Sunday, February 1
I was feeling really bad this morning, so instead of going to church and passing around whatever it is that we've had the last two or three weeks, I stayed home in bed and slept most of the day away, while Barbara kept tabs on all the Super Bowl pre-game shows. Although we don't usually watch Super Bowl games, our interest was raised by all the talk about the Patriots, Colts, Ravens, and deflated (or partially deflated, or under-inflated) footballs in games leading up to this one. Plus, we were quite interested in seeing the Roberts family in We Are Football since this family is related to Gary and Sherry Riffe, our friends from Liberal.
Our evening was all about the football game, and our sentiments were squarely with the Patriots. Like most Patriot fans, we rode the wild roller coaster all night and were completely wrung out after the two wild game-changing plays at the end of the game. We watched as much of the post-game coverage as we could handle and then called it night...really exciting stuff from the Little household, right?
Monday, February 2
HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!!!
Unfortunately, the groundhog saw his shadow today. On the good side, we haven't had that much winter, but since in't now February, we might as well prepare for the real thing.
Barbara has been looking at a lot of Pinterest items lately, including some for home makeovers. One post recommended "opening" the kitchen a bit by removing some of the cabinet doors. When Mother moved into this house, we put all of her china and many decorative items in this cabinet, which was great for display, but took up a lot of usable space. Today, we decided to rearrange all the kitchen cabinets, including taking down the doors to see if that would help in getting things better organized for daily use.
First, we removed all the items from the cabinets, and then I grabbed my trusty sidearm (power drill), and removed the doors and hinges from the cabinets.
Once the doors were off, we touched up some spots with stain daubers and put a couple of coats of lacquer on the front of the cabinets and shelving. When that was completed and the lacquer was dried, we put everyday items in the open cabinets where they would be easy to use, and stored the other things in other kitchen cabinets or in cabinets in the garage, allowing us to have much easier access to all of our dishes, pots and pans, and cooking utensils.
Barbara then went through each cabinet and drawer in the kitchen area to reorganize them. This is the finished product...
Tuesday, February 3
While Barbara stayed home and researched new recipes that would fit into our fitness plan, I went out to Yantis for the weekly prayer meeting, and then drove to Our Little Lot at Holiday Villages of Lake Fork to do some yard work for a few hours.
When I returned to the house in Mineola, I got cleaned up, we had breakfast, and then we drove downtown to Naturally Nails to have Leslie Bautista see what she could do about our messy hair. Here are the Before and After photos of the experience...
After Leslie worked her magic, we went to Sonic for a celebratory drink and then drove over to Ladd and Angela's house to see what Ladd was up to today. When we got there, we found that it was Angela's day off and she and Madelyn were working on "stuff" for the upcoming wedding. Baby Jarhett was also there, so Barbara gave him some "Gramsy" attention while the others worked.
We then went back to the house and spent the afternoon and evening taking care of necessary chores there.
Wednesday, February 4
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SON-IN LAW ANDY DONDIS IN RICHARDSON, TEXAS!!!!
We spent the morning working in the house and yard, and then went to Quitman for a 3:00 pm appointment with Dr. Martinez to go over some of Barbara's test and X-Ray results. Dr. Martinez said he couldn't find anything wrong, and ruled out any problems about possible COPD and an enlarged heart that had been indicated in previous X-Rays. That was great news for us, as both Dr. Martinez, Barbara's primary physician, and Dr. Tolleson, her cardiologist, have now given her a clean bill of health. That, of course, called for a celebration and a stop at the Quitman Sonic for a Diet Coke before returning home.
Thursday, February 5 & Friday, February 6
Many of our days aren't particularly noteworthy, and these two fall in that category...just days in which we did as little as possible and accomplished nothing worth telling,
Saturday, February 7
We had planned to go to Richardson this weekend to watch Alexander and Abby at play in their winter sports and to have a late birthday celebration for Andy, but Heather called late Wednesday night to say that all schedules had changed, so we just stayed at home and enjoyed a day of relatively nice weather before the next wintry blast comes along.
Sunday, February 8
It was a pretty day for attending the morning service at Yantis First Baptist Church. Before we left the house, we took these photos of Barbara dressed in some new finery and me wearing something besides blue jeans and a grubby t-shirt.
Monday, February 9
It was a little cool out this morning, so we just piddled around inside taking care of household chores and making plans for doing some improvements in the garage.
It was nice enough this afternoon that we got Taz out and did a ride across some back roads to the east and northeast of Mineola. The countryside is definitely past the pretty fall leaves stage and a long way from spring, but it still has its charm and character.
This old guy has obviously been around awhile...won a few...lost a few...and is still hanging in there...
We live in the Lake Country of East Texas. Most of our "lakes" may not be much more than small ponds in other parts of the country, but whatever name they might go by, there are a bunch of them...
And, there are some really nice spreads in this area...don't know whether it's old or new money, but there is definitely money of some kind involved...
No Taz ride is complete without a stop at Sonic...this happened to be at Quitman, where we looped back on our way home.
We got back home in time for me to fire up the charcoal and grill some burgers for an evening of food and fun with our Kansas/Texas teacher friends, Gene and Michelle Young. Tonight's main activity (aside from getting caught up on all that has happened since we saw them at their Kansas home in December) was a rousing game of Spades.
Tuesday, February 10
Today was prayer meeting day, so I drove out to Yantis for that, stopped at Our Little Lot for awhile to take care of some things there, and then returned to the house.
