Sunset, visit from Friends and an ending we did not want

 Cullman, AL

A few weeks ago we had a too-short visit from our friends Darlene and Jim.    As always, we go to Jim n Nicks where the guys order the 2-pound rib meals and the gals order the fried catfish.    Each couple share their meal with the other and still there is enough to take home for another meal.

A few days later we took them with us to the Senior center for karaoke and dancing.

Darlene loves our Biscuit.  And he loves the brushing and loving she gives to him.

At the center, this nice gentleman found a dancing partner that never gives him any sass.

A few weeks ago was that "Special Moon" that I forget what it was called.

And then a few nights later this lovely sunset

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Lennie and Lois.   Lois sent me a nice picture of all of us but it's on my phone and I have no clue how to get it on the computer where I do this blog.   Somebody teach me please!

We are currently having a two-week span of no RVers after being fully booked October and November.     They have been telling me they see armadillos out there at night.   I had been thinking it was crows digging up our yard,    Now I am sure it's those armadillos.   Last night we pulled into the yard after dark and saw one.

Also in our yard has been frequent deer.

Yesterday when we came home from church Len noticed this girl lying about 50 feet from the house in the wooded area.

We could walk up to her (about 10 feet away) and she never moved.   We were concerned.  We contacted the local game warden and told him she had been laying there about two hours.   Biscuit would get close and still she did not move.

About an hour later the Game Warden arrived.

He looked at her through his binoculars.   Both her eyes were glazed over.  She appeared to be quite old.    We watched her for some time.   Then Biscuit walked up to her.  She jumped up and ran with him following behind.  We called him back.  She continued to run in circles and bumping into trees and bushes.    It was evident she was blind and frail.    Sadly, the warden had no choice.

We don't know if she had been hit by a car or injured in another manner to have done head damage causing the blindness.  We hate to see animals suffering.   But it's still upsetting.

On a happier note, the weather has been fine, we are looking forward to visiting family in the northeast over Christmas and we are both as healthy as can be expected.

Until next time.

October Family times

 Cullman,  AL

We have been extremely busy with Boondockers Welcome guests in October and November looks to be another busy month.    And during this time we have been blessed with family too.

Earlier this month we celebrated son Lennies birthday.   From the left here is daughter in law Lois, granddaughter Maddie, great grandson Jordan, Lennie and of course Leonard.

Happy Times.   Each year Lennie fries plenty of Shrimp.  Each year we get treated with some to bring home.

Our Grandson Justin and girlfriend Karlie are moving from Illinois to Florida where she has accepted a job promotion.   They spent a few days visiting us here at the approximate midway point.

One day they toured the Space Center up in Huntsville.   Then the next day we took them to the always fun Rattlesnake Saloon.    For those that have not been there, it is built into a cave.   You leave your car in the parking lot and then transported down in the back of a pickup truck.   When we arrived, we were informed by the driver (who remembered Len from when we were there in July) that the power was out.  He offered to drive us down to look around.

We were down there about a half hour.   We loaded into the truck for the ride up and the power was restored.    We got off immediately. 

It was a bit chilly so we opted to eat inside the saloon instead of under the cave.

After lunch we took Karlie and Justin to the nearby Coon Dog Cemetary.   I have noted this attraction in past blogs.  

All too soon it was time for them to leave.   We wish them luck and love.

We are greatly enjoying our enclosed porch on suitable days.  No more than this fellow.

Until next time.

New Room. And other stuff

 Cullman,  AL

We've been thrilled to have had so many RVers use our sites in the last couple of weeks.  We are expecting our 165th RV later today.  It's two years ago this week that we first joined Boondockers Welcome as hosts.

We met this nice couple years ago in Hondo TX and made a life-long connection.   They are in our area once a year getting their Tifflin Motorhome serviced in Red Bay, Al.    While there last month they came for a too-short visit.   This is Jerry and Carol (and us of course).

Daughter Terri came for a five-day visit two weeks ago.

While she was here, we had two couples staying on our sites.   Both with beautiful traveling homes.  We spent lots of time visiting.   One afternoon when Leonard was a pulmonary therapy, they asked Terri and me to join them at a local attraction.   Goat Island Brewery.

I had a root beer.   Terri, not so much.

Here they all are.

Well.... our new room is DONE.  Mostly.   It still needs a new ceiling fan.  We purchased the carpeting from Lowes.   They came to measure.  At that time we were told they would not install it as this room is not climate controlled.   What?   It's indoor/outdoor carpet.   We plan to eventually have heat and air out there but that wasn't good enough.   Ok.   Our neighbor Gary to the rescue.  He and Len picked up the carpet.

First they had to cut 4 feet off as the carpet came in 12-foot widths.   Our room is 8 foot wide.

This is Len "supervising" and Gary working.

We are so blessed to have great neighbors.   Gary and Ashley to the east and Hilton and Cindy to the west.   

