Catching up Part 2

Cullman, AL to White Hall, MD, to Lebanon, PA to Woodstown NJ 

and back to Cullman in one week

With the girls here for a few weeks we were always busy.  They LOVE to go out to eat.  Rattlesnake Saloon once, Golden Corral twice, Chilis once, and gosh I forget where else.  

Our time together ended too soon.   They had to be back in Maryland by July 11.  We left Cullman on Thursday the 7th overnighting in Wytheville VA at a motel.

We arrived in Maryland on Friday.  After spending the night, we first went to Hanover PA.  We do this every time we are in the area.   Hanover is the home of many food processors and their outlets.   

We like to stock up with cases of canned goods.   Chicken soup, chicken gravy, chicken stock, baked beans, Lobster bisque.   If we were going directly back to Alabama, there would be lots of frozen food bought too.

Next stop was Lebanon, PA where daughter Terry and SIL Steve live.  This was on Friday.  Steve plays in a band and Terri had made arrangements with a friend to meet up at the venue.   That was OK.  Our friends Jim and Darlene were nearby.   Plans were made to meet up for dinner.  I love the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday.   Our local one here closed during COVID.   The one up there is open.  So Ruby Tuesday it was.

Darlene said she wanted to go over to Kitchen Kettle Village in Intercourse, PA, near Lancaster.  On Saturday Darlene, Terri and I spent the morning there, stopping for lunch.  None of the guys had an interest in going.  Okay with us!

Terri and Darlene.

Sunday morning early we left PA so to attend our old church in Upper Deerfield NJ.   We let no one we were coming.   We were joyfully greeted by many.

The two nights in NJ we stayed at my nephew JR and his wife Vadra and son Ryan.   We were glad to get to spend some time with them.

But before we went to their house, we visited our old house just around the corner from the church. This young couple has done miracles with the house.   

Those who have followed my blog might remember that daughter Terri bought the house when we went fulltime RVing.   A couple of years later she relocated to PA.  The house was sold to people that all but destroyed it before it went into foreclosure.      It sat empty for a couple of years.  Then along came Jessica and John.  We could not be happier with what they have accomplished.

The house when we lived there:

The house now

We had a fishpond that the trashy owners filled in.    Jessica and John put in a new pond.  

I took lots of pictures both inside and out so I will remember how grateful I am to this nice couple.

This is getting lengthy.    I still have more to catch up on.  There will be a Part 3.

Until next time.

Catching Up Part I.

 Cullman,  AL

 

Yes, we've been somewhat busy.   But not with Boondockers.   Since mid June we've only hosted folks from Boondockers Welcome one night and another for 4 nights.   We had reservations but all cancelled due to cost of gas and fuel.    We only have 3 reservations on the books.  Two next week and the other not until September.   Very unusual.

The same time the couple stayed for four nights our Granddaughter Tiffany, her husband Neal and their 3 children were here from Texas.   Look at this pic.   One RV held two retired folks, the other 5 people and a dog.  Can you guess which held whom?   Doesn't matter.  All having fun.

Son Lennie and DIL Lois invited all of us to lunch on July 17.    I surprised myself and remembered to take a picture.

On July 18 our granddaughters Charlotte and Abby came for their annual visit.  Daughter Amy decided to bring them down by train.  She rode with them overnight from Baltimore and planned her itinerary to return on another train shortly after.    The train was scheduled to arrive at 10:30 am in Anniston, AL, an hour and half drive from here.   She notified me that it was delayed and expected arrival was 2:30.   When we got to Anniston around 2, she texted it would arrive at 3:30.

In the meantime a woman waiting for another train was concerned about a kitten running around the depot platform.    She called her sister as she wanted to take the kitten with her.  Sister said absolutely not at her house.  

The woman left but the cute little kitten remained.   We picked her up and Len was holding her when Amy and the girls arrived.  They wanted to keep her.   Mom said no.  She could not take it back on the train.    We had planned to take Amy and girls to a restaurant prior to Amys return trip.  But since we had a kitten with us and it was hot we decided to eat at Arbys and Charlotte would stay in the car with the kitten and air conditioning.    It must have been raining kittens that day.  Running around the Arbys parking lot was

An even younger kitten.   Okay, she left with us too.

Amy checked the train schedule, and it was due at 8 pm.  It was then 5 pm.  She said she did not mind waiting at the station alone for the train.   I did not feel comfortable as it appeared to be in a bad neighborhood.  

 

There was no place to go inside to wait.  Just a platform and a bench.  And it was hot.  I told her we would take her to Birmingham station that was 60 miles away. She said she would be fine.  We left.

It was not 10 minutes later when she called me to come back.  She had been approached and asked for money.   Another man wanted to sell her drugs.  Another real loser on a bicycle came by and tried to pick her up to go with him.   And she had been notified the train would not be there until 11:00 PM.  She realized she was not in a safe area.   

We turned around and found her walking up the road away from the train station.  We gladly took her to Birmingham.   She went into the depot.  There were two security officers inside.  There were chairs and A/C.   We all felt so much better. She would be safe.

As for the cats.    We took them home.  With food and litter that Amy had picked up after having found the 2nd kitten.   Early Monday morning we took them to the County Animal Control shelter.  Being so tiny they would be adopted quickly.  

Sunday the 19th was Fathers Day and we all were back at Lennies for lunch.   Yup, this time I did forget to get a picture.

Tiffany and family left later that afternoon.  It was a treat having them camping here for 6 days.

Every year Charlotte and Abby like to go to Cooks Nature Musuem up in Decatur and McWane Science Center in Birmingham.   What is nice is that they are now of the age where we pay their admission and off they go.   We find a comfortable seat and rest.

Two of our ducks are nesting.   Penelope had 3 eggs she was sitting on but something got to them. Only shells remained.   So she has been sitting on nothing but feathers and stones for about three weeks.  I wish I knew what to do.    Elsie is in the nesting box on 16 eggs.  They both leave their nests for very short periods.    Charlotte kept checking on Elsie.   She put her hand in the box only to get stung by a wasp.

A trip to urgent care the next day and after a shot in the butt and meds the swelling went down.  She's decided to leave Elsie along.

Part 2 of catching up in a day or two.

Out in Bloom

 Cullman,  AL

Our 143rd Boondockers Welcome guests left yesterday.    Great folks.   It was a four day stay that ended too soon.    Some things are meant to be.    They are from Carlisle, PA.   The first day here, I told them we knew people from Carlisle.   Our former pastor and his wife from Plainville UMC in NJ were from there.   When I told them the last name, Carew, they could not believe it.   Pastor Carew married them 40 some years ago.   The pastor and his wife were good friends of the parents of the wife of his couple.   Amazing.   

Pastor Carew passed while serving our church in NJ.  His widow remained as our organist.  She was the organist when Len and I married.   I got our wedding album out to show them the pictures we have of her.   What a treat.

Our 144th guests will arrive later today but are only reserved one night.   Then on Tuesday our granddaughter Tiffany and family arrive in their RV and will be here until next Sunday.  Next Saturday granddaughters Charlotte and Abby arrive via train for their annual visit.   Good times ahead.

Keeping us busy is the yard.  

Magnolia trees in bloom

All kinds of blooms

Raspberry and Blackberry bushes starting to produce.

Still working to clear MORE brush to give to MORE grass to mow

It had been very dry here and the pond was down several feet.    

It rained, rained, winds blew and rained some more earlier this week.   It made for a full pond and good fishing for our recently stocked fish.

Biscuit is doing well.    Even if a bit bored.

He did give Len a lovely Fathers Day gift.

I don't know where he ever that the idea that Len ever picked up ANYTHING after him.  Never happened.

Until next time.   Here we are:

All around the Yard

 Cullman,  AL.

Not a heck of a lot going on here on our little homestead.

The raspberry and blackberry bushes we planted last fall are doing well.   After a lovely flowering display we now having berries forming.  

The ducks are fat and happy

After a few years of no garden, Len had a small patch plowed and we planted watermelon and cantaloupe.     Coming along nicely.

After a disastrous summer last year when we tried to grow veggies in our raised bed, we bought a composting bin.    We took much of the previous soil out of the bed, added the compost plus bags of new soil and manure.    Then we planted cucumber, pepper and tomato plants.   Also sprouting are lots of other stuff.   Cantaloupes?   Cucumbers?  Squash?   Thinking it is from the compost.   Waiting to see what we get.

They are not the only sprouts we are waiting for.    We are looking forward to Sprout Fiber Optics high speed Internet scheduled to go live in our area in June.     Can't wait.    We see them working on the lines and signs in front of houses in surrounding areas indicating they have Sprout.   Hope it will soon it be our turn.   YIPPEE!