It was a really pretty day, so I got Taz out of the garage to prepare her for a ride this afternoon. As is so often the case, one thing led to another, and I found myself cleaning the inside of the car and then backing it out so I could clean the garage in anticipation of working in it later in the week.
Finally, it was time for lunch, followed by a short nap, and then another short adventure on Taz. Our trip today took us north toward Quitman and the cutoff road to Golden.
Once we got to Golden, we turned off toward the southwest and a loop around the Lake Holbrook area.
The road was almost empty except for us, so we had plenty of photo ops as we crossed Lake Holbrook...
And into the area from Lake Holbrook back to U.S. Highway 80, which runs between Mineola and Grand Saline...
When we got to Highway 80, we headed west to the turnoff to Silver Lake, a road we had accidentally traveled from south to north in the car once upon a time. This time, we were going for an entirely different perspective.
We were impressed with the way the folks at this place utilized their pond as a place to set out a gazebo and walkway...
As we rode down the highway, we spotted this sign...and just had to check out these two historic-sounding places...
We had to turn off the main road for our side trip to Providence...
The centerpiece of many small communities in Texas is the local cemetery...where everyone achieves equality.
We don't think the comedy sit-com was based on this Green Acres spread...
We returned to the main road to view this sight. While we live in the Lake Country of East Texas, we are also on the edge of the Piney Woods...
Barbara got to swivel from side to side to take pictures of the passing countryside, but this was pretty much my view during the ride...
The road to Jamestown offered these views...
We'll have to take this ride again in the spring, after these trees leaf out...
At the heart of Jamestown is the Jamestown Church of Christ...
And the Jamestown Cemetery...
We continued the ride to Highway 16 and then turned back to the east toward Lindale...
Not exactly the cattle on a thousand hills...but there were hills...and quite a few cattle (for East Texas, that is)...
As we rode along on Highway 16, we realized that we would be passing right by Curt and Heidi Hays' new place, so we pulled over to see if anyone was home. Luckily for us, Curt and Hannah were just arriving.
It was going to be awhile before Heidi, Jared, and Olivia would be home, so we said our goodbyes to Curt and Hannah and continued our way to Lindale...
There is no feeling like that of riding a cycle down the open road...
When we got to Lindale, we made a Sonic stop and then headed back north on U.S. 69 to Mineola and home, sweet home.
Wednesday, February 11
It was another slow morning around our place this morning, but this afternoon we ratcheted things up a bit by driving out to Our Little Lot at Holiday Villages of Lake Fork to pick up some tools I was going to need to do some work in the garage at the house.
While I was gathering the things I needed, Barbara grabbed the camera and took a few shots of the results of some of my recent clearing and cleaning.
From HV, we drove on up to Sulphur Springs to do some shopping in Lowe's...some lumber and hardware for me, and house and garden supplies for Barbara. Then, it was across the street to Walmart for some shop-looking before heading over to Panda Express to get some take-out for our evening meal.
It was dark when we left Sulphur Springs...much later than we had anticipated, but the drive home went just fine and we found ourselves back at the house and ready to eat 45 minutes later...quite a flurry of activity for a day that had started so slowly!
Thursday, April 12
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRANDDAUGHTER AVA LITTLE IN VIRGINIA!!!!
It was a full-blown workday at our Little House on Heritage Drive today. The first order of business was to take as many things out of the garage as possible. When that was done, we swept the baseboards, walls, and floor, and then started moving cabinets around to new places. Unfortunately, we were so busy doing the work that neither of us thought of grabbing a camera to take before, after, or during photos.
A couple of the cabinets had to be completely emptied before they could be moved. Barbara then completely reorganized their contents so that each cabinet could be used for specific items.
It took nearly all day for the reorganization, but at the end of the day, we were ready for the next step in our reorganization, the building of a new shelving unit (another Pinterest idea), but that would have to wait for tomorrow.
Band rehearsal was cancelled tonight because several members were at the Texas Music Educators Convention in San Antonio and our director had a commitment at the Select Theater here in Mineola, so we took advantage of the free night to just kick back and relax.
Friday, April 13
We really tempted the Friday the 13th fates today by dragging out power saws and hammers...all kinds of things that cause some serious damage to an amateur carpenter. We started the morning by taking as much as possible out of the garage (it was cold outside, but no rain, sleet, or snow, so the car and Taz were safe outside).
We set up a couple of our folding tables and then I started measuring, sawing, and fastening boards to the wall and each other until several hours later I completed the one hour job (according to Pinterest) and we had a new set of shelves to contain all of our motorcycle gear, along with a couple of large boxes and tubs of paperback books that we have read and need to take to a used bookstore one of these days.
John and Wanda, our neighbors from across the street, came over while the work was in progress, and Aunt TJ came by later to see the completed project and share in some cake and coffee.
Later, we got everything put back where it belonged, moved Taz and the car back in, and still had more room in the garage than we've had since Mother first moved in back in 2008...not a bad day's work...especially for a Friday the 13th!
Saturday, February 14
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!
After all of the activity and work yesterday, it was nice to just sit back and relax this morning...no work...no pressure...just a quiet Saturday morning at the house.
We took Taz for a Sonic run this afternoon and ended up riding to Lindale to do some shopping at Lowe's for a few things we needed around the house. On the way home, Barbara took out the camera and took some late evening photos of the scenery betweem Lindale and Mineola.
When we got back home, we arranged a FaceTime call with Mike, Kelly, Ava, and Jack to talk about Ava's birthday and get caught up on what was going on in Virginia.
Sunday, February 15
Another round of wintry weather blew in overnight. Instead of driving out to Yantis for the morning service, we joined cousins Ladd and Angela at Northside Church, just a few minutes away from our house here in Mineola.
