Holiday 2011
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May14th, 2012 On The Road Again, Going Places I’v Already Been.
The first few days home, we have to go out and eat with friends & family. That keeps us busy for a while. The weeds got a good head start on us this year. With spring being so warm and plenty of rain, weeds are high this time. I grab the weed eater and away i go. Ran out of string, then i could not get the cap off to add string. Weed eating got put off for a day. Rickey got the string on the weed eater so off i go again. I am going to do a job on them now. Before i got done the plastic shield fell off. Now what; i decided to go on anyway. Before i quit the weed eater ( electric) was running sideways. Then i smelled it getting hot. So that is it again, and i am still about half way done.
Sunday on Mother’s Day off we go to Minnesota. Headed for Eden Prairie, Mn. We spend the night in Wisconsin. I forgot my charger for the computer, so off we go looking for a Best Buy. Well $63.00 later i have a charger for computer. Forgot to bring a hair brush. I wonder what else i forgot to bring. Maybe we should have hooked-up to the camper and brought it. Started out in rain, going through Louisville a car getting ready to go around us hydroplane. Almost got the back-end of our vehicle. Thank God for watching over us.
Looks like we will be getting into Minneapolis around lunch on Monday. Graduation is tonight, maybe we will make it on time.
I sure hope all of the gate guards are doing well. Do i miss Texas ? Not yet. I have already gotten 3 ticks off of me. That is just a start. I will have them on me all summer long. Ky, did not have a cold winter, it was mild all winter. Hope to be back home by Wed. It is hard to get used to normal living, going to bed at a decent hour and getting up early. I am enjoying it all. I do miss my gate guard friends that i have made while in Texas.
Until next time have a great week.
May 10th, 2012 Home At Last.
It is hard to say goodby to friends in Texas. Either way i am always dreading the goodbyes. We started out on Monday around 11:00 leaving Gonzales. The good news is i found gas at HEB for 1.39 gal. I filled up and had the trip meter set. Drove 1,025 miles to get home. First night we stayed at a campground about 20 miles south of Marshall, Tx. We don’t ever seem to get north of Marshall. I think we could leave at 8:00 in the morning and Marshall is as far as we would get.
Our second night was at Denmark, Tn. Only about 250 miles from home. We did not have to drive in any rain. Coming through Nashville was not bad as it was around noon. We got to Cave City, Ky around 1:00 p.m. I had to stop and see son and grandkids. Then on to Bonnieville where we will be staying for the summer. About 3 miles north on 31-W. It was cool here around 73 degrees. Last night it got down to 50 degrees. Time to drag out the heater. Checked out my blackberries they are full of blooms. Last year i only got a few berries as they got frozen out. I cannot tell much on the two apple trees, but i do see where there were blooms.
The people here were glad for the cooler weather as it had been around 87 for a few days. To hot for spring. As i look around i see the weeds are all healthy and growing. Guess i will have to find the old weed eater and see if i can remember how to use it. There are leaves from last fall in the flower bed, time to get them out. Looks like my blackberries are full of blooms this year. Went to eat out at the local restaurant with two other couples that we are friends with. They help me with the Beauty Pageant. Will have to order the trophies sometime next week. Still got to go to Minneapolis to a granddaughter graduation.
I see there are going to be storms in south Texas, today and tomorrow. I pray that everyone will be safe. It is no fun being in a camper when it is storming.
May 6th, 2012 Monday is the same as any other day to a gate guard.
4 days sitting at the yard in Gonzales. This morning there were 5 septic and 4 gen sitting here. JR went out with one this morning and Scott has one behind his truck. Rickey has an appointment in the morning. It depends on the appointment if we are heading north. I looked at the temps at home and it is 87 degrees there with 72 % humidity. Hope it cools off before i get there. Last year going home we had to beat the water flowing south. I-40 west bound was closed down because of the water. We barely made it east bound before they closed that lane down. Did not stop until we were east of the Mississippi river.
Can’t believe i was stupid enough today to bake an Earthquake cake for hubby. Got the fan over the stove going hoping it will take some of the heat out. Our camper has been getting up to 82 in the afternoons. We only have one air conditioner. Better believe this fall there will be two on the camper that i arrive here in.
Not much to do here in Gonzales. We went to Seguin with another couple of gate guarding that we workamped with the summer of 2010. The company man told them to take two days off. They called us and wanted us to ride to the RV place in Seguin to get a part they needed. They wanted to eat breakfast, no place around here had breakfast all day. So I-Hop here we come. While there they got a call that they would be moving, so that meant get back to site and move out. There went their two days off.
I missed the city-wide yard sale that goes on the first Sat in May. Same day as the Derby. I have never been to the Derby or the Thunder over Louisville. Just to many people to be around, trying to get in and out of the City. We still have to make the trip to Minneapolis for granddaughter graduation.
I hate saying goodby to the friends we have here, hopeful will be back before long. I will follow gate guards blogs to see how they are making out, especially in the summer heat.
Gotta go for now, come back soon. I would love for you to leave a comment. Sometimes it helps knowing people like what you write.
May 1st, 2012 Look Out Free World; Here I Come.
The company man from B.H.P. came by on Sunday. He was telling us that usual they have another guard company bring in a gate guard for the fracking job. B.H,P. bought out Petrohawk. We told him that next Sunday was the last day for us. If he wanted to bring in someone else it was fine with us. Sunday & Monday there has not been much going on here. At night we would close the gate, as no one was coming in. It would be 7:00 am before we would see anyone.
By Tue at lunch time i decided to order my medicine at Cuero Wal-Mart. It would be late in the afternoon before it was ready. JR called around 4:00 pm to tell us he would be here on Wed around 9:00 am to move us. The coil tubing started coming in around lunch on Tue. We were told it would be around 5:00 pm before the traffic got heavy. Rickey got a whole sirloin cut into steaks. We had to get them vacuum packed before all of the traffic got here. But they started coming in early. Guess what; i forgot to go and get my medicine. I will have to go in the morning and pick it up before leaving Cuero. We will be headed to Gonzales.
Now if they can find us a 5 day gate it would be nice. We like that many days getting in all the time we wanted for this spring. Who knows, that could happen.
There are so many sticky burrs out here it is awful. Everytime the dog goes for a walk we have to de-burr her. Now she does not want to do much walking. Really the dog hates gate guarding. She likes campgrounds where she can smell other dogs and claim the property where they have been.
Talk to my granddaughter today, she is waiting on me to get home. The grandson calls all the time to see how much longer before we get home.
With the operation and 8 months of guarding i am at the end of my rope. I let everything get on my nerves. Time for a break. Or is that just age kicking in ?
You can draw a circle and stand inside of it. That is your world, your family, job, friends & relaxing time. It takes someone on the outside to tell you your weakness & strength. I have been told i was judgemental, that came from God. Also that i am opinionated. Me opinionated; well let me see, i look it up in the dictionary and sure enough i was opinionated. Did i get upset, no i needed to hear that. How can we grow if we don’t know what is wrong with ourself.
I have been carrying a plank on my shoulders all my life, i got use to it. So i did not realize i had a plank. I was busy picking the speck out of other people’s eyes. So, i do need someone outside my circle to tell me things that i need to improve on. I don’t think we like to hear those things, but it is important if you want to grow in the spirit. Other words if you want to produce the fruits of the spirit.
The first commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart, spirit and soul. I think i do. But i still need to be told the things i need to improve on.
Second, is to love thy neighbor as thy self. Now this is a hard one to do. How to love someone that gets on your nerves, the no good people. I have been working harder on this one. I have got some of this one down. But this one commandment takes a lot of working on, and you have to work on it all the time.
Don’t give up on me, God is not finished with me yet.
April 28th, 2012 Gate Guard Ladies Luncheon.
Backdrop for picture taking
Drove to Kenedy today to the gate guard luncheon. There were 5 of us there today. I think all of us wanted to talk at the same time. We have to get all of our tales out in a short time frame. I think everyone had a good
replica of our town.
time. Of course we all had to talk about our gate. I am really gonna miss the luncheons while i am gone. Hard to say goodby to friends here, and really hard to say goodby to friends at home. Always a tear to shed. I never was good at goodby’s. I really appreciate all of the ladies that has made an effort in attending the luncheons.
Time to go home and start working on ordering trophy’s for the pageant and deciding on how to decorate the stage this year. There are several of us that work on decorating the gym for the pageant. It really gets hectic at sign in time on the day of the pageant.
If we are going to put a float in the parade, we have to start working on it. Takes longer to do than you would think. A lot of details goes into the float. We have one church that does a wonderful float every year. They put a lot of work into their float.
I went to the Doctor on Thur got a good report. I thought i did good for an older lady. Now to get on with life again. Thank God for bringing me through it all.
Last year's pageant stage
April 24th, 2012 Counting the Days Of Gate Guarding.
The company man let the mud loggers go home. Now they are hauling mud out. Gonna be a busy night. This has been a good gate, fairly slow most of the time. I am counting the days until it is time to stop gate guarding until fall. I have a Doctor appointment thur for a check-up. I could go home anytime after that. Might be here longer than i want to be, who knows. Got a luncheon to go to Sat to see the other ladies before leaving. There are two that will be taking a couple of weeks off so they will not be there. It is about 42 miles to Kenedy from Cuero.
When i look outside at night i can only see two rigs, and one that is burning. There is a AT&T tower right in our front door. I can see the moon & Mars (or venus) close to the tower. A lot of birds roost there on the tower. According to my calendar the daytime hours today was 13 hrs & 25 mins. Bad day to sow seeds. I always try to get a calendar that is an almanac too.
I decided to make 2 chocolate pies Sunday. Still have some left. I gave one piece away and should have made the piece bigger or gave two of them. Homemade crust will not get as soggy as the bought crust. I don’t know why, but it is true. I decided this time that i would not use the egg whites to make the icing anymore. The icing always weeps and shrink on me, believe me; i have tried every recipe i can find on making the meringue better. Never works for me. I am going to use the meringue powder i have at home on the next pies i make. I don’t get in a cooking mood as often as i did at the S&B house. A little harder to do in a camper. The neighbor gave me some green onions, today i cook some beans & cornbread. Naturally green onions was on the menu.
The weather here has been nice. It is a nice day if the wind is not blowing to much. The humidity has been low. I have started cleaning on the camper, most of the time i give it a lick & promise. Now is the time for some real cleaning. The oven is the worse of the cleaning. I always dread that job. But it has to be done. I don’t think Rickey will take on the job.
Got to get Rickey in the bed. It is getting late, i am going to get him up tonight at 1:00. He is going to be gone tomorrow and i have to get up early in the morning. I seem to get sleepy around 2:00 pm when he is not here. Guess it could be in my head, that i cannot take a nap so sleepy i get. Donna, a guard lady gave me 3 books to read, i have not gotten into them yet. When i do start reading and get into the book, i want put the book down until i am finished.
I hope all my family, friends and gate guard friends are all having a wonderful week. I am knocking on wood, i have not seen a snake this spring.
Please feel free to leave a comment.
Apr 20th, 2012 Fri Again.
We don’t have many more days left to gate guard this spring. I am ready to go home for a while. My daughter cooks too much food and i am missing out on her leftovers. Yes, we do eat leftovers. Our dog thinks she should not have to eat leftovers. I keep telling her she is in the wrong family to be that way.
It is raining now, they need the rain here. It does not take long for the ground to dry out when the sun shines all day every day. Some of the land owners does not realize or don’t care what the thistle will do to their pastures. The owner was here over the weekend and he bush hogged a few rounds and quit. There are thistles everywhere in his pasture. They will finally take over the fields.
Texas, or should i say south Texas has beautiful wild flowers. Almost any color you would want to see. Butterflies are everywhere too. I think i saw one Hummingbird the other day flying around our camper. The neighbor man brought us a dozen farm fresh eggs this morning ( shame on me) i don’t eat them. So he goes home and comes back with two big green onions. Boy they are hot too. I told him i like onions. He is a really nice person.
Now it is hard to leave family & friends at home. Hard to leave friends here also. We are going to get a luncheon put together before i leave for home. I have to see my friends one more time before leaving out. This gate is a good gate to sit on. Not much traffic at night most of the time. Not a lot in the day either. Tue & Thur from 10:00 am till 4:00 pm is the time for people to get tickets signed. No sales calls without appointments. Company man called on Thur and said to let everyone through thur & fri. I let one salesman through on Tue and the company man who left this wed came out and repeated to me the times they could come and no sales calls without appointments. We now have a different company man on duty. Maybe this one is different on the times people can call on them.
We had one of our service men to come and eat with us on Wed. Had a good visit with him, he is great to see that you are taken care of in a timely matter. Hope everyone has a great weekend. I know the gate guards want be going out to dinner and a movie, unless they can get someone to sit the gate.
Yeah, i can eat them babies.
Apr 15th, 2012 Our Last Assignment Until Fall.
We got to move to our assignment on Thur afternoon. We are off of 183 on fm rd 951 out of Cuero. The guard that was here went ahead and moved to the site where the rig is going to next. So we are here for the last of the drilling and moving. Later that night the other guard found out they were not moving to the gate where she is. Instead they will be going to Tilden. So she can get some rest. She is guarding alone. That is with 3 dogs. But she will have to move again shortly as she follows the rig. We are hoping this will be our last assignment for the spring season. We had to badden down the hatch for the strong wind over the weekend. All awnings in, chairs, tables and everything else that could blow away.
Just found out on Facebook this morning that friends of ours who we workamped with in the summer of 2010 at Beech Bend Park in Ky are now here gate guarding.
Another Texas Wildflower
Cuero on fm rd 951
Apr 10th, 2012 On The Rebound. (slowly, but sure)
Sorry i have not updated in a while. I was foolish enough to get on the Weebly thing, that was free to all accounts with Bluehost. Away went my blog. I have just now gotten it back up and going. Had surgery a week ago, everything went well. Came home the same day. Now to slowly heal. It hurts to ride more than anything. We left the campground in Floresville on Monday. We are now sitting at the GGS yard in Karnes City. Waiting on a gate. They had a gate yesterday in Roger’s division at Eagle Pass. Cannot travel that far as of now. If i could i would just head home, get a doctor there to release me.
But i am stuck here for the time being. I guess as you get older surgery takes more of a tole on you then what you think.
We went to visit a friend of Rickey’s yesterday. He is a friend that Rickey met in town. He was driving a japanese mini truck. We use to sell them and had one until last year. Guess that was the bond that they had. He and his wife are always giving us stuff. Yesterday it was two slices of his birthday cake, cookies & bbq meat. The meat was chicken, pork & beef. It was from their niece for Easter Sunday. Way more than they could eat.
On Sunday around 2:00 p.m. a lady driving a small pick-up with pink rims came through the campground. I think i was the only one out when she came through. She invited us to a gathering that the church was having close by. They were bbq’ing & playing games. Since i was staying close to the camper and not getting out, she brought us two meals by around 6:00. It was a nice Easter after all. God always remembers us, even in the little things that goes on in our life.
I use to have egg hunts with the kids & grandkids. Now everyone is to old for that. I have made bunny cakes, with green coconut for grass. Homemade easter eggs to go around the cake. It took a lot of time to do that. Now no little kids and no energy to do all of that. Sounds like i am thinking old. Gotta get out of that, or i will be in a wheelchair in a nursing home asking for a brief.
It is good to think back on all the good things we did and the happy times we had. Still a lot more to come, if they Lord is willing. Till we meet again. Hopeful it want be as long as this last time. I just gotta keep my hands off of things i don’t understand.
Mar 29th, 2012 After The Storm.
We made it through another storm las night. It can be scary sitting in a 5th wheel while it is rocking. We had over 5″ of rain. The satellite was going out most of the time. Now wed night is my night for watching Restaurant Impossible and Restaurant Stakeout. Naturally i missed the new show on Restaurant Impossible. Then i had to watch the old reruns. There is not much to watch on Dish Network with 120 channels.
Got up this morning and looked at my tray of seeds i sowed the other day. I sowed Beef Stake tomatoes & pickling cucumbers. The rain had washed all the soil out and there was nothing left but water. What a disappointment that was. But i thank God we did not get blown away.
We are leaving the gate for a few days. I have to get surgery done this coming Tue. Monday is clean out day with nothing but clear liquids. So hang in there with me, i will get back to posting more often when i get this behind me. That is unless they let too much air out when they punch holes in me. I am gonna probably have a smily face on belly. I am not to worried about the surgery but it is like sitting in a class knowing you have to stand in front of everyone and give a presentation. The waiting is what gets to you.
I don’t know who or when they will get someone here to take our gate over. We have ask to come back to this rig if we can. It really does not matter to me. I have not seen any wild animals out here yet. There are several Road Runners at the end of the road. That is close to Donna camper. I don’t see any out here where we are. Took a walk with the dog yesterday and the little tiny bugs were all over me. We just had our workers to change out this week. Got a steak dinner last night. Boy, the things they can do to beans. The pinto beans had sausage in them and they were way to hot for us to eat. I made some cole slaw yesterday just in case i needed something else to eat, and i needed it.
The truck drivers are complaining about the humidity today. I told one it is time to head to Alaska. We are just now beginning to get really upset with the ones that will not put their cell phone down while they are signing in and out. They do it all wrong when not watching what they are doing. I respect them by being nice, and we need some respect too. We are so caught up with the cell phones that no one really thinks much about talking on them while doing other things. You don’t think about what you are doing unless you are in the other persons shoes. And that goes for anything. I am just as guilty as the next person.
We are natural complainers, not in the garden of Eden. Want everything to be perfect. That is when we all have to look and see our glass half full. Got to keep that vision in front of us at all times. It can always be worse. That is a hard one for me to do. Glad you drop by and come back soon.
Please feel free to leave a comment. They do help in knowing someone is getting something out of reading my blog, or at least enjoy some of it.