Monday April 1
It's April Fools Day!!!!!
Some have called us fools, others merely foolish, but whatever tag one chooses to put on our retirement lifestyle, we are certainly having a good time of it. Today, the first of April, found us spending several hours in downtown Natchitoches, Louisiana, enjoying views of the Cane River, spending time in the quaint shops and, loving the tastes of the local cuisine.
With that said, we now proceed to share some of what we saw today...
The first stop was at the main boat docks on the Cane River. We were early, so we got a personal guided tour of the new Cane River Queen paddle boat, and had time to serenade the locals with some trumpet music.
We loved shopping in the old stores and then riding Taz out to the Cane River National Historical Park to see what we could see...
And lunch featuring the world-famous local gastronomical treat, meat pies, was the hit of the day...
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Tuesday, April 2
Happy 25th Anniversary to Us!!!!!
We're not big on sending cards and notes, but we do have a custom of designing our own anniversary posts for each other.
After a leisurely breakfast courtesy of the hotel breakfast bar, we got dressed in our riding gear, fired up Taz, and started off on a tour of west central Louisiana...a beautiful day and a beautiful day of riding!!!
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Wednesday, April 3
We were up and about relatively early this morning, packed our bags, loaded the trailer, and took off on Taz, but this time headed back northwest toward Mineola. We had a slight glitch as we started...once again the transmission wasn't shifting out of first gear, but then everything started working fine as always, so we rode up I-49 to Shreveport, stopped to fuel Taz and us, and continued our journey across I-20 to Lindale and then up U.S. 69 to Mineola.
We wasted no time getting back to our normal routine...shopping at Walmart and praise band rehearsal at Yantis tonight for me.
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Thursday, April 4
We spent the morning unpacking, doing laundry, and getting everything put away from the trip.
At noon we drove to Ladd and Angela's house to give Angela a belated birthday gift and then went to Wingdinger's for lunch.
All that activity had us ready for our afternoon nap. Then we had a light supper and Barbara went to work on paying bills and balancing the checkbook while I went to band rehearsal.
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Friday, April 5
The recent rains had the yard and flower beds growing like crazy. While Barbara worked in the house, I went outside to do some serious mowing and trimming.
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Saturday, April 6
The two notable things about this day are that Barbara was developing frequent coughing spells...not a good sign, and it rained, and rained, and rained, and...
The good thing about the rain was that it kept us inside and gave us a chance to finish the handouts for our children's sermon for tomorrow...we were cutting it close, but managed to "get 'er done."
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Sunday, April 7
Today got rough from the beginning. It was cool and damp early, but I did get a chance to get outside and take some photos of the house and yard before leaving for church.
By the time we got to Yantis it was pouring rain and Barbara was feeling like death warmed over. But, we had a children's sermon ready to go and one of our youth, Aubrey, was playing a trumpet duet with me for the offertory special.
We managed to cough our way through the children's sermon, a lesson from Matthew 4:18-21 about Choosing God...
BARBARA: When I was a little girl, every time a
teacher asked two people (usually Ricky and Peggy) to be leaders, I would just
cringe inside because I knew without a doubt I’d be the last one chosen! One
time I got so excited because I wasn’t the last person chosen...just the next
to the last. It’s a terrible feeling, I can tell you that! That’s why when I
became a teacher, I promised myself that no child would ever be chosen last!
I’d choose teams by colors, or numbers, anything to keep one child from feeling
as hopeless and unloved as I did way back 65 years ago. The pain is still
etched on my heart. And, I bet many of you have had that same feeling!
Well,
today our lesson is about being chosen to be in the family of God. Do you think God chooses leaders and they
pick who gets to follow Jesus? No! That’s a ridiculous thought isn’t it! We can
all be in God’s family and we don’t have to worry about being the last one
chosen, either. The Bible tells us that
before he even made the world, God loved us and chose us. Before we were born God decided to adopt us
into his family.