Since it was too cold and windy to get out, we just took it easy for the afternoon and evening.
The bright spot of the day was receiving this photo of granddaughter Jaycie.
Monday, February 16
Another cold, rainy day...no venturing outside, but we did use our forced detention to do some serious top-to-bottom house cleaning and bread baking. Maybe being locked in every now and then isn't such a bad thing after all!
Tuesday, February 17
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BROTHER ERNIE LITTLE IN HARRISON, ARKANSAS!!!!
HAPPY PANCAKE DAY!!!
Another cold and wet day...not fit for man nor beast outside. I did go to prayer meeting at Yantis FBC this morning and stopped by Our Little Lot at Holiday Villages of Lake Fork to check on Big V on the way back to Mineola.
Since we did all the house cleaning yesterday, this was a great day sit back and do not much of anything. Barbara researched Pinterest recipes and projects while I worked on photos for this edition of the journal. Other than that, nothing noteworthy got accomplished except for our suppertime Pancake Day celebration.
Wednesday, February 18
We had a rather slow morning, just piddling around the house and taking care of some of the daily chores. Later, we drove to Tyler to do some shopping for upcoming events and birthdays.
After returning home, we had supper and then I drove out to Yantis for Praise Band rehearsal.
Thursday, February 19
Feeling somewhat emboldened by the success we had with the construction of some shelves in the garage, we decided to tackle a project in the laundry closet. We had rearranged the shelves above the washer and dryer a couple of years ago, but one of the shelves was sagging badly.
I drove to our friendly, helpful Ace Hardware store, got an 8-foot stick of 1X2 lumber and some hardware, and then came back to the house to go to work. As it usually happens with my projects, it took longer than expected, but when I was done, the shelves were solidly in place and all of the cleaning and household supplies stored there were reorganized so we could see AND reach them easily.
This afternoon we went to the post office to mail birthday packages to grandchildren Ava and Jack in Virginia, and tonight was the weekly rehearsal for the Lake Country Symphonic Band at Quitman High School, so I drove up there for our two-hour session, while Barbara kept the home fires burning.
Friday, February 20
Barbara made a new friend, Pat, last year when they were both going through cardiac rehab at ETMC-Quitman. They also became Facebook friends and, over the course of the last several months, discussed ways of getting together for lunch. That finally came to pass today as we met Pat and her husband, Joe (now in cardiac rehab himself) for lunch at the Teahouse in Quitman.
We had a really nice time visiting and getting to know each other, all the while enjoying a wonderful meal. We've been invited to ride Ta up to Pat and Joe's place on Lake Winnsboro and are looking forward to that when the weather gets a little better.
This afternoon a spent a few hours with the lawnmower, cutting the thatch and weeds out of the front yard and North 40...I ended up taking six or seven barrels of clippings down to the burn pile, but the efforts were well worth it, considering the weather forecast that was calling for some rainy days ahead.
Saturday, February 21
With the weather changing for the worse, we decided we'd better get to Walmart today to stock up on supplies for the next few days. Of course, Walmart didn't have everything we wanted or needed, so we made a side run to Brookshire's for the remainder of our list before returning home to put everything away...no one ever said that Saturdays were exciting around here!
Sunday, February 22
It was cloudy and cold when we went to church at Yantis this morning. It would have been easy to beg off, but since I was playing in the Praise Band and had a minor solo, we figured we'd better get out there.
By the time we got out of church, cold rain was falling and the predictions were that it would start icing over this evening, so we just went home, put on some comfortable clothes, and settled in for whatever was coming.
We kept the camera handy in case we needed it, and sure enough, Barbara saw our across-the-street neighbor, John, outside checking his rain guage this evening, so she went out to the porch to record the moment for posterity.
Before calling it a night and going to bed, we got this night shot from our front porch...note the reflection of the street light on the water running down the street...
Monday, February 23
The weather forecasters got it right this time...the rain that fell yesterday and last night froze on surfaces during the early morning hours and then turned into sleet and snow, icing the local streets. Except for a few forays outside to take pictures of our winter wonderland, we didn't leave the house. Certainly, we were not about to get out on the streets that resembled skating rinks!
The top photo was shot from our front porch and shows John and Wanda's house across the street. The bottom photo was also shot from the porch toward the northeast, showing part of the North 40 with Autumn Wind Assisted Living Center in the background.
I ventured across the street to take this shot of our house and front yard...note the batch of dark clouds moving in from the west...
The North 40 just to the north of our house...sure was glad I completed the first mowing!!!
We had planned to leave tomorrow at noon to go to Richardson to take care of Alexander and Abby while Heather had parent-teacher conferences on Wednesday, then leave Thursday morning to go to see the kids in San Antonio. But, Heather called tonight to say that their schools had already been cancelled for tomorrow and were iffy at best for Wednesday. Relying on the old adage that "discretion is the better part of valor," we all agreed that it would be in everyone's best interests to cancel the Richardson trip, even if it did mean postponing Andy's birthday celebration yet another time.
Tuesday, February 24
Another freezing, wet day, so we just stayed inside and kept warm except for a short trip to Walmart to get some things we would need if we get to take our anticipated trip to San Antonio this weekend (IF the weather cooperates). We also took another step into the 21st century by purchasing an IPad Mini so we can have decent FaceTime access to the kids and grandkids.
Wednesday, February 25
HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY TO GRANDSON JACK DAVID LITTLE IN VIRGINIA!!!
