Our Sunday Drive

GREETINGS!

Yesterday we took a Sunday drive; something we used to do quite often, but hadn't in a while. It was so good to get out and see some surrounding countryside. We did over 160 miles!

These first few pictures are of Lake Eufaula, which is really a big resort and private lake homes area here in Oklahoma. The lake has 600 miles of shore line and 102,000 surface acres. It is on the Canadian River; it is the largest lake in Oklahoma and the 15th largest lake in the U.S.A.


This picture - above- is on the "Dam Road" and was just before we crossed the dam. That is the river area.


This picture -above- is in front of the dam. And what I could see (and the picture) is just the tip of the iceberg so to speak!


This picture -above- is one part of the lake separated by a one lane bridge going in to a little "town" called Porum Landing. The one below is the other side of the bridge.



The following pictures I took out the window of the van as we were traveling along. The road offered a beautiful view of the hills and trees of the surrounding area.









We stopped along the way in the "big city" of McAlester and had lunch at Wendy's. Also went to Lowe's and bought some paint to do the shower walls in the guest bathroom as they were all yellow from the old water. And got a big bag of planting dirt so we can get some tomatoes in the ground - or pots! All in all, it was a great afternoon. I hope we do it more often, but that depends on gas prices!!

Be sure to thank the Lord for your blessings. Until next time take care and God Bless you.

TA DA!! WATER IS HERE

GREETINGS!

It's official! As of 5:53 p.m. yesterday evening we were hooked up to, and using, "city" water. It took awhile to get the old salty well water out of the pipes and hot water tank, but we are good to go today! There is lots more pressure and the morning shower was divine. I've been busy scrubbing faucets and sinks and shining stuff up; emptying the water cooler on the counter and getting some badly needed counter space. Life is good.



And this is a picture of the New Orleans Gumbo I made this past week. I've never made or eaten gumbo before, so it was a fun project. I loved it! The recipe was in the Feb/Mar issue of my Simply Delicious magazine and used chicken, kielbasa and shrimp, along with canned tomatoes and seasonings. I even used the Cayanne pepper and it was very good. I used instant wild rice for the rice and with the onions, celery and garlic it was delicious! I will definitely make it again.

That's all I have for today. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Until next time, take care and God Bless.

Fort Gibson, Oklahoma

GREETINGS!

I am finally getting around to sharing my pictures of Fort Gibson, OK. If you are at all interested in history I think you will enjoy them and hopefully will search for other sites to learn more.

Fort Gibson was built/opened in 1824. It's purpose was to keep peace between the newly arrived Western Cherokees and the established Osage Indians. The fort was an ending destination for 1000's in the Trail of Tears. In 1861 the Confederate troops evacuated the fort and it became a Union headquarters until 1865. In 1890 the fort was closed.

The above is a very short synopsis of the history. For more pertinent information google Fort Gibson, OK.

This is of course the official marker of Fort Gibson.










This is an outside view of the back of one of the "barracks". Of interest to me was the tower at the end -- just like the sets you see in movies, etc.




This is a cannon out in the middle of the "parade grounds", which I'm sure in the 1800's was all dirt, not grass.




This is either a well or a cistern, located outside the only two-story building in the square. There are 4 buildings forming the square enclosure of the Fort, with the center being the "parade" grounds.




These next two pictures show one of the three (3) barracks. One being just a view of one of the rooms in the one barrack. The rooms were set up for from 2 to 4 soldiers with a desk besides the bunks. Very interesting.




I think there were 8 or 10 "separate" rooms in each barrack. You can take a tour and go in all 90 (I think it was) rooms of the Fort. I did not do that!


So, history lesson completed. It was very interesting to me. I hope it peaks your interest and you have fun with it. Until next time, take care and God bless.

Water is Almost Within Reach

GREETINGS!

Here it comes! Ronnie on the big backhoe digging the ditch and Tom on the tractor covering up the ditch after the pipe is laid. In this picture Ronnie is coming towards the house from across the field.









I think at this point the ditch splits and goes down to Tom's house and over to our place. So there is some kind of valve to direct the water - when it comes - to both houses.





