Tuesday November 29th 2011

Whoa!!!  It’s white outside, it is still dark but it is snowing!!

Sparky thinks the snow is cold and wet, two things he doesn’t really like!

The snow is very wet and very heavy and later it will probably melt.  I think it is supposed to get up to forty degrees today so the snow will probably be gone by this afternoon.  I think we got about two inches.

The wind is blowing and it is not a real nice day.

Work this afternoon was OK, it got colder as the afternoon went on and all the things I had to do outside was bone chilling!  I finished most of the chores by about 4PM.  Wasn’t real busy today but did pump a lot of propane.  This kind of weather and campers, they want to be sure they have plenty of propane, it gets cold inside a camper real fast when the furnace goes out!

I told Mark that I wouldn’t be back next year.  He didn’t say to much except that I always had a job here when I wanted.  I enjoyed working for Mark.  He is a good employer.

Got out of work on time and home at a decent hour.  Linda had called when I was at work and said the electricity went out.  Fortunately it was just a breaker.  She had the little electric fireplace turned on and I think there was just to much for that circuit and it popped it.  No big deal.  I told her how to reset it and everything was OK after that.

Quiet evening , it is supposed to get really chilly tonight, below freezing by a few degrees.  I checked the battery in the camper again and it is still fully charged so the other battery was bad.  Glad I don’t have a short in the system.

Watched some TV tonight, when I was awake.  I was really tired tonight.  I think the cold really zapped me for some reason, but then I’m usually tired at night.  Well, guess I will say “Night Y’all…”

Monday November 28th 2011

Well, it’s not a nice day!  Rainy, cold etc etc etc….

We aren’t going to do a lot today, need to run into town and get a new battery for the camper.  I’ve tried taking the battery out and putting the charger on it and as soon as I do it sounds like the battery is frying!  Not a real good sound for sure.  I’ve been checking the internet for different places to get a battery and I think I will probably end up getting it at Wal Mart.  Can’t remember how much they cost but I’m taking an old lawn mower battery in for the exchange.  We stopped at Slusher’s, that is where we had the new tires put on the car at, so they could check the air pressure.  When driving, there is a warning light on that is a tire, not sure what it means but if they check the air pressure maybe that will do it!

After checking the air pressure I backed the car out and parked it and guess what????  The warning light is off.  The man said all four tires were low on air by a few pounds so they got them back up to where they are supposed to be.  Well, that takes care of another problem and maybe I will start getting better gas mileage again.  Checked the batteries there, $85 with the exchange and they wouldn’t take the lawn mower battery. Sooo, Wal Mart..

Marvin was working in the auto section and I found the battery I wanted and I asked him about the exchange, he said any battery would do!  Well, this battery was $59 so I jumped on it.  I will take it home and put it on the charger for awhile before putting it in the camper to test it there and see if I have a short somewhere that is draining the battery.  Hopefully it was just a bad battery.  Well, it is over five years old and guess it is time to replace it.

It is cold in the house!  We don’t keep the heat turned up so we dress pretty warm.  Linda still gets cold, even worse than me and that is a surprise!  She is pretty warm blooded until it gets cold I guess.

The rain is starting to change into snow. Oh me!  That means it is getting colder.  Temp is about 38 by the car thermometer!  The weather tonight says there is a winter storm warning. That isn’t nice either.  Looks like the snow goes all the way down into Mississippi!  Maybe we should be in Illinois where it is warm and dry?  Not sure what the weather is like up there.

Enough of all this, time to say Night Y’all…

Sunday November 27th 2011

Miserable, cold, wet, windy and dreary day!  Guess that pretty much describes my opinion of the day!

Went to church at Fellowship again this morning, I was cold all through Sunday School and Church!  I had my heavy coat on the whole time!  I finally started getting warmed up but not quite by the end of the service.

Got a picture of Marvin singing the special music this morning..

He sang a Christmas song this morning, not sure of the name but it was good.  He is a good singer and also plays the guitar during the services.

Before I go on I took another picture of Corrina tonight singing her special..

Corrina wasn’t at church this morning and tonight for her special, she sang the same song that Marvin did this morning!  The both did a very good job and their different styles made it quite nice!  I liked both of their specials.

This afternoon I took a nap, we have the heat going and it is actually kind of warm in the house.

I did something I wasn’t going to do today but I did.  I checked the battery in the camper and not only is it dead, it is deader than yesterday and it isn’t even hooked up so I think tomorrow I will have to go get another battery and hopefully they will take a lawnmower battery in exchange.  I need to get the oil changed in the car and get another tank of propane, tomorrow. 

Well, I watched AFV tonight, I had it taped and that has to be one of my favorite shows, really makes me laugh!

That’s about all for tonight I guess, I forgot to write the blog yesterday so I will try to do it now…Night Y’all…

Saturday November 26th 2011

OK it’s Saturday and not to bad out this morning, yet.  Guess we are supposed to get some rain and it is supposed to cool off.  Right now it is nice, temperature wise anyway.

We took a ride into town this morning for something, can’t remember what for right now but we took Sparky!  Sparky doesn’t get to go with us unless we are going on a trip or something.  The first time we took him when he was just a puppy Linda tried to hold him on her lap and he went bonkers. Well, he was really nervous so we put him in his cage and he rode all the way to Mississippi in his cage and did great, well today we left him in the back seat and he did really good.  We knew we wouldn’t be very long and wouldn’t be leaving him in the car by himself for very long.  This is something, I can’t remember what we went to town for. Well, it was a real quick trip anyway.

Work this afternoon, got to work and got all the chores done and waited for the campers to start flooding in!  Didn’t happen, got two at once and that was the busy time.  Still didn’t do to bad though.  Well, until about 5PM and it started raining and a guy wanted to fill a propane bottle. I filled it and got soaked!  It wasn’t to cold though so it wasn’t to bad.  I got my old coat with the hood and the liner so I could at least stay a little dry.  I also got the umbrella out of the car.  Another person called and asked if we were open so he could get a propane bottle filled.  I said “yes” and I was ready but he never showed up.  I closed up and got out of work on time.

