April 30th - Back in Missouri

I enjoyed my time in Tennessee. Pretty much accomplished everything I wanted to get done. I arrived back home in Missouri around 9:30 last night.

The dryer in our combination washer/dryer, in the motor home, quit working during our last trip. I haven't had time to look at it yet. (You can't do anything without taking it out of the cabinet and that looks like a pain.) I bought 50' of clothesline and stretched it up between to trees that were about 40' apart. Looks like I should have bought 2 - 50' lengths, I sure had this one full when I washed sheets.

 Sunday afternoon things were still wet, but it wasn't raining. I took a 2 hour walk around part of our property. I crossed two waterways like the one below, only I crossed where they were a little smaller. I came to one that was just to big to wade across without getting water into my boots so I turned back. There is no water at these locations during dry times.

The noise in the video is just from the rushing water.

During my walk I didn't see any mushrooms nor any dogwood trees on our property. Dogwoods were out because there were several behind the neighbors house.

While I was gone the contractor came and installed our new metal roof. Another one came and installed several new doors and windows, and the satellite TV guy came out to re-install the satellite dish that the roofers had removed. A separate contractor came out to install new gutters and downspouts after the roof was finished. Kathy handled everything.

Our DSL modem quit working before I left, after a thunderstorm with lots of lightening. It took Kathy several phone calls but they finally sent her a new modem. It wasn't the only problem. Finally they sent out a service guy and he determined that the phone line back to our house was bad. I got the modem working this morning. I had to uninstall and reinstall our wireless printer to get it to work but now everything seems OK.

Kathy had lots of things to keep her entertained while the contractors were here. As they were leaving the roofing guys knocked out part of a stone retaining wall when the rear of their trailer swung wide as they made the turn to head down the driveway toward the road. They didn't stop. The door/window installation guys did a reasonable job of putting the stones back in place. The satellite TV guy tried backing into one of the levels of the yard and got stuck. The door guys pushed him out. We probably should have given the door guys a big tip.

I had a full truck load for my trip home. I had most of the box filled level full of wood that I cut while in TN. I also had 3 bar stools in the back. The back seat was full of tool boxes. I got everything unloaded today. I split the wood that needed splitting and have most of it stacked under the boiler enclosure. We don't have the boiler running right now but will probably start it back up tomorrow evening. It has been hot enough the past two days that we have had the AC running. I think it got to 84 today.

I got the lawn mowed but didn't do any trimming yet. In the morning I may go to the hardware store in California and buy the new mega weedeater that I have been lusting after.  It takes me longer to do the weed eating that it does to mow, and mowing takes long enough. It isn't that there is so much to mow, its just that there is no place to go straight. You are always turning around something.

I fed the fish this afternoon. Saw lots of catfish but nothing else.

Lydia comes tomorrow. I can't wait to see her.

I hope all of you had as nice a day as I did. May God bless you and yours.

April 27th - Still in Tennessee

I had planned on packing up today and leaving for Missouri tomorrow. It has been raining almost steady since last night. I decided to wait and pack up after the rain ends. That may be tomorrow (Sunday) or maybe not until Monday. I probably won't be back in Missouri until Tuesday.

I've finished the "tasks" I wanted to get done while I was here. My next project will be putting in at least a couple of windows.

This morning I rode to Cookeville with Tom, Mary Lou & Merv. Tom needed to deliver a lawn mower he had sold. Unfortunately LeAnne had to work and we weren't able to see here while we were there. We had a good lunch at an oriental buffet. I did some reading and took a nap this afternoon.

Guess that is all from here. I hope all of you had a good day. May God bless you and yours.

April 21st - Sunday

This morning I stopped at Hardee's and had a couple of Canadian bacon, egg and cheese biscuits (they were on sale), and a cup of coffee on my way to the early service (9AM) at Cumberland Fellowship. I think the “older” crowd must gravitate toward the early service. Most of the people appeared to be in the 50 plus age group. The contemporary music seemed to be the same as it is during the later service and the Spirit seemed equally as active.

The Pastor spoke on integrity, and how it is sorely lacking in today’s society. He noted that today we are much more likely to be shocked when someone shows integrity that we are when someone shows a lack of it. It no longer shocks us when we hear about scoundrels in government and business. We expect that everyone is trying to cheat us. An evening watching TV commercials certainly shows that many businesses will say anything to try and get you to buy their product. An election cycle shows that most politicians will say/do anything to get re-elected, so that they can continue their rape of the American taxpayer.

He suggested that a definition of integrity is being the same person in private that you are in public. He, as usual, turned the message to those in attendance. He commented that if those of us in church practiced integrity, churches would have people lined up outside the door, waiting to get in and join. (I just reread that and it doesn't have the right tone. The Pastor does not make you feel bad as he points out the shortcomings that we all have. He makes you want to become a better person, one who will lead a more satisfying life while here on Earth.) 

 

He went on to ask the question, “What is your integrity worth to you?”. Is it worth the money you might save if you cheat on your taxes? It is worth lying to someone to save yourself from an embarrassing situation? Is it worth the temporary satisfaction you might experience by cheating on your spouse? He listed enough things that at least one of them probably hit home with most of us in attendance. He ended stressing the importance of the peace that is available to those who do walk in integrity.

It is a beautiful day here. I spent that past 2 hours sitting outside enjoying the peace and quiet. It is 2 PM and I came in to warm up some pork and gravy that Kathy sent me. One of the many meals she prepared and froze for me before I left Missouri.

I  hope all of you are also enjoying the beautiful day. May God bless you and yours.

April 19th - Working on "Cabin"

Nothing exciting happening here in TN. We had some high winds, rain and hail, I think Wednesday afternoon. It has drizzled rain on and off all day today, at least every time I was outside.

