The weather has been beautiful here the last couple of days and the forecast, at least until next week, is for more warm weather and sunshine. Love it!
We’ve been really busy doing whatever suits us at the moment, so I can’t say we’re very tired. It’s been fun to get acquainted with Bentley and watching his antics as he thinks the entire RV is his playground. He is getting the message to stay off the kitchen counter and he has selected his favorite toys and favorite nap locations. Mr. Bentley has made himself at home.
He likes the big window in our bedroom and loves to settle in on his cushion to watch the squirrels, the birds, and the ever present turkey and deer.
Such a rough life, don’t you think? Poor Kitty. He tends to want to stay in our bed after we’re up and around. I end up having to make him move so that I can make the bed.
And when it’s time to change the sheets, Bentley thinks the circus has come to town. Have you ever tried to make a bed with a cat chasing the sheets or anything else that moves? Let me tell ya, it ain’t easy. He’s quite the little clown.
But he’s equally as lovable. He loves to cuddle up in our laps and sleep or snuggle up close and pat my face with his paw. Here we are relaxing in my chair.
I’ve noticed a lot more deer lately that are a lot closer to the RV. I guess we’ve been parked here long enough that they have accepted us as part of the scenery.
Here are a few pictures I’ve taken lately from the windows of the RV.
I’m still watching for the cougar that frequents this area, but with no luck. I’m still hoping to see it again and get some pictures. Ginger said it was a gorgeous cat when she saw it just up the road from the RV park, so I’d love to get a good picture.
We had planned to make the trip to Arizona and stay there until Spring, but we both have family members with health issues going on, so we’ve been hesitant to get back on the road. And there’s another reason.
Ever since my three month stint in the the hospital, I’ve had problems with sitting for very long at a time. And I wasn’t looking forward to another trip in the truck on my “butt pillow” that doesn’t really help much. So I decided I’d had enough and made an appointment with a local Chiropractor to see if he can get me straightened out. I’ve had lower back problems for years and I’m used to frequent discomfort, but this “pain in the butt” is a whole other thing.
So I made my first visit today for the evaluation and initial adjustment. Wow, I didn’t realize just how much my lower back has been bothering me until after the visit. It felt wonderful!
Now, I’ll be going back for ten more adjustments, if it takes that many, but I feel confident that by the time we hit the road again, I can retire the “butt pillow”. Now I’m just asking myself why I waited so long.
That’s all the news for now. We’re seriously thinking about a day trip to Hot Springs to get a nice long soak in the mineral springs and a good massage. Not sure when we’ll do it, but I’ll keep ya posted. Until then….
HAPPY TRAILS!
We knew that we would have a new grandson by the 17th, if not before, so we weren’t really surprised to get a phone call early on the 14th from DeWayne’s youngest son Kevin. They were at the hospital and Tricia was in labor. So I jumped out of bed (DeWayne was already up), got my shower, some breakfast, packed our duds and we were off to Norman.
We arrived to find that Jonathan Kale had been born at 11:58 a.m., weighing 6 lb., 2 oz. And what a beautiful baby boy his is!
Here is “Gramps’” first glimpse of his new grandson as Dad and big brother Jaxon look on.
Let me tell ya. This little guy didn’t have a care in the world.
And here his is with his mother, who looks tired, but smiling.
And more of our newest little star of the family…
So whadaya think? Isn’t he a handsome little guy? We think so, of course.
We spent the night and visited the hospital again on Saturday before taking care of errands and heading home. We can’t wait to see more of little Jonathan and get lots more great pictures. Congratulations Kevin, Tricia and Jaxon!!!
One of our errands involved something we had been discussing, which was to get ourselves a cat. We both, especially me, miss having a pet and we have heard that cats are better for the travelling lifestyle than dogs, so we decided to adopt our own kitty.
We found “Bentley” with granddaughter Carlie’s help at Petsmart. Thank you, Carlie! We wanted a younger cat or kitten that would adjust better to our lifestyle, but I was also looking for one with a very laid back personality. I didn’t want to get one that would be hiding out all the time and afraid of it’s shadow. And I wanted a calmer cat to lessen the chance that it would be traumatized by a moving vehicle.
Out of all the cats that we saw, Bentley was so laid back that we had to ask the clerk to go inside and wake him up so we could get a better look at him. He was so pretty and only 8 months old, so we asked to hold him and check out his temperament.
This little guy was so lovable and cuddly! And he was so relaxed and purring up a storm that it was unanimous. Carlie liked him, DeWayne liked him, and I was already in love. We asked Carlie to suggest a name and Bentley was her first suggestion. We both liked it too, so it stuck. We made out the adoption papers, gathered up all the kitty supplies (litter box, food, litter, toys, bed, carrier, etc.) and headed for the checkout.
I’ll have to say that we spent more to bring home a cat than my hospital bill was for the birth of my first born. My how times have changed! But our little Bentley has a clean bill of health, all his shots and is fixed already, so the price of the adoption was a bargain at $65. Where the real money came in was for all the supplies!
Anyway, we think he was worth it and I was so pleased that he rode in the car like a little trooper. I even took him out of the carrier for a while and he just lay in my lap and purred.
After the trip home, we had to leave him in his carrier for a while til we got the litter box assembled and ready to go, but once we opened the door and let him out into the RV, he just acted like he had been here forever. Not skiddish….not nervous….didn’t run and hide. In fact, he was a busy little guy for a while just taking it all in, playing with his new toys and having dinner.
It had been a long day for all of us, so off to bed we went…..all three of us. Bentley settled down drifted right off……until….