Left overs for supper, they are still great!  The wind is blowing now and it is starting to cool off, they say there is a chance of snow flurries!  Don’t need that!

Just another relaxing night tonight…Night Y’all..

Friday November 25th 2011

I was up early, tryptophan must have worn off..

I made some cinnamon rolls for breakfast this morning.  Tried something different and it was OK but not the best.

David and I talked for quite awhile this morning and he says that they are going to try to work for the Corps of Engineers next year in Branson.  I had thought about that but couldn’t figure out how to fill out their application.  Maybe we weren’t supposed to work for the Corps.

We went into town with David and Marian before they left for Branson.  Turning out to be a beautiful day today!

I have to work this afternoon.  Have three days left!

Work went great, not real busy but had a few things to get done.  I finished reading my book and will have to find another because tomorrow I won’t have anything else to do and just sitting there.

We had leftovers for supper.  They are still great.  Also had a piece of the pumpkin desert.  That is really good but just a small piece is enough.

Not a lot going on today, so I will sign off and say Night Y’all…

Thursday November 24th 2011

Thanksgiving day!!  We have people coming for dinner and the turkey is done and smells delicious!  Linda fixed a cranberry salad yesterday and a pumpkin type cheesecake so that will be a little less that she has to do today.

We got up pretty early this morning and Linda started fixing stuff like the corn casserole, stuffing, sweet potatoes green bean casserole and mashed potatoes.  She did an excellent job of fixing Thanksgiving Dinner.  David and Marian made it here about 12:15PM and they are staying for the night…

Today is Marian’s birthday..

Linda made the pumpkin cheesecake for her birthday…

Don and Patti came over about 1PM.  We have known them for almost ten years even though we’ve never gotten together.  Glad Linda invited them..

Don and Patti are full time campers and are spending about a month here in Sikeston.  They are waiting to hear from their son in New York, who just retired from the military. He is moving back to Missouri, sometime.

I didn’t get a picture of the whole dinner, or even part of it, but it was top notch delicious!  We had a great afternoon just talking and then desert which put me over the top!  I was stuffed, couldn’t eat a thing for supper, which we didn’t have anyway.

We have a picture like this somewhere but Marian wanted me to send her this one.

We were all bushed tonight and bed was  really inviting, well, I couldn’t even stay awake tonight, probably the tryptophan.

Anyway….Night Y’all….

Wednesday November 23rd 2011

Today is clean up day!  Having company tomorrow and now we have to clean and figure out where we can sit six people all together!  Our home isn’t very big and our table only seats four but we have two card tables we can put together to make it room for six!

I’m still working on the camper, I can’t figure out why my battery won’t charge, but I think I may have a problem with the battery even though Auto Zone said it was OK.  I’m not real sure.  Anyway, I may end up getting another battery just to check it out.

After moving stuff around and making room, we took a nap and then Linda made a meat loaf, in fact she made three!

I was hungry for meat loaf and we picked up a large package of hamburger then we added pork sausage, stuffing mix, ranch dressing, a can of chili peppers, eggs, milk and a bunch of other stuff.  Going to have it after church tonight.

Well, we overdid it at supper, I fixed some mashed potatoes and then we had about a half loaf of meatloaf, wow it was good.  Now we have five half loaves to freeze.  She won’t have to make meatloaf again for awhile.

Rick, the music director had the service tonight and he did a good job.  He had googled “thanks” from the bible on the computer.  He had a lot of pretty good stuff.  I feel sorry for Rick though, he had ear surgery and he can’t hear very good. He had a hard time hearing the piano and hearing people asking and answering questions.  Still did a good job though.

After supper we went through stuff from the camper and we are getting ready to take stuff out to the camper.

Oh, I stopped for gas on the way home….

I can’t remember the last time I have seen gas below the $3 mark!!  I filled up!

We just worked tonight, cleaning, then Linda got the turkey ready and put it in the oven about 10:30PM.  It will cook all night, not like they say but she has always done this and it really turns out great.  We like our turkey very well done.

Time to go to bed we still have a lot to do tomorrow….Night Y’all….

Tuesday November 22nd 2011

Not much going on today, work of course, but that is this afternoon. Not going to do much this morning, it is really wet out.

I read some more of my book and then ate a little lunch.  Got a picture of Sparky praying????

He is kind of weird.  Not sure what he wants but he will sit there like that and just look.  I know he wants something but not sure what!

I also got a picture of a tree in our back yard.  Not a real good picture but the tree has some nice green leaves, some dead leaves and some branches bare!

Work this afternoon went pretty good.  Not a lot of business but took awhile to get all the trash picked up and the rest rooms cleaned but then the rest of the day was pretty normal.  Got out on time and everything.  I stopped on the way into work at Wal Mart for a couple of things that we forgot to get.

TV night tonight.  Watched NCIS and NCIS LA then watched the Mentalist. They were all pretty good shows I think, I missed part because my eyes went closed for some reason.

Time for bed though….Night Y’all..

Monday November 21st 2011

It’s kind of warm this morning but it’s really foggy!  Actually it stayed foggy all day!  Didn’t really rain much but misted all day.

We went to town to get the insurance for the camper and the car at Patrick Murphy Agency.  We had AARP insurance and they raised our rates this year because of a speeding ticket two or three years ago.  I figure that was unacceptable so we shopped around and Progressive was about $300 a year cheaper, I can handle that.  We usually have problems doing stuff like this and yes, we had a little problem.  They needed the VIN for the camper and I’m sure they had it a couple of weeks ago but it wasn’t on their computer.  After we left Linda looked in the glove compartment for something and there it was right in plain sight so we turned around and went back and gave it to them.

We stopped at Wal Mart to get a few thing for Thanksgiving Day and ran into a lot of people that we knew which is very unusual!  Saw Daniel first then ran into Don and Patty.  We met them when we first started work camping at Hinton Park.  They are very nice people and when Linda found out they weren’t doing anything for Thanksgiving she invited them over so now we are up to six!  Should be a great Thanksgiving.  Don’t think we have ever had that many people over since we left Sterling IL!  We saw Dave and Ellen, Kim’s parents, and we talked for awhile. They are Mark’s in-laws.  When we were leaving we saw Don, Daniel’s Dad!  Nice visit today at Wal Mart.