More of the same. It's hard to believe that in the not too far future you won't be able to tell how this was all dug up. The total feet of ditches is over 2000. That's coming from up the road, down along our neighbors property line and then on this property to the houses.



We were supposed to have "city" water by this Friday, but after the big thunder and lightening and hail/rain storm Sunday night, it will be a little later. The ditches have to dry out some I guess, and we have to wait for the city to come turn the main valve and do whatever else they have to do. Seems strange to me that the guys are doing it themselves with no help from the city - except for 500 feet of pipe. I guess that's country living for you!



Here is where it will come into our house. I'm so anxious for this: no more salty showers, salt collecting on my scalp, spots on my dishes, my whites turning yellow, the bathroom fixtures staining yellow/brown/gold, etc. It'll be just like uptown!

So cross your fingers and say a prayer that it stays halfway dry and there are no problems and we get hooked up soon. This will be a red letter day I tell ya! The donkeys will be happier too.

Until next time, take care and God Bless.

Another Week Gone

GREETINGS!

Well, the calendar says that Spring is here; and the weather today was more like summer! It is now 82 outside and it is 8:00 p.m. Tomorrow is going to be another very warm, humid day as well. But back to Spring: The time for planting tomatoes. Ronnie just had to have one of these topsy turvy tomato planters so I obliged him and bought one. He got a tomato plant and a pepper plant and proceeded to "plant" them and hang the contraption on the corner of the front porch. If you look carefully, you might see a half dead tomato plant coming out the bottom, and the dead? pepper plant on the side. He says he probably over-watered them. I say the darned things don't work no matter what! I'm going to plant my heirloom tomato in the raised bed with a cage around it to keep the Armadillo's out! :)


Some time back I wrote about trying to fix my electric golf cart and get it back in to running order. Well, I found it needed at least one new battery (at over $100 ea.) so I gave up on that. We took it to a place that sells carts and they gave us $75 for it; which was better than nothing, besides getting rid of it. I then started looking for a riding lawn mower without the blade deck. And lo and behold, I found one on Craigs List. This is it, in all its red glory.

It's a Troy Bilt, so I assumed it was a good brand. The young man wanted $150 and I offered $125 and we had a deal. It has a 22 amp motor (or some such) which is quite big for a mower I'm told. Anyway, Ronnie got it running just great and I was putting all over the yard; down to my brother's new place, out to the donkeys, pulling the little trailer for hauling branches, etc. Loved it. Then it got very low on gas and Ronnie filled it up; which was a horrendous mistake! Something sucked that whole tank of gas up through the engine and out the front. Now it will still run, but it sends out smoke like it's on fire! I'm beginning to think I'm not meant to have ground transportation up here in the Oklahoma hills! :) Maybe at some point when Ronnie has nothing to do, he will take it apart and see if he can fix it. I can only hope.

The other thing I wanted to share was how I used to just hate to cook/fix dinner. Seemed I couldn't think of things to make, and didn't really have any ambition to cook. Well, then I was reading a blog - Homemaking on the Homestead - and saw where she posted her menu for the month. I decided that was a great idea and proceeded to make a monthly menu too. I used some of her ideas and recipes, some from my Simply Delicious magazine and some from the Better Homes & Gardens magazine and some from my old cookbook that I hadn't made in years. I'm telling you, it surely makes a difference! I enjoy cooking now, grocery shopping seems easier and even Ronnie likes the idea! So if you are having similar trouble, try the menu idea.

Now, I think I'm all caught up with the stuff I've been doing for about the last 2 months. I've still got my trip to the Fort to share though; will get to it soon. I hope you all have a blessed weekend. Until next time, take care and God bless.
P.S. If the blue characters still show up I'm sorry. Don't know what I do wrong.

How Quickly The Time Passes

GREETINGS!

Here it is Thursday already! I can't believe how quickly the week has gone by. I guess it's true that the older you get the faster time goes by, just like when you are near the end of the toilet paper roll and "zap", it's gone! Or something like that. :)
I think I'm just going to do some catching up today, so bear with me.

