Mountain Mama's Point Of View

  We are still on the road and I have no way to download pictures. We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words ..... Since words are all I have, I will try to paint a picture of some of the adventures we had in the last week. We are pacing our trip to a more managable rate. Less tiring for the driver. Since I don't drive or hook up sewer and water, I try to do everything else. I could and would drive. It would be a disaster, since HeWho would have to entertain the canines and see to their needs. They would try to clamor into the front and be under my feet or trying to wedge themselves between me and steering wheel, all three at one time. Given the opportunity to look out the front windsheild would trigger Bo's carsickness and Toni would want to ride in the windsheild and block my view. Eddie would just bark until he was allowed to get in my lap. HeWho would be asleep since he can't hear that well under the best of circumstance. We stayed in one place for several da...

  Day two of the trip. Sitting with my canine companions in a Walmart parking lot. HeWho drives is in the store. When we stopped last night I was looking forward to a soothing shower. No restaurants were close, so we ate sandwiches from a gas station. I loaded some foods, but nothing that would be good for a meal. I remembered to bring the bread and peanut butter. Forgot jelly, but we did have a jar of marshmallow fluff. Plenty of water to drink, along with sodas and such were chilled in the fridge, but we forgot ice. HeWho is in charge of hooking up power and water went out to do so and came back with the news that we would be without water. "WHY?" asked the travel weary woman. He explained the situation slowly, as if to a child. Somebody cut the end of the hose off and we can't hook up to water. He said "somebody" like it was a mystery. It had to have been him. The real mystery is why he cut the end of the hose off. If he needs something, he thinks nothing of ...

  We have a surgery date. August 30th, with a pre-surgical visit on the 28th. So, might as well travel a bit before the recovery period. The RV is loaded with our clothes and necessities, only the last minute stuff left to load. Now I sit here waiting for my hair salon to open. I need a good trim and HeWho's beard is out of control, making him look a bit deranged. Can't travel like that! I planned to pick beans this morning, but it is raining off and on. Last night, my mind made lists of things to do, preventing the much needed sleep. In the wee hours of the morning, around 1 am, I saw the flash of lightning at the edges of my curtains, then a rumble of thunder in the distance. Then just a few seconds later the rain on the roof. I don't normally hear rain fall inside unless I am in the bathroom with the sky light. Last night l listened as it hit the roof with the sound of  thundering horses.  I said we don't usually hear the rain inside, but if we step out on the porch ...

  You might recall my pitiful veggie garden of last year. Not knowing the sun's summer path, I chose this sunny spot in our front yard to hobble together some containers to plant my seeds. Ugly? Why, yes, yes it is. Permanent? NO! As the plants grew, I added support and netting and whirly gigs to discourage the birds and rabbits. It worked and we ate vegetables last season. It served its purpose and I dismantled it all as the plants died. I had had the opportunity to watch the sun and already knew where my new raised bed garden would go. I decided this Maple tree I brought with me from my previous home needed a surround. That tree is braided from three saplings. One of my many experiments. The tree is thriving, taller than me now. I planted some shrubs along the drop line of the ravine. Mulching is an ongoing thing around here. I lost track of the number of bags I used so far this year. Walmart ran out of the many pallets of red and I had to switch to brown for other plots. On one ...

  Was it just a year and a half ago that I took this picture from the driveway? My She Shed had been delivered and set up and I wondered how long it would take me to tame the "woods"? My pictures did not load in the correct order, but this is the sloped "lawn" running alongside my driveway. I had just started planting.  You can't tell how steep that slope is from pictures, but I needed steps up or I would have to walk all the way to the top of the driveway to step onto the "lawn". The day the shed was delivered was supposed to be the first picture. I remember this day so well. We still had all those boxes on the porch, like a maze to be navigated in order to go inside. Those same boxes are now in various sheds, waiting to be unpacked and relocated to where they belonged. Well, they have all been opened and examined except for my sewing stuff. This is the first picture and you can see where the land drops off into a slope. This is where I stopped last s...

  Okay, I am back. Me, the cute one. This is a story about Mom in the kitchen. I must say that when she is busy with her garden, she doesn't spend much time in the kitchen. It is almost like she loves that garden more than us dogs! I know that is not true. There is not one flower that can compete with my cuteness! Mom says I have I have a very high opinion of myself. She does spend a lot time in those gardens, but she always holds us when she comes in. Not in the kitchen, she won't hold us in the kitchen. She says our fur will contaminate the food. I beg your pardon, but a litt le dog hair never hurt anyone! This day when Mom went into the kitchen, it was not the normal time. Dad was still sleeping and it was not time for a human meal. Us dogs watched to see what Mom might be up to. Sometimes she will cook some delicious bacon. Not only is it heavenly to smell, if you watch closely and listen for a "pop" bacon fat will hit the floor. When this happens we all try to ge...