I took Linda to El Bracero for lunch.  It was pretty good.  Linda liked hers a lot, I had a California Burrito that wasn’t like the ones we get in CA for sure!

I forgot stuff at Wal Mart so I will have to pick up stuff tomorrow.  I need a padlock for the dolly, more to keep it hooked to the camper than some one stealing it. 

I worked a little more in the garden getting some of the tomato plants pulled up and put on the burn pile.  Sure are a lot of green tomatoes on the ground.  Not sure why they didn’t do good except maybe because it was to hot or maybe not enough water.  Maybe next year!

Tonight I read my book, I’m not a fast reader so I still have quite a bit of reading left to do.  Watched Castle tonight, good show.  It is right up there with NCIS!

That is about all for today…..Night Y’all…

Sunday November 20th 2011

It sure isn’t  pretty day today unless you like fog, drizzle and cool weather! I’m not really into any of that.

Actually I had a pretty great day!  Went to church at Fellowship again.  Sunday School was very good and church, wow, really hit the spot today! The sermon “Why Aren’t You Thankful” was really good.  Here are some of the reasons…

Thoughtlessness

Faithless

Disinterest

Selfishness and

Neglect

Now Pastor Joe went through all these but the things that got to me were a piece of paper he handed out with one phrase written on it. “Who Are You Thankful For?”  This has to do with who was instrumental in leading you to the Lord.  Well, it was later in life when I was “Saved” but I sure am thankful to John and Marietta who invited us to church then to Pastor Dalmus who preached the Word and was there to help and tutor and pray with us whenever the need arose…

Had to put a picture of Pastor Dalmus and Jane in here.

Well, to go a little farther we are also thankful for our kids, Kim, Dee and Brenna because when they came to live with us we knew they went to church so without them and of course my ex wife who let them come to live with us, we probably never would have gone to church and heard the “Salvation Message”!

Now going on to Sunday night, Pastor Joe was preaching on the Great White Throne Judgment and the Book of “Life” and the “Book of Deeds”. Now the Book of Life the way he explained it is different than the way I had it figured.  He says everyone born is in it but the ones  that don’t accept Jesus as their Savior will be blotted out of the book and the ones that do accept Him will be left in it. I would imagine that there are a lot of different ways to explain it but I’m sure that the ones that don’t accept Jesus will NOT be in the Book of Life.  Now the Book of Deeds he explains is the Book that is kept of all the “deeds” that each unsaved person does, and they are judged on that which would be a “perfect” and “just” judgment!  Well, I am really thankful that I have accepted Jesus as my Savior and have the assurance that I will be in the Book of Life!!  Praise the Lord!  I know that different people have different opinions and maybe mine isn’t perfect but Jesus is and when I go before Him and see the “nail scarred hands” I will be assured He will accept me.  Thank You!

What a great day!  Even though the weather is dreary church was great.  Probably one of the best, not including the day I got saved!

I almost forgot, tonight at the end of the service Carrie sang another song.. “Thank You For Giving To The Lord”.  What a fitting song! Carrie is also a great and dynamic singer…

OK, now for the close.   Night Y’all… Happy Thanksgiving!  Just think of all you are thankful for, so many things that the Lord has done for us, great friends, warm clothes, a home that keeps us dry in this inclement weather and so many other things…smile …

Saturday November 19th 2011

The temperature this morning isn’t to bad.  When Sparky and I first went out the wind wasn’t blowing and it must be around 50 degrees.  That isn’t to bad for the middle of November.  So far we have had two pretty good freezes and we still have flowers.  Had to take a picture of our petunias…

These were almost dead during the summer.  The white and blue died but the red, and I see some pink ones, came back and now have made it through two freezes.  I’m impressed.  There are also some other flowers that are just gorgeous!  They are the ones that came with the $1 package of seeds I bought.  Going to look for a picture of them…(found one)

This is an old picture and now there are a lot more of these flowers. They grow very tall and the wind has knocked them to the ground but they are flourishing!

Not much going on this morning, I have been outside with Sparky most of the morning.  Bud and Scruffy are here and Sparky likes playing with them but he is kind of wimpy and gets hurt pretty easy but he still likes running around like a crazy dog!

Linda made some more carnitas. She made them different than the ones I made yesterday.  She made them like fajitas and they were excellent.  I boiled the meat before she fried it.  She also added onion, green pepper and different seasonings…

She likes to smile when I take her picture

Back to work this afternoon.  I will only have four more days to work after today!  Time is flying by like crazy.  Work went well, wasn’t sure if we were going to get any campers or not.  It was really quiet for a long time but they finally started coming in.  Not a busy day but it was OK.

Oh, after boiling the meat I added some celery, onion, potatoes and stuff to the stock trying to make some soup.  I also added a little cheese, milk and flour to make it a cream soup.  I had it for supper tonight.  Tasted pretty good after adding some salt to it.  Linda had a peanut butter and banana sandwich. (To much information?)

Saturday night there isn’t much of anything on TV.  I think I slept on the sofa most of the evening and then about 9PM I got the computer out and played some games.  Linda bought some new games for her computer and was playing games also.

Well, not much else going on guess it is time for bed…Night Y’all….

Friday November 18th 2011

Wow it is cold this morning!  Got down to about twenty eight degrees and the tomato plants look like they have about had it.  I started taking the tomato plants out and removed some of the cages.  I got a few ripe tomatoes and a few green ones that were a decent size and brought them in the house.

About 9AM I decided it was time to hook up the tow dolly to the camper and take it for a spin.  I thought about taking Sparky along but decided not to just in case it would take awhile.

