Palm Sunday was a very windy day

 Looking at the possibility of severe weather again on Wednesday.

Still looking for a new tractor and mower.

These are supposed to be edible when younger but I haven't had the courage to try them yet. :)

You all be safe and God bless. 

Brrrrr

Pictures from the property. Son said New Home looks good, but cold.

You all be safe, stay warm and God bless.
 

So we got snow.

 Sort of. Only on rooftops. Not even on the cab of our truck bed.

And it was melted by 10 AM.

Got plenty of rain.

Next rain day, maybe next week Sunday.

Going to have beef shank for dinner. Nothing fancy. Fix it like a stew in a crock pot and let it cook all day.

I remember when shank used to be a cheap meal...

Starting to smell good!

You all be safe and God bless.

Our Saturday

 

Thought I should update this and show you what we got. Besides a nice walk, we bought this.

 

It flashes different colors, neighs and makes clopping sounds while it moves around in circles.

Scares the cats a good deal, haha!  :)

 After the flea market we shopped a bit in Lafayette. Got a belt for pants, some really nice asian pears, and some very good stir fry noodles.

On the way back we stopped in Opelousas and filled up for $1.81 a gallon for diesel. 

A very good day all around. :)

Again, be safe and God bless!

A blessed November day

 

You all be safe and God bless.

Had a great time at the flea market yesterday

 We even ate at a restaurant.

And no, no pictures.

Except for this.

That was a first for this flea market. :)

You all be safe and God bless.

Happy Birthday America. Warning, picture intensive.

I hope I can say that next year.

And Happy Birthday to me.

Then

gf.me/u/xyvij7

Now

We're getting there. Things are slow when your home is too old to insure.
But I praise God that I can celebrate this birthday with my family.

You all be safe. Thank God for your blessings.

The little cucumbers that could - and a prayer request

God saved them and they are happy.

Supposed to be harvested at 3-4 inches. They're still good; but that's what they say. Get them early enough and they're easy to eat right off the vine and pretty much burp free.
If there are seeds in the older ones I may try to save them for next year, because this variety, while not expensive, is not cheap. :)

They have completely overwhelmed my little nasturtiums!

If I do save seeds this year, I will have them for as long as I need them, haha, because three plants may end up being too many, if even half of the blossoms fruit. :-)

Tropical Storm Cristobal. In the Bay of Campeche. Is expected to become a hurricane in the next week. And the only track they showed this early has it coming right up the middle of Louisiana.
Which means some part of it might come right over us.
So please keep us in your prayers.

You all be safe and may God bless you all.

Thought I would show you a few things.

The power pole that so many people helped us get.

The nasturtiums and Mini Munch cucumbers I planted the start of the lockdown.
They were on the south side of the house. The side hit by the tornado.

Haven't been able to get to the tub with the green beans in it, yet. Or the fig tree in a while, Between wind and rain.. Hoping God will bless us there, too.

You all be safe. Please remember us in your prayers. When they talk of the possibility of severe weather, I have to ask God to strengthen my faith.

God bless and thank Him for all you have.

Mother's Day

Was definitely a little different.
Middle son had trouble finding crawfish; but he did and that's what we had. :-)

There were a lot of nice ones.

And there were shrimp, too. :)

I put the crawfish on hubby's shrimp.
We ate outside under the awning of the RV. It was a nice day. :)

Afterwards we walked around and did some measurements to see what sort of space we had available. "Manufactured housing" as trailers are called now, will probably be the most expedient route. And coming home from town today I was struck by just how many houses out in our neck of the woods are the same type of home.

I also took a picture of the roof skeleton from the back yard.

This picture shows some of the original shake shingles still there, that would have been put on maybe around 1900 or earlier? BIL said he has read some document that places the house in 1880 or so. Could be. I think I guestimated around 1888 based on a book I read that was written by a lady who also grew up in this house like hubby did; but there weren't a lot of specifics on the house being built.

Met a couple last week. The gentleman's grandfather had owned the property, I think it was. And they also knew the lady who had grown up in the house. Small world when we found out they only live a few miles away from us in the area near where this tornado started its path of destruction. The weather service said their were 10 tornadoes that night.

