Little Bit

Don's cat used to hunt birds--now she waits for them to show up. She spends a lot of time curled up on top of one of the stereo speakers on the side porch, waiting for someone to open the treat container. Not sure how old she is--she's pretty, except for her ears which look knawed upon.

This was our first visit back to the farm since Odie died. We missed her, but know that Don took good care of her. The farm really belonged to Odie--she just let us stay there. Now it seems to be Little Bit's place. And the birds aren't particularly afraid of anyone or anything at Don and Linda's--all those full feeders make sure they're welcome.

IMPORTANT--PLEASE READ

I once had a boss (and some of you know who it was) who never read more than the first sentence of an e-mail. In order to get his attention, I would begin an e-mail with something like, "The world will end tomorrow at 2 p.m. unless you read this entire e-mail." Notice I was specific. I've tried it with Herb--"You must listen to what I'm telling you or extra-terrestrials will arrive at 11 tonight"--no luck, however. But I'd appreciate your reading this entire post for some good information.

First of all, if blogging looks like something you'd like to try, I recommend Blogger. It's so easy even I can do it. You can use templates to set it up any way you like. I use a different template for Healthwords. You can see that blog at http://healthwords.blogspot.com/. The website for starting your own free blog is https://www.blogger.com/start. It's a step-by-step process.

The other issue is I'll be adding links to amazon.com to my blog. I may talk about a book I've read or recommend some travel book. There will be a link for you to go to amazon.com and buy it if you wish. For example, at the lower left, you'll see a link for a book titled, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. It's the Luke 10 story about two sisters. One sat at Jesus' feet while the other was in the kitchen rattling pots and pans. I'm afraid I'm a rattler. If you link to amazon.com from my blog and buy something, I will receive a small commission, up to 4%. Just wanted to be up front about the whole business.

Thank you for your kind attention. No extra-terrestrials at 11!

Unexpected Animal

There were many surprises attached to our church mission trip to West Virginia. Some involved the campground we'd chosen--Paradise Island of Christian. Not only was it located at the wide space in the road called Christian, WV, it was a Christian campground. Whatever we expected to see in West Virginia, it didn't include a llama!

We certainly wondered what we were in for on arrival. Priscella, one-half of the couple who owns it, introduced herself and gave us the lowdown. Some aging RVs are rented to homeless folk in exchange for working in the campground. Abused animals are taken in and cared for. The animals, treated very well, include several horses, a pony, a couple of frisky goats, and a llama, the biggest I've ever seen! Our 37-foot class A diesel motorhome, a bit battered though it may be, was the best looking RV in the place.

We arrived on Sunday and were told to pay for our stay on Monday--"We don't do business on Sunday." Priscella is a lady of faith but not to be messed with. Folks are not permitted to take advantage of her kindness. She expects them to do what they've agreed to do--if they don't, they're out. As Billy Sunday once said, "A sinner can repent but stupid is forever."

On Monday we came back late and went over to pay the bill. Priscella was playing the keyboard and singing, accompanied by a fellow with a guitar. She has a deep, beautiful voice.

If you'd like to have a look, here's a link: http://www.paradiseislandwv.homestead.com. We started out skeptical, but had a great experience after all.

There's No Place Like...

So here we are on the little farm in Kentucky where we spent twenty years, raising chickens, fighting weeds, patching the roof, growing veggies--all while driving nearly 40 miles one way to work, usually on different shifts! But we were younger then, and coming home from work was entering another world--one with clean air, peaceful sounds (except for the trains!) and a place of our own.

Now we are enjoying the huge trees, birds of every description, and the company of our great friends who now own the property. Donnie and Linda are family to us. And at last we can truly appreciate this beautiful place.

If This is Tuesday, This Must Be...

If we were drawing a diagram of our current travels, it would be most confusing.

We left Texas, traveled across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The plan was to drive across the Florida panhandle as far as St. Augustine. We tried to have some repairs done in Gulf Breeze. When that didn't work out, we thought we'd continue on; but there was smoke in the air. If you look at a map of northern Florida, you'll see that Gulf Breeze is a considerable distance from Lake City, where wildfires are still burning. I checked the Internet--parts of I-75 and I-10 were closed for low visibility. Southeastern Georgia is afire as well. It seems a fire started in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, spread across the state line to Florida, and has now crossed back into Georgia--payback!

So we checked the map and all of our discounted camping plans. It was back to Alabama for the night, then into Georgia from the west this morning. The air was still smoky but has since cleared.

Tomorrow we'll head through the northeastern part of South Carolina and into North Carolina, where we'll stay in Salisbury. That is, if the plans don't change again.

By the way, we're staying on Lake Oconee tonight, full hookups, 50 amp service, for two bucks. All those discount books come in handy. We have neighbors from Canada and Australia. We can see the lake through the trees. After all, home is where we park it.

Bad Coach! Bad!

Yesterday we stopped in Livingston, Texas to have the coach inspected. Coming out of the lot, paved with potholes, the back of the coach bottomed out. As we were driving through Louisiana, a kind semi driver with an air horn let us know something was wrong. Herb discovered the mud flap had come loose and taken some fiberglass with it. He creatively tied it up with all sorts of cables and cords. This morning we removed the mud flap.

In preparation to leave Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, we discovered the big slide on the driver's side would not close. Instead, it made a sound I believe I heard in the movie "Alien." Of course, the cell phone only worked outside in full sunlight. Coachnet called a road service company from Lafayette--they showed up two hours later and used the wrecker to push the slide in, accompanied by a most unpleasant grinding sound. The mechanic was of the opinion that the gears were stripped and two motors, at $700 each, would need replacing.

On the road again, I called several RV service centers along our route. The best we could do was in Gulf Breeze, Florida in five days.

We ended the day in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi in a miniscule campground. We parked in a site, put down levelers, extended the slide that still works, connected to water and 50 amp electric, and then discovered the 50 amp electric wasn't working. So we undid everything and moved to another site where we couldn't level the coach unless one wheel was off the ground and there's a long step down from the door. Oh, well.

He's Riding!

This Gambrel's Quail, perched on the back of Herb's ATV, probably felt like he was going somewhere! That little topknot thing usually dangles down in the front. High winds were causing it to stand straight up! He was supervising two other quail that were scratching in the gravel under the bird feeder just like chickens. A Gila Woodpecker was dangling upside down from the suet feeder, taking a bite here and there, while the feeder swung in great arcs in the wind gusts.