Winter is early

Winter arrived early this year as we experienced an ice storm and very cold weather the week before Thanksgiving. Temps dropped into the 20's and the ice clung to the trees and plants. The weather service bemoaned the lack of hurricanes this year. They had predicted a bumper crop of them and it didn't happen. The weather has been really weird the last couple of years as we have had an ongoing drought while others have had an abundance of rain and flooding. Just a couple of weeks ago there was a tornado outbreak in the mid-west that we rarely see this late in the season. So to celebrate all the weirdness we decided to buy a used Pontoon boat. It is in pretty good shape for it's age and so now I am looking forward to warmer weather so we can head to the lake. Here is a picture the day after I brought it home.

  
It is 20 feet long and has a 45 hp motor. It needs a little TLC but is generally in good condition. We will let you know how the adventure goes.

Camping and a storm

The picture above was after the storm. We were camping at Sowell Creek park on Lake Proctor near Comanche, TX and we had a pretty bad thunderstorm. There was torrential rain and hail for about a half hour. The hail was small, about nickel size and amazingly there was no damage to the trailer or the truck. At least we haven't found any yet. When you are in a metal 5th wheel travel trailer the sound of the hail is very loud and probably sounded worse than it was. Below is some of the hail immediately after the storm.

While we were there we did some walking around and we found some things to look at. Grasshoppers are still everywhere.

This one occupied our picnic table and was missing one antennae. We brought one similar one home with us unintentionally. He was hiding in the truck bed and we didn't discover him until we were home.

Here is a spider, he had a substantial web built on one of the grills at an unused campsite. We aren't sure of the variety. And then there were ants crossing the road. There must be a pretty good sized colony under the road for them to have that many holes.

It looks like a snake until you look more carefully. Then there were large acorns on many of the Oak trees in the area. Some were as big as one and a half inches across.

This last picture is  actually from home in our back yard. We have been blessed with many hummingbirds and this is one of them.

The park is an Army Corp of Engineers park and there are 3 of them on Lake Proctor. We have stayed at 2 of them and the campsites are nice. The restrooms are functional but not always as clean as you might like. Prices are very reasonable.

Hummingbirds etc

 We have had a large group of hummingbirds this past summer. In past years we had a few but we always had just 1 feeder or at most 2 and they were close to each other. This year we put up 3 and separated them by 10 or 12 feet and the birds loved it. We had more than a dozen birds this year and often they were all there at the same time buzzing everywhere. We still had a couple who want to hog the food and they try to chase all the others away. They can't understand that we will refill them and there is plenty to go around. I guess they are just like us.

We also had a surplus of grasshoppers and this one seems to be eating his fill. Another creature that we have a few of is called an Antlion. The adult looks sort of like a dragonfly but the larva bury them selves in little cavities that they dig in the soil and they capture and eat ants that happen to crawl by. Very interesting little creatures. Sorry I don't have a picture of the little critter.

New Floor

Above is a picture of our new floor. The counter top is also visible. The floor is a vinyl tile that is grouted, thus the lines you see between tiles. It has the look of stone and we are quite pleased with it. We also installed a new sliding glass door for access to the patio. Now we need to get the base boards back down and the furniture placed back where it belongs. We found some rotted wood in the utility room so we are having to take the walls apart and repair that. It will take me a week or so to get it done and for us to get it repainted.

This picture shows the sliding glass door. It is almost 8 feet wide and has much better insulating qualities than the old one. We will appreciate it when winter comes around.

We really like the new cook top. It is easy to clean and gets hot faster. We are still learning the ins and outs of cooking on it but we do like it.

Thanks for stopping by,

What's up

We are doing some remodeling and the above is a picture of our new counter top and smooth surface cook-top. We also will be putting down new flooring and replacing an aging sliding glass door. All of these updates will make the house more comfortable for us and should we ever sell, they add value.

Recently we were at the creek house and saw this creature. I think it is a Man of War. Another reason not to get in the water. while we were there we enjoyed the company of my brother and sister and their spouses. We have finished most of the inside tasks, the most recent being carpet in the living room and the front bedroom. We have a kitchen counter to go but it will be simpler than the one above.

Here is photo of the living room.

And the winner is...

Yesterday Martha received the winners trophy seen above. Back on Super Bowl Sunday there was a party at church and during the party there was a Chili cook-off contest. Martha did not officially intend to enter the contest but made the chili to make sure there was enough. Since she brought the chili, she was entered automatically. There were 8 entries and after all the elders sampled the entries, hers was the winner. Now her name is forever engraved on the Chili Bowl trophy. Now we have to store a huge trophy somewhere. Maybe we can get them to store it for us since it is supposed to be a perpetual trophy. The Chili was delicious, if I do say so myself.

Cold weather traveling

For Christmas break we traveled to Michigan with the 5th wheel. Needless to say it was cold. Martha's Mom was not doing well and we wanted to see her again so we went. We stayed 2 weeks and had a great visit. Mom rallied and was able to enjoy the visit. I think she was pleased that we came and that all the siblings were able to get there and visit. We came home on the 29th of December and Martha's mom passed away on New years eve. So we made another trip but did not take the trailer or the cat. This trip was much easier and cheaper for fuel. We stayed most of a week and returned on the 5th of January.

Going back a month, Martha graduated from Howard Payne on the 8th of December and at long last received her degree. We are very proud of her accomplishment.

This year we will try to concentrate on the creek house which still needs a lot of TLC and making some repairs here at our home.