This latest winter blast continued through today, but the forecast was for "better" weather tomorrow, so we spent the day gathering clothes and other items to pack for the San Antonio trip...also did some dusting and vacuuming so we'd have a clean house for our return (if we got to go somewhere). The worst case scenario was that we'd have to unpack everything and put it back where it belonged, and we'd still have a clean house.
When we weren't cleaning house or packing, we did a time-sequence of photos of the weather outside...not innovative or exciting, but it gave us something to do to occupy our time...
8:30 AM...First look outside from the front porch...top photo is looking slightly to the southeast at the neighborhood...bottom photo is looking northeast across the North 40 toward Harvest Wind Assisted Living Center.
9:30 AM...the snow/sleet intensified over the past hour...
10:30 AM...It wasn't getting any better...beginning to wonder if we will be able to leave tomorrow morning...
11:45 AM...Neighbor John ventured out of his house across the street to measure the snow depth...
12:00 Noon...A view of the trees just to the north of the house...photo taken from the door leading from the garage to the back yard...
12:15 PM...More shots from the front porch...
4:15 PM...Radiant heat began clearing the streets the natural way...still cold outside, but we began having hope that we might be able to leave sometime tomorrow morning...
I crossed the street to the corner of John and Wanda's lot to get this shot of our house...
5:45 PM...The clouds began blowing out and the afternoon sun was shining again!!!
We tried out the new IPad tonight by having a FaceTime experience with Mike, Kelly, Ava, and Jack. Mike had told us that all the packages had arrived and they would wait to open them until we could watch.
Once we had a good connection, the fun began as the kids opened their presents, and showed them off as Mike and Kelly narrated the action...
What we learned from the experience is that we still have a lot to learn about the IPad...like being able to take screen shots without having to use a camera to take photos of the IPad. Oh well, life is a learning experience, and we've just expanded the curriculum!
Thursday, February 26
HAPPY 46TH BIRTHDAY TO SON JOHN COLWELL IN SAN ANTONIO!!!!
Hallelujah...The day didn't exactly dawn bright and shiny, but the temperature was above freeing and the highways were dry, so we loaded all our stuff in the car and by 9:15 we were on the road to San Antonio for a few days to visit John, Carol, Randi, and great grandsons Rhett, and Bowman.
The trip was relatively uneventful except for the usual I-35 congestion from Hillsboro to Georgetown, where we picked up the 130 toll road. Even that road seemed to have more traffic on it than usual, but it was no problem at all maintaining the 80 mph speed limit to the point where we came back onto I-35 at Buda.
We made a short stop at the outlet centers in San Marcos, but didn't find anything we couldn't live without, so we climbed back into the car and headed south to San Antonio, bypassing the city (but not the afternoon traffic) on Anderson Loop until we got to Helotes.
It took only a few minutes of travel on Anderson Loop to remind us of why we prefer small-town living.
John and Carol were both at the house when we got there. We unloaded the car and got our things stashed in the house and visited with Carol while John (who often works from the house) worked upstairs.
When Randi got home from her job, we let John choose the place for his birthday dinner. He went through his list of favorites and settled on a Japanese steak house not too from the house.
We thoroughly enjoyed the evening as we visited with each other and got caught up in antics of our chef, who had an obviously well-rehearsed, but very entertaining act. And the food...delicious!!!
We returned to the house after eating and had a little birthday celebration...and took family photos...
Later, John helped Barbara solve a computer problem...
Friday, February 27
Carol had to go to work today and John worked from his home office. Randi didn't have classes today, so she went with us on a round of Walmart stores while we looked for the Wrangler shirts I wanted (but never found in my size). We did find some other things that we could use, though, so the time wasn't wasted, and we had fun with Randi, even though the weather was no better than what we'd had in Mineola...34 degrees with a wind chill factor of 27 in San Antonio is c-o-l-d!!!.
John went out this afternoon to get their grandsons, Rhett and Bowman, for an overnight stay. Needless to say, the evening was all about the little ones.
This evening we had supper, followed by cheesecake and ice cream for another of John's birthday celebrations...
Saturday, February 28
Everyone was completely wrung out when we went to bed last night. Barbara and I woke up earlier than the others this morning and quietly went to our own computer stations...she was upstairs and I was downstairs in the living room.
When Carol got up, she fixed breakfast for all of us and then we began preparing for the day. Barbara and I played with Rhett while the others were getting ready. Rhett was interested in building a pillow fort and tunnel, and we were able to get these photos of him.
It was another cold, rainy morning, but the boys needed to be taken back to their Mother in Castroville. While John and I did that, Barbara, Carol, and Randi prepared for a ladies' day out of shopping.
After John and I took Rhett and Bowman to Castroville, we returned to San Antonio and did some browsing in a military surplus store. I've been looking for a set of military BDU's to use for working at the lake lot and doing the yard work in the North 40. With all of the brambles and briers I have to work around, I need something tough and nearly indestructible, and BDU's or old-fashioned fatigues would work perfectly.
The girls enjoyed their outing...Barbara had fun looking at sunglasses (as if she'd need them on these cloudy days).
We all decided to meet at one of the movie theater complexes to see a screening of McFarland, USA, starring Kevin Costner. Barbara and I had seen a preview a few days ago and commented that it looked like a fun movie, so we were more than happy to go.
The movie was very good...very funny in some places, and we thoroughly enjoyed it (along with the bottomless drinks and popcorn buckets...just a nice family outing.