Well, the tow dolly followed me all the way to the Flying J and pack.  I filled the camper with propane and had a twenty pound tank that I had filled also.  I stopped a couple of times to see if the bearings were getting hot and they seemed fine.  I about froze though waiting for the guy to fill the camper with propane. He happened to be cleaning the bathrooms, which were really, really bad.  When all was finished and I got back home the bearings were cold and no grease anywhere!   I’m happy, I know I don’t have the car on there and it may make a difference but hopefully all will be well when we take off.

I was hungry for Carnitas, which is fried pork.  Linda helped me with it.  I finished it and it was a little over done but was delicious…

I used about half a package of the pork, Linda wanted to boil it first so it would be tender, well, we can use the other half like that, I wanted to try it like this and it was good even though some was burnt.  Sparky like the burnt parts.

Work this afternoon!  Working !PM to 6PM goes pretty fast.  I like getting off an hour earlier even though it is dark when I get off, it sure makes the afternoon go fast!

Not much going on tonight either.  Linda made egg burritos for supper, I didn’t get a picture but they were really good!

Time to say Night Y’all…

Thursday November 17th 2011

Today it is pretty chilly but not as chilly as it is supposed to be tomorrow! I have things I want to do today like check the bearing for the tow dolly.  I can’t see how to get it off so I will check with Redneck trailer parts and see what they have.

We went to town early and I dropped Linda off at Wal Mart and I went to the parts place. The guy was really helpful but since I didn’t have anything to go by, he just had to guess at what I had so I went on home after picking up Linda and took it apart. Once I got it apart and cleaned up I took it back into the parts place and we, or he, found some parts that would probably fit so I got a new hub and bearings.  After getting home I tried the hub and it fit the wheel perfect unfortunately the bearings were to big so I had to make another trip into town and get the smaller bearings.

As you can see, I figured out how to get it off even though it wasn’t the right way, but now I know the right way in case I need to change the other side!!!

Tape measure isn’t real accurate especially when you are within a fraction of an inch.  Traded the bearings for the smaller ones and also had to get another grease seal to keep the grease in.  Glad I did I sure didn’t want to take it apart again or make another trip to town.  I think I made at least three trips to town and maybe four.  I bought a new grease gun.  I have one but it doesn’t work for some reason.  When I got home I packed the bearings and put grease on the spindle, pictured above, and put it together.  The wheel turns and doesn’t wiggle so maybe I have it right!

I think I will take it out tomorrow to see if it will “hurl” grease all over the wheel or get hot or fall off, I’m not real sure of my work

Not a lot going on tonight.  Connie, Linda’s sister called and gave me a hard time because of the mistake I made on the date.  Glad she did because I probably wouldn’t have noticed it.  Glad she reads the blog though because this is a plethora of information!!

It is time to call it a night….Night Y’all….

Wednesday November 16th 2011

Haven’t heard a word from RafterD so I don’t know if they have the car hauler ready or not.  They were supposed to call about some modifications and I’ve decided not to buy one right now and I can’t get them on the phone and I can’t email them.  Guess they will call if they want to get ahold of me. I decided to take the tires off the tow dolly and get some new ones. I dropped them off and got the new ones put on and it was about $106 which I figured wasn’t to bad for two tires and getting them mounted and balanced.

We did a little shopping at Wal Mart, got a few different things then headed home.  I decided to put the tires on the dolly  and wouldn’t you know, one of the wheels is really loose and probably needs new bearings.  I don’t have any idea who to call to get it fixed so I texted Daniel and asked him about a mechanic.  He didn’t know any so I figure tomorrow I will start looking around.  Sure can’t haul the car around like this, the wheel might fall off!

I went to church tonight at Fellowship.  He taught on prayer.  Very interesting.  I always thought that I was a weak prayer because I believed that some of the things I pray for I figure won’t ever happen, not because He couldn’t do it  but I figure He doesn’t want it to happen or something like that.  I know God can do anything so I just keep on asking. Some day things may happen, I don’t know so I just keep asking!

We watched some TV tonight but didn’t do much of anything else.  As usual I was tired so I went to bed after the weather…..Night Y’all…

Tuesday November 15th 2011

It’s raining this morning but still not to bad out.  I’m sure it will cool off later though.

Not much of anything going on this morning.  I keep thinking about moving then I think of all that would have to fit together to do it and it seems impossible that we will move.  I think I have resigned myself to staying here. Now I’m not saying that it won’t happen.  We would both like to be back home around family and friends but that may not happen.  Guess we could try to make it happen but we aren’t sure that it is the Lord’s will for us. We will hand it over to Him.

I have to work this afternoon and it should go pretty well, I know that I have trash to collect but the flowers are already put away for the winter so things should go pretty smooth today. Yep, had a good day, kept pretty busy with propane and campers but that is OK, sure made the time go fast.  Two weeks from today will be my last day here, at least for the winter.  Mierlen came in and reset the wifi.  That was nice, I didn’t have to do it.  Mark called and asked me to do it but it’s finished and Meirlen said it works good so I guess he got it reset.

Well, I got out of work on time tonight and everything turned out just right, made me happy!

We finished the last of our tomatoes tonight.  We still have more in the garden but the freeze last Friday morning pretty much put the stops on the tomatoes, at least the plants.  They aren’t looking very good.  We used up the last of the home made bread so I guess I will have to bake some more tomorrow.  Linda wants regular white bread.  I guess I could do that.

A little TV tonight then to bed…Night Y’all…

Monday November 14th 2011

I see I made a mistake on yesterday’s date again!  Must be that the time is going faster than I am!

Nice and warm this morning.  Be nice if winter would be like this all the time.  I wouldn’t go south for sure.

I changed the bulb in our security light outside.  It still works but it is a curly bulb and it is going bad.  Sometimes I have to kick the pole to get it to stay on.  I wanted to wait as long as I could to change it then it would last all winter, maybe.

We looked at some property on the computer back in Sterling and Rock Falls.  I think we are both kind of home sick and would like to be around friends and family.  We actually found a couple places we could afford.  They probably need a lot of work because they are repossessions.  I have time but we would have to sell our place here in Sikeston first.  I’m not sure if it would sell or not and I really don’t want two places at the same time.  I sure don’t want to rent this place.  I guess the Lord will show us the way.

Now I’m changing my mind about the car hauler, should I or shouldn’t I by it?  That is the question.  I could certainly use it but I really don’t want to spend the money on it.  I already have the tow dolly.  I was going to get new tires for it yesterday but decided to wait.

It is kind of funny, I have been looking in the garage and I can’t believe all the “stuff” we have.  I told Linda if we move we have to have a yard sale or estate sale or something.  I sure don’t want to move all this stuff again. I opened one of the containers to see what was in it, wow, stuff we could really get along without.  Tupperware, silverware, junk etc…..  I don’t even know how many containers we have, a bunch for sure.

Well, we didn’t do anything today and it is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow and maybe the next day. At least it is warm right now.

Will say Night Y’all… until tomorrow…

Sunday November 13th 2011

It sure is windy this morning!  Not cold but cloudy and windy!  Supposed to warm up today and get around seventy I think.  I can handle that.

Went to Fellowship Baptist this morning.  Sunday School was good and Brother Bob preached in church.  He is a retired preacher.  Brother Joe and his wife went to Chicago I believe.  He did a good job also.

I got a picture of Omalene, she sang the special music this morning. The one of her coming back into the choir is blurry and I really don’t want to put the one of her back on here…

This is the bad part about singing in the choir.  They have the special music while we are still in the choir and I would really like to record  the songs or take a picture.

I stopped and got some chicken at Food Giant.  I really like their chicken. Really tastes good, they do a good job on their chicken.

I got to take a nap this afternoon.  I don’t usually take a nap except maybe on Sunday.

Tonight the Assistant Pastor or Youth Pastor, Josh, had the service tonight. He did a good job.  Makes you think about your walk for sure.

There were a couple of young girls that sang a special tonight.  They did a really good job…

I have no idea what their names are but they are part of the youth group.

Not going to do much tonight, work on the computer a little and watch a little TV so guess that is about all….Night Y’all…

Saturday November 12th 2011

Guess because it is November it is cool out.  I think I’m allergic to cold weather.

Not much to do this morning.  Linda bought some cinnamon rolls in the tube that I figured I may as well bake.  They have the Cinnabon cinnamon so it was worth a try.  Well, they weren’t to bad but they weren’t really very good either.  Won’t buy them again.  I like mine better, even without the frosting mine taste better.

Work today went quite well.  Had kind of a funny incident happen.  An older couple came in with a new diesel motor home, very nice, and they couldn’t get the twelve volt to work inside.  This was their first time out and they were starting to freak out.  We checked almost everything there was to check and as they went out to look at the house batteries again I stopped at the door and looked at the array of buttons and saw one that said auxiliary  battery so I flipped it a couple of times and the second time their twelve volt lights came on so it was just a switch that you can’t tell whether it is on or off but it sure makes a big difference.   The lady, in her eighties had to give me a hug and her husband didn’t want to be left out so he gave me a hug also.  They were happy and I felt good to be able to help a little.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet, not real busy but busy enough.  Got out of work on time tonight, but it is still dark at 6PM.  I don’t like driving in the dark but I made it home OK.

Nothing on TV tonight so I finished reading my book and later went to bed. Not real exciting huh?   Night Y’all…

Friday November 11th 2011

Now I think I have the dates corrected, I hope!

It is cold this morning, there is a lot of frost and there is ice on the tow dolly which isn’t solid but it is pretty thick where the water was standing in it.  I took a picture of the railing on the deck which was covered with frost but it didn’t show up good at all.

I’m kind of disappointed in the picture, you can’t see the frost on the railing but is was sparkling in the sunlight.  You can see the dog house to the left. Doesn’t look nice but I think it keeps them dry and gives them cover and I have carpeting and a blanket in there so they should be able to keep each other warm.

The more I thought about the car hauler the more I figured I didn’t need it.  So I finally called, or tried to call to cancel the order and couldn’t get an answer so I emailed and the email came back.  Well, they were supposed to call me so I guess I will wait for their phone call.  I’m not sure who all works in the shop but I guess no one works in the office.  I took the wheels off the car dolly and will take them in to get some new tires and then I will be all set for heading South to Mississippi and Texas.

tried a few more times to call the company, RafterD Trailer Sales but no answer.

Well, I have to go to work this afternoon and it is warming up nicely outside. Supposed to get to sixty today and I think I can handle that.

When I got to work I found that Mark had left yesterday for vacation, actually his hunting trip and left me a note to put the flowers away. Some of them are heavy but I used the golf cart and got them put up, took about an hour I guess with the interruptions which wasn’t to bad.  We weren’t busy but I kept busy almost all afternoon.  Mark also left a note to let everyone know that it was going to freeze tonight but that isn’t what the weatherman said, it froze last night!  Only supposed to get to 38 tonight and warmer tomorrow night.

Linda made a big pot of chili tonight.  I love chili!  We crushed up some corn chips in it and I pigged out!

Again, not much going on tonight so I guess I will say Night Y’all…

Thursday November 10th 2011

WOW!!  After looking at the last three posts I figured I had put the wrong dates on them!  I will have to try to fix that.

Today I called the place I had ordered the car hauler and decided to go to Charleston to check on another one.  It is a little cheaper.  Kind of glad we went. This car hauler is not only cheaper but they make it with steel that is a lot heavier.  It actually is a “car hauler”.  I was there talking and figuring out how I wanted it for probably an hour maybe an hour and a half.  Got it figured out and they will have it made by next Wednesday. I cancelled the other one which they hadn’t started yet.

We went on home and didn’t do much the rest of the day. It is pretty cool out and the wind is blowing and it is supposed to get cold tonight.  Not looking forward to that.

I did get a picture this morning and it is really dark but it is the moon setting in the West.  I had to look for awhile to figure that one out!

I know it is hard to see but between the bush and the telephone pole you can just make out the moon which is about halfway down.  I thought it was interesting.