This, my friends, is the best invention since sliced bread! I heard this 24 hour lipstick by Maybelline advertised on television, so I had to get some and try it. I seldom wear lipstick because it never stays on and I am not one to carry a tube around and re-apply. Now, I mean to tell you, this stuff LASTS for 24 hours or more!! Yesterday morning I put some on and have had 3 meals and drinks since then, and it is still looking quite nice this morning! And it doesn't rub off on anything. Imagine waking up looking so gorgeous in the morning! ha I love it.......I've bought 3 tubes at just under $8.00 a tube, so there's my allowance for this month. :) Seriously though, give it a try.

One day last week when we went WalMarting it turned out quite expensive. Besides all the groceries we ended up buying a new battery for the pickup and a new Kodak printer for the computer. Its the one that is supposed to save you money on purchasing ink cartridges so we'll see. The black cartridge is just under $10 and I think the color combo was $20, so not bad. It is black and sleek looking and prints, copies, and scans; all we need. Our old one was also a fax machine which we don't need anymore, so it was okay that it quit working!

On Tuesday I went WalMarting all by myself! That is always fun, when I can take my time mosey-ing around and not have to worry about Ronnie being bored and tired of waiting! I also went to Atwood's - a farm supply type store - and looked around. Of course I ended up buying a new curry comb for the donkeys and some fly spray. The darned horse flies and others are eating them up! Makes me so sad for them. Eeyore has little blood dots all over his nose and under his eye. Now I just need to get them to stand still and let me put the stuff on them! They don't like the spray so I guess I'll have to soak a rag and wipe them down with it. The clerk in the store also said you could wipe them down with diesel fuel and that worked as well. Always fun to talk to people and learn new info.

Tonight is my favorite television night with Grays Anatomy and Private Practice. I guess I'm hooked on doctor shows while Ronnie is hooked on CSI type shows. Good thing we have 2 televisions.......... Well, the dishes are calling so I had best get busy. I hope you all have a great day and take time to thank the Lord for all your blessings. Until next time, take care and God bless.

The Donkey Story, Cont'd

GREETINGS!

This post is totally messed up when printed out. Sorry. Hope you can understand it.

About a week after we had Eeyore and Jenny, I was sitting in my easy chair after supper and heard a motorized noise out front. I looked out the window and there was this woman on an old, blue 4 wheeler - the kind you have to start with a rope like an old lawn mower. I put on some shoes and went outside to meet her. Come to find out, her name is Jackie, she is the sister-in-law to the couple we bought the donkeys from, and they live on the same property. Apparently she was quite friendly with the donkeys and missed them, so she came up the hill to see if they had a good home and how they were doing. We visited for quite a while, she pet the donkeys and talked to them, and then she went home.

A few days later, she came back and had brought 4 dozen free range chicken eggs for us! Well, needless to say, Ronnie thought he'd died and gone to heaven. He kept exclaiming "look how yellow these yolks are!" "You don't get eggs like these in the store", etc., etc. The free range egg is on the left by the way.




This picture is a comparison of the size of the eggs - store bought on the right and free range on the left. The smaller size may be due to the type of chicken, like a bantam or some such. (I have no idea how or why this type is blue and underlined. Please excuse it - I can't seem to fix it or remove it! :P)


And this is just a size comparison. Obviously, store bought egg on the right and free range egg on the left. I think I would have to use 3 or 4 of the smaller ones to equal 2 of the big ones. I did make some really good chocolate chip cookies with them; and Ronnie has had numerous fried egg sandwiches; and tonight we had breakfast for supper, which included free range eggs.

So! Now you know how I met my new friend, Jackie. I told her she could have visiting rights with Jenny and Eeyore and to feel free to come any time she wanted. She seems like a very nice person and I look forward to getting to know her better. Oh, another thing I learned from the man we bought the donkeys from: We live in Winter's Holler - or at the top ridge of it anyway. Don't know if anyone else knows where that is, but I like it......

That's it for tonight. I hope you all had a great day. Take care and God Bless.