When we got back to the house, we made it a double-feature evening by putting in For the Love of the Game, a baseball-themed movie that also starred Kevin Costner. When that was finished, we were all worn out and ready to head for bed and call it a day, week, and month...a month in which we experienced multiple season changes ranging from near-80 degree motorcycle weather to sub-freezing temperatures. At least it wasn't boring!
Enjoying a family visit in San Antonio, Texas,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsy
Our evening was all about the football game, and our sentiments were squarely with the Patriots. Like most Patriot fans, we rode the wild roller coaster all night and were completely wrung out after the two wild game-changing plays at the end of the game. We watched as much of the post-game coverage as we could handle and then called it night...really exciting stuff from the Little household, right?
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Monday, February 2
HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!!!
Unfortunately, the groundhog saw his shadow today. On the good side, we haven't had that much winter, but since in't now February, we might as well prepare for the real thing.
Barbara has been looking at a lot of Pinterest items lately, including some for home makeovers. One post recommended "opening" the kitchen a bit by removing some of the cabinet doors. When Mother moved into this house, we put all of her china and many decorative items in this cabinet, which was great for display, but took up a lot of usable space. Today, we decided to rearrange all the kitchen cabinets, including taking down the doors to see if that would help in getting things better organized for daily use.
First, we removed all the items from the cabinets, and then I grabbed my trusty sidearm (power drill), and removed the doors and hinges from the cabinets.
Once the doors were off, we touched up some spots with stain daubers and put a couple of coats of lacquer on the front of the cabinets and shelving. When that was completed and the lacquer was dried, we put everyday items in the open cabinets where they would be easy to use, and stored the other things in other kitchen cabinets or in cabinets in the garage, allowing us to have much easier access to all of our dishes, pots and pans, and cooking utensils.
Barbara then went through each cabinet and drawer in the kitchen area to reorganize them. This is the finished product...
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Tuesday, February 3
While Barbara stayed home and researched new recipes that would fit into our fitness plan, I went out to Yantis for the weekly prayer meeting, and then drove to Our Little Lot at Holiday Villages of Lake Fork to do some yard work for a few hours.
When I returned to the house in Mineola, I got cleaned up, we had breakfast, and then we drove downtown to Naturally Nails to have Leslie Bautista see what she could do about our messy hair. Here are the Before and After photos of the experience...
After Leslie worked her magic, we went to Sonic for a celebratory drink and then drove over to Ladd and Angela's house to see what Ladd was up to today. When we got there, we found that it was Angela's day off and she and Madelyn were working on "stuff" for the upcoming wedding. Baby Jarhett was also there, so Barbara gave him some "Gramsy" attention while the others worked.
We then went back to the house and spent the afternoon and evening taking care of necessary chores there.
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Wednesday, February 4
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SON-IN LAW ANDY DONDIS IN RICHARDSON, TEXAS!!!!
We spent the morning working in the house and yard, and then went to Quitman for a 3:00 pm appointment with Dr. Martinez to go over some of Barbara's test and X-Ray results. Dr. Martinez said he couldn't find anything wrong, and ruled out any problems about possible COPD and an enlarged heart that had been indicated in previous X-Rays. That was great news for us, as both Dr. Martinez, Barbara's primary physician, and Dr. Tolleson, her cardiologist, have now given her a clean bill of health. That, of course, called for a celebration and a stop at the Quitman Sonic for a Diet Coke before returning home.
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Thursday, February 5 & Friday, February 6
Many of our days aren't particularly noteworthy, and these two fall in that category...just days in which we did as little as possible and accomplished nothing worth telling,
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Saturday, February 7
We had planned to go to Richardson this weekend to watch Alexander and Abby at play in their winter sports and to have a late birthday celebration for Andy, but Heather called late Wednesday night to say that all schedules had changed, so we just stayed at home and enjoyed a day of relatively nice weather before the next wintry blast comes along.
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Sunday, February 8
It was a pretty day for attending the morning service at Yantis First Baptist Church. Before we left the house, we took these photos of Barbara dressed in some new finery and me wearing something besides blue jeans and a grubby t-shirt.
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Monday, February 9
It was a little cool out this morning, so we just piddled around inside taking care of household chores and making plans for doing some improvements in the garage.
It was nice enough this afternoon that we got Taz out and did a ride across some back roads to the east and northeast of Mineola. The countryside is definitely past the pretty fall leaves stage and a long way from spring, but it still has its charm and character.
This old guy has obviously been around awhile...won a few...lost a few...and is still hanging in there...
We live in the Lake Country of East Texas. Most of our "lakes" may not be much more than small ponds in other parts of the country, but whatever name they might go by, there are a bunch of them...
And, there are some really nice spreads in this area...don't know whether it's old or new money, but there is definitely money of some kind involved...
No Taz ride is complete without a stop at Sonic...this happened to be at Quitman, where we looped back on our way home.
We got back home in time for me to fire up the charcoal and grill some burgers for an evening of food and fun with our Kansas/Texas teacher friends, Gene and Michelle Young. Tonight's main activity (aside from getting caught up on all that has happened since we saw them at their Kansas home in December) was a rousing game of Spades.
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Tuesday, February 10
Today was prayer meeting day, so I drove out to Yantis for that, stopped at Our Little Lot for awhile to take care of some things there, and then returned to the house.
It was a really pretty day, so I got Taz out of the garage to prepare her for a ride this afternoon. As is so often the case, one thing led to another, and I found myself cleaning the inside of the car and then backing it out so I could clean the garage in anticipation of working in it later in the week.
Finally, it was time for lunch, followed by a short nap, and then another short adventure on Taz. Our trip today took us north toward Quitman and the cutoff road to Golden.