We didn’t do much the rest of the day, took it easy and I kept thinking about the car hauler.  I have a tow dolly, it works, does what I want it to do and it just needs new tires.  Now why am I going to spend all that money on a car hauler that I will probably only use once a year, but I would have it in case I need to get lumber, right?  Got to think on this one some more, not sure that is what I want to do.  I’ll sleep on it.

Well, the dogs seem to use the dog house.  They come and go but when it is cold or rainy they use it.  Glad I built it, I feel sorry for the dogs especially the small one, he doesn’t have a lot of hair and I think he is a fair weather dog.  Linda would like to keep him but we already have one to many dogs!  I like Sparky and all that but sure would be nice sometimes to be able to go and not worry about him, sure don’t need another one to worry about.

So much for all my complaining, we are chilling the rest of the night… Night Y’all…

Wednesday November 9th 2011

We didn’t do a lot today, I know we have to go to town, my coffee pot sprung a leak and I want to try to fix it!

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Well, I got it apart and now I found where the leak is, it is on the aluminum heater where the water goes through so I am going to try to find some kind of repair kit and try to fix it.  They don’t sell the Black and Decker coffee pot that goes under the cabinet at Wal Mart anymore and Lowe’s doesn’t have them either!  What a bummer, I really liked this coffee pot.  To make a long story a little shorter I tried some “fix it” stuff and it didn’t work.  I’m not surprised.  I brought the coffee pot in from the camper and cleaned it up and will use it until I get another one.

Linda fixed a turkey breast today.  I’ve been hungry for turkey. Sure smells good.

We fixed some of the sweet potatoes from our garden and had some fresh broccoli from the garden, good supper.  Did strange things to me though…

That really isn’t my mustache, it is a couple of combs I stuck in my mustache. I didn’t think my mustache was that long but it holds combs!

Not much else going on today, watched some TV and worked on the computer, well, played on it I guess.

That is about all for today though….Night Y’all….

Tuesday November 8th 2011

We don’t have anything planned for today but I did get a couple pictures this morning as the sun was coming up…very spectacular…

Sure was a great sun rise!  Sparky and I usually are outside while it is still dark and then to see this sight, what a blessing.  Actually the red sunrise is supposed to indicate bad weather but the whole day was pretty nice.

Forgot that I went to work today…. Work went pretty good, Mark had a water leak, a bad one that he worked most of the afternoon on and I got lots of calls about the fact that no one had water.  Other than that it was pretty quiet.  I even got out of work on time, 6PM!!  With the time change we get off an hour earlier!  I can handle that.

The garden is almost gone now except for the tomato plants.  They look great.  I pulled the rest of the okra plants up and put them on the burn pile so now all that is left are the tomato plants.  They have blossoms all over them and I picked about ten tomatoes today, not big, but they are nice looking and taste pretty good, had them for supper….

I think I mentioned the other day that I worked on the pump house. I think I may have it ready to put together but not until I figure out how I’m going to do the well and the pump.  Maybe wait until next year.

Just taking it easy tonight, not doing anything special…Night Y’all..

Monday November 7th 2011

Well, I have things I want to do this morning. I am taking the camper over to get a brake controller installed. I don’t want to attempt this myself.  Took it to A-1 Auto Electric.  They seem to do a pretty good job…

They don’t get in any hurry so I had to wait for awhile.  They like to talk and drink coffee.  Got to take a picture of their dumpster!  Wow, who takes a picture of a dumpster?  Me of course, but there was a raccoon in it….

I think the raccoon was in there for a meal.  He wasn’t in any hurry to get out, in fact they put that board in so he could get out.  The owner, not of the raccoon, tried to get him out with a shovel!  I wouldn’t put any part of my body in that dumpster with a raccoon!  He didn’t get it out but I think he bothered him enough that the raccoon finally climbed up the board and left!

Got the controller installed, cost more to install than it did for the controller. I wouldn’t have wanted to try it myself.  I’m not that good with electricity, in fact I wouldn’t have known where to start.

Oh, before I left this morning, the camper wouldn’t start.  Battery was to low to turn it over so I put the charger on it for awhile and it started right off. Hope the battery isn’t going bad or the alternator.  I also filled up with gas.

The gas gauge quit working and I sure don’t want to have to take the tank off and replace the sending unit. That would cost a fortune!  Will have to fill up more often while traveling.

This afternoon I decided to work on the pump house. I got the front, back and sides put together.  I had to make a few changes. After putting it together the inside was really narrow.  It is wider than the freezer but is a lot taller and would have really been hard to work on anything in it.

By the time I finished that it was getting dark so I took it apart and stacked it up so it would be out of the way.

I am anxious to get the car hauler now so I can get it set up to park the car on it.  I bought some heavy duty straps to strap it down but want to get something to chock the wheels, probably wouldn’t need it but I would feel better with something to keep it from rolling.

Well, time to finish up and say,,,, Night Y’all…

Sunday November 6th 2011

Got Linda up for church this morning and went to Sunday School.  Becky had the Sunday School class and she did a great job.

I had asked the lady that sang the special music in church today, actually I asked her a couple of weeks ago when she was going to sing again and she said today.  I took my video camera and taped it.  I took a picture of the choir and she is the lady in the front in the dark blue dress…

After church she said she messed it up which I didn’t really see but she has a really great voice.

After church Linda and I stopped at Jay’s Chicken for dinner.  I thought it was pretty good, not the favorite place to eat but it was OK.

We took it easy this afternoon and with the time change it gets dark really early. 

I went to church tonight and he was on Revelation 21:11-12, the Great White Throne Judgment!  This was really good, I even ordered a CD of it.

Going to take it easy tonight and get caught up on my blog. I had to do two days today and it’s kind of hard to remember what happened yesterday and get it mixed up with today even though church day is usually different.

Time to call it quits for tonight….Night Y’all…

Saturday November 5th 2011

Well, now today, which is Saturday, I’m not sure we did anything.

I know I went to work this afternoon, and the work went quite well. It wasn’t quite as busy as yesterday so I had a little extra time.