JIM: That’s
right, Mrs. Little. God does want us to
be in his family! Is it because we’re so good and so wonderful? No, it’s
because HE is so good and wonderful. We need someone to help us grow and He is
there to help us every day. We need someone to love us and He loved us more
than anyone ever could.
God
has chosen us, but to become part of his family, we each must say, “Yes, I
choose to accept God.” When we confess
our sin and put our trust in Jesus, we become God’s adopted children and he
guides us to make everything work out according to his plan for us. And then we can all say, “I’m so glad I’m a
part of the family of God.”
BARBARA: As
always, Mr. Little and I have tried to make our treat for you relate to some
part of our lesson so that no matter where you are, no matter what you’re doing
that object will remind you that God loves you! Today we’ve decided to go with
the word “choose.” Therefore, it seemed only right that you should have...some
fruit chews; some tootsie chews, and SweetTart chews...of course the spelling
isn’t the same but when you see these chews, we hope you will be reminded that
God did choose us first! Now all you must do is choose to follow Him. Will you
pray for us, Mr. Little?
JIM: Now let’s
pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for
sending your son to die on the cross for our sins so that we can be a part of
your family. You have chosen us. Now please grant us the wisdom, strength, and
courage to choose this wonderful gift of eternal life with you for
ourselves. It’s in the name of Jesus we
pray, Amen.
Aubrey and I did our trumpet duet, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus,"...
And then Barbara and I left and returned home to sleep away the rest of the day in between coughing spells.
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Monday, April 8
Well...This day started early and auspicious! After hacking and coughing so deeply that she hurt all over, Barbara said at 3:30 am she was ready to go to the emergency room at the UT Health Center in Quitman. So, we got dressed (after a fashion...and not a very fashionable fashion) and drove to Quitman where they quickly took her into the emergency room (there are some benefits to being the first patients of the day at the ER).
After a couple of hours of waiting, diagnosing, reading X-Rays, etc., the doctor said that Barbara didn't have pneumonia (which was good), but she did have the latest strain of flu (which was bad, but treatable), They gave her some meds to start on, armed us with some prescriptions, and then sent us on our way.
We set up the spare bedroom as a sick room for Barbara and got her settled in while I washed all the bedding from our room. While I was waiting for Alicia to come clean the house, I stepped outside in the first sunshine we'd seen in a couple of days to shoot some photos of our azaleas. We were gone last year when they were in full bloom and I didn't want to miss them again.
When Alicia got here I drove out to Yantis to help Mary, our church secretary, count the money from yesterday and make a bank deposit. Then I went back home to take care of Barbara for the rest of the day.
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Tuesday, April 9
I woke up coughing, hacking, and feeling like I was coming down with something bad, so I did something that went way beyond my nature...I called Dr. Bankhead and got an appointment this morning...must have been my lucky day...in a way.
Dr. Bankhead ran some tests and said that if it wasn't for the lack of a high fever, she would say that I had the flu, so she diagnosed me as having bronchitis. She loaded me with prescriptions that I took to the pharmacy before heading home.
Barbara was having trouble getting in and out of the bed in the spare bedroom, so I washed all the bedding, made up the bed in our room and got her installed there.
Then I started taking my meds and crawled into the bed in the spare bedroom to sleep the day away. We were basically in a hospital ward with separate rooms in our own house.
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Wednesday, April 10
Today was more of the same for both of us...eat something, take meds, sleep, and repeat. This was the first time in years, if not ever, that both of us were this sick at the same time...it is NOT fun!
The one highlight of the day was when Carol Smith, one of our church family, brought us, Sprite, crackers, and some of her delicious homemade chicken noodle soup, enough for several meals. It was a thoughtful and delicious treat!
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Thursday, April 11
Leah called this morning to say that she wanted a grocery list so she could order some food to be delivered to us. Barbara told her that this is Mineola, Texas, we have one grocery store and a Walmart, and that wasn't possible. Leah said it was possible, that she had already lined someone up to do the shopping and delivery, and all she needed was a list.