Once we got to Golden, we turned off toward the southwest and a loop around the Lake Holbrook area.
The road was almost empty except for us, so we had plenty of photo ops as we crossed Lake Holbrook...
And into the area from Lake Holbrook back to U.S. Highway 80, which runs between Mineola and Grand Saline...
When we got to Highway 80, we headed west to the turnoff to Silver Lake, a road we had accidentally traveled from south to north in the car once upon a time. This time, we were going for an entirely different perspective.
We were impressed with the way the folks at this place utilized their pond as a place to set out a gazebo and walkway...
As we rode down the highway, we spotted this sign...and just had to check out these two historic-sounding places...
We had to turn off the main road for our side trip to Providence...
The centerpiece of many small communities in Texas is the local cemetery...where everyone achieves equality.
We don't think the comedy sit-com was based on this Green Acres spread...
We returned to the main road to view this sight. While we live in the Lake Country of East Texas, we are also on the edge of the Piney Woods...
Barbara got to swivel from side to side to take pictures of the passing countryside, but this was pretty much my view during the ride...
The road to Jamestown offered these views...
We'll have to take this ride again in the spring, after these trees leaf out...
At the heart of Jamestown is the Jamestown Church of Christ...
And the Jamestown Cemetery...
We continued the ride to Highway 16 and then turned back to the east toward Lindale...
Not exactly the cattle on a thousand hills...but there were hills...and quite a few cattle (for East Texas, that is)...
As we rode along on Highway 16, we realized that we would be passing right by Curt and Heidi Hays' new place, so we pulled over to see if anyone was home. Luckily for us, Curt and Hannah were just arriving.
It was going to be awhile before Heidi, Jared, and Olivia would be home, so we said our goodbyes to Curt and Hannah and continued our way to Lindale...
There is no feeling like that of riding a cycle down the open road...
When we got to Lindale, we made a Sonic stop and then headed back north on U.S. 69 to Mineola and home, sweet home.
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Wednesday, February 11
It was another slow morning around our place this morning, but this afternoon we ratcheted things up a bit by driving out to Our Little Lot at Holiday Villages of Lake Fork to pick up some tools I was going to need to do some work in the garage at the house.
While I was gathering the things I needed, Barbara grabbed the camera and took a few shots of the results of some of my recent clearing and cleaning.
From HV, we drove on up to Sulphur Springs to do some shopping in Lowe's...some lumber and hardware for me, and house and garden supplies for Barbara. Then, it was across the street to Walmart for some shop-looking before heading over to Panda Express to get some take-out for our evening meal.
It was dark when we left Sulphur Springs...much later than we had anticipated, but the drive home went just fine and we found ourselves back at the house and ready to eat 45 minutes later...quite a flurry of activity for a day that had started so slowly!
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Thursday, April 12
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRANDDAUGHTER AVA LITTLE IN VIRGINIA!!!!
It was a full-blown workday at our Little House on Heritage Drive today. The first order of business was to take as many things out of the garage as possible. When that was done, we swept the baseboards, walls, and floor, and then started moving cabinets around to new places. Unfortunately, we were so busy doing the work that neither of us thought of grabbing a camera to take before, after, or during photos.
A couple of the cabinets had to be completely emptied before they could be moved. Barbara then completely reorganized their contents so that each cabinet could be used for specific items.
It took nearly all day for the reorganization, but at the end of the day, we were ready for the next step in our reorganization, the building of a new shelving unit (another Pinterest idea), but that would have to wait for tomorrow.
Band rehearsal was cancelled tonight because several members were at the Texas Music Educators Convention in San Antonio and our director had a commitment at the Select Theater here in Mineola, so we took advantage of the free night to just kick back and relax.
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Friday, April 13
We really tempted the Friday the 13th fates today by dragging out power saws and hammers...all kinds of things that cause some serious damage to an amateur carpenter. We started the morning by taking as much as possible out of the garage (it was cold outside, but no rain, sleet, or snow, so the car and Taz were safe outside).
We set up a couple of our folding tables and then I started measuring, sawing, and fastening boards to the wall and each other until several hours later I completed the one hour job (according to Pinterest) and we had a new set of shelves to contain all of our motorcycle gear, along with a couple of large boxes and tubs of paperback books that we have read and need to take to a used bookstore one of these days.
John and Wanda, our neighbors from across the street, came over while the work was in progress, and Aunt TJ came by later to see the completed project and share in some cake and coffee.
Later, we got everything put back where it belonged, moved Taz and the car back in, and still had more room in the garage than we've had since Mother first moved in back in 2008...not a bad day's work...especially for a Friday the 13th!
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Saturday, February 14
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!
After all of the activity and work yesterday, it was nice to just sit back and relax this morning...no work...no pressure...just a quiet Saturday morning at the house.
We took Taz for a Sonic run this afternoon and ended up riding to Lindale to do some shopping at Lowe's for a few things we needed around the house. On the way home, Barbara took out the camera and took some late evening photos of the scenery betweem Lindale and Mineola.
When we got back home, we arranged a FaceTime call with Mike, Kelly, Ava, and Jack to talk about Ava's birthday and get caught up on what was going on in Virginia.
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Sunday, February 15
Another round of wintry weather blew in overnight. Instead of driving out to Yantis for the morning service, we joined cousins Ladd and Angela at Northside Church, just a few minutes away from our house here in Mineola.
Since it was too cold and windy to get out, we just took it easy for the afternoon and evening.
The bright spot of the day was receiving this photo of granddaughter Jaycie.