I got out of work on time and went home, what a day!!  Night Y’all….

Friday November 4th 2011

It is another cold, windy and damp day. It is supposed to clear up and get up around sixty today.  Has a long way to go.

I spent most of the morning out in the garage and camper looking for a padlock for the car hauler hitch.  I found the padlock I had used for the tow dolly and have the key for it but I found two more padlocks that I searched high and low for the keys and can’t find them.  I don’t need them but would be nice to know where the keys are!

I am going to work this afternoon.  Have to work today and tomorrow.  We have been busy.  I think the pace has really picked up since we were here five or six years ago.  I don’t remember it being quite this busy.  We were kind of busy this afternoon but it was all spaced out so it wasn’t bad at all. I had to take a picture of something I had never seen before….

That is actually a dog, not an ornament or a design on the camper.  This is a Great Dane and is tall enough to sit on the seat and have his head out the sun roof.  The dog weighs 160 pounds!  I saw them leave and come back, without the camper and the dog was riding with his head out!  I would imagine that he doesn’t do that out on the highway though.

Got out of work on time today and the price of gas jumped  $.13 cents a gallon from the time I got to work and when I left!  Now the price doesn’t go down that fast wonder why it goes up so fast???

I filled up with gas at the cheapest station in Sikeston, $3.13, which is better than $3.20!  Guess I shouldn’t complain, I still get around thirty five miles per gallon average.  Think I will keep the car.  The camper on the other had gets about seven.  We don’t drive it a lot.

I feel pretty good tonight even though I still fell asleep on the sofa watching TV.

We invited David & Marion here for Thanksgiving.  They are in Coffeyville KS, well, actually I guess they are in Independence KS.  They weren’t doing anything and we had no other plans so that worked out pretty good. David is working at Amazon and I don’t think he likes it any better than I did!

This was back in July when David and Marion were here and we went to Lambert’s.   Had a good time.

Guess that is about all for today, not much else to write about…..night Y’all..

Thursday November 3rd 2011

This will be a pretty short one today.  We didn’t do much of anything.  We did all of our running yesterday so today we will take it easy.

I did bake bread this morning. It is cold out and windy and kind of rainy so I guess this is as good a time as any to bake bread.  I always try something a little different, I put oatmeal, eggs, whole wheat flour and regular flour in this one.  Doesn’t taste to bad and it looks pretty good…

They do look nice

Linda slept in this morning but Sparky was there keeping her company and keeping her warm…

I don’t know how long he sat on top of her but it was probably about five minutes or so.  Linda is a heavy sleeper!

After she go up we decided to watch our taped episodes of Harry’s Law and NCIS.  We haven’t done this kind of thing for years.  I don’t really like to sit and watch TV but I didn’t feel like doing anything else…

Guess that is about all.  Nothing exciting.  Oh, I ordered a brake controller from eBay yesterday and had the wrong shipping address on it so I had to call them this morning and see if they would change the shipping address. They said they would, if they didn’t it will end up in San Diego!!!  Last time I ordered from eBay we were in San Diego and Bren and Darin’s place.  Hopefully they will send it here.

Time to say Night Y’all…

Wednesday November 2nd 2011

Now to think of all the things we have to do today, I know that one of the first is to go to the bank and get that business done, then to find another insurance carrier!  After stopping at the bank we went to Patrick Murphy Insurance company which is where we had been before but they went independent and we were with Farmers at the time and with all the things that have been going on we stayed with Farmers then went to AARP.  Now that AARP has raised our rates to over $100 a month it is time to look for another carrier.  They are very nice at the Murphy Agency.  They looked up different carriers and it looks like Flo got our money, Progressive. I figured it would be about as much as AARP, wrong, I think we will save close to $500 a year!!!  We are changing for sure! 

After that we stopped at Aldi’s for milk and after $50 we finally got out of there.

We went home to put stuff away then took some green tomatoes, okra and sweet potatoes to Jim and June.  We were kind of heading that way anyway, I wanted to stop at Matthews to check on a car hauler.  I have the tow dolly but I’m not real happy with it even though it has done us a fine job all the way from California and then to Texas and back, never had any real problems with it.  With a car hauler, I will be able to back up and also use it to haul stuff that is to big for the car, now I won’t have to beg Daniel to use his truck, not really, Daniel is always there to help any way he can, sure miss our neighbors though. Well, we bought one, they have to make it and they said it would probably be a couple of weeks but that is OK we aren’t going anywhere for awhile.

I mowed the lawn after all that, didn’t need it all over, I mowed Daniel’s front yard, the back didn’t need it and quite a bit of ours didn’t need it either but it’s done for the rest of the year?

I ordered a brake controller from eBay today and after I got it ordered I looked at the shipping address and it was San Diego, Oh NO!!  I have to call in the morning and see if they got my email and change of address so it will come here instead of San Diego.  That’s where the last thing I ordered went which was fine but not now.  Will call in the morning.

As I was sitting relaxing after all that I remembered it was Wednesday and church tonight!  I have twenty five minutes to take a shower and get to church, have to really hurry!!  I made it!  He was teaching on, well, not discrimination, but that was what is was about.  I can’t remember the word that he used (partiality).  God does not discriminate!  We do, but God doesn’t! It was interesting and hard to say I discriminate but everyone does in one way or another.

After church I got a couple of pictures. This one is the lady that sang the special Sunday morning.  I think her name is Carrie or Laurie.  She is a powerful singer, very good…

I had to take the picture in the nursery, she was picking up her baby.  The next picture is the piano player, she is kind of shy, I’m not sure but I don’t think she wanted her picture taken…

The next picture is the four of us that sang Sunday night.  This was our first time singing together.  From right to left.. Joan, Omalene, JW and me..

Tonight is a night to relax.  so I will say night Y’all…..

Tuesday November 1st 2011

Two months left in 2011!!  The year is slipping away pretty fast and 2012 is not far away!

We didn’t do much this morning, I have to work this afternoon.  It seems very cold today and it is supposed to make it up around seventy I think. It did warm up about noon so we sat outside for a little while and sitting in the sun it was really nice!

After lunch, I got ready to go to work and just as I was getting ready to leave, Linda reminded me that I needed to stop at Lowe’s to get a small refund and I wanted to get a propane tank filled, so this was a start to a messed up afternoon.  I made it to work on time, barely, and things kept going crazy.  Had a lot of campers come in and it took until after 4PM to get the cleaning done.  Bobby and Maggie, from CRC came in around 4PM and after talking awhile I got them parked and back to the book work again! We are going to go to Lambert’s after I get off and pick up Linda.

Well, I had no time to do the bookwork so I just left and picked up Linda. We got back into the campground around  7:45PM and picked up Bobby and Maggie and headed to Lambert’s. They weren’t very busy and we got seated right away.  Got a picture of them…

We had a great meal and lots to talk about.  Our waitress, Lisa showed us the kitchen which wasn’t doing much of anything…

She was a super nice girl and not much taller than Linda! The kitchen in the background was pretty big and she wanted to show us the potato fryer but there were people around so she couldn’t.  I didn’t want to walk back into the kitchen but it looked very interesting!  I would really like to see how they make their biscuits (rolls) but couldn’t see them working on it. 

After leaving we went back to Bobby’s and Maggie’s camper and I went to see if I could finish the bookwork.  Well, I was getting shook up because I had a shortage of over $140 and that is a lot of money!  I don’t like making mistakes and that was a really big one and I couldn’t see where I could have made it…Oh Boy!

Well, to keep you from getting to shook up about it I called Mark in the morning and asked him about it, actually I texted him.  He said the $140 was a mistake he made on the date so I was only ninety cents short and I probably gave change for camping which could explain the ninety cents.

Well, we ate to much tonight and I am so tired, I was trying to stay awake while talking to Bobby but my eyes kept doing crazy things and finally got Linda to get up so we could head home. 

After getting home I took Sparky out and I went to bed.  Sparky wasn’t tired so he got his rawhide and chewed on that until Linda came to be then she took it away from him.

Time for some sleep….Night Y’all..

Monday October 31st 2011

This is the last day of October!  This month has gone fast, guess I say that a lot but it is true.  This year will be over before we know it and then 2012.

I forgot to mention that when we were leaving for church yesterday, Linda got tangled up in a messed up rug and three dogs, she fell on the deck and broke one of the spindles!!  She couldn’t get the door shut because the rugs were in the way and as she was trying that, Sparky ran out and the other two dogs were trying to get in the middle of it all, what a mess.  I wasn’t worried about the spindle breaking and was really glad I had them there because if it had been the old deck she would have ended up falling on the ground, not far but two or three feet wouldn’t feel good at all.  She bruised her foot but luckily she didn’t break anything!  I think Satan was trying to keep her from going to church!

Back to today!  It is going to be a pretty nice day today.  I fixed the spindle and replaced another warped one, hope that they don’t keep warping!  It is so nice out even Linda sat on the deck for awhile getting warmed up in the sunshine!

I went to work this afternoon, I still had some staining to do which I finished and then had to go mow Russell Street. Mark wasn’t back from lunch when I finished but he made it there shortly afterward.

Russell Street is not a nice street.  I really don’t want to say anything really bad about it but it just is not a nice place.

After I finished mowing I headed home.  Got home about 5PM and for some reason neither Linda or I were in a very good mood.  Don’t know why, I had a good day and Linda had a pretty good day except for a headache. I think that car insurance is probably the problem.  A few years ago I got a ticket in a little town in New Mexico.  It was a speed trap! Our friends from Arizona came here this summer and got a ticket in exactly the same place!  Speed trap???  I think that little town is making a fortune on that corner.  It is a four lane highway and at the place where they set up their radar is where the buildings end and all you can see is mountains and a long curve in the road.  Thirty five is the speed limit and around the curve where you can’t see the sign it is seventy!  Cost almost a hundred for the ticket and now the insurance is going up sixty five dollars because of that.  I am going to shop around again and see if I can find something else.

Tonight I watched a couple episodes of AFV that I had taped and an episode of “Chuck”.  We had three trick or treaters tonight. That is unusual for out here in the country but they were they neighbors so that was OK.

Well, that’s about all for tonight…catch you on the flip flop..Night Y’all..

Sunday October 30th 2011

Linda and I went to church at Fellowship again this morning.  Sunday School was good again and the church service went very nice also.  I was in the choir so I didn’t get a picture of the lady that sang the special music. She did a great job, very powerful voice.

Linda and I stopped at Arby’s for lunch.  Linda likes their Reuben Sandwich. I just had a roast beef.  Pretty good and the curly fries are good also.  A drink came with it, I never order a drink, and I got a green tea with peach.  That was pretty good.  It had artificial sugar in it but it still tasted good.  The peach actually tasted like fresh peach, not artificial.

We took it easy this afternoon.  Tonight is the Fifth Sunday night sing and I asked Omalene is I could sing with them.  This will be a first, we have never sung together and I’m not sure who the other person, besides J.W., her husband will be.  When we got to church they were talking with the organist so we went and sat down and then went into the choir room to practice.  It went pretty well, the other person is from our Sunday School class, Joan.  She has a voice that really carries.  I’m really nervous about tonight.  I am doing the reading “The Apple Tree Song” and then we will sing “I’ll Fly Away”, I think.  We practiced that one and “What a Day That Will Be”  so right now I’m not sure, guess we will play it by ear.

They have a lot of really good talent here and all of the singers did very good.  Linda and I made a recording of all the singers except for Rick who sang first and I had forgotten about the camera so I only got a small piece of his song.

I guess we did OK, after watching the video, I think maybe we could have practiced a few more times but it was OK.

There was a fellowship afterwards with chili and desert.  That was actually very good!  We sat with Herman and Sandy, they are nice, divorced and now on the way back to getting together.  Really a nice couple.

Well, tonight was a night at home to watch TV again.  Not much on tonight though, watched some HGTV. Time to go to bed…Night Y’all….