us.  Afterwards, Roy went to the man and showed him his notes and what he was doing. The whole scene was dismissed as, oh I was just teasing with you. Well, no not really. The supposed inattention had bothered this guy. This was an older couple presenting and we being old, this just means they are probably five or six years older than us. But what happened might have worked in pointing Roy out if we were all in our 40s or if it was 1982. Spoken out of frustration of a situation like a teacher or parent making an example to others, don't be like Roy, the iPad playing guy. On the drive home after church I asked if he was upset. No, in the moment, yes, for a second. Roy's theory was this, it was just a macho move by the guy. The preceding just my opinion and observation knowing Roy and the sometimes reactions of others.

I had my long awaited doctor appointment on Monday and I think we have answers and on the right track for resolution to some issues since last summer. Issues that have come and gone, not staying around too long. A general malaise also eased up a bit but when the first few months of Roy's retirement held a lot of stress due to timely matters and time was running short, well it had effects. For the most part since 2008 I internalize stress and it plays havoc. As matters resolved in the paperwork arena the stress lessened leaving behind the issues. The doctor said I should just totally reboot and so that is what I am going to do. Roy has been so supportive while traversing these things and that means so much. 

The loss and sorrow fell together this morning. Tappy had a litter of kittens about five weeks ago. I posted a few pics but have been rather quiet about them. This week it became painfully obvious that two of them were not going to make it. MoMo passed on Monday and kitten #2 passed last night. Both times, Tappy took them away in the night. For a few minutes yesterday the consideration of keeping kitten 2 was front and center. I brought her in yesterday afternoon and gave her a bath. She bundled up in the towel and purred away. She never had too steady of a gait and sitting with her close up, I noticed that her front paw had not developed correctly and her back legs were fragile. She also looked blind in her left eye. I took her back outside and the sibling she is the closest to, sat with her in the familiar cat position when one of them is sick. 

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I thought kitten #2 had been taken away by Tappy, but sadly, we found it when we returned home. It had crawled into one of the cat bed with hidey holes. In other cat news, Benny is thriving and Beanie and Barney are too. Barney has been taken in by Tippy's protégé. 

We made a Costco and Strawberry Hill trip yesterday. Got back rested a bit and then we went to the second session of Walk Thru the Bible at church. We've really enjoyed it so far. 

In the cool of the evenings on Monday and Tuesday, we have worked on planting zinnias. Roy got tomato cages for his crop. Love the flowers of spring and early summer. 

Rain and Blooms and Blossoms...

 A Friday that holds the promise of rain. Our area is in a slight drought. Mike the Mower Man discussed options with me on Wednesday for the next few weeks concerning the mowing schedule. So, we will keep an eye on that. Roy dutifully waters his newest apple trees and now that he has planted tomatoes, he keeps them on his radar screen as well. 

This week held a lot for both of us. I had bloodwork on Tuesday. We could have gone here to LabCorp in town but we went down to the doctor office to have it taken. We had kind of planned a few things on that trip to the area and wanted to keep them. Anytime Another Broken Egg is included in the plans is just fine with us. After a delicious breakfast we did some shopping that included a stroll around Barnes and Noble. One of the books I was looking for is in pre-order and there are still so many unread books on the pile I was rather good. Only getting a WNC magazine with an article on Biltmore and Fredrick Law Olmstead. Roy bought a book on surviving anything because it is interesting and discounted significantly. 

Wednesday the eagle left the nest for most of the afternoon and only missed two turns on his adventure. Roy had an appointment with the dentist to be fitted for a mouth guard. No, not taking up contact sports but his was stolen in December and he has been sleeping with a generic over the counter guard at night. He had to go back to Safelite to align the front camera with the assisted driving thing which couldn't be done last week due to the wet roads. After that, he drove over to the barber shop, then filled up the car and went to the nail place to get a pedicure...mainly just to get his nails cut. No polish involved. Ha! Since he was there by the Publix, he ran in got some of their Apron Dinners and a few other things. When he returned home, he was pooped. I was quite proud of him getting all of that taken care of. While he was gone I got the back porch ready for summer, cleaned out the ice maker, vacuumed, worked on some paperwork and did a few things outside. Both busy and both pooped by the end of the day. Of course having a possum, a big possum, go into the garage ended our day on a high note. Between the two of us we got him out. The garage was not his original destination but was diverted from going under the porch by a cat or two. We worked in the yard a little later than usual and with the garage door open and a little bit of food left, it seemed to be the thing to do. Food and treats are put up every evening to keep this kind of thing from happening but everything was too tempting. For us working in the cool dusk evening and for the possum is was a little bit of dry food. 

Up early to take Mustang Sam over to the mechanic. It's inspection time and we went ahead and had the oil changed and then have the powertrain checked on after the one time the little light thing came on the dashboard. We headed over to TN for Dr Enuf and a trip to Kroger, which was kind of successful but not really. They were out of the almonds Roy loves but we did get a deal on crackers. The Food City nearby the Kroger was out of Dr Enuf so it was over to the Food City on the way home. Roy stocked up. He drinks a lot of them. Love that he is a plan and math man. He did the math to figure out how to make the trip payoff since there is the high prices of gasoline verses the nearly by a dollar cheaper Dr Enuf in TN price verses here. It works out according to his calculations and I just enjoy the drive. 

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Well the promise of rain was less than stellar. So once again today, the forecast holds the chance and scattered when it comes to rain. We spent a good part of the day Friday working outside. Roy cut back the fir tree by our little road. We also trimmed the bloomed out azaleas as well as the other lilac. The ornamental weeping cherry tree's branches had become a little too weepy, so trimmed them and the roses nearby might have expressed some gratitude for the sunlight. The ever growing population of weeds were pulled somewhat. The sunflowers I planted are starting to burst through the dirt so that is always a great and happy moment. Planted a few more zinnias and snap dragons in containers. So, it was a productive day. 

This morning I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep so instead of tossing and turning, got up and read a bit. After a bit of reading, I was able to fall asleep in the recliner until I heard Roy stirring and asked if I had started the coffee. Oops, no but fixed that situation soon enough. 

The Feral Fam was in full force this morning. Hungry, that is for sure. The drama of Sweetie moving Barney continues and she has branched out a bit but Benny, Beanie and Barney are getting too big. Benny has watched Blazey and Charlie come and greet at the door. He joined in this morning and wanted to be petted. Junior showed up a couple of times this week to nurse his wounds from KH. Baby is usually right there with him but didn't see Baby. It has been about a month since seeing Punky. Her daughter, Toupee, has taken up the mantle of cranky and grouchy. It seems strange to have both Punky and Strawyer gone after they were such mainstays for so long. Yet, Mama Cat is still here. The original matriarch of the Feral Fam.  

Our Friend and Teacher, Gale Murray

 In Hebrews 11 after all the people of faith are mentioned, the verse that follows starts out with the word, others. The others are faithful ones who stood fast in faith with the Lord in persecution and ultimately paid the price with their lives. No names given but the phrase, "they were too good for this world" always stands out. A week ago Sunday children, grandchildren, friends, loved ones and Newfound Baptist Church lost one of those too good for this world, Gale Murray. She was my Sunday School teacher when I first arrived here. 

She had difficulties along the way but from all I've seen, they never discouraged her from having a joyful heart and finding that strength she needed in the joy of the Lord. Her laugh was infectious and lovely to hear yet her knowledge of the Bible was immense and she delighted in sharing and teaching God's Word. Gale's enthusiasm for taking God's Word to the world couldn't be squelched. Her family and friends adored her. Her presence made every party or gathering special when she put her touch on the event. Many Sundays we were welcomed into our Sunday School room, with praise music playing in the background. All the materials that came with the quarterlies, well she used them. Those maps were thumbtacked to the bulletin board as she pointed out the major areas or cities of whomever we were studying about that morning. We passed around the Bible Illustrator magazine to see ruins and sacred places as well as knowing the history of events and stories in the Holy Land. 

