May in a nutshell

I posted about the beginnings of my garden on April 30, then I looked up and it was mid-May, then May was gone. Oh how I have missed blogging. I am going to share with you in photos a re-cap of how May went for our family. You will realize, then, why I missed posting.

My birthday is May 1. I turned 46 this year. I don't feel it and if you ask most folks, they will tell you I don't act like I am 46 years old.

Vintage Postcard postmarked Jan 1910 and its mine :-)

David got me a Kindle Fire for my birthday and I just love it!  THEN a couple of days later he surprised me and was able to take his R&R two days ahead of schedule, so he arrived on the 6th instead of the 8th. While he was in route coming home from overseas (he is a civilian contractor over there), I used the information I got when I watched "Homestead Blessings: The Art of Making Candles" to make beeswax tapers. The night I was working on these, I was continually texting with David while he was in a holding pattern waiting to get on his flight home.

We traded in my 2009 Dodge Caravan and David's 2004 Avalanche in on a new truck! It is a 2012 Ford F150 Crew Cab. The new models have so much space in the back seat, it would compare in side to a small car.

This gorgeous machine drives amazingly & rides like a car!

While the kids were spending some days with their father, David decided we would take a road trip and head to the casino in Clinton, OK. It's only 2.5 hours away and was nice to spend the time together. On the way back, we stopped in. Shamrock, TX and saw the vintage gas station that was depicted in the movie "Cars".

David being his typical silly self.

"Look at that price! $.38 per gallon!"

Then we headed on down I-40 back toward Amarillo and stopped in Groom, Texas to see the GIANT cross.

The next adventure was to Palo Duro Canyon. It is less than a half-hour from our house.

Even though I have been several times....the canyon is still gorgeous to me!

Whew and I am only to the 13th!

We have been trying for the past couple of months to decide what to do about where to live. I currently have 1.17 acres with a 1981 very small manufactured home on it. David and I have gone through so many scenarios about what we want. This piece of land keeps calling us thought, to stay right here. So, we ordered a new manufactured home! OUR NEW HOME! Together. It is 320sf larger than the one the kids and I live in now. NOW this little homestead is OURS. We just found out yesterday that the home is built and will be in Amarillo sometime this coming week.

 

Ours is hunter green on the top and beige on the bottom.

We went with a single-wide because we don't want to put too large/pricey a home here and price it out of the area when one day we decide to sell the place.

The next thing I have to tell you is not easy to talk about. Many of you that have been reading my blog back to my old one, are familiar with Roosevelt, our Serama rooster. He hatched in my hand on January 2, 2010 and played a vital role in Gregory learning to talk. One afternoon, Felicity went out to the barn and found him dead. We don't know what happened. But I am thankful that David was here. The kids and I were in tears for quite a while. Losing Roosevelt was a huge loss for the kids and I.

Rest in peace our special little man.

Next, we headed to David and I's hometown, Leesville, Louisiana. I am the youngest of eight kids and we have not all been together in one place since 1983, when we buried our father. This weekend...we were all together! I am not sharing photos, because I don't know how they would feel about it.

Margo our Poodle, Petunia our Chihuahua

Bailey, our Maltese mix

Yep, all FOUR of our dogs went on the trip with us. (Ariel is in a later photo) They all did amazingly well and enjoyed the travel and meeting all of the new people.

I started and finished my first ever knitted project while we were on the road!

My daughter, son-in-law and first born grandchild, Madeline.

On Saturday of that weekend, we all headed out to Toledo Bend Lake for a day of fun in the woods (and on the water).

Toledo Bend Lake

Later that week, David and I enjoyed sitting out by the pool at our hotel and watched the kids swim.

Favorite things to read for me while watching the kids.

David was "pondering"...I don't remember what, though.

This was really the first time to swim in a big pool for Gregory, to the best of my memory. He loved it! It took him a few minutes at first, but then he realized his floaties wouldn't let him go under water.

Felicity loves to swim. She is now 11 and as tall as me! She is such a wonderful big sister to Gregory, too.


Oh how I miss the green of Louisiana! I love the State flower, Magnolia.

Then before we were ready, it was time for David to fly back overseas and the kids and I to come back to Amarillo.

We stopped in Canton, TX at a little place called Dairy Palace for lunch and Gregory actually ate BEANS AND RICE!!! Of course, I mashed it all up together, but he ate it! This is MAJOR for him! He still has such problems with food textures.

At the end of our first day on the road headed back to Amarillo, we stayed in Dallas. I took the kids to Bass Pro Shop because I thought they would think it was pretty neat. We were in that store for 2 hours! Felicity really enjoyed it...Gregory not so much.

We were all exhausted at the end of the day. Even Ariel our 3 month old puppy.

I ended the month of May with 15 fewer chickens due to a dog that got into the yard while we were gone. BUT on a better note...my first harvest of the year. HERBS!

 

Basil, Chamomille, Oregano and Cilantro.

Hope you enjoyed your little tour through our month of May. I will be back to blogging now and am so glad!