It didn't take Gary long to complete the job.   When Terri got here a couple of days later I asked her and an RVer  get the sofa from the basement.   This was originally Terri's sofa that she purchased more than 30 years ago.  We went to Walmart and got new cushions and pillows.   This is the completed project.

Loving this room.   I am so glad we decided on this improvement.  

Until next time.....

Ducks a growing and sun room getting done.

 Cullman, AL

If you are squeamish stop reading now.

A couple of years ago a small feral showed up at the house.  I could not get within 5 feet of it.  But she was always close to Biscuit.   They would nap together and roam the yard together.  Biscuit loved that cat.   I would put food out for Biscuit and he and the cat would eat out of the same dish together.

After about a year we could see the cat was very sick.  It's breathing became labored.  She stopped eating.  I purchased some soft cat "soup".   She took a lick or two and walked away.   Still I could not get near it and if I tried the poor thing would scamper away as best she could.   I hoped she would go off into the woods and die.

Then it was gone.   I knew it had died.   Months later I saw this piece of dried-up substance out in the front yard.  I kicked it over and saw whiskers and one black and white paw.  I knew it was the caucus of the cat.  Obviously Biscuit found his friend and brought her back home.    

I picked it up with a shovel and put in back in the woods.   A few days later there she was in the back yard.  This time I buried what was left.

Two weeks ago I was mowing the grass.  There was this:

The skull of a small cat.   No other bones.  Just the skull.   Biscuit once more found and brought his friend home.  Ok.... I give up.   Her remains now "live" on a shelf on our porch.  

About the porch.    Finally, the installers arrived with the CORRECT windows.  I love the way it looks.

We thought about placing vinyl click in place tiles on the floor.  But first we need to lay felt paper.  It took us two days working a bit at a time get that done.

After laying the felt paper we decided to lay indoor/outdoor carpet instead.   Then after both having aches and pains we decided to have it installed.   That's the plan. At this time.  Maybe.

Our 6 week old ducks are growing fast.  And eating a lot.  But now they are prevented from coming on to the porch to leave their messes

We've given up on having a garden.   We are not up to the task of tending to one.  I am sure some creatures will be disappointed next Spring.

Until next time.

Not everything goes as planned

 Cullman,   AL

Yup, we had 9 ducklings we were wondering what to do with.   I posted on a FB neighborhood page that we had free ducklings.    I was mildly surprised with a gentleman contacted me that he would take them.  He has property with a pond and wanted to surprise his granddaughter.

It took two separate nights of catching 6 in our fish net.   Mama duck was not amused. She flew at him and nipped his hand.    But all is well.   He captured 4 one night and came back and got 2 more.  

We are left with 3.  That is fine with us.    Penelope has her baby. (Actually an egg she hatched that Elsie laid)

And Elsie has her two.     

They are growing so fast.   Already know to come up near the porch and wait for food to be thrown out to them.

About the porch.  Readers might remember that we had the framing done in April to enclose the porch.  The windows and doors had to be custom made.   We got the call two days ago that the windows were in and they would be here today to install them.

The windows were to have screens with sliding glass enclosures.  When they arrived, we realized something wasn't right.   They took one window out of the packaging.   Nope.... they were made to be installed like this:

Our window openings need windows like this.

So.  Nothing done today.   They said they would put a stat order on them.   I should hope so as these took 5 months to be made.    Disappointment?   A little.   But on an up note, I originally thought I wanted the windows to slide the long way.   Now after seeing these Len and I both decided we wanted them to open and close like normal house windows.   So I am really not complaining.   Sometimes we just get lucky.   

Until next time.

More than we bargained for.

Cullman,  AL

We continue with hosting Boondockers Welcome but notice a downturn in reservations.   We've only had 3 in the last few weeks.  Another arrives on Saturday.  Then NOTHING for the rest of August.   The first two weeks of September one site is completely booked.  The other open.

Len has been having health issues.   His left leg has been aching and it got to where he could hardly walk.    I took him to the ER on Sunday.   They did X-rays and Ultrasound.   Blood clot still there.  They said to follow up with his doctor.  Since he had appointments at UAB on Tuesday we hoped the rheumatologist would be able to help.    She gave him a prescription for prednisone.   It has helped a lot.  He is walking much better.   But will be seeing family doctor on Monday.

Our family has grown.    Our duck family has increased by 9, giving us 13 total.  Two ducks Elsie and Penelope were nesting.   Elsie had 15 or 16 eggs.   Penelope had 4.  Something got into Penelope's nest and destroyed her 4.  She continued to sit on just stones.   I took two from Elsie and placed them with Penelope.   

What a surprise when I went out the other morning to discover that Penelope and had hatched one.

Later that day Elsie hatched 3.   By the next morning she had a total of 8.   Later that night there was a 9th.    The next morning, I found one dead by the entrance to the nesting box.   I am thinking it might have gotten trampled.   

So now we have more ducks than we possibly can accommodate.    Want one, two, three?

Did not take them long to find the pond.