There are many others who have known her much longer but whether it was a short time or a lifetime, she made her mark and impression on your life. Once when Lisa P visited, we invited her to come along on a drive through the Blue Ridge Parkway. She sat on the edge of her seat, full safety belted in of course, taking in the rich beauty of the drive. Lisa is afraid of heights and the parkway doesn't always have guardrails on the curves. We stopped at the Pisgah Inn to take in some views. We walked gingerly to a railing keeping in mind Lisa's aversion to heights. We arrive at the railing, Lisa is somewhat relaxed and finally taking it all in when Gale says, "you know that is a long way down, higher than I thought." I am laughing, Lisa isn't moving a muscle and Gale, she realizes that might have not been the right thing to say at the moment, but dang it, we laughed and teased each other so hard on our trip back to the parking lot. Before knee replacements, touring the Biltmore House was not something I was able to do anymore, but Gale being a passholder came to the rescue and took Lisa through the house. Gale knew the history and the stories of the rooms and it was better than a Biltmore docent giving a tour. Lisa and I were staying at the Inn for Lisa to get the Inn on the Biltmore Estate experience and also to celebrate my birthday. Gale met us at the Inn and she loved the room we had. She said, well I better go to the bathroom before going to the house and I can say this is the fanciest bathroom, I have to take advantage of the experience. While she was in there, she left her phone and let's just say her two mischievous friends took selfies for entertainment purposes that she might just enjoy later. After they toured the house, we all had lunch on the Veranda. What a memorable birthday celebration. 

Gale had The JOY Class over several times for class parties. The views and the iconic barn set the stage of the mountains. We especially enjoyed her new picture window that had an outstanding view. She was a good hostess and may I also mention, cook. Once when Dena was visiting, Gale asked if we'd like to go back to her house after the 5th Sunday fellowship at church. Dena had a blast, we all did, but getting to see that special place was a treat for Dena.

 At that time I took a picture of Gale's desk near a window. She prepared and prayed each week for her lesson at that spot. I had the picture up where I could see it at home to remember to pray for Gale as she prepared to teach each week.

Gale and Judy approached me during a church fellowship when Carole Lewis was here visiting. Judy asked if I would like to teach every third Sunday. What is so funny and yes, God is always in the details, that very afternoon Carole asked me when I would take up teaching again. Told her I had laid that at Jesus' feet, not to pick up again. Carole responded, well I am going to pray that God will let you know to pick teaching back up and that night, Judy and Gale asked the third Sunday question. Later I asked Carole if she had heard the question and she had but didn't really thinking anything of it...I said, they asked me to start team teaching and Carole happy then sad. She said I didn't even get to pray about that. And as they say the rest is history. 

In July 2019 after the back porch had been remodeled, I had the class over for a Saturday afternoon party. Gale announced then due to health reasons, she would be stepping away from teaching and passing the torch to me. She left some big shoes to fill and I don't know that I am doing a good job with those organizational and personal touches she added to our lives. Oh and Bible knowledge....

At her service on Saturday, which was truly beautiful and honoring, we all were reminded or learned that all her joy, her example, her teaching, her enthusiasm, and love has left a legacy on her family, her love and work for the Lord will carry on. They serve the Lord and others. The video tribute to her had the children and grandchildren telling stories of life and memories. So well done. Gale had requested balloons at her service and they were absolutely beautiful in arrangement.

Yesterday morning the lesson was on perseverance and enduring. The perfect lesson to give us a chance to remember our friend, tear up a bit and then joyfully laugh. We will see you again Gale. Hope you've met my mom in heaven. I sure do love you! Thank you for investing in me. 

Taking Too Long Long To Write

 The call we never thought would come, came Tuesday. The detective on the case concerning the robbery in December called to let us now that our car had been found. Yes, it had different plates as well as being totally trashed, windows broken and the catalytic converter gone. It was found in an abandoned apartment complex. He gave us the procedures for our choices, have it towed here or release it to the city and it will be sold for scrap. It was an easy choice, but we didn't quite have all the facts on how this was to be handled. Would we have to pay impound fees? Did we have to come for anything to the city I never want to return to? We no longer have keys to it so the decision once having the facts was easy, let the city dispose of our once older but fine car. I told several friends it had been found and most said, well now you have closure...no, we don't. We had closure as we drove back home that rainy Sunday morning. We just came to the conclusion quickly to not worry about what was lost but take care of the business that needed to be handled as a result of the robbery. The news that Sequisha had been found just ripped a hole in our hearts. One can't help but wonder how long she has been sitting there? Our first trip in Sequisha was for a Christmas stay at the Inn on the Biltmore Estate. It is a shame for her to end up broken, trashed and scrap. 

With dental appointments on Tuesday and bookings for future work and cleaning, Roy liked his first visit to the dentist here. They had a cancellation so he was able to get in earlier than the middle of May. The work on the last lower back tooth was in the stars for me. That is the toughest tooth to sit through on repairs. The water goes straight down your throat and no way to stop it so I had to ask for several breaks to swallow water to continue. We came straight home because the bike repairman was supposed to be here. He didn't come. Roy has left messages and texts. 

Yesterday was haircut day for me. A little later than the earlier appointments and I got the last parking spot close by the salon. BV gets really busy for the next months, well into December that's for sure. 

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Roy is taking the Mustang to get the windshield replaced a little later. I am staying home to work on the SS lesson. By this time I have usually have an outline but so far, no outline. The direction I am leaning toward is in place. My progress is hindered by a cold that came out of the blue. No fever or anything but dang, it takes the energy away. Partly too is the car news on Tuesday. That was an emotional afternoon and evening gaining back to steady ground. The windshield replaced, but he will have to go back next week to get the windshield calibrated with the front camera. It was too wet to do so. 

This year the strawberries have been especially sweet and good. Last year was such a weird weather one especially in the spring. Not as many strawberries. Then peaches and apples were affected. 

I am struck how Paul concerned himself that the Thessalonians would  persevere. That first chapter of II Thessalonians packs a wallop. Faith and love, the return of Jesus, the fate of those who do not know Him and to persevere in the midst of persecution and difficult times. 

Spring Time And The Fam

 The fragrance of lilac fills the air. Our front yard is full of fragrant blooms and the snowball bushes are just about ready to explode. The dull sticks of March have finally become decorated with spring. I have always been a fall season type but spring here in the mountains is challenging my favorite season. We put out a couple of raised garden containers near the side flowerbed and we are in the midst of determining if what is growing is a perennial plant verses a perennial weed that has run amuck. I wish we could say if it is a weed it spreads quickly but alas, the brown eye susans are spreading quickly in the same flowerbed. I don't want to buy an app to identify so I went to the NC agriculture page and looked up weeds in WNC. It certainly was helpful in identification. 

The saga of the continuing exploits of the Feral Fam has been entertaining to say the least. Cutie's three are doing well but Sweetie chases and then brings back the runt of the litter back into the garage. He fights her tooth and nail. When she is distracted he heads out of the garage only for the process to begin again. I saw him last night with his siblings and he is considerably smaller than they are. On Saturday, as we worked once again in the flowerbeds and as we cleaned the back porch, I saw a little bit of Feral Fam life that I have seen before and don't like. Cutie called out for her babies. Beanie and Barney straight up followed her with Benny lagging a bit behind. A motorcycle noise scared Benny and he ran back into the garage for shelter. Cutie, went through the slats of the fence, B and B following her and she took them down the gravel road. She was gone a long time and she returned without her babies. She went straight to the water bowl and drank water like she'd been in the desert. Oh no, just like her ancestors, I thought she had taken them down the gravel road and abandoned them. Now, she was looking for Benny. Ensconced in the garage, he didn't budge. Finally, her siren song called him out and he began to follow her up the stairs. She went through the fence and waited. Sweetie watched this with me and she began to dog Benny's steps trying to impede his progress. I picked up a large stick and threw it away for all the drama. It frightened Benny and he ran back to the garage. With Sweetie on duty I went into the house for a minute but when I returned, no Benny, no Cutie. It hit me hard because in the midst of all of this Roy and I tried to catch Benny, which we did but in the transfer from Roy to me, Benny wiggled his way out of Roy's grasp. I figured Benny and the rest of the Bs were gone. Cutie came back while I was putting supper out for those waiting. Cutie, barring KH's presence, was now public enemy number 1 on my list. Back inside the house I moped a bit while doing all the stuff that needed completing. Later in the early evening, I went back out to the garage to put some dry food out for the supper stragglers. Sitting near the food bowls, the three Bs. Maybe the excursion to the woods had merely been Cutie taking her kittos to the homeplace where she grew up, you know where she and her siblings had to walk five miles in snow to get to school. Punky hadn't brought her litter to the backyard until they were almost like teenagers in cat months. Maybe she was teaching them to have a wilderness experience. Don't know but thrilled they all returned. 

This morning I was kind of dreading going out to see The Fam because when I returned home from choir last night, Sweetie had one side around her mouth swollen. She sat in her usual spot for the snack but she didn't eat anything. It seemed throughout the day as I saw her from a distance, she was lethargic and not herself. She wasn't keeping up with Barney and I wondered if she had been over where her almost one week old kittens are. Because Sweetie was just staring at me, I thought well, is she trying to communicate she needed help? But, she did not let me near her. Came inside googled up cat with a swollen side of the mouth and tried to figure out what to do. Before going outside, I checked her usual backyard prebreakfast perch, not there. The Fam got breakfast early and as I made my way over to the prep area, I saw her. She quickly moved out the others crowding her usual spot. No swelling and she ate two big bowls of food. Google and I decided that she probably had an encounter with an insect or her teeth were telling her, quit carrying too big of kittens around. She didn't seem lethargic this morning so hopefully she is on the mend. The Three Bs were there ready to eat, especially Benny and Beanie. Barney slept in a bit but came out to eat before I finished putting out food. 

Roy is certainly enjoying strawberry time especially the ones from SC. It is fun having him here to see all the stuff he didn't experience too much while being here for a week or so. Being retired agrees with him. It agrees with me too. He just came inside after pulling more weeds. Some people have farms, some have flower farms, we seem to attract every type and kind of weeds that spread and take over in a nights time. 

Attachments to Places

 

I suspect most everyone reading this knows precisely what I'm talking about. Our emotional attachment to specific places can be as deeply rooted as our attachments to certain people; indeed, our most deeply felt feelings about people are usually associated with specific places. George Ellison

Nature Journal

I saw this quote from an article in the newspaper and quickly got it saved to access. Some of our driving conversations this weekend centered in on just this thought. As we drove further east, away from the mountains, we would comment on the scenery. Hmmm....this looks like east Texas or Alabama between Birmingham and Gadsden. We saw a swampish looking area and of course we thought of southern Louisiana. Roy and I talked about our travels with and with others through those areas as we saw them. By the Costco, it was all Houston thoughts. Traffic, abundance of shops and restaurants. Driving into Winston Salem, felt like approaching Houston as the freeway widens and street lights run the whole way throughout the freeway. Happy thoughts of time, place and people but it is when we begin to head back toward the mountains, my emotional attachment comes alive. Roy says the countenance of my face changes. With the mountains the attachment to friends is right there as well. We say to each other at least once a week, best decision we made in deciding to move and retire here. It keeps us mentally sharp because there is always something new to learn here and I might add always something to do or take care of.  

A humorous situation has developed in the garage with the Feral Fam. It seems that Sweetie has decided to take over mothering the three kittens. As Cutie is spending more time away from them, Sweetie is the ever watchful eye. They have been exploring outside, playing under the pallets and under the skinny fir trees, can't remember what they are called. She will pick them up by the knap of the neck and drag them back into the garage, places them in a safe spot and as soon as she goes out to get another one, the carried one escapes. They fight her tooth and nail but she is constant in her care of being the watchkeeper of those young ones. 

For the first time ever we are thinking about a long day trip to Mt Airy, Andy Griffiths home town. I usually don't like to go to places like that but several people have written in a Carolina Day Trip group I belong to about their foray into nostalgia. During the pandemic, The Andy Griffith Show became background noise for me. Familiar and quick recognition of episodes I don't care for is what got my attention. Last summer I had so much trouble with my attention span, more than the usual, and having that familiar whistle in the background was comforting. I told Roy last year when I was getting upset over how much everyone enabled Barney, too much. Also it seems that they just rewrote episodes each season cause there are major themes that occur. 

Zillow and Realtor.com emails still come through and I do look at them from time to time. Accidently I came across a house that we see from a distance each time we head into TN. It is on the market with a recent reduction in price.  Eight bedrooms, two kitchens and an in ground swimming pool. Not interested but it was interesting to see the inside of the house. 

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Check up and cleaning at the dentist office yesterday morning. Nearly a good report except for one troublesome spot. I'll be back next week. After the appointment I decided to do the spring drive though the Biltmore Gardens. A few tulips were holding on but I came for the azaleas. I was not disappointed. I took a walk through Antler Hill Village and bought cheese straws and rosemary crackers at the winery. I drove through the gardens twice trying to get good pictures of the azaleas on the right side of the car. First time through had a car trailing me and that was also true for the second time around. I felt so disappointed and turned into a little pull off to debate walking back to get the pic. I looked up and there was this scene. 

What a gift from the Lord. I wasn't feeling all that bad about missing those right side of the road azaleas. Came home, picked up Roy and off to the Publix. He was out of apron meals and I was running low on the goat cheese with cherry port topping I love. They only had one left but we scored two taco meals. One of which we will have for lunch today. 

This morning the news brings a brush fire near the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway and yesterday the news of the fire at the Ocoee White Water Rafting Center, home of Olympic and Olympic training center for rafting completely destroyed the building. We usually passed up a stop but one year when Dena and I were on our way to the Biltmore, we stopped. As we took pics and guy there told us we were getting a rare treat with the gates opened and the white water was flowing. They didn't do that too much. We also got great pictures of the signage over the bridge and was dismantled several years later. 

This morning off to get strawberries and look for Zinnias. Sounds like a fun day. 

A Whole Gamut of Emotions

 Yesterday we headed east and drove further than what we have driven before in the state of North Carolina. Our destination, the Winston Salem area for a celebration with friends and family of DC and Judy for the occasion of  their 50th wedding anniversary. It was simply marvelous and the gathering of loved ones was fun and the meal delicious. The desserts? Well, very good but I am jumping ahead in the story. Roy had looked online and found a Costco in that area, so we are almost always up for a Costco trip and thus we left a little earlier to make that fun run or walk at the Costco. Not only is there a Costco all around it are stores I like to shop. Lots of good places to eat too. The only knock on the Costco there is this; it is the most counterintuitive Costco I've ever been to. It got to be a bit overwhelming for me but Roy said it kind of reminded him of the Costco in Katy so he got his bearings much faster. Of course any Saturday at any Costco is busy and this held true. We filled up with $3.43 gasoline, then headed into the store. 

Once we left Costco, we were about forty minutes away from our destination. Arrived and went about celebrating and having fun. It was such a fun casual setting. The best kind! Dressing up is overrated in my book. We left around 4:20 because, old person alert..., we wanted to get home before it got dark. The Feral Fam was very hungry and happy to see us, well me. Blazey who has been out and about the last few days ate seconds and a bit of third servings. The little kittens were hanging with the big ones until food is served. I thought we might have lost the black with a white tuft of fur due to the Mama Cat swipe and fight she directed toward the little one. He went outside and into the backyard. We searched for him until it was dark so all you can do is pray. He was at breakfast this morning and he had a much nicer time at the food bowl with Mama Cat not in attendance. Benny let me pick him up and pet him without a fight so progress is being made. 