How could we argue with that? We gave her the list (mostly soups, Sprite, and Jell-o), and within an hour we had food delivered to the house...what a treat!!!
We didn't feel any better, but we were glad that if we lived another few hours we'd have something to eat.
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Friday, April 12
Today was more of the same. Cousin Angela, brought us some Subway soup, yummy!
Barbara was feeling a little better this evening, so during one of the periods when we were both awake and not feeling too drugged, we decided that some Photo Phun was in order.
And then we took more meds and returned to our beds...some life, huh...
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Saturday, April 13
We weren't well, but we were feeling a little better this morning, so we started work on a children's sermon for tomorrow, just in case we might be able to go to church.
Meanwhile, the monsoon season started up again. Our one outside activity today was to step out to watch the rain.
By evening we knew there was no way we were going to be able to go to church or do anything else tomorrow, so we cancelled all planned activities, ate more soup, took more meds, and went back to sleep.
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Sunday, April 14
No church, no children's sermon, no praise band, no committee meeting for us. This was a day of rest and recuperation. However, by the end of the day we felt like we were no longer contagious, so we washed all the bedding and moved back into our room together.
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Monday, April 15
Although it took longer than ever to get all our tax information together and get it to the CPA, we did get in under the wire, so that pressure is off and we can get on with real life.
We were both feeling better this morning, so I went out to Yantis to help with the church bank deposit. When I got back, I worked on cleaning up the desk, filing a cancer insurance claim, and getting all of our insurance information put together so we can decide who we will go with this year.
While I was doing all that, Barbara was working on photos for the journal/blog. Nothing physically strenuous for us today, but it was mentally taxing (pun fully intended).
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Tuesday, April 16
Today was a good day for yard work, which is my idea of a good time.
While I was working outside, Barbara took care of the inside business..checking to see that bills were paid, reconciling the bank account, and making sure we had enough money set aside for the rest of the month.
Since we hadn't been out of the house for over a week except for doctor visits and pharmacy runs, we decided to take a ride and get some of the cobwebs out of our minds. Unfortunately, Taz was sick, so we took the car instead.
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Wednesday, April 17
Today was just another day in life. Barbara prepared meals in the kitchen (we have never learned to cook for two, so she prepares big batches puts out servings for us, and freezes the rest for later.
While she was doing that, I tackled the North 40 for its first mowing of the season...not an easy job, but it sure looked nice when I finished.
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Thursday and Friday, April 19-19
We've often said that some days are just days, and these two days exemplified that statement. We stayed around the house and did absolutely nothing worthwhile.
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Saturday, April 20
Happy Birthday to Daughter Whitney Little Farnham!!!!!
Tonight was the annual Resurrection drive-thru at First Baptist Church Yantis. While we were pretty sure we weren't contagious from whatever bugs we had this week, we limited out participation to taking photos for the church Facebook page.
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Sunday, April 21
Happy Easter!!!!!
Resurrection Sunday was filled with good experiences for our church members and visitors. We started the day with a Sunrise Service at Swearingen Park on the shore of Lake Fork...
Followed by the Sunday morning service at the church with great preaching and music, and the presentation of our children's sermon based on a story related to Luke 5: 17-26...
BARBARA: When I was a little girl, every time a
teacher asked two people (usually Ricky and Peggy) to be leaders, I would just
cringe inside because I knew without a doubt I’d be the last one chosen! One
time I got so excited because I wasn’t the last person chosen...just the next
to the last. It’s a terrible feeling, I can tell you that! That’s why when I
became a teacher, I promised myself that no child would ever be chosen last!
I’d choose teams by colors, or numbers, anything to keep one child from feeling
as hopeless and unloved as I did way back 65 years ago. The pain is still
etched on my heart. And, I bet many of you have had that same feeling!
