Whirlwind Visit.

 Whirlwind Visit.

 

Lance and Rachel came early this morning. We went to Jimmy’s Egg for breakfast and all three of us had a Southwest grilled chicken salad or something like that. It had avocado on it and grilled chicken strips with lettuce, tomato, two kinds of cheese, some kind of hot sauce, those quesadilla things, and ranch dressing. Anyway, it was good. The tiny little sauce pot on the side was some major warm stuff. Will have to remember that if we do it again.

 

Lance took my truck and washed it, vacuumed it, and drove it home fast to dry—giggling. It has not had a bath in a pretty long time. The vacuum did not work to suit him, but anything is better than nothing. He and Rachel loaded up eight bags of mulch in his truck bed and spread it out on the front flower bed after he dug out as many of those stupid poisonous trees as we could find. Eve’s Necklace is what it was called. Think every seed came up twice! Then he went out and hung my new rain gauge. The old one was cracked. He also put the new hose on my air compressor. Got several things done today. Rachel took the nails out of the top of the gazebo where the lattice used to be, but we did not replace the lattice because it was nearly $25 dollars for one 4x8 piece! Good grief.

 

While he was here, Lance changed phones with me. My battery kept going down too quickly, so he let me have his and plans to replace the battery in the other one eventually. He knows how to do all the things like that, so it makes it easier to just hand him my phone and let him get on with it. Even Rachel showed me how to turn my (Kindle) tablet to the side with the button that lets you choose which direction it will work on. Having it on its side means it can sit in the carrier and the old woman does not have to hold it like a book. Hands get pretty tired at times. In fact, noticed that my kids walk so much faster than this old woman. They try to let me keep up, but it is not always easy to set a good pace when someone it just too dadgummed slow. At least Lance opens the truck door and watches to see that it doesn’t close on me in the wind.

 

Speaking of wind, we have had some today that just acts as if it needs to push us around! The top of the pecan trees down at the end of the block are swaying around like Hawaiian hula girls. But my hens are also turned upside down in the wind when they face the east. It is so funny to see their heads fluffed out around the neck feathers. The one that is almost naked from molting just looks funny anyway, but her tail feathers are almost all gone and the wings have down on them instead of regular feathers. Poor baby. At least she is still covered up enough to keep the mosquitoes off of her.

 

Rachel got seven bites on her legs while out working on the gazebo. We put OFF and Skin So Soft on her, but we just had clouds of mosquitoes. You can bet your bippy the weather is about to take a drastic change.

 

Talked to Jennifer briefly this morning. She has been taking Aunt Caroline’s dog down to the creek to let him run around and sniff everything he can find. She found a black walnut tree and something else. She still is not sure what the “something else” is, but it drops little green things on the ground. Told her to throw a couple in her suitcase and we’ll figure it out. She is pretty sharp, however. She uses one of those apps that tells you what a plant is if you take its picture. Now if she could just get a shot of the bird we heard talking to her overhead! It had the prettiest whistle that sounded similar to a cardinal, but with more notes and expression. Have tried to see if it might have been the song of a painted bunting, but can’t remember now what it sounded like. Maybe she can record it next time. She also told me about her visit to the glass factory shop. She loves things like that. It reminds me a little of how Grandmother Pollard collected pretty things. But Grandmother did not get to pick them out the way Jenn does.

 

Heard from Amee about her daughter’s kidney surgery. She is doing well, the kidney is working, and other than lots of pain, things are looking good. Her mom said that they are giving her good pain meds, but she won’t have to do that for long. Madison is a sweet girl and has grown up to just grit her teeth and do whatever she has to do. It cannot have been easy to take the kind of meds she takes to keep from rejecting an organ. When she was little, she was on dialysis through her abdomen. Every night they put her down to sleep and hooked her up to a machine. Then they had to go to Cook’s more than once when they thought they were about to get a kidney. Finally got one that worked. Know her mom and grandparents were so relieved about that, but we all know that when one child gets a kidney, that means a child has been lost. So, prayers for this child and for the parents and family of the other child.

 

Discovered that number one child is having to wear “readers” all the time now except when he is looking off in the distance. We seem to have the genetic makeup for long distance vision and the other problem with anything close up. Go figure. Daddy had to wear glasses to read, but he could see a squirrel two blocks away and hit it with a black powder rifle! Well, maybe the bullet just hit the tree and scared the squirrel to death! Giggling.

 

The lake has been swiftly becoming more and more of a mud puddle. Wish it could be dredged out at least partially! Stink! Oh my! Nothing like dead fish. Took a picture of the pelicans all circled up in one area. Guess they were eating anything still living in that water. Will try to post the picture. Oh well. It still beats looking at a dirty alleyway or something of that nature.

 

We all know that this world needs God’s hands to heal it. May we be instruments of intervention for those with whom we come in contact. May we show others the love He has given us.

 

Rest well and rejoice in each day. You are loved.