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Monday morning, a new week ahead. The week will not hold Tippy though. Yesterday morning, Sunday, our neighbor texted to let me know that one of the male cats had been hit by a car. They moved him off the road and over toward our side of the road. I thought for sure it was Blazey because he likes going across the road, but it was Tippy. To our knowledge he hadn't shown that much interest but guess cats being curious and all.  Tippy was one of the Fam that wanted to give in and be petted but just couldn't let himself. He would nuzzle between Toupee and Blazey by the steps and would get a few head rubs "accidently" from me. Just in the last few weeks he stationed himself right behind the food container, stretching out the length to keep any other family members from getting first dibbs but he always shared with Sweetie and his protegee. I dreaded going out there this morning to feed them cause that is when if any interaction was going to happen, it was then. Since the weather is warming up, a few of The Fam were sitting on the back step looking into the kitchen window this morning. They heard the click of the unlock and were there to greet me by the backdoor. Toupee and Blazey together, Charlie bringing up the rear, and Sweetie and Cutie hanging back a bit. Tappy sat by me as I prepared the bowls. Tippy was a pleasant member of the Fam. Even in mating times, he wasn't like a typical male tom cat, he kind of acted like a gentleman about the whole thing. The gift this morning, all three kittens were asleep on the second shelf by the food. So, no hunting for them this morning. I confirmed yesterday that all three kittens are boys. 

The adventure east on Saturday wore me out something fierce and I was thankful to have asked June in advance if she would teach the class. I figured I'd be there but it just wasn't going to happen. It was nice last week while getting things done not to have preparing the lesson in the back of my mind. This morning I am ready to hit the books, so to speak. 

Still being on the quest to find Tex Mex, I have decided to see if we can do a Costco trip and a good Mexican Restaurant in the vicinity. Thought Knoxville would be the perfect option once they get the roadwork done near the TN/NC border but alas Abuelo's closed during the pandemic is not reopening. Our next bet is going to Marietta Ga. The pros for the trip, don't have to go through Atlanta to get there and the second pro is, there is a Pappasita's nearby. Oh happy day! The third pro is the route is beautiful. The cons, traffic, near Atlanta...almost a three and a half hour trip. So, we shall see if we decide to ever do that but at least we have informed information. 

All the Adventure With Less Side Effects

 It was a raucous bunch out there for breakfast this morning. Always seems to happen if Mama Cat is around. She was laying down the law to all the youngins that she is the oldest and to be respected. Who knows what they think, but those kitties all do the slow walk as not to attract attention when she is around. She took a swipe at Benny and he ran for cover in his preferred napping place waiting her out. Once the food is out and distributed they all calm down. The three were in attendance, so that is always a good morning greeting. 

We decided to take a little spring drive yesterday that included a stop at Food City. Roy loves Dr Enuf and his supply was getting love. He discovered their herbal blend and loves that as well. The trees are blooming out and the drives around NC and TN were gorgeous. We stopped several times to take pictures. Roy is finally getting to see what I've talked about for the past few years how spring suddenly explodes and the very look from dormant to life is wonderous. The multi-use flowerbed saw the last few blooming tulips and with just a few, Mike weed eated the area so our next season can transform into container/raised bed gardening. Our experiment this year is using cheap plastic kiddie pools for annuals. I've been researching how we can utilize the pools and the space and it seems very do-able. We were at Lowe's earlier in the week and as rubberized mulch was loaded into the back of the truck, several ladies stopped and asked us where we found the pools. Not in Lowe's but at Dollar General. We still need to wait until after Mother's Day to plant a few things or a lot of things, but I think we've had dogwood and blackberry winter...had a freeze warning on Tuesday into Wednesday morning. 

Wednesday, it was Blue Rooster and Ducketts day. We shopped at Publix, brought stuff home and headed over for lunch at Blue Rooster. Fried chicky day and I debated that since I have a cardiologist appointment today. So to make it feel even Stephen in my mind, no coconut cake but the collards and homemade applesauce was good. Roy had country steak. We headed over to Tractor Supply since it is in the same general area, got dry cat food and looked at plants. Off to Ducketts for strawberries and to top it all off, the lady that does the canning and baked goods was there filling her empty shelves. I got to thank her for making such delicious green beans and greasy beans. On the way home yesterday, we stopped at TJs Produce Market in Mars Hill. Got a couple of heirloom tomatoes. While we were standing in line, I was telling Roy about a previous visit from several years ago when I asked about Mr. Stripy tomatoes. I asked if they were tomatoes grown by a local man, Mr. Stripy. Just like that long ago day, the ladies in line laughed at that story yesterday. They are heirloom tomatoes and I will add they are very tasty. 

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Off a in a little bit for a Saturday adventure. The adventure yesterday? A visit to the cardiologist. This was a rescheduled visit since I was in the twixt of converting to Medicare in February. All in all it was a good visit. He tweaked the new med, well new since November because of some side effects. We discussed some of what I was experiencing and my nonprofessional opinion lined up with his opinion on the amount of stress I've experienced since the end of December and the effects of said stress. It is usually an entertaining time of people watching in a Dr office. Yesterday, was a good people observation day. The new protocol in their office is waiting for your appointment behind the golden door, that closed door between the waiting room and inner office. I think one of the cardiologists was in emergency surgery and so his patients were being worked in with my cardiologist. An older couple sat six feet away and their conversation while not entertaining but more irritating, kept me from reading my book. Dang, no paper to take notes on. Their conversation kept going in the same circles as they discussed the next day appointments at the VA and the appointment after seeing the cardiologist with the pacemaker guy. The circle ended with, well, thirty minutes before seeing the Dr. He would then say to her, watched time always goes slow. They made at least four circled conversation in the ten minutes I sat near them. When they called me to go into the inner, inner room, the wife exclaimed...what, she is seeing the Dr too? Then they assured her they were the next patient. There are some old people things that I am content with or maybe accepted but I do not want to be one of those patients that shows up an hour before the appointment. We are also working hard not to be couple Dr visits. We will cross that bridge when the time arrives. The idea was tempting yesterday because we could drive through the Biltmore Estate on such a beautiful spring day but we decided that Roy getting the new modem and router installed was a far better thing to do. We made the right decision.  

The Feral Fam got an early morning treat again but I will feed them a little later than usual this morning. 

The Day After Easter

 The day after Easter and the resurrection of Jesus still is true and is still to be celebrated. The past few days I have been reminded of previous Easters. Early on before moving to Houston, when we lived close to Chicago, most of those toddler day Easter pictures have coats and jackets, but a few pics to get the full effect of Mary Jane black paten leather shoes, ruffled socks, frilly dress and a hat with a little elastic strap under the chin outfit to go to church. My mom dressed stylishly as we posed for pictures. Houston childhood Easter pictures were not that definitive. I do remember one Easter dress that my mom bought me, smocked on the bodice floral print dress. It was probably one of the best days of my life because my father and brother were on an Indian Guide campout leaving my mom and I to go shopping, eat at the Wyatt's Cafeteria and then go see the movie Cat Ballou. If my dad had been there he would have never let me get the little bit pricey dress. I wore that dress every chance I got. Now, I don't even think about Easter dress up for church. Yesterday, I wore a dress bought at the end of last summer. Warm enough for the cool temps with a denim jacket and leggings. It was the first day of this season not wearing boots. 

Saturday night I played Easter music. Rich, deep tones of Easter organ music always gets to me. Love that majestic sound that gives a prelude to a service. I listened to Second Chapter of Acts Easter Song, Sandi and Larnell  Harris sing, I've Just Seen Jesus and I cried. Well maybe it was more like teared up. Listened to Black Gospel as well as Southern Gospel Easter songs. Such joy came. Our Sunday School lesson was found in Matt 28 but we kind of went through all the gospels looking at the Resurrection Story. What stood out while studying was, the early morning and the women. Of course, yes, Jesus is the main emphasis, but what the faithfulness of the women and the two secret believers in Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicademus. They hold strong that part of the narrative until the disciples come to understand all that Jesus had told them about what was going to happen once they got to Jerusalem. Reading the accounts in the Wuest NT Bible brought more understanding to all that happened. I don't know if it is because I am older now, that these stories have much more meaning than previous times. 

Roy was up early Sunday morning. He helped prepare breakfast for those who participated in the sunrise service. He stayed for Sunday School but was too tired to sit still long enough in church. He wisely came home to rest. I got to sit with Brenda for big church. It has been awhile because of pandemic and such. Roy and I fixed maple glazed ham, sweet potatoes and greasy beans for our Easter lunch. We got the beans from Duckett's Produce on Friday. A local lady sells her mason jar canned veggies. We also bought some of her homemade salsa. Haven't tried that yet, but we will. Think we will go back and buy more of her veggies. It was a quiet afternoon for us. Roy took a nap, hardly ever does that, and he took it easy. He was going to go out and do a few things, but we decided to truly rest. Roy has always pushed himself to get things taken care of both at the office and at home, really wherever he was helping or serving. I am getting used to this side of Roy, where he doesn't push himself so hard and is truly relaxing. 

There are two people that I went through all of school with, beginning in elementary through high school, Randy and Roxie. Roxie left FB long ago and so we don't keep in touch, but Randy is still on FB. He gave the sad news of his mother's passing. I don't remember too many moms that were room mothers but I remember his. I think our moms were room mothers of various grades throughout our elementary school years. 

Not up early yesterday but I am today. Did watch the online services, partly, of The Pretty Place and Chimney Rock. Watched mainly for the sunrise. This morning it is raining. The Feral Fam will be in full attendance for breakfast and with the rain maybe, just maybe, I'll get more inside projects completed. 

Bunny Trail Once Again

 Oh the beauties of a rainy mountain morning. That means the garage is harboring the Feral Fam and not waiting so patiently for better cat liking weather. Of course breakfast was welcomed by all. The morning began early when getting up around 5:00 am after awakening from a crazy, didn't make sense dream. John Bolin was singing opera for the morning service and Joan Brunson was his accompanist but we all thought it was Jill. That is upon John taking a deep breath, Joan stopped playing the piano and telling funny stories. That sequence happened several times in the dream. Whoever was sitting across the aisle from me got to laughing so hard over Joan's interrupting and then telling funny stories, that she spilled her mac and cheese all over the floor in the worship center. I got to laughing so hard, I couldn't even help pic up the spilled mac and cheese. Then I woke up. I wonder if eating at Carraba's yesterday triggered the dream? By the way, the opera music John was singing, truly beautiful. 

Our choir gave an Easter concert Sunday night. It was done so well and the music outstanding. Several of the arrangements were Cindy Berry ones, which reminded me of her arrangements we sung at First Baptist back in the day. I will be coming back to choir after Easter. What a great time to come back, finally the altos outnumber the sopranos. Afterwards, it was to the Fellowship Hall for cake and ice cream for a missionary family near and dear to the church, the father grew up at Newfound. He spoke Sunday morning and his honesty and vulnerability along with preaching the Word, was refreshing. Honestly, I usually punt a service where a missionary speaks because everything is too predictable in the options of what they will speak on, but not Sunday. They leave Friday for a new country. 

A friend asked me Sunday night if I miss Houston. Not really, not Houston per se but I do miss friends. Now that Roy is here, no turning back, no turning back. I miss different things, mostly food, in Houston. An article about the River Oaks Tennis Tournament came through on my timeline this morning giving five reasons why you shouldn't miss it. Roy's company sponsored it for several years back in the day. It was many people's social event of the spring each year. Clay court tennis played at one of the ritziest and for some, the most coveted membership to a country club. When friends or company offered tickets, I always chose the early to mid rounds. Courtside seats and/or entrance to the VIP area above the court with complementary food and drink. Ah yes, complementary is country club talk for free. I played tennis with a few friends who were ROCC members and they would get a table or two for the luncheon and fashion show that kicked off the week long event. Those tables were not easy to come by. One year our team got a picture taken with Jimmy Conner. The tennis players comprised of up and coming as well as on the road to the senior tour...thus Jimmy being there as well as John McEnroe. Saw Pete Sampras play before he was Pete Sampras. Our tickets to the matches usually came with the close in and on the property parking. We were not left to find a parking spot on the streets in front of the richest homes in Houston. The final on Sunday was the place to be seen and who are you wearing for many. That never interested me cause sitting in some dress up clothes to watch tennis in 90 degree temperature is not my idea of fun and because I had no interest or any kind of financial means to be a social climber being rather happy on a lower rung. I remember fun times with friends mostly. Roy only went once or twice, tennis has never been high on his interests except only, it made me happy at that time. Sunday night, I was telling my friend about some of the more interesting characters I met along the way by playing tennis. Some of their life experiences were like movies. Others were so down to earth and you'd never know their monetary worth. Last year I looked up several of the ladies I played with and many of them have passed away. There was one woman in particular, after reading her obituary, the details of her life explained a lot about who she was. Those former University of Texas beauty queens of sororities of the long ago, many don't ever see themselves realistically in their 60s and 70s. Those days when they could drink to excess and not have it phase them. That doesn't carry well into old age if one is still drinking the copious amount of alcohol, carrying with them their travel liquor cabinet and flask. She was a tenacious tennis player and was always up for something fun after games or tournaments. She could easily get on your last nerve and who of us can't do that, but she fought an uphill battle. There was a pecking order and I have always said, I was in their world but not of their world. It helped that my tennis game was pretty good.  Well, it seems I took a bunny trail . 

It is now afternoon and it is still raining. Roy is watching the market and I am working on the lesson for Sunday as well as doing those things that need to be done, so hard to be done on sunny wonderful days. Lots of shredding of the mail, picking up this and that and getting ready to vacuum. 

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Wednesday morning. The Feral Fam is fed. Checked on the kittens and all three are accounted for. They are braver and even trying to eat with the big cats. Some growls and playful swipes at them. Charlie even played with one, helping that little one to develop skills. 

We stuck around home yesterday. A rare rainy day, almost all of the day. Got a lot of little projects taken care of and began some of the bigger projects toward the latter part of the day. 

I Should Have Known Better

 This morning we have sunny skies but they will soon be changing over to cloudy skies with rain and on April 8th, the chance of snow tonight into tomorrow. Each Sunday I think, well this will be the last Sunday to wear boots. I have been thinking this for about three weeks. We shall see what this Sunday holds. Mike the Mower Man was here on Wednesday. He cut back the daffodils that didn't survive to bloom during a winter freeze. The tulips continue to bloom and provide such blissful colors to the otherwise bare ground. 

On Wednesday we had planned to make a Costco run, but we both felt a bit tired after the Tuesday trip to Marion for our drivers license. We punted Costco to Thursday. Had a lovely drive that way and the trees are budding out. Filled up the truck with $3.53 gasoline and then went into the store. My first stop was the nessatarium, bathroom, and in the particular stall I was in, a previous user had left their cell phone. Found an employee and turned it in. While we were shopping for shorts, Roy not me, I overheard a conversation with a young woman and her mom. The daughter said, someone turned in my phone and she was expressing her relief in not having to deal with all that. I looked at her and said, I'm the one that found your phone and turned it in. Not to hear a thank you, but I was thrilled that the phone was returned to the owner. Happened to me several years ago so I was empathetic for the lost phone to be found by the owner. Roy found shorts and I found a very lightweight windbreaker/rain coat to keep in the Mustang. We also got ten more bags of raised garden bed soil. While Roy was loading the truck with the bags of soil, he was backing up his cart for a better angle. At the same time a tour bus is coming up right behind us to make a right turn. Surely Roy heard this bus or sensed its presence. Nope. Finally, I had to get his attention to tell him he was about to be run into by a bus. Ha, he laughed. No really, look behind you. Roy turned a pit paler at the realization he could soon be thrown under a bus by his own hand. 

On our Tuesday drive back toward home Roy and I had a great conversation about avoiding dementia. It is a serious situation and my mom died from Alzheimer's but we were making a list of things that one must remember when out and about cause it is all about presentation. Not like dressing up or stylin' and drivin'. It's about not sitting or standing or walking slumped over and to complete the look you're not going for, keep your mouth closed. Not like in saying something, just as the slack jawed position cause facial muscles must be tired to keeping the lips together. With this presentation is the blank stare, think President Biden looking around while everyone flocked around Obama or the squinting eyes look which will activate the mouth slightly hanging open. I am the most guilty of the squinty eye look. One must remember these things because if you don't you'll either draw unwanted attention or draw "feel sorry for you old person" look. 

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It's a beautiful April morning, with a dusting of snow and snow still falling. Dogwood winter is right on time. Last week while reading the weekly installment of The Marvin Chronicles and I had a good chuckle. The subject matter of little winters is discussed among the raccoons. I knew about Dogwood and Blackberry Winter but not Britches or Whippoorwill Winter.  

The phrase little winters will probably sit with me today and not because I flock to a phrase with the word little in it. When our first spring in the house here rolled around, many told me, don't plant anything fragile until after Mother's Day. Being from Texas, where it is full on summer by Mother's Day and you've missed the boat if you're planting then, well, I took those words to heart. Followed those directions and had a nice season of blooming flowers and plants. This year, as in the last two years, I am itching to plant wildflowers or something but I know not to do that. We are seeing now prolific blooms on the ornamental cherry trees and the peach trees. Snowball bushes, lilac and forsythia are slowly moving into a spring mindset. Got to get past the seem to be empty sticks in the ground knowing that soon enough, there will be blooms. Between two worlds of leaving winter and entering spring. It can be discouraging at least to the eyes. Years ago, Lowe's had a group of décor called trans-seasonal  merchandise. I bought a couple of their pieces and still own one small ottoman/storage piece. Would have kept the other two but Buddy liked to tear into them for some reason. I was willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the living room furniture. I only remember seeing the trans-seasonal merch set up just that one year and thought it was a way to bring in customers when there is not a whole lot going on except for maybe some remodeling. No one can remodel every year, well most can't. I have totally digressed from little winters though. Reminds me of Ezekiel and learning of the little sanctuaries that we can find in the Lord. 

We punted our plans yesterday and stuck around the area. We ran a couple of errands but mostly stayed around home. Most of Sunday's lesson, writing it down, took up most of the afternoon time. I was trying to avoid the writing by making excuses to do all kinds of other things. It's not because I don't like the lesson, I do, but writing it out always seems like a daunting task until it is actually more than outline form and drawing arrows from point to point. This is one of those technical lessons, which are the hardest for me to teach, but not because I don't believe, I do. It is because I believe and have so since becoming a Christian, I have never been one to delve into timelines and proof. These things I believe by faith. That God's Word is true. Now, give me a word study and I am hopelessly intrigued and will take bunny trails into looking at everything. 

The Feral Fam is mostly in the garage this morning. With Cutie's kittens being moved about the garage, I put out the pet playpen, with doors open. Every other Fam member was in that playpen this morning with the cushions and blankets. I've been sad about the fourth kitten of Cutie. I thought she was in the process of moving them while I was in the garage the other day. She was carrying the fourth kitten, but she turned around and jumped back up to where she had them. The kitten was alive, so didn't give it much thought until a day later. For some reason she rejected that kitten because it is no longer with her other kittens. She was probably taking it outside when I was thinking she was just moving it there in the garage. Cutie is taking a page from her grandmother, Mama Cat. Cutie and Toupee have a family quarrel going on, they are sisters. Not too much growling just some dramatic hissing. Charlie the unknown orange cat has really turned into a beloved family member with the Feral Fam. I have no idea where he came from but after a few days of being pushed around when first arriving, he can take over a food dish in nothing flat. I believe that Biggio and Junior have joined Junioretta in crossing the rainbow bridge. KH has had it out for the both of them since last year. 

Roy and I have decided we need to buy a different mattress for our bedroom. The one we have is still good, but not good for us. We could not know this with week to ten day visits over these past seven years. Now we know. We had a Tempur-Pedic mattress in Katy. It would never make it up the steps here. Our mattress here is Serta, but we can feel every move, toss and turn. Neither one of us is crazy about that in the middle of the night. So I looked at one mattress ad and now my FB timeline is filled with all kinds of mattress offers. Ugh! I should have known better. 

Good State of Mind

 This morning at 10:06, we walked out of the Marion DMV with our temporary drivers licenses for North Carolina. We are officially North Carolinians. We made our appointments in February and April 5th was the first day appointments were available. After all the anguish of timelines and dates, the actual appointment lasted between us, about thirty minutes. Roy's appointment was 9:30 and mine 9:45. There were two officers working. Roy got asked a lot of questions about road signs, traffic signals and such and he had to read several lines on the eyechart. I only had to read the first line. The most interesting question, besides have you ever been convicted of a felony...no never even accused of one, was what color would you say your hair is? Mousy brown with flecks of gray...shorthand answer on the license, brown. 

We were so thankful for the clear and not too chilly morning for a license. You had to wait outside till they came and checked your name off the list. It began to cloud up a bit on the drive home and this afternoon it is raining. We are thankful that we got an appointment before spring break next week and before summer and teenagers getting their first drivers license. The odd thought I had was pressing my head against the machine with the eye chart. Pre-Covid, I would have never given this a thought but I think cleaning that has gone the way of masks, yet the plexiglass was still up between us. I can highly recommend the Marion office. Beautiful drive and if we didn't have life information as well as the titles to our cars as well as our property tax bill, we would have stopped possibly in Black Mountain or Montreat. We still have some PTSD related fears from December.

I just listened to the NC state song. It is beautiful but wordy and hard to sing along with. Texas Our Texas is a pretty good state song. 

Sunday morning we made it to big church. Each winter I follow the advice of my Houston cardiologist of staying away from church crowds during flu season. We extended into March because of covid and flu. I had tears just being there. We love our church and seeing friends as well as some new faces got to me just a bit. We had communion at the end of the service and it just seemed the right thing for that first Sunday back. In Sunday School we welcomed several friends back to class. They've needed to be out due to family members or needing that bit of protection themselves from germs. It was so wonderful to see them and yes, doing the covid distant hug. 

On the way home at least for me, such a sense of relief. The last of the big paperwork taken care of. Roy said, well, we need to file our taxes but seriously that paperwork is nothing I get involved in so that isn't even on the radar for me. I have felt an ease all day. 

All in All, A Good Monday

 It has been years since we have watched the Oscars and in that same thought it has been years since I have seen very many theater movies. So when you don't know the actors and you don't know the movies, why watch? It doesn't matter who is wearing what on the red carpet to me either. Then the news this morning about the slap. People are debating and arguing was it real or not this morning. Seems there might be a history with Smith and Rock. Don't know any of the back story, but it has been a momentary diversion from war coverage on news programs this morning. 