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Monday, February 16
Another cold, rainy day...no venturing outside, but we did use our forced detention to do some serious top-to-bottom house cleaning and bread baking. Maybe being locked in every now and then isn't such a bad thing after all!
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Tuesday, February 17
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BROTHER ERNIE LITTLE IN HARRISON, ARKANSAS!!!!
HAPPY PANCAKE DAY!!!
Another cold and wet day...not fit for man nor beast outside. I did go to prayer meeting at Yantis FBC this morning and stopped by Our Little Lot at Holiday Villages of Lake Fork to check on Big V on the way back to Mineola.
Since we did all the house cleaning yesterday, this was a great day sit back and do not much of anything. Barbara researched Pinterest recipes and projects while I worked on photos for this edition of the journal. Other than that, nothing noteworthy got accomplished except for our suppertime Pancake Day celebration.
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Wednesday, February 18
We had a rather slow morning, just piddling around the house and taking care of some of the daily chores. Later, we drove to Tyler to do some shopping for upcoming events and birthdays.
After returning home, we had supper and then I drove out to Yantis for Praise Band rehearsal.
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Thursday, February 19
Feeling somewhat emboldened by the success we had with the construction of some shelves in the garage, we decided to tackle a project in the laundry closet. We had rearranged the shelves above the washer and dryer a couple of years ago, but one of the shelves was sagging badly.
I drove to our friendly, helpful Ace Hardware store, got an 8-foot stick of 1X2 lumber and some hardware, and then came back to the house to go to work. As it usually happens with my projects, it took longer than expected, but when I was done, the shelves were solidly in place and all of the cleaning and household supplies stored there were reorganized so we could see AND reach them easily.
This afternoon we went to the post office to mail birthday packages to grandchildren Ava and Jack in Virginia, and tonight was the weekly rehearsal for the Lake Country Symphonic Band at Quitman High School, so I drove up there for our two-hour session, while Barbara kept the home fires burning.
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Friday, February 20
Barbara made a new friend, Pat, last year when they were both going through cardiac rehab at ETMC-Quitman. They also became Facebook friends and, over the course of the last several months, discussed ways of getting together for lunch. That finally came to pass today as we met Pat and her husband, Joe (now in cardiac rehab himself) for lunch at the Teahouse in Quitman.
We had a really nice time visiting and getting to know each other, all the while enjoying a wonderful meal. We've been invited to ride Ta up to Pat and Joe's place on Lake Winnsboro and are looking forward to that when the weather gets a little better.
This afternoon a spent a few hours with the lawnmower, cutting the thatch and weeds out of the front yard and North 40...I ended up taking six or seven barrels of clippings down to the burn pile, but the efforts were well worth it, considering the weather forecast that was calling for some rainy days ahead.
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Saturday, February 21
With the weather changing for the worse, we decided we'd better get to Walmart today to stock up on supplies for the next few days. Of course, Walmart didn't have everything we wanted or needed, so we made a side run to Brookshire's for the remainder of our list before returning home to put everything away...no one ever said that Saturdays were exciting around here!
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Sunday, February 22
It was cloudy and cold when we went to church at Yantis this morning. It would have been easy to beg off, but since I was playing in the Praise Band and had a minor solo, we figured we'd better get out there.
By the time we got out of church, cold rain was falling and the predictions were that it would start icing over this evening, so we just went home, put on some comfortable clothes, and settled in for whatever was coming.
We kept the camera handy in case we needed it, and sure enough, Barbara saw our across-the-street neighbor, John, outside checking his rain guage this evening, so she went out to the porch to record the moment for posterity.
Before calling it a night and going to bed, we got this night shot from our front porch...note the reflection of the street light on the water running down the street...
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Monday, February 23
The weather forecasters got it right this time...the rain that fell yesterday and last night froze on surfaces during the early morning hours and then turned into sleet and snow, icing the local streets. Except for a few forays outside to take pictures of our winter wonderland, we didn't leave the house. Certainly, we were not about to get out on the streets that resembled skating rinks!
The top photo was shot from our front porch and shows John and Wanda's house across the street. The bottom photo was also shot from the porch toward the northeast, showing part of the North 40 with Autumn Wind Assisted Living Center in the background.
I ventured across the street to take this shot of our house and front yard...note the batch of dark clouds moving in from the west...
The North 40 just to the north of our house...sure was glad I completed the first mowing!!!
We had planned to leave tomorrow at noon to go to Richardson to take care of Alexander and Abby while Heather had parent-teacher conferences on Wednesday, then leave Thursday morning to go to see the kids in San Antonio. But, Heather called tonight to say that their schools had already been cancelled for tomorrow and were iffy at best for Wednesday. Relying on the old adage that "discretion is the better part of valor," we all agreed that it would be in everyone's best interests to cancel the Richardson trip, even if it did mean postponing Andy's birthday celebration yet another time.
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Tuesday, February 24
Another freezing, wet day, so we just stayed inside and kept warm except for a short trip to Walmart to get some things we would need if we get to take our anticipated trip to San Antonio this weekend (IF the weather cooperates). We also took another step into the 21st century by purchasing an IPad Mini so we can have decent FaceTime access to the kids and grandkids.
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Wednesday, February 25
HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY TO GRANDSON JACK DAVID LITTLE IN VIRGINIA!!!
This latest winter blast continued through today, but the forecast was for "better" weather tomorrow, so we spent the day gathering clothes and other items to pack for the San Antonio trip...also did some dusting and vacuuming so we'd have a clean house for our return (if we got to go somewhere). The worst case scenario was that we'd have to unpack everything and put it back where it belonged, and we'd still have a clean house.