Anyway, it was common in the 1900s when tin roofs became popular, to just lay the tin over the old cedar or cypress shakes. From all we've read, the house was cypress (it was a lot cheaper then) and so the shakes probably were too.  All dimensional tongue and groove for the walls.

Anyway, I want to thank everyone who has prayed for us, or donated money to help. The bill to get electricity back (new pole, new service, new lines) came in at $2081. The money got deposited the next day; so God provided for the bill to be paid. :)

Going to get a shed and a 110 dryer (our old one still works, but it's 240, if I remember right); a couple extension cords and a couple of the hoses we bought to get water from a neighbor, and we will be washing clothes. :)
Might even remember to take a picture of our new power pole sometime, haha.
Which reminds me that the electric company better check that street pole. They didn't do a very good job filling it in. Getting a big hole there after all the rain.

With more expected next week. :-|
I know God knows what he's doing, but I pray he watches over us. We don't really need a lot more rain.
You all stay safe. God bless, and thank Him for all your blessings. :-)

Fortunately nature is not home bound.

Catalpa trees are blooming. Sorry for poor photos, but the blooms are way up at the tops of the trees, making them hard to photograph.

I'm just sad we never get catalpa worms. I blame all the spraying they do to farm the back field.

Still, right now it is a pretty day. Breezy. Supposedly rain in the afternoon. I know it was really foggy when I got up this morning. We'll see if it rains.

You all be safe and God bless.

Son spotted this while out clearing some weeds.

Can you make out the bird beak almost in the center?
A momma bird with some babies. He didn't want to get too close because she was watching him really close, he said.
The nest is on a section of our front gate that hasn't been used since we got completely moved in.
Can't really tell from the coloring what species; but it was nice to see anyway.
I imagine the thorns on the vine there offer some protection as well.

Hubby was out the other day in the pasture and said he saw both hawks in the pine tree nest, but that they flew off when he approached.
Probably to draw him away from any eggs? Or babies. :)

I really could use a flea market right now.

Bossier City Farmers Market is going to open for drive through only customers. No idea how this will work; but hubby and I think we need to find out.
Upper 70s to low 80s the rest of the week, with more rain expected Wednesday - Friday.

You all be safe and God bless!

Around the house on Good Friday

New season figs.

This year's pecan crop?

Cucumbers and nasturtiums.

Wild blackberries. Called dewberries by some here.

Wild gladiolus.

Had a pretty good set of thunderstorms last night. Oddly, the aluminum (watering trough) planter didn't seem to have gotten much rain at all. Even to the extent I found fire ants in one spot. Same spot as last year. Annoying. Flooded it good for now. Will probably continue to do so every day, though we have 2-4 inches of rain with possible tornadoes and hail forecast for this weekend.

I've read that you can use dawn dish soap. Or hot water. May lose a few cucumber plants whichever way I go.
The cucumber plants in the picture are in an area that isn't infested yet, near as I can tell.
Guess we didn't get the ant poison down around the outside of the container soon enough. Been watching for them and hadn't seen them until today.

You all be safe and stay sane!  Be sure to thank God for all you have and for keeping you safe. God bless. 💗

5-lined skink

We have a family of skinks living on the porch, we have discovered. This is the biggest of the group, probably the dad as you can see his head is somewhat reddish brown. That differentiates male from female.
And yes, there's a hole in that corner post. Will need to be repaired at some point.
When we chase the lizards away.

Rain expected later. That is all I know for today. You all be safe and God bless.

Guess what we had for dinner?

And for dessert.

We love these oranges. 4012 Navels, if you want to know. ;-)
Nice, big, juicy, and sweet.  :-)
We eat a lot of these when we can find them.

Rain tonight. Not sure about tomorrow yet.
I hope we can get through this disease and quarantine quickly. Getting tired of it.
You all be safe and God bless! 

Happy Friday

Just as well there's nowhere to go, I guess.

A few more seeds have sprouted here.

Cucumbers are doing well.

Red noodle beans have finally begun to sprout.

Hope you are all doing well. Stay safe and God bless.