Well,
today our lesson is about being chosen to be in the family of God. Do you think God chooses leaders and they
pick who gets to follow Jesus? No! That’s a ridiculous thought isn’t it! We can
all be in God’s family and we don’t have to worry about being the last one
chosen, either. The Bible tells us that
before he even made the world, God loved us and chose us. Before we were born God decided to adopt us
into his family.
JIM: That’s
right, Mrs. Little. God does want us to
be in his family! Is it because we’re so good and so wonderful? No, it’s
because HE is so good and wonderful. We need someone to help us grow and He is
there to help us every day. We need someone to love us and He loved us more
than anyone ever could.
God
has chosen us, but to become part of his family, we each must say, “Yes, I
choose to accept God.” When we confess
our sin and put our trust in Jesus, we become God’s adopted children and he
guides us to make everything work out according to his plan for us. And then we can all say, “I’m so glad I’m a
part of the family of God.”
BARBARA: As
always, Mr. Little and I have tried to make our treat for you relate to some
part of our lesson so that no matter where you are, no matter what you’re doing
that object will remind you that God loves you! Today we’ve decided to go with
the word “choose.” Therefore, it seemed only right that you should have...some
fruit chews; some tootsie chews, and SweetTart chews...of course the spelling
isn’t the same but when you see these chews, we hope you will be reminded that
God did choose us first! Now all you must do is choose to follow Him. Will you
pray for us, Mr. Little?
JIM: Now let’s
pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for
sending your son to die on the cross for our sins so that we can be a part of
your family. You have chosen us. Now please grant us the wisdom, strength, and
courage to choose this wonderful gift of eternal life with you for
ourselves. It’s in the name of Jesus we
pray, Amen.
When church services were over we drove back to the house to have a Mineola family dinner...brown-in bag chicken with all the trimmings, followed by an Easter egg hunt for Jarhett. It was so good to have Ladd, Angela, Logan, Jon, Madelyn, Jarhett, and Rex (the newest family member) with us today.
One of the highlights of the day was receiving this photo of grandchildren Ava, Jack, and Benjamin. Thanks for a great Easter gift, Mike and Kelly!
And another granddaughter Abby with Heather and Andy...
Monday, April 22
Happy Birthday to Grandson Jimmy Farnham!!!!!
Most of this day was spent gathering information on insurance for the house, car, motorcycle, and motor home. Sounds simple, right? Not as simple as one might think if you spend over six hours on the phone navigating through computer-generated options, or working on the computer and getting non-functioning websites. This was a day guaranteed to bring our blood pressure readings into the red zone!
Tuesday, April 23
Shortly after our house was built in 1999, the owner and our neighbor, John, who lives across the street, built a short brick wall and planted some shrubbery to let everyone know that the street ended here. The owner of the house also installed a couple of flag poles, but by the time Mother bought the house in July of 2008, the lanyards on the poles were rotted away.
We have often thought of putting up a flag, but it's one of those things that never got past the thinking stage...until today. For whatever reason when Barbara mentioned it again, we decided to do something about it. We bought a flag at Walmart, then went to Tractor Supply and found some chain and clips that we thought would work, as well as a solar light we thought we could install to illluminate the flag for at least a few hours each night.
Once back at the house, I borrowed a step ladder from John, Barbara held it to keep me from falling over when I climbed it, and we installed the chain, hooked up the flag, and ran it up the flag pole (to use a very old advertising phrase).
Wednesday, April 24
We have gotten so far behind in writing and publishing our journal/blog that we are taking nearly every opportunity to work on getting caught up. Today was one of those days when everything around the house was in good shape, so we went to our separate corners and dug in to get as caught up as possible.
While I wrote the text and inserted photos for the February edition, Barbara combed through hundreds of photos to make collages for the March edition. Theoretically, we could start and finish each edition in 3-4 days, but that's if we did nothing but focus on the journalistic stuff. So, as is often the case, theory gets trumped by the realities of the moment, hour, day, etc.
Still, we did finish, proof, and post February tonight. Unfortunately, we don't have any photos of our work of the day because neither of us had time to grab a camera.
We did, however get a beautiful nighttime shot of our new flag...
Thursday, April 25
Wednesday may be "hump day" in the business world, but for us, Thursday is "crunch day." That's because if we haven't gotten anything significant done on the children's sermon for the week, it's time to knuckle down and get busy.
Preparing a children's sermon isn't easy, even after the pastor gives us his topic and scriptures. Boiling a one-hour adult sermon down to a five minute lesson geared for 4-6 year-olds takes thinking, praying, and a lot of time.
With a busy weekend coming up, we spent most of the day writing, proofing, and tearing up the lesson text (repeat a couple of times) before coming up with what we felt was right.
Next was preparation of the handouts for the kids. The inspiration for all this handouts is Barbara's (or God's inspiration to Barbara). After the inspiration comes the perspiration, as we work to assemble all the items necessary for the task and put them together, one by one. In anticipation (or maybe hope) of a large group of children (our largest was 17) we prepare twenty sets of handouts...whatever is left over goes to some of the adults who really like the children's lessons.
So, in a nutshell, that is how we spent most of our day today. I had band rehearsal with the Lake Country Symphonic Band this evening and Barbara stayed home to continue work on photos for the next edition of the journal/blog.
Oh yeah...here's another shot of our new flag...we're sure you will be seeing more of these in the future! On this occasion I played a couple of patriotic tunes and sounded Taps before going to rehearsal.
Friday, April 26
Today was mostly a continuation of yesterday as we spent some time putting the final touches on the materials for the children's sermon handouts and tweaking the text, as well as working on photos and text for the March journal/blog.
And, yet another "Little" look at our new flag...
Saturday, April 27
Our one out-of-the-ordinary activity (with us it's sometimes difficult to determine what is ordinary and what isn't) was to drive out to the church at Yantis for a baby shower, for a new grandchild of our music and youth ministers, Chad and Melaina. We didn't have any photos, but we did have a good time.
Sunday, April 28
This morning found us back at Yantis for Sunday School and the church service. Our children's sermon was from Matthew 13:44-46 about a Pearl of Great Price.
And another granddaughter Abby with Heather and Andy...
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Monday, April 22
Happy Birthday to Grandson Jimmy Farnham!!!!!
Most of this day was spent gathering information on insurance for the house, car, motorcycle, and motor home. Sounds simple, right? Not as simple as one might think if you spend over six hours on the phone navigating through computer-generated options, or working on the computer and getting non-functioning websites. This was a day guaranteed to bring our blood pressure readings into the red zone!
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Tuesday, April 23
Shortly after our house was built in 1999, the owner and our neighbor, John, who lives across the street, built a short brick wall and planted some shrubbery to let everyone know that the street ended here. The owner of the house also installed a couple of flag poles, but by the time Mother bought the house in July of 2008, the lanyards on the poles were rotted away.
We have often thought of putting up a flag, but it's one of those things that never got past the thinking stage...until today. For whatever reason when Barbara mentioned it again, we decided to do something about it. We bought a flag at Walmart, then went to Tractor Supply and found some chain and clips that we thought would work, as well as a solar light we thought we could install to illluminate the flag for at least a few hours each night.
Once back at the house, I borrowed a step ladder from John, Barbara held it to keep me from falling over when I climbed it, and we installed the chain, hooked up the flag, and ran it up the flag pole (to use a very old advertising phrase).
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Wednesday, April 24
We have gotten so far behind in writing and publishing our journal/blog that we are taking nearly every opportunity to work on getting caught up. Today was one of those days when everything around the house was in good shape, so we went to our separate corners and dug in to get as caught up as possible.
While I wrote the text and inserted photos for the February edition, Barbara combed through hundreds of photos to make collages for the March edition. Theoretically, we could start and finish each edition in 3-4 days, but that's if we did nothing but focus on the journalistic stuff. So, as is often the case, theory gets trumped by the realities of the moment, hour, day, etc.
Still, we did finish, proof, and post February tonight. Unfortunately, we don't have any photos of our work of the day because neither of us had time to grab a camera.
We did, however get a beautiful nighttime shot of our new flag...
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Thursday, April 25
Wednesday may be "hump day" in the business world, but for us, Thursday is "crunch day." That's because if we haven't gotten anything significant done on the children's sermon for the week, it's time to knuckle down and get busy.
Preparing a children's sermon isn't easy, even after the pastor gives us his topic and scriptures. Boiling a one-hour adult sermon down to a five minute lesson geared for 4-6 year-olds takes thinking, praying, and a lot of time.
With a busy weekend coming up, we spent most of the day writing, proofing, and tearing up the lesson text (repeat a couple of times) before coming up with what we felt was right.
Next was preparation of the handouts for the kids. The inspiration for all this handouts is Barbara's (or God's inspiration to Barbara). After the inspiration comes the perspiration, as we work to assemble all the items necessary for the task and put them together, one by one. In anticipation (or maybe hope) of a large group of children (our largest was 17) we prepare twenty sets of handouts...whatever is left over goes to some of the adults who really like the children's lessons.
So, in a nutshell, that is how we spent most of our day today. I had band rehearsal with the Lake Country Symphonic Band this evening and Barbara stayed home to continue work on photos for the next edition of the journal/blog.
Oh yeah...here's another shot of our new flag...we're sure you will be seeing more of these in the future! On this occasion I played a couple of patriotic tunes and sounded Taps before going to rehearsal.
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Friday, April 26
Today was mostly a continuation of yesterday as we spent some time putting the final touches on the materials for the children's sermon handouts and tweaking the text, as well as working on photos and text for the March journal/blog.
And, yet another "Little" look at our new flag...
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Saturday, April 27
Our one out-of-the-ordinary activity (with us it's sometimes difficult to determine what is ordinary and what isn't) was to drive out to the church at Yantis for a baby shower, for a new grandchild of our music and youth ministers, Chad and Melaina. We didn't have any photos, but we did have a good time.
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Sunday, April 28
This morning found us back at Yantis for Sunday School and the church service. Our children's sermon was from Matthew 13:44-46 about a Pearl of Great Price.
JIM: In
today’s Bible lesson Jesus is talking to his disciples and telling them about a
man who found a treasure in a field; so he sold everything he had just to buy
the field so that the treasure would be his. Then, Jesus told of another man
who went in search of fine pearls. When he found a pearl he thought was the
best, he sold everything he had to buy that pearl. Both men thought they had
found the most priceless treasure and gave everything they had to own it. But,
Jesus was using this parable to show that we should ask Jesus into our hearts,
and make him our number one priority. That
treasure in the field and the fine pearl were just examples of the kingdom of
heaven, which can be ours if we believe in Jesus as our savior. We can find a
new life in him just like the man who was looking for fine pearls. When he found a pearl of great value, he went
away, sold everything he had, and bought the pearl. Jesus should be our pearl of great value, and
we should give up everything to love him as our savior, and then show that love
in our daily lives so others can see the kingdom of heaven in us and want to
become part of the family of God.
God knew that we could
never pay the price for our sins, so he sent Jesus to pay the price for us.
Do you see what Mrs.
Little is holding in her hand? That’s right it’s an Oreo. What in the world
does and Oreo have to do with the parable of the pearl???
BARBARA: Well, that’s easy to explain, Mr.
Little. You just told us about the pearl of great value. When we open up our
Oreo cookie, what do we find? Yes, a big white circle which can remind us that
just like that pearl of great value, the creamy center of the Oreo was worth
looking for. The darkness of the outside of the cookie has to be removed to
find the most valuable part...it’s like the sweet treasure we find in Jesus.
Therefore, our special treat for you this morning is this little package of
Oreo cookies. Once you remove the
darkness that covers it, you can enjoy the pearl white center that reminds us
of the sweet treasure we find in Jesus.