When we weren't cleaning house or packing, we did a time-sequence of photos of the weather outside...not innovative or exciting, but it gave us something to do to occupy our time...
8:30 AM...First look outside from the front porch...top photo is looking slightly to the southeast at the neighborhood...bottom photo is looking northeast across the North 40 toward Harvest Wind Assisted Living Center.
9:30 AM...the snow/sleet intensified over the past hour...
10:30 AM...It wasn't getting any better...beginning to wonder if we will be able to leave tomorrow morning...
11:45 AM...Neighbor John ventured out of his house across the street to measure the snow depth...
12:00 Noon...A view of the trees just to the north of the house...photo taken from the door leading from the garage to the back yard...
12:15 PM...More shots from the front porch...
4:15 PM...Radiant heat began clearing the streets the natural way...still cold outside, but we began having hope that we might be able to leave sometime tomorrow morning...
I crossed the street to the corner of John and Wanda's lot to get this shot of our house...
5:45 PM...The clouds began blowing out and the afternoon sun was shining again!!!
We tried out the new IPad tonight by having a FaceTime experience with Mike, Kelly, Ava, and Jack. Mike had told us that all the packages had arrived and they would wait to open them until we could watch.
Once we had a good connection, the fun began as the kids opened their presents, and showed them off as Mike and Kelly narrated the action...
What we learned from the experience is that we still have a lot to learn about the IPad...like being able to take screen shots without having to use a camera to take photos of the IPad. Oh well, life is a learning experience, and we've just expanded the curriculum!
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Thursday, February 26
HAPPY 46TH BIRTHDAY TO SON JOHN COLWELL IN SAN ANTONIO!!!!
Hallelujah...The day didn't exactly dawn bright and shiny, but the temperature was above freeing and the highways were dry, so we loaded all our stuff in the car and by 9:15 we were on the road to San Antonio for a few days to visit John, Carol, Randi, and great grandsons Rhett, and Bowman.
The trip was relatively uneventful except for the usual I-35 congestion from Hillsboro to Georgetown, where we picked up the 130 toll road. Even that road seemed to have more traffic on it than usual, but it was no problem at all maintaining the 80 mph speed limit to the point where we came back onto I-35 at Buda.
We made a short stop at the outlet centers in San Marcos, but didn't find anything we couldn't live without, so we climbed back into the car and headed south to San Antonio, bypassing the city (but not the afternoon traffic) on Anderson Loop until we got to Helotes.
It took only a few minutes of travel on Anderson Loop to remind us of why we prefer small-town living.
John and Carol were both at the house when we got there. We unloaded the car and got our things stashed in the house and visited with Carol while John (who often works from the house) worked upstairs.
When Randi got home from her job, we let John choose the place for his birthday dinner. He went through his list of favorites and settled on a Japanese steak house not too from the house.
We thoroughly enjoyed the evening as we visited with each other and got caught up in antics of our chef, who had an obviously well-rehearsed, but very entertaining act. And the food...delicious!!!
We returned to the house after eating and had a little birthday celebration...and took family photos...
Later, John helped Barbara solve a computer problem...
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Friday, February 27
Carol had to go to work today and John worked from his home office. Randi didn't have classes today, so she went with us on a round of Walmart stores while we looked for the Wrangler shirts I wanted (but never found in my size). We did find some other things that we could use, though, so the time wasn't wasted, and we had fun with Randi, even though the weather was no better than what we'd had in Mineola...34 degrees with a wind chill factor of 27 in San Antonio is c-o-l-d!!!.
John went out this afternoon to get their grandsons, Rhett and Bowman, for an overnight stay. Needless to say, the evening was all about the little ones.
This evening we had supper, followed by cheesecake and ice cream for another of John's birthday celebrations...
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Saturday, February 28
Everyone was completely wrung out when we went to bed last night. Barbara and I woke up earlier than the others this morning and quietly went to our own computer stations...she was upstairs and I was downstairs in the living room.
When Carol got up, she fixed breakfast for all of us and then we began preparing for the day. Barbara and I played with Rhett while the others were getting ready. Rhett was interested in building a pillow fort and tunnel, and we were able to get these photos of him.
It was another cold, rainy morning, but the boys needed to be taken back to their Mother in Castroville. While John and I did that, Barbara, Carol, and Randi prepared for a ladies' day out of shopping.
After John and I took Rhett and Bowman to Castroville, we returned to San Antonio and did some browsing in a military surplus store. I've been looking for a set of military BDU's to use for working at the lake lot and doing the yard work in the North 40. With all of the brambles and briers I have to work around, I need something tough and nearly indestructible, and BDU's or old-fashioned fatigues would work perfectly.
The girls enjoyed their outing...Barbara had fun looking at sunglasses (as if she'd need them on these cloudy days).
We all decided to meet at one of the movie theater complexes to see a screening of McFarland, USA, starring Kevin Costner. Barbara and I had seen a preview a few days ago and commented that it looked like a fun movie, so we were more than happy to go.
The movie was very good...very funny in some places, and we thoroughly enjoyed it (along with the bottomless drinks and popcorn buckets...just a nice family outing.
When we got back to the house, we made it a double-feature evening by putting in For the Love of the Game, a baseball-themed movie that also starred Kevin Costner. When that was finished, we were all worn out and ready to head for bed and call it a day, week, and month...a month in which we experienced multiple season changes ranging from near-80 degree motorcycle weather to sub-freezing temperatures. At least it wasn't boring!
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Enjoying a family visit in San Antonio, Texas,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsy
