Running away from home

Willie had an 11th birthday party at the bowling alley near their new home. As you can see he is almost as tall as his Mother, not that she is very tall. He has grown 6 inches this year. Carson was the hit of the party at 5 months of age and 18+ lbs.

Cousins of the birthday boy, Charlotte and Andrea were there to celebrate the occasion.

Uncle Tim got to hold Carson at the Thanksgiving dinner at his new home. Carson was dressed as Santa for the occasion. Tim wants to baby-sit him in the near future.

We left home today on our way to the south for the winter. It was raining but we were ready to go so we went. We stopped early at a KOA campground in Kentucky. Our special treat for our first day out. As soon as we stopped the rain stopped also. We needed propane and wasted an hour first thing this morning and an hour at noon time trying to find some. We found it at this KOA park, so now we are ready to face the chilly nights along the way.

Last year we picked up a big black dog named Goofy. He didn't work out as he couldn't get along with Red. He wanted to kill her and nothing we could do would change his mind. If he saw a squirrel outside he would run madly through the house until he found Red and then attack her. It got so I had to go outside with her to protect her from him. We passed him on to a home with no other pets and we hope he is very happy. Still feeling in need of a 3rd dog, don't ask me why, we went to an organization called SICSA (Society for the Improvement of Conditions of Stray Animals) and found Scooby. Where Goofy snapped and snarled, Scooby whimpers. He is a 30 pound terrier mix and we will be posting some pictures of him soon. He is 2 years old and needs some manners, he gets very excited about squirrels. He was abandoned and it has taken him a while to warm up to us. Last week Red got shut out in the mud room and he was very upset about it. When I finally let her in he licked her face and was very happy to see her. Of course she remains aloof to all this adulation.

We are headed to Murphreesboro, Arkansas to look for diamonds. Don't know when the next post will be but we expect to be very wealthy by then.

Stay tuned..........

June 18, 2007

At the hospital.



There isn't much for the Father-to-be to do at this point in the game.

All the attention goes to the Mother-to-be. Her Sister and Brother comfort her.

These are the strong women of our family. Charlotte labored from Sunday afternoon until Monday afternoon when the Doctor discovered that her progress had started going backwards. The decision was made for a ceaserian section to be done. So at 4:37 p.m. Carson Richard was born.

Coming out of the delivery room he wasn't much awake. At 9 lbs 7 ounces (20 3/4 inches) we began to understand why the ceaserian.

Stop it with the flash bulbs guys.

This normal newborn diaper was too small for Carson. The nurse had to open a package of the next bigger size. Grandma (she says she wants to be called MeMe) is so proud.

After bath and check up it is time for a nice long nap. This labor business is very hard work for everyone.

Charlotte isn't very comfortable but is spending the night with her baby in her room. At the last minute she was put under anesthetic for her operation as the spinal wasn't working well enough. She will have a bit longer stay in the hospital and a bit longer recovery at home. Grandma (MeMe) will be at home with her for several days to help get things started. Aunt Susan and Great Grandma will also be on call.

Sleep well little one.

Baby Shower

The baby's Grandmother and Greatgrandmother

The baby's Great Aunts

A cake made of diapers - very useful later.

The baby's Mother and Aunt

The real edible cake.

A good time was had by all.

March, 2007

Just had to tell everyone about the falcon cam in Dayton. This year they have a ruler in the nest box so you can see how big they are. Check it out at www.boonshoftmuseum.org/falconcam.html. They have already laid one egg.

March 13, 2007

Sunday night in Oklahoma was wet with lightening flashing around the area. It was reassuring
to look out my RV window and see that the campground had provided for all eventualities. The storm that night was not windy and did not warrent any alerts, thank goodness.


We arrived home Tuesday, March 13 at 4:30 p.m. We arrived home with an extra passenger. While surfing the internet last Saturday night I ran across a website for dogs that need homes (this was purely by accident - right). I found one that only a mother could love. He looked a bit scruffy. He was listed as an Aussie-doodle which I found meant his mother was a standard poodle and his sire was an Australian Shepherd. He was in Oklahoma and would have to be picked up as he was too big to ship, and he was free. So on Sunday off to Oklahoma we went.

This is home in Ohio.

This is Gruff, the Aussie-doodle or Aussie-poo. He has some white whiskers on his chin which contributes to his charm.

He was not a happy traveler in the RV. He had never before been on a leash but he adjusted to that pretty well after wrapping me up with his leash a few times. Car sickness didn't help so we made a fast run for home. After 2 days of carsickness he refused to eat the same food that he had eaten those days so a quick trip to the grocery store was needed. New food was the solution to getting him to eat. He is 9 or 10 months old - hope he's about done growing - look at those feet. Sometimes he looks like he is slouching to look smaller.

He is much happier at home where he can relax for a while and get used to his new family.

We are all glad to be home and see the kids and grandkids. They took good care of things for us while we were gone.

I don't know how often I will post now that we are home. Maybe I'll let folks know about major happenings in our lives. Thanks for reading.

March 9, 2007

Santa is alive and well in Bonham, Texas, with a Harley shirt and sandles. He came around to warn everyone that there was some rain coming. It sprinkled for about 20 minutes. This part of Texas is very dry so any rain is a big occasion.

I'm going for the Jed Clampett look here. I think I achieved it with my new hat.

I took a walk around the place today. I found the animals and came back without any. Not that I wasn't tempted. There were all kinds of fowl, even peacocks. I passed bassett, chocolate lab, chihuahua, and husky puppies, miniature goats, llamas, burros, and rabbits.

March 8, 2007

Surprise - I have WIFI setting here at the Bonham, TX Trader Days. I don't know where it is coming from but that's okay. I'm not getting any TV at all. I am set up here for the weekend. They have little sticks stuck in the ground with styrofoam cups upside down on each stick. The cups have the site number written on them. You take a site, remove the cup and take it to the office to pay. Kind of a first come, first served system. The boundaries of the sites are more permanently marked with colored markers.
Every flea market has a different system and they all assume everyone understands their system. At most places the electrical box has circuit breakers that are turned off until you plug in and turn your circuit breaker on. I got yelled at here when I opened the box to turn on my circuit breaker - they were all turned on. Not a very safe practice in my opinion.
I went shopping and found an Australian hat for myself. I am supposed to wear a wide brim hat on sunny days and I keep buying hats that end up not being comfortable. I think maybe this one will work. It is light weight leather and feels really good on my head. I'll try to get a picture of it tomorrow.