A.T. Hiker Friends

My A.T. hiker friends, Greenstone and Thimbleberry, who live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, were passing thru Texas, while traveling from Arizona to Alabama, and stopped by our house for a short visit.  I'm glad they carry their "home on wheels" with them, since we are limited on sleeping space in our little humble abode. 

We always enjoy their visit with us! 

In the afternoon following their arrival, I took them on a lovely drive in East Texas and through Mrs. Lee's Daffodil Gardens.  Back in the 1950's, Mrs. Lee ordered a boxcar full of daffodil bulbs from Holland, and along with a host of volunteers planted them all across the beautiful rolling hills of her farm's acreage.  It is a beautiful sight when they bloom during late February and early March.

My sister, Norma, had been wanting to meet Greenstone and Thimbleberry, so she and her daughter, Carla, and grandkids, Devin & Holly Beth, came over for dinner that night. We all enjoyed frito pies and chili dogs made with Tom's delicious homemade chili.  After dinner, we watched a DVD, "2,000 Miles to Maine", which told the interesting stories of several hikers in their quest to walk over the miles of mountains between Springer Mtn. in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.

The following day, we went to the Salt Palace Museum in Grand Saline.  Morton Salt has mined salt just south of Grand Saline for many years, and the gigantic salt dome that is there, lying 750 feet below the earth's surface is large enough to supply the world's salt needs for 20,000 more years!  It was fascinating to see how salt is mined, and to see the myriad of uses of salt in our everyday lives.

We drove thru the countryside northward, over several peninsulas of Lake Fork, on our way to the Dairy Museum in Sulphur Springs.  G. & T. had experienced a bit of dairy farm life while growing up in Michigan. Following a tour of the museum, and seeing a video about the history of how milk has been produced and sold in America over the years, Greenstone treated us to lunch (and ice cream), right there in the Museum's lunch counter!  Thanks Greenstone and Thimbleberry!

The next day was Tom's day off, so we each got our dayhiking gear together and headed out early to drive over to Lake Mineral Wells State Park.  There we met up with Jerryatric (from Ft. Worth), another of my hiker friends.  Lake Mineral Wells State Park has many hiking trails and some challenging terrain, rocky and steep in places, with some great views of the lake.

It was a very cool morning, however gorgeous blue skies and plentiful sunshine made for a great day to be outdoors with great friends!  We stopped midways thru our walk, at a nice sunny spot, where we enjoyed a snack.

BooBoo had a wonderful time, and said the only thing missing was her friend TooToo!  (Thimbleberry is almost totally hidden behind that tree!)

                 Pyro, Greenstone, Jerryatric, & Thimbleberry.
Their visit was all too short, having to leave early the next morning, to arrive at their next NOMADS committment near Andalusia, Alabama. Tom and I are hoping to take a trip up to Michigan next year to see them in their beautiful Upper Peninsula!

Yippee! Spring is Coming!

Well, it has been awhile since I have posted anything here.  We have been staying busy with work, friends, family, and our daily routines.  However, Spring is coming, and I do love Springtime in Texas! 

                                               Our forsythia bush in bloom!

                                                 Our flowering quince bush!

When these two bushes begin blooming, I know Spring can't be too far behind!

Tom has been going to the gym and woking out on a regular basis, and he is also getting an upper body workout in our backyard, while splitting some big logs from a dead tree on their place, that our friends Jim and Patsy gave to us.

"Greenstone" and "Thimbleberry" are coming!!
G. & T. are my hiker friends from the upper peninsula of Michigan. that I met on the Appalachian Trail.  They are a part of what I call my "Hiker Family", which also includes "Pigeon", and "Skid".  The five of us hiked together (off and on) for the first seven or eight hundred miles of the A.T.

Anyway, G. & T. will here tomorrow!  I am so excited to see them again!  They are travelling from Arizona to Alabama, with a stop here with us for a few days in the middle.  They are involved with the NOMADS, a volunteer group affiliated with the Methodist Church, who travel across the U.S. and do three-week projects at churches who need their help with all sorts of remodel/construction projects.

They came by for a short visit last March also, on their way to Louisiana.  The last time we saw them was in April 2012, when we were vacationing in Virginia, and met up with them at a road crossing on the Blue Ridge Parkway, as they were hiking another section of their Appalachian Trail Section Hike.

                                               Greenstone, Thimbleberry, and me last April.

The last hiker who came thru here for a visit was "Smiley", from Hattiesburg, Miss.  That was back in the Fall, and the morning he was getting ready to leave, as we walked out the door, here comes a bunch of wagons down our road!  Of course, "Smiley" assumed this was an everyday occurrence, after all this is Texas! 

As you can see my horse "Tex" came running up to the fence to see all the action.  This was a group of "mule/wagon" owners who travel along the old Historic Dallas/Shreveport Road a couple of times a year, and we happen to live on that Historic Road.

My Mom has just about recuperated from her bout with double pnuemonia, and her eight day hospital stay.  However, she thinks she has been weakened overall by her illness.  She doesn't have much energy, she says.  Well, Mom, you are doing pretty well for a gal that will soon be 87 years old, I would say!  Mom and my sister, Norma, meet monthly with an R.V. group for food, fun, and fellowship.  I met them the other day at their monthly campout, and enjoyed the games and food with them.

 That's my Mom in the middle, looking at an album of pictures from previous campouts that their friend there keeps updated.  That's my sister, Norma (in the red top) looking on.

Norma and I enjoyed our 10 day tour of Ireland so much last September, we are currently "saving our pennies", hoping to go on a 20-day tour of Australia and New Zealand in October 2014.  Anyone interested in going with us??????

A New Year

 My Mom, who was admitted to the hospital recently, with pnuemonia in both of her lungs.

 It is hard to bounce back when you are 86 years old from pnuemonia, or from any illness for that matter.  Mom has been very blessed with good health thru the years!  Actually, this is the first time she has been in the hospital, and not took home a "baby"!  That  was 51 years ago, when she had my youngest sister!  Pretty incredible, I'd say!  But, oh boy, she was really ready to go home after eight days in the hospital battling pnuemonia!  As we all know, you do not get much rest in a hospital, what with all the interruptions from being checked, poked, and prodded!  So being home now Mom, is getting a little stronger each day as she heals.

What an incredible inspiration she has been in all our lives!  My sister, Donna, that lives in Wyoming, was here for a visit just before Mom got ill.  We made the trip to the cemetery in Rosevine, where our Dad, 2 brothers, my daughter, my grandparents, and many other family members are buried.  It was a gorgeous sunny day and this is a photo with Mom and all five of us girls and our brother, Don,  while we were standing at the graves of Lyndon and Roger, two more of our brothers.

I am so incredibly blesssed to still have my Mom with us!  It's been almost five years since we lost Tom's Mom and we still miss her and think of her often.  She too was a wonderful inspiration in Tom's family, so kind-hearted and always had a cheerful smile and a kind word for everyone.

                                                          Me and my Mom.

My "walking buddy", Mary Ann. and I began the new year with a "long walk"!  Several of our other Saddlebag women friends joined us for all or part of the 15 miles that we walked!  I was amazed by Lanette and Louise who went the entire distance, and Shari, who didn't think she could do but 4-5 miles, ended up walking 11.5 miles!!  And Gill, who was our Trail Angel and support crew, walked over 5 miles, and had lunch waiting for us at the end!  It was great fun on a splendid, cool day!  Our miles walked were sponsored by friends and family, raising almost $1000 for a local charity, Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society.   Our walk was dubbed the "1st Annual Saddlebags Stampede".  I suppose that means we will do this again next year!  What a great way to begin 2013, getting out and staying active!   Life really is an ongoing adventure!

                                                                 The "Walkers"!
                                                 Lanette, Louise, Mary Ann, Shari, Erma

                                            These feet are made for walking!

                                                     And we're off!!

                                          Trail Angel, Gill checking on us at the 6.5 mile mark!

                                          Almost done!  Only 2.5 miles to go!

                                                              We did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Snow in Texas!

Yes, it does snow in Texas!   Sometimes.

                                          Devin & Holly Beth (my nephew and neice)

Well, today is the last day of 2012, and I'm another year older today.  I am so very blessed with so very much!  Thank you, Lord, for another great year!

End of Year Postcard

I am still collecting photos of gates for a "Gates of Texas" book, which  my hiker friend, Thimbleberry, inspired me to create.

Tom and I saw a moose the other day!!

This is by far the kindest, sweetest, most wonderful, loving woman in the world, whom I love dearly, my Mom! 

I am so thankful for my Saddlebag women friends!

There is so much history where we live.  This Texas Historical Marker is at the corner of Tex's pasture.

Mary Ann and I went by this Historical Marker the other day, while we were walking.

This is me and Mary Ann, my "walking buddy", who lives near Grand Saline.

There is absolutely no place like home, and Tom and I love our new wood stove!

We have already enjoyed many toasty, warm fires from our wood stove, and winter has only just arrived.  Two days ago when I woke up it was 29 degrees outside, and this morning it is 60 degrees!  Typical winter weather in Texas, which I love, since as most who know me know, I do not like to be cold!  In two more days it will be Christmas, and according to the weather forecast, we may actually see some of that "white stuff"!  What??  Stay tuned!

November

The month of November has somehow slipped by without me sitting down to write very much.  That doesn't mean I have not been busy, because there has been a flurry of activities around here!

My neice, Carla, holds a special place in my heart.  While growing up, Carla and Candace were more like sisters, than cousins.  I know it has been difficult for Carla, losing her cousin/best friend.  I love having Carla and her kids, Holly Beth and Devin, come visit us!  While Holly Beth is quiet, polite, and such a "little lady" at almost 11 years old, Devin is an 8 year old fireball of energy and inquisitiveness!  Devin loves his Uncle Tom, because Tom will get outdoors and "play", and Tom gets the kids involved in projects outdoors, like pushing over small dead trees and breaking up twigs to use for kindling in our wood stove. Holly Beth and Devin love getting to ride "Tex", while Aunt Erma leads them around.

 

While I was leading Tex with Holly Beth riding, Devin was running around gathering armloads of cut grass to feed Tex.  Tex loved that!  He would much rather stand still and eat rather than work!

 

 

Following their horseback ride, Devin and Holly Beth went scavenging thru our dried up summer garden and found more green tomatoes and some tiny watermelons and a few peppers!  The garden that won't quit; I'll get to make one more batch of salsa! 

 

You can see some of my Mom's wonderful baked sweet breads there alongside the veggies!  Thanks, Mom!  Delicious breads!

 

 

Devin was so proud of this tote full of twigs that they helped Tom break apart.

 

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving at Mom's home with more than 30 family members!  As always, there was plenty of food, fun, laughter, and lots of games played!  I feel so blessed to have grown up in such a large and loving family and we always enjoy our time together.

 

On the Saturday following Thanksgiving, our family once again made the trip to Rosevine, to bury a loved one.  This time it was to bury my neice, Deborah, and remember her short life on this earth.  The investigation into her murder is ongoing, with several leads, but not solved.  We pray that someone, somewhere, sometime will "talk", and will lead the law officers to finding her killer.

 

In memory of Deborah Leann Vickery.

Each one of her three children placed a bouquet on her grave. 

 

I am so thankful that Kerrie and Scott are there to raise Deborah's children as their own.  Since the kids have been living with their Aunt Kerrie and Uncle Scott for almost a year anyway, it made the transition easier for them.  We pray that God will bless Kerrie and Scott beyond measure for their selfless love and care of Stazi, Justice, and Jacob.

 

Two very special human beings!

Scott and Kerrie

 

Since I was scheduled to host our Saddlebag's  Christmas Party, a few of my Saddlebag friends come over to help me decorate our little house for the holidays.  I am overwhelmed by their kindness and generosity!  What incredible friends they are to me, and I love them so!  Our house looks so festive! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Tex" is totally oblivious to the awesome sunset happening behind him!