We also restocked our pond last week.   This was necessary due to the fish kill from Algae last August.  We got 50 Blue Gill and 100 Catfish.   Little tiny things at this time.

We had to first place the bags of fish in the pond for 15 minutes to acclimate them to the temperature of the water.

Then they were released.

We are not sure how many are left as this fellow is a constant visitor.

Its been a busy few weeks.

 Cullman,  AL

Yes, we've been busy and have had some fun too.   

I love seeing the blooming plants.   This is one of my peonies.   I enjoyed it for only a day or two.  Then it rained and winds blew.   Following that, the petals were on the ground.   It did make for a pretty pink fluffy display.

Our raspberry and blackberry bushes we planted last fall are growing and spreading.  We will probably have blackberries this year.  Can't say the same for the blueberries.

A major problem here are the Carpenter bees.   It takes a sincere effort to get rid of them.   Those little critters can really move.   It was difficult to get a good shot.

But easy to capture the sawdust they leave.

And the damage they do,

We are still busy with Boondockers.   Number 130 just left, 131 will be leaving shortly.  I love this setup.   Even their pups enjoyed their short stay.

One of our recent guests took a lot of aerial pictures of our property.  I like this one especially.  

We had a special treat when our dear friends Darlene and Jim on their trip from Florida and Pennsylvania.   They pulled out yesterday morning.

They plan to return in October as they will be completely retired by then.  While here Jim helped Leonard set up a firepit for the RV area.

And he made good use of the little chain saw that daughter Terri and SIL Steve gave us.

Darlene did a lot of cooking while Jim helped Leonard around the property such of picking up branches, repairing the ramp to the lawnmower shed and repairs to a wooden bench.

We managed to have fun too.   We finally got them over to the Rattlesnake Saloon in Tuscumbia about 65 miles from us.  The Rattlesnake Saloon is built under cave.   Customers park and then are transported down a steep hill by a pickup truck that has benches built into the bed of the truck.  That, in itself, is an adventure.   Jim and Darlene preparing  for the ride down.

The Saloon.

We love this place.

Mothers Day Sunday we were treated to lunch at Sons Lennies and DIL Lois' house. Lennie makes the BEST burgers as Jim would tell you.

Three Moms.  Me, Lois and Darlene.

Dinner time.

After Darlene and Jim left yesterday I mowed the front yard and the RV areas prior to our current guests arrival.   Len decided to bush hog the area behind the RV sites and stain the picnic table we bought a few weeks ago.

Now we are quite proud of the RV area.   We provide electric, water, sewer, trash can, firepit with seating and firewood and a picnic table for our guests.    What more could one want?

Until next time.

Finally! Spring!

 Cullman, AL

Yes, it is. Finally Spring,

This  means the mower, weed eater, hedger, tractor get a workout.   And now I have a new toy.

Daughter Terri and SIL Steven gave this handy mini chain saw to us.    WOW!  Easy now to trim those low small branches that get in my way when mowing and allowing me to get the mower in closer to the various bushes and shrubs.

Now the weeds are growing tall around the pond.   There are some that are difficult for me to get to with the weed eater.  Leonard to the rescue with his bushhog.    Makes me a wee bit nervous.  But it gets the job done.

Biscuit was taking a walk around the pond chasing frogs.   Baby Duck and Penelope following behind.  Speaking of behind, right after I took this picture Baby Duck took a peck to Biscuits behind.  He is one nasty duck.

We are quite busy hosting Boondockers Welcome members.   Our 124th RIG left yesterday.  125 comes today.  At this time we have 14 reservations on the book.    A guest mentioned to us that we would be ideal for hosting traveling Nurses and other healthcare professionals.   We could charge from $800. to $1,100. a month.   We looked into it as we were concerned with the liability and tax issues.  Of course we would have to claim the income on taxes.  We talked with our insurance agent from Allstate here in Cullman.   He said he would have to talk to higher ups.   We got a call from Allstate that this would be considered a business and they would not cover it.   Don't want to get into all that stuff so we will maintain what we are doing now.   

Only a few more weeks and that porch will be converted to a enclosed porch.  We are so much looking forward to it.

The blackberry plants we planted last fall are in full bloom.   Yum, blackberries this year.  We've planted tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in our raised bed.   We think we solved the soil issue we had last year.  We also had a small garden tilled and planted watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydews.   Hoping they grow and the deer don't see it.

Happy Spring!   Until next time.