I went over to Tom & Mary Lou's this morning and picked up the staples for my "hammer tacker". I ordered them online and had them sent to their house. The "hammer tacker" works great for stapling insulation batts in the walls.

I've finished all the wiring except in the kitchen and hanging a couple of closet lights. I've decided to bite the bullet and buy a larger size wire for the range, rather than use the wire that Tom had given me last year. I already put the other wire in place so it shouldn't be to big a job to use it to pull the new wire into place.

I've got about half the wall insulation in place. I can't do the kitchen until I finish the wiring in the exterior walls. In another area last year I put up some peg board to hang tools on. I have to take it down, put up the insulation and then put it back up.

Derrick Burgess, our closest neighbor stopped by after work yesterday and we had a nice visit. His wife saw us out as she was coming home from work and she also stopped for a visit.

This morning I went down to visit with Marvin Burgess. Diane, his wife, told me that Marvin was in town running errands.

I hope all of you had a great day. May God bless you and yours.

April 17th AM - In The Great State of Tennessee

I made it back to TN yesterday. I arrived at our property around 7 PM. I left our place in MO at 8:40 AM. It is a 580 mile drive. I made 3 stops for gas (and pit stops). I picked up a Subway sandwich at one of the gas stops and ate it on the road. I also stopped at the Kroger store in Crossville to pick up a few grocery items. I could make it with only one gas stop but that would mean buying gas in Illinois, which I refuse to do. The gas in Illinois is always 20-30 cents a gallon more than in MO, KY or TN.

It rained until I was midway through Illinois. Going through St. Louis it rained HARD. Kathy said we got another 1.5" Monday night and yesterday. Our pond was overflowing again before I left Tuesday morning. I drove my pickup. I averaged 16.6 mpg. Not great but not all that bad, especially since it was windy, raining and I drove 5 mph over the speed limit most of the time.

Everything here was fine. Tom had already turned on the water for me so all I had to do was hook it back up to the motorhome. I had unhooked it when we left before because I knew the temperatures would be below freezing, at times, before we returned.

Doug left to go back to Indianapolis Monday afternoon. We certainly enjoyed his coming for a visit. He and Anthony are supposed to come out again in June, for Lydia's 1st birthday.

Kathy stayed in MO to babysit Lydia. It is hard to understand why she would want to stay in MO to babysit our wonderful great-granddaughter rather than spend 20 hours riding in my pickup <GRIN>.

This morning I took what I think is the first shower in our building here. The shower/bathroom has been fully function since last August but no one had ever used the shower. The shower is our motor home is quite adequate so the bother to go somewhere else to take a shower isn't worth it unless the other shower is very close and the temperature/weather is good.

After my shower I had biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast, it was great. Kathy sent me a refrigerator full of leftovers that she had frozen in preparation for my trip.

My tentative plan is to return to MO on Sunday the 28th. I want to be back when the metal roof is put on our home. I hope that by going back on a weekend the westbound traffic backups won't be as bad. Traffic was OK coming here but west of Nashville there were numerous LONG backups at areas of construction. By travelling on the weekend hopefully there won't be long backups since the construction crews won't be working.

Time to get out and about.

I hope all of you have/had a great day. May God bless you and yours.

April 14th - Sunday

Kelsey, Andy & Lydia came to have brunch after church this morning. We had sausage gravy & biscuits and bacon, lettuce & tomato sandwiches. It was a wonderful breakfast.

Today was a beautiful day. We just took it easy. Doug, Kelsey & I played with Lydia in the yard. She seemed to have a great time. In the late afternoon we went in to Jefferson City and had supper at one of the Mexican restaurants. I'm sure Lydia had a good time there.

When Kathy, Doug and I got back to our house we went out to feed the fish. Doug's dogs went nuts while we were walking across the dam. He investigated and found the reason. The big turtle we saw last week was climbing up the back side of the dam. It was on its way to the pond.

I hope all of you had as fine a day as we had. May God bless you and yours.

April 13th - Breakfast at Scribner's Coffee Cup

This morning we met Andy, Kelsey & Lydia at the Coffee Cup in Russellville, for breakfast. The little place is nothing fancy, and it takes forever to get your food but it is by far the best breakfast place within many miles. Actually I don't know of another that is within a reasonable driving distance that matches the deals you get there. This morning I had the #3. 3 eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, a nice size slab of country ham, a sausage patty, hash browns and toast; for $6.49. I forgot to take any photos of us chowing down.

After breakfast Andy and I worked on a back stoop at K&A's. More prep work for finishing the siding on the back of the house. We have it mostly finished, it is usable and far superior to using a concrete block for a step and then making a BIG step to get into the house. Again, forgot to get a photo.

The rest of the gang went to Jefferson City to check out the Habitat Re-Store. They bought a few things. After returning home Kelsey and Doug went to the Amish grocery store while Kathy watched Lydia. Andy and I continued slaving away on the stoop <GRIN>.

We had Ott (Kelsey's in-laws) sausage links, in hot dog buns, and other stuff for lunch at K&A's. They make great sausage.

They came to our house for supper. Doug grilled steaks. We also had salad and baked potatoes. Kathy baked a lemon pie for desert.

As we laid around after supper Doug brought in a toy he had for Lydia. She went ape over it. Lights flash and it plays music as you push the different buttons. She LOVES to push buttons and twist knobs.

I hope you can play the video. It is short but gives you and idea of the toy.

I included a photo of one of our Bradford pear trees a few days ago. I thought the rain would have knocked the blossoms off it but it is even prettier now.

I hope all of you had a great day. May God bless you and yours.