JIM: Heavenly Father, we want to be more like
Jesus in every way. Please give us the
wisdom and courage we need to show others the sweetness and love we have found
in you. We ask this in the name of
Jesus, Amen
Tonight we returned to the church for the quarterly business meeting. We got there early, which gave us an opportunity to engage in a "Little" Photo Phun.
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Monday, April 29
This morning we drove to Holiday Villages of Lake Fork to crank up Big V and take her to Funtown RV in Mineola to be inspected so we could get a new registration sticker and see about a few repairs.
Our plan was to get her ready for the road and then go for a test spin for a few days to see if we still loved the RV experience.
Well, those plans came to a screaming halt late this afternoon when the maintenance tech called and said that they could finish the repairs and replacements tomorrow, but it wouldn't pass inspection. He then told me that we needed to replace the windshield wipers (no big deal, since we have to do that every couple of years anyway) and then he dropped the bomb...all six tires needed to be replaced and the front end needed an alignment. I sucked wind and asked if they could do that at their shop and was told that wasn't something they did...we would have to take Big V to Tyler. Talk about the end of a dream!!!
I told him to finish up the repairs and replacements they could do and let me know when we could pick Big V up.
Barbara looked up truck tire shops in Tyler and we got some information on Goolsby's, but they were closed for the night, so we would just have to wait until tomorrow.
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Tuesday, April 30
What a crazy day! We burned a lot of telephone minutes today. After several conversations with the techs at Goolsby's Tires in Tyler, we found that they could do the work for us, but they actually recommended that if we didn't already have one, we should consider a membership in Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) as they had a special deal with Michelin to provide tires to members at a special rate. We did all the math (several times) and decided that it would be a significant financial advantage to pay a relatively small membership fee to FMCA and get a greatly reduced rate on tire prices.
So, we learned that Goolsby's could do the work at a reasonable price, but we couldn't set a date or time until everything was completed at Funtown, and we didn't know when that would happen. All we really knew was that by the time Big V was released from Mineola, the annual inspection and registration would be overdue, and our bank account would begin a gradual decline.
On the good side, if there is a good side, at least we found out all of this before we set out on a journey...that would have been catastrophic!
After finally leaving all the Big V issues in the hands of the various shops and technicians, we turned to issues at home. We've had issues with one of the bathroom skylights the last few months. When the rain blows in from the west or southwest, we get water down the cylinder and onto the floor. I was going to replace the glass bowl on the roof, but it is so old that no one within miles and miles has the parts. So, I climbed up on the roof, removed the layers of tape that I had wrapped around the seams, and found that the washers on two of the mounting screws were missing. I dug through my cabinet of miscellaneous "stuff," and found something that should pass as washer material, cut it to size, and got back on the roof to re-install the skylight bowl...time will tell if it works.
Meanwhile, Barbara was fixing dinner since we had some church friends who were coming over to visit for the evening. While we were waiting for Eve and Carlee, I decided to find a way to get our hummingbird feeder mounted in the center of some shrubbery in the front yard. It had done well when it was mounted in the trunk of an old tree that had been cut down several years ago, but the stump has rotted away so that it won't hold anything but bugs and ants.
While I was looking around the stump to find a place to plant the feeder stand, I spied a new visitor to the neighborhood...you might be able to see it in the photo on the left, but the head in the photo in the right blends in with the other colors, so it's difficult to see.
We enjoyed our visit with Eve and Carlee tonight. We don't get very many opportunities to see each other except at church, but tonight they brought in some sunshine after a very trying day.
Tonight was the Spring Concert for Kaiden's junior high band in Burleson. We weren't able to attend because of everything else going on today, but Leah shared this photo of Kaiden sitting as first chair euphonium in his band.
And that, dear journal/blog family, marks the end of another month in our retirement life. April, 2019 is in the books, so to speak.
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"Alexander Hamilton started the U.S. Treasury with nothing, and that is the closest our country has ever been to being even." - Will Rogers
From our home in Mineola, Texas,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsie
