Luau and Zipping

Cullman, AL

I strongly believe that older folks live longer and happier when they make connections with their community.     About two years ago we started attending once a week at the local Senior Center.  We have made dear friends and always have something to look forward to.   

Last month local senior centers were invited to attend at LUAU at a venue in Decatur. AL.   We are told that approximately 600 people were in attendance.     Here is Len with some of our friends from the center.  

There were door prizes, various games, bingo, displays, etc.   A lunch was served.  Len especially enjoyed the blueberry water ice.

Disgusting!

Two weeks ago daughter Terri had a semi-annual meeting up in Nashville.   As she always does, she takes a couple of days, rents a car and drives on down here.   I look forward to those days.

While here she did her first zip line.   Our friends Terri and Brian opened Adventures at Smith Lake last year.    There are three lines, the longer one is the longest in Alabama.

My Terri getting geared up.

Getting ready to take off.

There she goes.....

This is a view from Terri and Brians house overlooking Smith Lake

Here are the two Terri's

Time passed too quickly and Terri had to leave.   Looking forward to her next trip to Nashville.

Until next time 

Ah......Beautiful weather. At last.

Cullman,  AL

It's time to turn on the A/C.   Almost.   I have the fresh air coming into the house.   It's a bit warm in here but holding off the A/C as long as possible.

Not much to write about at this time.   Same old, same old.   

I did forget in the last post the talk about Great Grandson Jordans birthday.   This year it was celebrated at a local Mexican Restaurant.   All was good.

We are still hosting,     237 arrives today.    236 just left.   We have received a sign from Boondockers Welcome to hang at the sites.   We are considered Hall of Fame hosts.   Len is working on a post on which to hang it.  Pictures at a later time.

We are still going to the Senior Center in town.  Usually once a week.   Tomorrow is their Luau which is in Decatur, a neighboring town.   

Two weeks ago they had Dress Crazy day.  So we did.   We were surprised when we got there that we were only 2 out of 5 that Dressed Crazy.  

Yes,  I wore one of Lens shirts backwards.

Lens shirt was made for him several years ago for his birthday by granddaughters Abby and Charlotte.  

We still go to a neighboring town on Friday night for potluck and dancing.   What fun we have there.

This week we are looking forward to daughter Terri visiting.   She has business in Nashville so will drive on down here for a few days.

In the meantime, Happy Mothers Day and 

Until next time.

Down with trees and on to the Spring

 Cullman,   AL

It's been a lazy few weeks.   Not a lot going on except for RV guests at our Boondockers Welcome sites.   April was really busy.   May and June have few reservations on the books.

We are still going to Senior Center on Thursdays.   Tomorrow is Crazy Dress Day.  Look on my next blog for pics.    And we continue to meet up with friends on Friday nights at a dance hall for pot luck dinner and dancing.

Biscuit is up to his old tricks.    We gave him the ham bone left over from Easter.   He thought his sofa on the porch would be a good place to store it.  Wrong.

I threw it outside.  The next day it was back put covered in mud.    Trash can was its new home.

We had a sweet family here a couple of weeks ago.   It was the second time we hosted three rigs at the same time.   They did not need power as their motorhome was equipped with solar panels.   This was a Trailways bus.  The couple took two years to convert it to their home.   How sweet is that!

The couple that left yesterday have a delightful pit/lab mix.

Try as she might, Abby could not fit through Biscuits door.

We had three trees in the side yard that gave up their life over the winter.  Len has knocked all three down using his tractor.

Our RV guest asked if he could help.   He is using Lens chain saw to saw into logs.   Len is resting here but succeeded it splitting a lot of the logs.    A lot more to do and then the clean up.

Leonard has been complaining about legs hurting.   They suspected issues with arteries.   Had tests done, not the problem.   On Monday we went to UAB where he had MRI of back and Ultrasound of legs.   A few years ago he had surgery on his spinal canal.   The problem is now in another location.   Looks like back surgery in the future.     As far as his legs, the vascular doctor called today and an appointment is made for May 16.   He was told there is a major problem with the veins in his legs.  Len says he is concerned but not worried.   I'm worried.

Until next time.

Continuing with visitors both new and old

 Cullman,  AL

We have now hosted in excess of 225 Boondockers Welcome members.  We have 19 currently on the schedule for future stays.

A few weeks ago we hosted a couple with a young daughter.  They asked if she could try to catch and release a few fish.   Certainly.   Within 20 to 30 minutes, she reeled in two catfish, a bluegill and a largemouth bass.    We had stocked catfish and bluegill last April after our total loss of fish the fall before due to an algae problem.

We've never stocked bass.   But our neighbor has.  His pond empties into a small creek that runs into our pond which empties into that creek and runs on down the line.   He had mentioned that he didn't know if he still had any bass in his pond.    I'm thinking I know where some might be.   

We have his fish?  But he has our duck.  When we were away a few weeks ago, he walked over every day and fed our ducks.    Our two Pekin ducks followed him home.   Unlike our other ducks, Pekins can not fly.   He walked back and one of them followed him back.   The other is still there. 

 I 've gone to his house with feed.   The duck, named Baby Duck, came for the feed.  But would not follow me.   Another of our ducks has also decided to stay over there most of the time.  We see Cookie here only on occasion.    We will have to take a fish net or something to throw over Baby Duck to get him home.   But unless the Bass can swim upstream, it looks like they are here for a while.

Last Thursday our friends Jim and Darlene arrived for a few days visit on their way back to Pa from FL.   We took them to 55 East where we have been going to dance on Friday nights.   Darlene loves to dance and joined in many of the line dances.  

From left to right.  Leonard, our friends from the Cullman Senior Center Dennis and Joanne and then Jim and Darlene.

The four of us

It rained all day Friday and Saturday.   But come Easter morning, the sun came out.  The four of us attended Sunrise Service which started at 6 AM.     The song leaders:

Pastor Paul Campbell giving the message.   Notice the sun has risen.

After service it was breakfast back at the church.

Easter luncheon at home.   Darlene made this fabulous cake/bread type dessert

Lunch is served.:

Our guests for lunch.   Jim and Darlene, son Lennie, Daughter in law, Lois, Granddaughter Maddie and Great Grandson Jordan.    Not a good picture.   Too dark.

Shortly after lunch Jim and Darlene pulled out headed to their next stop.

Now we have two whole days before our next guests arrive.   We actually have three Motorhomes pulling in on Wednesday.   We only have water, electric, sewer for two.  One of the motorhomes does not want to be connected to anything as they run off solar panels.   We will find a spot for them too.

And after days of rain and now sunshine you can guess what I will be doing.  I just mowed late last week.   Never ending.

Until next time.

Finally able to cut grass, and other stuff

 Cullman,  AL

Ah..... Spring at last.   And along with Spring in Alabama comes tornadoes.  This has already been a busy season.    Many recent events throughout the South.   The worse in Mississippi.    The nearest one to us was in a neighboring town, causing one fatality.   Very disturbing.

Our grass has not been mowed since the fall.   So glad I was able to cut it these past few days.  Looks great.  That will last at least a day or two then the dandelions take over again.  

We've had several strong winds in the last weeks.  A sweet couple were parked here two weeks ago for 5 days.  The young man asked if he could pick up the downed branches for us.   OF COURSE!   I gave him my small chain saw to use.   He not only picked up the branches but also cut up what he could from a peach tree we had taken down.   Then filled our wood bin out by the firepit and stacked the remaining branches next to it.   We are set to go!

We expect our 218th RV guests this afternoon.   Currently we have 19 reservations on the books for the next two months.    It is very dark out there at night.    We decided to install two flood lights; one overlooking the RV sites, the other the firepit and picnic area.   We will also put in switches outside for our guests.  Last weeks guest helped Len one afternoon.   Still more to be done.    Jim Price...... do you see this????

Aside from working around here we have enjoyed the last two Friday evenings.  Friends from the Senior Center kept telling up about a dance held Fridays in the nearby town of Eva.  We decided to try it out.  It is attended by mostly seniors.   A $6.00 admission and most people bring food to share.   What a buffet it is.   They eat at 6:30 then a great band starts at 7.  Fun, fun, fun.

Readers might recall that we had our front porch enclosed late last summer.  We were quite happy about it.   However, after several rains we noticed water seeping in on one side.   Upon examination we found that one side of the enclosure had been siliconed between walls and floor.  The other side had not.  So Len got silicone and did the other side.    Well, with the storms last week we still have seepage into the room causing carpet to get wet and some mold spots.   I have contacted the installers.   Waiting for them to return.    And fix the problem.

We had a guest that has a sweet dog.   They were in the house visiting.  Biscuit often comes to Lens chair and jumps up putting his front two paws on the chair asking for ear rubs.  This time he did a full jump up to lay on Lens lap.  He had never done that before.   Do you think he was claiming his territory?

Until next time......

Yes! We are Seniors

 Cullman,  AL

Great fun now back at Home.  Thrilled to see Spring blooms.  Now so much thrilled thinking about the hours of mowing that now lays ahead.   I managed to get a bit done a few days ago.  But it has rained almost constantly since.   Can hardly tell what was mowed and what was not.

We are currently hosting our 208th and 209th Boondockers Welcome guests.   One leaves this morning; another arrives this afternoon.   We have 22 more on the schedule for the next two months.

And as we all know, along with home ownership comes repairs.  A few windows were replaced by the previous homeowner prior to us moving in.  They looked good for a while.   But have since become impossible to open and close.   Another Lowes failure.    The below picture was taken in our bedroom.  You can see the gas leakage between the panes.   The next picture is the new one.   I can actually see outside.

 Altogether we had four windows replaced.  And we say this is the LAST update we will be doing.  We both know that's not true.

Leonard has had issues with pain in the hip.    About 6 months ago he went to UAB where he received a shot.   All for great until a few weeks ago.  He was in almost constant pain.  But would not go to doctor.  So....  last Sunday night I was having difficulty getting to sleep.  At 11 pm I took an Ambien.  One hour later I feel him shaking my foot.  He said he needed to go to the ER.  Of course, it's always in the middle of the night.   

We went to the ER.  They gave him some meds for pain.  He said he would contact the Sports Medicine doctor he saw before.   (He did.  Got another shot on Tuesday.)    I guess I was driving a bit scary when I drove him to the ER.  And stumbling when walking.  So, pain or not....he drove home.  What did he expect?    

The shot in the hip has really helped.   Good thing as we love Thursday at the Senior Center.  And the dancing.   Back on March 2 they had our SENIOR PROM.    

A few days ago I saw something brown in front yard.  I thought maybe a groundhog.   Len and I walked out to check it up.  Nope, not a groundhog.

Biscuit kept running around it.   We were afraid he would get too close and get "snapped".  So,

very carefully it took a trip to the pond.

We have other critters that are enjoying meals on one of the set of steps leading down from the back porch.

And now a picture of Biscuit.  Just because

Until next time.

A trip to remember

 Cullman,  AL

I know, I know.... it's been a while since I wrote a blog.   Just haven't felt like it.   And we live a boring life so who really wants to read about cold weather, a spoiled dog and an even more spoiled husband.   But here goes anyway.

Recently we took a long-needed trip to Louisiana to visit with family.   Here they are:

Dinner with Grandson Nathaniel

On way to Dinner with Granddaughter Clara and grandsons Logan and Davyn

Biscuit pouting because he couldn't go to dinner

The siblings and spouses went to dinner one night.   Thanks Sissy for putting this together.   

This is Lens sister Laura

Brother Jerry and wife Irene

Brother Myron, Brother In Law David (Sissy' husband)

Brother Bobby and wife Charlotte 

Brother-in-law Fred

Leonard talking to his sister Sissy

This is Sister-in-law Susie and Len's brother Royce, where we stayed while visiting.

Daughter D'Juana who came in from the Dallas area, Lens Godchild Angie and her husband Glen.

  The five of us went to dinner then came back to Susie and Royce's for a great visit together.

Biscuit and new friend Tucker.

Grandson Jeremiah, at his 3rd birthday party.

Daughter Cassie with two of her sons Jeremiah and Logan at the party.

And no trip to Louisiana would be complete without stopping at a Waffle House near Baton Rouge to meet up with our friends Leonard and Judy.    We met Judy at a RV park in Tennessee several years ago and fell in love with her.   Judy, I know you read my blog.    THIS HAS TO STOP.   Every time we meet up, your Leonard picks up the tab.   Next time my Leonard picks up the tab!!!!!   We mean it!

Until next time.