About 4:30 in the morning, it was play time! And he wanted to play with DeWayne (he never bothered me at all). So the ritual began….walking around on DeWayne’s head, playing with his feet if they moved, then back up on his head…
Needless to say, DeWayne had to get out of bed earlier than he had planned and when I got up after a great night's sleep, I found DeWayne nodding in his recliner and Bentley sound asleep in his lap. Best buds.
Bentley has taken his place in our little family like he has always been here and has made himself right at home. He’s lovable and sweet, then in the blink of an eye, he’s into something and in trouble. I think it’s safe to say he will be lessening the boredom factor in this household.
All pooped out and snoozing In his bed…
And napping in DeWayne’s chair…..
DeWayne took Casey out for ice cream today after school, so he wanted to come and meet Bentley, but Bentley was still in nap mode.
So we are now a family of three in our little home. And loving it!
That’s all the news for now. Stay tuned for the latest news and the latest antics from Bentley. And in the meantime…..
HAPPY TRAILS!!!
McAlester current temperature is 24 degrees at 1:30 in the afternoon. The high today is supposed to be all the way up to 26, but I have my doubts it will make it. Brrrrr!
I hope everyone had a great New Year and have settled into 2011 with ease. We stayed in for New Year’s Eve and out of the path of any drunk drivers. We watched movies and DeWayne was asleep before midnight.
Since my last post, I made a trip to the folk’s house for a couple of days and helped SOS get ready for the annual financial audit, then stayed around while the auditor was there. Everything was in great shape, as usual.
I came home just in time to hand the car keys over to DeWayne so that he could take his son Scott to Memphis. They were there to tour Graceland since Scott has wanted to do that for a long time and their timing was great since it was Elvis’ birthday.
Then the “lovely weather” hit the day he came home and it’s been cold and nasty ever since. I think the temps will finally crawl just above freezing tomorrow and at least the sun is shining, but we have three small heaters going in the RV and the propane heat still kicks in once in a while.
Thank goodness for the fresh water tank because even with heat tape on the hose coming from the water spigot, our water still froze up. The spigot that the rv park manager guaranteed not to freeze up FROZE UP! So much for taking someone’s word for it, huh?
Let me see if I can remember everything else that has been going on for us. Oh yeah! Ginger stopped by here after work on Friday for a cup of coffee and when she left and turned out of the RV park, she spotted the cougar running alongside the street for a ways, so she got a really good look at it and said it was just gorgeous. Wish I had been there with my camera. Oh well, I’m still watching for the elusive critter to wander through the park again. Maybe….
I’ve noticed a flock of geese feeding outside a couple of times.
One day last week, I noticed the geese were out and the turkey were out too. Before long, they were mingling together, although leery of each other.
One indication that the cougar isn’t frequenting the RV park these days is the calmness of the other wildlife. I took this picture from the bedroom window of deer resting in the grass near where the cougar entered the woods just a coupla weeks ago.
DeWayne decided it was time for a new computer. He had a regular PC that took up a lot of space and was a real pain to pack away and then set up again every time we moved, so he decided on a laptop. We also decided to buy an external hard drive to store our 4,000+ songs on in the case of a computer crash (god forbid). He can also backup his computer to the external on a regular schedule, so if for some reason the computer is kaput, it can be restored.
The reason for keeping the regular PC was to store all the music on the bigger hard drive, but the external drive was only $60, so it made sense to downsize the computer and free up more space.
What I didn’t know was that he would come home with a MAC.
I’ve never used a Mac in my life and don’t know a thing about them. I’m usually the troubleshooter when it comes to the computers, so DeWayne is having to learn the Mac system from ground up, but is making good progress.
He got the external hard drive and now has that all figured out. And he also bought a new printer for us that is wireless, so I love that. Now we can print from either of our computers with no problem. And TWO LESS WIRES to string around. Love it!
We cleaned the old PC up, packed it and the printer up and took it to Jana for her to use with her new classes, so everybody was happy. I’m loving not having that big PC tower and monitor to look at and take up so much space.
The new laptop looks much better! The only thing left to do is to buy another external hard drive to back up my laptop and we’ll be set.
The weather deteriorated this past Sunday, as predicted. I started seeing little specks of snow that morning, then some light sleet for a while, then back to snow……big flakes of snow. It was pretty as it fell.
And as soon as the snow let up, the turkey were back in force. This one was right outside the kitchen window, scratching around in the snow.
I made a big pot of homemade soup and cornbread for the cold weather, then put half of it in the freezer for the next cold spell. DeWayne has been wanting me to bake some jalapeno cheddar bread but wanted me to use Eula’s recipe that he loves. Heck, the entire family loves it! Anyway, she wrote out the recipe for me, so on Saturday, I made the trip to Wal Mart to get the ingredients, then home to put it all together. Oh, it smelled soooooo good in the oven. I had to cut into it and slather a slice with butter before it cooled off.
We’ve almost polished off one of the loaves and have the other one in the freezer for a later time.
We both have a little cabin fever after all the cold weather and staying in, so I think we’ll be heading for Chili’s to eat this evening. I love their food and their sunrise margueritas are delicious!
DeWayne’s new grandson should be making his first appearance any day now, but will be arriving on the 17th for sure, if not before. We’re looking forward the big event and welcoming yet another grandchild into the world before we move on to Arizona.
That’s all the news for now, so I’ll shut up and get the coffee made for Ginger’s daily visit. So I hope everybody is staying warm and enjoying the new year. Catch ya next time, but until then…..
HAPPY TRAILS!!
DeWayne and I want to wish each and every one of our friends and family a very happy, blessed and prosperous new year. Goodbye 2010, hello 2011.
HAPPY TRAILS!!!!