  Another appointent with the vascular surgeon's nurse practitioner today came with all the regular questions and concerns. He had some tests done last week and we reviewed the results. His left leg has good circulation, despite some numbness beginning at the bottom of the incision scar (mid-calf) to his ankle. I don't think it bothers him as much as he told her today. He doesn't complain very often, I would know! His right leg doesn't have good circulation. It will begin to ache if he walks or stands too long. The normal range is .9 to1and his was at .74 on one test and .45 on another. So we will have another surgery sometime in August (we hope). If his recovery is uneventful, we will be able to travel this fall. Yay! The boat has been moved and instead of chocks, we used cement blocks. Just waiting for the seats to be done and we can go ahead and have the pontoon welded. Just need to find a shorter boat trailer and get rid of the too long one. Remember when you used t...

  Finally a sunny day! I hiked up the drive, dragging my mower behind me. I need to go pick up some cinder blocks I found on Marketplace, but first, I had to cut the grass before it got any higher. I stopped to say hello to my hibiscus and found a little friend. He is well camoflaged there on the leaf. A grasshopper stared me in the eye! I paid full price for this black-eyed susie. It should spread and I really love them. The clearance section was pitiful. Nothing could be salvaged from all the dead plants they were still offering to sell. So, I mowed before HeWho came up to move the boat out of the way so he could pull the trailer out. Still cool with a nice breeze, the sun had not covered that area yet. I guided HeWho drives to the tongue and trailer hitch on the boat trailer. He hooked it up and I went to grab the garden rack to pull the chocks out, but he had already pulled the boat over them. We were going to park it on the paved area off the side of the driveway. It is not le...

This is my driveway as darkness descends. We were returning home after seeing off my nephew and his family at the restaurant and I was still in picture mode. Too many lights? More lights? Yesterday was rainy and I was ready to get out of here for awhile. My thoughts must have leaked out into the mind of HeWho sleeps late. As soon as he awoke he got dressed and asked if we should go grocery shopping. This is code for going out to eat. His idea of grovery shopping is for me to navigate the store and fulfill my list while he lingers in the red meat section hunting supper. As soon as he locates his heart's desire he decides his leg hurts and retires to the truck to wait for me. "Take your time" is what he always says. Like I need his permission! Monday will find us at the vascular surgeon's office to plan the next surgery for his right leg. When this leg is done, he will need another excuse to abandon me in the grocery store! That will have its own disadvantages. I will h...

  The rain was back, leaving me to entertain myself inside. While the weather here is not as hot as other places are experiencing, it is still very humid. Since my house is tiny, using the oven means the entire house gets warm. Very warm. I had a loaf of Italian bread that was stale. We had eaten about 1/4 of the loaf while it was fresh. You all know how I hate waste and I was pondering what to do with the rest. Bread pudding came to mind, then I remembered I didn't want to use the oven. Even with the air on, the house would be uncomfortable. The rain was steady enough to keep us indoors. I logged onto Pinterest, hoping I could stay on task, as Pinterest has so many things I could easily get caught up in and forget my objective. French toast is a option, but how much French toast can two people eat? I really wanted bread pudding. Then I remembered the Instapot sitting abandoned on my counter. What is better than bread pudding? Bread pudding with rum sauce! I sliced the bread and to...

  Just another mundane Monday. Moving slowly, joints popping, I ease myself down in my usual seat with my cup of wake up. I open my lap top and see that I have slept past my normal time, or rather, the canines let me sleep longer than usual.  Everything is coming to life. Dora is tapping the side of her habitat to remind me to feed her. The dogs are in from their morning ritual and clamoring onto the sofa to see who will sit snug up against me and the lap top awakes. Instead of going straight to endless spam emails, I went to Facebook. I like to mix it up, you know. And there, in messenger is a note from our niece telling me there are in Young Harris and wondering how far away we are from there. I nearly spit my coffee out. I didn't, lap tops are expensive and coffee is precious. Less than 30 minutes from me was my nephew, Joey and his family! I was so excited I almost woke the master of the house when I burst into song! Fortunately, Bo did not join in for a duet of sound not ...