I Thessalonians is such an eye opener to the softer side of Paul. That statement right there could be considered a slap to all those hard liner Paul people. In all the years of reading and studying, the softer, warm hearted part of Paul shines through this time. He really loved and cared for the Thessalonian church. Sending Timothy to get word on their growth or on chaos, praying earnestly for them night and day and praying specifically for the persecution they were facing. These verses reminded me of Epaphras, the person of prayer only mentioned three times in the New Testament, but what a legacy. He visited Paul in Rome and remained there with him for some time before returning to his church in Colossians. This week we begin chapter four, where Paul begins to write in a teaching and instructing style. I mean when you read in the first verse of chapter 3, finally when we could stand it no longer we stayed alone in Athens. We have all experienced that emotion somehow or sometime. Like, when you know a gift you have for someone is going to make them so happy, you can hardly wait and a lot of times, we go ahead and give the gift early cause we can't stand it no longer. It comes to mind that Popeye was rather biblical when he said, "I can'ts stand it no more as well as I am that I yam and that's all I am. I'm Popeye the sailor man...toot toot." A favorite memory is a Wednesday night teaching session with the student ministry. We were taught the lesson and review for the Sunday lesson and the question was asked who else said I am? Well, we had been talking about God, so the obvious answer didn't seem to be the answer to the question. No one stirred, no one hazarded a guess...so I said, Popeye? The teacher was miffed with the answer...no, he said. Jesus said it...well, we were talking about God and with the Trinity and all....I thought it was an all inclusive kind of thing.  

 These past few weeks Roy and I have quoted this young man a lot. He and his cousins were playing and wanted to be bad guys. Mom catches them, there's a video but the sound isn't good. You can hear she is trying to keep back from laughing as he does a little PR to get mercy and says, maybe we should think about what we've done and then makes that face captured in the picture.

So when Roy or I do something that kind of miffs the other one, we now say this. I finished up the coffee yesterday morning not remembering that Roy takes a to go cup of coffee to Sunday School. What aggravated him was, after losing power due to a vehicle hitting a power line pole, I asked him if the coffee pot had turned off in those few seconds before the generator kicked in. Then when I came downstairs and saw his coffee cup in the sink, I assumed he was done drinking coffee and thus not thinking to go, drank the little remaining. When he came downstairs to fill his to go cup and there was no coffee, he wasn't too pleased. He just made a small amount to take with him then. One thing he says to me at times is, I haven't lived here long enough to be used to this or that. Told him, that worked for me too. I totally forgot because it is not a part of my pattern of getting ready on Sunday morning when here alone ever included taking coffee to church. Then I said the line, maybe I should think about what I've done, made the face. Good news is, student ministry once again is doing a pop up coffee before Sunday School as a fund raiser for camp. So we can both drink all the remaining coffee next week if we want to and not stress cause there are more at church as well as pastries. It's all good!

Yes over 1600 of us lost electricity yesterday morning. I was in the shower rinsing conditioner from my hair and when I opened my eyes, it was pitch black, but then saw a little bit of light coming in through the window, then the generator kicked in. Out here it is a lifesaver for sure. When you are on a well and septic system, the pumps work by electricity. The first summer here, we had several outages due to storms and fallen trees. We had a generator in Rancho De Five, so we had one installed here. Think it has been used more in the summer here than in the winter. We need to check the propane level today. We have one mainly to keep the temps cool because heat and hot do not mix well with my heart. Meanwhile there also has been several brush fires in the area, none too close but it does keep you on your toes and your nose to the wind.  

We restocked strawberries and zero calories Sunkist today. We ate the last of our leftover porkchops from yesterday and making fajitas later this week. Mike the Mower Man came today and the fresh fragrance of mowed grass filled the air. Our yard was getting a little raggedy looking. Roy is finishing up Bible study homework for CBS and I have started looking at this Sunday's lesson. All in all, a good Monday. 

Stately Travels

 Thankfully, I have not had too many of these nights in the recent past. Sleeping much better for so many reasons, but this morning, 4:00 ish, I woke up and wide awake. I grabbed my study notes and Bible, headed downstairs. Before I begin reading through I Thessalonians 3 for this Sunday's lesson, a brief update seemed to be the right thing to do. Even with a few days of easing into the morning which is the optimal time to blog, just haven't wanted to do that. A weather report and update on activities is what seems to take up most of my thoughts on "paper" these days. While I am enjoying these days and enjoying having Roy here, you might not want to know the escapades of our worldly I mean stately travels to SC or TN. Thank you for trudging along with me.

Several have asked about The Feral Fam and if they are still around. Yes. I do believe we have lost Junioretta and Mr. Biggio. Junioretta seemed to be rather fragile and Mr. Biggio has had several encounters with King Herod. Junior and Baby don't hang around here and very rarely see them but they've shown up a couple of times this past week looking for food after tom catting around. Junior has had an encounter with KH as well. Big, nasty bite on his back. The girls, Toupee, Sweetie and Cutie are around. Toupee and Blazey get special breakfast service away from the others, mainly cause they let me pet them and they have made sitting on the container with bird seed, their dining choice and place. Charlie, the little yellow cat that just showed up one day is friendlier. Each morning I get to pet him a little more than the day before. He inserts himself between Blazey and Toupee while they get petted and he generally runs to the back door to greet me every morning. The ubiquitous black cats with the little and varying sizes of white tuft are nearly identical. I did notice the other day some differences between them but they have to stay still long enough for those observations. I enjoy The Feral Fam but my heart is still saddened by Hector Protector not being around. Yesterday two of the black with white tufts, not kittens but I still refer to them as such, were out playing on the newly planted apple trees as the wind blew the description cards of type of apple around. Roy went out there to cut off the tags because those newly planted trees are a bit fragile in this early stage and just his appearance sent those cats a running. I got the whole show from the upstairs window. 

Even lower than last week, we got gas at Costco for $3.63. Wowsers! In today's world that is a huge discount. We decided on a whim to go back and buy a few more supplies for the house. Low and behold they had organic potting soil for $7.50 for a forty pound bag. The limit was ten and we bought ten. That is an extremely good price. The cost of anything gardening seems to have escalated with everything else these days. I debated on getting a couple of geranium hanging plants but decided to punt that idea, although they had coral ones.   

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Good Saturday morning. With our trip to SC on Thursday and to TN on Friday, we came home and vegged out. We punted our plans for today and are sticking close to home. In TN yesterday, I think we came very close to being robbed in the grocery store parking lot. We should have moved onto another spot before parking. But, we got out quickly of the truck and moved with focus toward the entrance of the store. The man, who looked like the Uni Bomber moved from the passenger side of the vehicle in front of us. I knew he was behind us for the first couple of yards and closing in at a fast rate, but at the right time there were people and cars driving by. When we got into the store, we looked out in the parking lot. He was nowhere to be seen. What made me think he was up to no good, he stood outside the car, talking to whomever was driving with the hoodie pulled way over his head and he kept something in front of his face, till he turned and looked at us and I memorized his face in that nano second. It was a bit unnerving and Roy and I were both a little shook up. After we shopped and paid for our groceries, Roy went outside the entrance to see if the man and car were still out there. Gone, but we still loaded up the truck at the entrance of the store. Someone might have noticed something because a police car was nearby keeping watch over the parking lot. I remember years ago, after playing tennis, a friend and I were standing in the parking garage outside of the University Club by our cars visiting. We noticed two young men coming toward us with an intent of harm. They were about ten feet from us when they abruptly stopped. They were looking up and their faces contorted into fear. They turned and ran away so fast. I have always believed that angels were watching over us and gave the two guys a little display of who they are. The world is a much meaner place these days and now to use a very familiar phrase, we continue out of an abundance of caution keep our eyes and ears open. I also know to follow those gut feelings. Thank you Lord for protecting us. 

The rest of the day in TN was quite uneventful but beautiful as spring blooms begin to take the stage. It won't be too much longer and produce stands will dust off the shelves and fill them with an abundance of produce. For this we give thanks. 

After two days of fun and going, I still can feel the effects of whatever is effecting me health-wise. I am feeling much better but a few nagging symptoms that change daily doesn't seem to warrant a visit to the Dr. The fear of being labeled a hypochondriac dogs me as both of my parents had those tendencies. Still feels very much stress related. 

When I need a distraction I go to realtor.com or Zillow to look at houses around the area, sometimes even into east TN. Before we added on the back porch, we were kind of looking at condos in the high country. Not a real looksee, but nevertheless in case we found a bargain of a lifetime for a weekend retreat or something. Now, I am keeping a watch on the land across the way. Last week we saw a couple walking around the barns. The real estate prices around here will blow you away. Glad we bought in a buyers market. 

Off to finish up the lesson for tomorrow. 

Repairs and Plans

 We were outdoors yesterday, in the front yard picking up all the small branches on the ground around the willow tree. This year seems to have an overabundance of little and some bigger sticks on the ground. While we worked, I watched a man with a post digger working around the fence, thinking he was shoring up the fence a bit. Oh how I wish it were so, but later while filling the bird feeders, I saw that it was a sign advertising the sale of the land divided into two parcels or in one lump acreage. I brought this sad news to Roy and we went to realtor.com to check the listing. The back six acres is $299,000.00 but no listing on the thirteen and a half acreage. It should be combined a little over a million dollars to purchase, that is unless the land gets into a bidding war. The barn lights were off last night and he might have moved the cows already. If Roy hadn't recently retired and we are new to all of this lifestyle, we would probably make a run at buying it, but alas, even if we did, there are homes being built on the hillside off in the distance and it would be just putting off the inevitable. With our back porch, we find ourselves spending the most time there as opposed to the front. This will help us make the choice of building a fence in the front yard, not to cover the homes to be built, but to draw the eye more so to our own property. The last time they had the land perked, not many places that could draw water via a well and with interest rates going up, maybe that will hold it off for a bit. Or maybe a person will buy it and build one house. Originally, we had heard the man who owns the land was going to do just that. The rumor too is that he has land in TN and is moving there full time. The cows showed up and I will enjoy them, from a distance, until they move on. 

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A beautiful morning. Lots of sun. We will probably go back outside to do clean up yard work a little later. 

I mentioned our trip to the grocery store in the last post and our puzzling conversation about an outdoor cleaner the other day. I don't want to leave the impression that Roy isn't still sharp. Words have never been his strong suite, numbers oh yes. He is so sensitive to fragrances and we try to avoid the ones that set off sneezing and a runny nose. Roy's new job around here is research on the stock market and learning how to play Rummy. He used to play bridge and loved the challenges bridge brings and he said rummy is just as challenging. I like to play UNO. Not too much to think about or Nertz for the fast action. 

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A rainy Wednesday morning. We are easing into the day. The bike repairman has to order parts for the recumbent bike, so he will have to use his spinning bike for the next two weeks. We got our gate repaired yesterday and we were so happy for that fix. The guys who originally installed it, had to come back and fix their mistakes, only there were still a lot of mistakes that never got resolved. So, we got on the waiting list for Asheville Fence and once the parts came in, they were out here. The gate closes all the way now and the creaking like a screen door is gone as well. My brother gave us an initial for the gate and now we can put in on. 

We are making our plans for the next few days. Then next week we begin a round of appointments of the various and sundry kind. In between we hope to get a couple more chores accomplished in the front yard. Roy made a huge dent in the process yesterday. It seems we both are affected by heat these days and that slows us down just a bit. Sometimes we have difficulty in processing that at times, mainly in our bodies, that we are older and have to adjust accordingly. We have decided we will let those chores and things go that came so easily to us. Not diminishing our abilities for giving into fear, but in order to live long, healthy lives and go and enjoy every place I have scouted out for Roy's photography in the last seven years. I just went back and read a couple of posts from that time. One thing that I realized last year, the moving truck was here on April 1st 2015. Some of the posts from back then are about dealing with the lies my father told to Adult Protective Services. In those last few years in Houston, there are days that count as liberation days from all his narcissist ways but April 1st 2015 was the most important and April 1st, 2017 the day he died, a finality.  

That Happens

 Snow on the weekend and rain today. Monday and Tuesday pleasant days temperature wise. Most probably the snow is over for this winter season but there should be a few frosts till May. It is so tempting to put out plants, but experience says, nope, ya gots to wait. I notice our forsythia has a few blooms so that is good news. Neighbor's forsythia is out and out blooming but they are mature plants. 

Last week we ran by Lowe's for birdseed and topsoil. Roy was in the Garden Center and I was taking my time to get out there. I had stopped at the flower seeds section. While going through all the choices a woman asked me if I was a graduate or had I gone to Mars Hill. She asked because I was wearing a Mars Hill University sweatshirt. No, just a fan and our conversation continued. She told me that both she and her husband were graduates and he was a long time trustee. I mentioned our friends Kyle and Judy, of course she knew them. So we continued on as they have returned to the area after being gone for several years. She works for the garden center but not for Lowe's and we discussed flowers and the like. In rural terms of neighborhoods, we are neighbors. I described our home, she knew exactly where we are and she described her home and I knew the area and next time I am down her road, I will look. It was one of those fun experiences. Mainly, people ask me about sweatshirt schools when I wear a Baylor one or tshirt. First Mars Hill experience. 

Yesterday, we went to Spartanburg for a several time postponed trip to Costco. It was worth the wait. Filled up with $3.79 gasoline, only one car ahead of us and then into the store. Roy's card had been stolen in December, so he got his card made and we were off to shop. We made a list while driving of things we didn't want to forget. We found just about all of list except for two things. We usually eat lunch while there in the area, but I had a strawberry sundae and Roy ate almonds so we could get back on the road. We had a couple of deliveries to make, bought BBQ from Shorties and we were on our way home. 

I think I am almost to the point of deactivating my Twitter account or pausing it. There is just too much arguing for me over nit picky stuff but then there are issues that needs to be addressed and confronted. The new article on sexual harassments that went on at Christianity Today, without a reprimand or something being done about it while not surprising and not shocking, it is a sad commentary on the protection that is extended to those who supposedly bring something of value, to be protected, to the table. Their actions get overlooked because, well just because that is always how it has always been done. It is easy but not welcomed to remember the various "could have been terrible" moments from childhood into teenage years and into adulthood. A scary encounter in the 7th grade at a church function by a mentally challenged young man was stopped when someone just happened upon the scene and rescued me from the situation. Only thing, I was lectured afterwards as if I had encouraged the encounter and also duly noting I rarely attended youth events, I didn't know anyone, so why did I come that night? Believe me, I didn't want to but my father forced me to go. The adult correcting me said they were going to speak to my parents. I don't know if they did or not cause that would set up the third bad encounter from that event, attacked physically,  then emotionally and at home a veritable potpourri of punishment. I believe if they did speak it might have been just to my mom. If my father had the knowledge, there would have been a whole lot of beating and emotional barraging going on.  

My prescription, ready, and we went to pick it up as well as shop on wisdom, senior adult, discount day. Yes, we were in the mix of our own ilk, but think we are a tad cooler than most. Haha! As we checked out, the lady in front of us swore up and down that Klondike bars were on sale. They were last week but someone had left the sign from last week on the ice cream bars. Funny thing, the kind of Klondike bars she had weren't even on sale last week. So, she didn't want them. While we were checking out she came back with the sign and the checkout lady just gave them to her. Great move by Publix. We are an interesting group of older ones. Roy and I are a little more penurious these days as compared to last year. But the thing that gets me is how narrowed down some actions go with gray hair wisdom, especially in the parking lot. Senior men especially, don't look around to make sure they can make the turn without hitting another car or people. My new arch enemy replacing the mini van are old men, in beat up cars, with their eyes on the prize of a close parking spot. Also replacing Instacart shoppers.  Roy and I added some entertainment on the cleaning product aisle as we got into a discussion about Carbona cleaning products. I love the carpet cleaner as well as the outdoor cleaner. Roy wasn't making a bit of sense over his concerns and I assured him I had used the products before. He kept talking about the scent being overpowering or something. Anyway, we got the product and when we got to the car he realized he had used the wrong word. Oh well, that happens.