Things are settling down.   It appears they finally have our Generac whole house generator situation resolved.

The replacement door is installed in the walk-in tub.

We were notified it will just be a few weeks and the porch will be enclosed.   Then we will have to make a final decision as to what we will be doing to cover the decking.

The washer situation is also resolved.   Whoever did the original plumbing in the house put the hot water on the right and cold water on the left.   They put the right colors on the knobs to correspond with the installation.  Red on Hot, Blue on Cold.    However, the installer who hooked the washer up assumed hot on left, cold on right, which is the usual method, not realizing ours is backwards.   The service person changed it around and PRESTO.  It's working beautifully. 

Almost time to leave for the Senior Center and listen to music (Len unable to dance right now) and get our $1.25 lunch.

Until next time.

Oh almost forgot.  Our Fiber Optic high speed Internet was installed yesterday.  LOVE IT.

Catching up Part 3

 Cullmam  AL

While staying with the nephew in Woodstown NJ, as a Thank You we took nephew JR (Norman), wife Vadra their son Ryan and my sister Debbie to dinner.   I am so disappointed.   I swear I took a picture of the group.   Nowhere to be found on my phone.  How could that happen?

On Monday we were to meet with our Financial Planner.   (Hey : who can really plan anything with the way the market is at this time).   Our meeting was in the afternoon, so we made plans to visit friends before.   Having a bit of time, I called my last cousin on my Dad's side.  Mae is almost 92 and lives in a senior complex.   She was so glad to see us.   Mae and I talk via phone every couple of months. Again, no pictures.

Then we visited Dan and Carole that live in the same area where we were meeting the Planner.  I remembered to take a picture.  Can hardly believe it.

We've known both Dan and Carole for years.   I worked with Dan.  We went to the same church of Carole.   When I felt the time was right, I introduced them.  I guess I did a good job.   Married more than 25 years.

After a nice visit we met with the Planner that we have worked with for about 32 years.  Bill was a young "kid" then.   We were much more Spry.   He has never steered us wrong.   We thought it was time to move some funds into a safer avenue.  Time will tell if we made the right decision.

Tuesday morning and time to head on home.  After stopping for our last coffee at our favorite C Stone. WaWa we were on the road. We overnighted in Bristol, Va.  A long drive.

Back home:   When the girls were here, we noticed a brown spot out near the shop. Then it was gone.  Then it was back.   Then it sat up.

Then it ran up to near where we were sitting on the porch before running off.

It appears at least one groundhog has moved in.   It one, there are more.   We've not seen any sign of them again.

We used to see deer on our property quite frequently.  Since Biscuits arrival that has ceased.  Until recently.

We see this lady often.   We know way.  It's been a few years since we've had a garden.  This year we planted watermelon, honey dews and cantaloupe.  What was left of this cantaloupe explains everything.

One morning this week I looked outside.   Surprised to see a wild turkey walking across the front yard.  I grabbed my phone to get a picture.  No luck.   That fella walked fast into the woods.

Due to rising costs, we've had few RV guests during the last few weeks.   We had one arrive yesterday and I see he is getting hooked up now to pull out.  We have two coming next week for one night each and not another one until September.   I am sure campground's have been hit hard in this recession.

Things are settling down here on the Homefront.

Front Porch.    We understood it would be 5 to 6 weeks after they did the framing back in April.  Len called them after 7 weeks.  They said they told us 5 to 6 MONTHS before the custom doors and windows were ready.   That takes us to October.  They called me this week and said they are expected to be in by end of August.  He told me they no longer do enclosures because of the difficulty getting windows and doors made.  They only do carports, etc.

Generac Generator:    We've had issues with the generator since day one in December.   The crew has been here multiple times as has the gas company.    It is supposed to kick on every Saturday at 11 to charge the batteries.   It would work one week, the next week it wouldn't.  Installers put a new regulator in it this week.   It came on this morning.  We will see what happens next week.

Walk in Tub: The door on our walk-in tub split.   It took about 3 weeks to get the new door in.  They came this week and replaced the door.

High Speed Fibre Optics Internet:    At last.  Notified we are on schedule to have ours installed August. 3.   Can't wait.

Washer:    Old washer died.  Got a new one.   What a problem.   Will only work on HOT water.  Even when I set it for cool or warm, it is hot.  Sometimes too hot to touch.  Some loads will not get done.  Stays on 11 minutes left for hour or more, then back to 43 minutes.   I shut it off.   Lid will lock.   I have to eventually let it sit for hours and try to unlock again.  Tub half full of water.  I pull out the soaking, hot clothes and drape them on back porch railings until dry enough to put it dryer.   They are sending someone out of the 27th.   I HATE THIS WASHER.

One good thing.   While in the northeast I was walking by the car and saw our remote for our security system laying on the ground.  It had broken off Lens keychain.   

When we got home we called ADT.  They had someone here that afternoon.   We got a new keyfob and he reset our alarm system.  Thank you ADT.

Think I am now caught up.

Until next time.