Patience

I have been warned, by my sister-in-law who lives on 100 Acre Ranch in Lamkin, Texas (Google the population of that community!) and our new Dublin neighbor who we met briefly on Friday (more on that in a minute), that living in the country will take a little getting used to. I am prepared to fill the freezer with empty calorie items that can't be delivered to the house. This one thing does have me a bit concerned. I love my delivery.

But I went to HEB yesterday. Here in the traffic. And the masses. And the no school for MLK Day. And I know in the country there will be inconsiderate folk who park their carts right in the middle of the aisle and are oblivious to all behind them. And I know there will be unruly kids there who aren't paying attention to mom telling them to get out of the way. If, in fact, mom was paying attention. And I know there will be sackers who would rather talk to the checker than bag my groceries. AND, I know there will be traffic on the way home who travel at the speed of molasses and don't use their turn signals.

But I just don't think there will be as many of them!

So about our new neighbor. Cuddle Buns and I were walking our new property when we noticed a big white pickup near the gate. The only people coming near our gate should be Army Corp of Engineer people, the owners of the ranch across the easement, or someone we know. So we watched. As we were leaving, the driver of the truck asked if we knew where the smoke was coming from. That was when we noticed quite a plume behind our house toward the lake. Or maybe on the other side of the dam. She was out checking things given the fires of late in Texas. And, she grew up in our house. And now lives on the ranch across the easement part time. (In Denton the rest of the time.) We exchanged phone numbers and she promised the house would be safe, that the Corp had the fire under control. And not to listen to John, the officer at the abstract company who had handled our closing. He had told a story about a party in our house when they were in high school. And she needed to get with him about the reunion.

I don't live there yet, but I love the country.

Rudy's New Playground-For Real This Time

I have hesitated to post anything because of an earlier post where I put pictures of Rudy's new playground...and then the deal fell through. But this deal is signed, sealed, and will be delivered shortly! (We won't have the keys for a few days.) But Rudy and Cuddle Buns and I are making a move to the country. We are beside ourselves!

Hope Yours Were the Best

I was not given permission to post this on Facebook....so here it is for the vast number of my blog readers to view. We had the best Christmas. Hope yours were awesome, too!

The end of an era...

Our starter home...And our finisher home!

Hitchcock Movie Re-Make Auditions?

I heard the commotion from inside the house.

They were congregating a few houses down the block behind us.

For what, do you suppose?

(The movie appears very small on the blog. Sorry. Wish you could have seen what I saw! Check out the space between the tree branches. Those chatty birds were party-ing over there!)

I hesitate to tell you this...

So, yesterday, kind of early - like maybe 6:30amish - I'm walking back into the bedroom with a cup of coffee and no glasses, and I see something in the carpet that I leaned over to inspect. And it moved. Well, really more slithered. I screamed. Rudy hid behind the coffee table.

We had a snake in the house.

Not a big snake. But no earthworm size, either. About 6 or 7 inches. No markings to indicate venom. But a snake.

After I screamed I tried to shoo it off the carpet onto the tile. Where, surprisingly to me, it had trouble slithering.  Rudy was still hiding behind the coffee table.  I captured it under a glass pot lid. And then contemplated.

I didn't want to get close enough to kill it. In my house. But the thought of letting it go kind of freaked me out, too. It came in once, after all. Did it have plans to winter in my bedroom? But, if I were to put it out of my misery, how might I do that? The shot gun seemed over-kill. (Most likely it would result in the loss of one of my toes IF I could even get the thing loaded. Which would require knowing where the ammo is and which ammo is actually  correct for which firearm?) Beating it to death with one of Cuddle Buns shoes wouldn't work for me. Knives weren't an option, either.

So, I let him go. Scootched him onto a newspaper and on out the back door where he high-tailed it into the grass.

I sure hope he decided to check out the next door neighbors'.

Rudy FINALLY came out from his hiding place behind the GLASS coffee table. Took him a long while to leave the rug, though. He never once saw the snake. Me screaming and jumping around with glass pot lids was enough to send him over the edge.

What we've been doing, in no particular order

Due to my lengthy hiatus, I can't tell you in any good order what is going on in our world. It is just going!

• Rudy had his two year check up. It's official. He's still the cutest pup at the vet. On the block. At Petco. 

• There are other parts of this country, before our recent amazing cold front, that not only have rain, but cooler temps. On a regular basis. They even wear jackets and sweaters. 

• Speaking of jackets and sweaters... Since it has dipped into the 80s here during the day, I know many people think it is COLD. It is not, folks. No real need for sweaters yet. I promise. You'll be fine. I don't get the coat sitings I've had. My body temp still hasn't lowered to normal from September!

• I do hope it stays on the cooler side with maybe even cooler temps coming. I'm knitting a great looking sweater. I don't want to have to travel to wear it.

• The For Sale sign is in our yard again. We tried to sell this place three years ago. Then Ike hit. Thent the housing crash hit. Now three years worth of accumulated junk later, we're going to give it a whirl again. 

• My daughter and her family are again living on this continent. Only a one hour time difference to mess with when calling. (They are in one of the places with cooler weather. 48 yesterday. With rain. Can you imagine. Yes....I'd give you permission to wear a coat.) I've made a visit already. I wore a sweater a couple of times. That was almost as great as hugging the necks and swatting the butts of those boys I've not seen since March. 
• But really, this is what we've been doing the most: