I’m back

 

Good morning everyone ~ I hope you are all doing well. I just have a ‘bit’ of a cough every now and then, but am feeling so much better than I was.  Thank you all for your well-wishes and prayers.  I basically hibernated only going out to the grocery store one morning (3-4 blocks away), I read, watched movies on you-tube, I didn’t feel like doing anything.

Wednesday my (Mark’s) nephew, Joseph, called and said he’d be in town the next day and wanted to know if he could stop by to assess my plumbing situation and make a list of materials needed.  I told him I was getting over a cold, but he could come over.  He got here around 2 Thursday afternoon.  I showed him the water meter, the connection at the front of the house and other areas he needed to see, plus he looked under the house and could see what he wanted to do there too.  He and my brother-in-law Todd are going to be doing the replacement of water pipe under the house, replace faucets, etc. under the bathroom sink and the toilet.  And, if they can they are going to replace old copper shower pipes and connections too, since the bathroom wall is uncovered from the bedroom side.  I’ll just have to empty the big piece of furniture that is there and they will move it out of the way.

I’ve got to get the other metal shelf unit out of the bedroom and am working on taking care of that. It’s all a job that’s for sure.  They will be here Sat. the 23rd.  I’ll be taking off from work that day to ‘help’ and to ‘feed’ them.  I am so thankful that they are willing and able to do this for me.

I got the latest water bill Saturday, and it’s doubled from what it was last month, which was double from normal use, so water usage has gone from 2 a month to 8. YIKES!  I called my BIL and told him and asked if I could turn the faucet off at the inlet in front of house when I’m not here, and he said yes and also suggested I turn it off at night too, so that’s what I’ve been doing.  That should help keep the water from leaking until they can fix it.

When Joseph pulled up into the driveway, I laughed right out loud. Look at what I saw over the top of his truck. Do you see the horns over the top? Joseph has been in rodeo events since he was a boy, as is his father.  In fact, Pepe, just competed in Las Vegas and was 5th place in his event, and he’s going to be 70 in Dec.  Anyway, Joseph’s wife and two daughters also participate in rodeo events.

This is what the horns were attached too. This is pulled along the ground behind a truck or whatever, and the legs wiggle for practicing roping a calf. Joseph was bringing this back to his friend whom he had borrowed it from.

Anyway, I am looking forward to the plumbing being taken care of.  Dear Mark loved working on all kinds of projects, and did a lot of building around here, but plumbing was something he hated.  He had crawled under the house a few years back and repaired the leak we had then and we were talking about how best to replace the old pipes. Alas, that was one of our projects we didn’t get to complete. I know that he is thankful that these two are stepping up to help me and take care of this problem.  I am very thankful too.

Last week during my ‘down’ time, I thought about a lot of things of course, and just rested.  I needed to step back from all that has been going on, is going on, will be going on, and just ‘be’.

Sunday afternoon I went to an early Thanksgiving dinner I had been invited too, mostly women but 4 men/husbands came too.  There were around 20, and for FlowerLady, that was a LOT of people to be around that I mostly didn’t know.  They were all friendly, kind and food was delicious! The ladies had all brought different dishes and there was plenty to eat.  After we ate, we wrote down and shared what we were thankful for.  Then one of the men had his guitar, and we sang old hymns which I enjoyed.  Then he sang a lovely song he had written for his wife, very nice.  Up until then I was doing fine, but the next song made the tears start and I couldn’t quit.  It was In the Sweet Bye and Bye, written in 1868 by Sanford F. Bennett. The refrain is what did it to me. It reminded me of the last photo I took of Mark and that he told me he’d be waiting for me on the rainbow bridge.

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There’s a land that is fairer than day,
And by faith we can see it afar;
For the Father waits over the way
To prepare us a dwelling place there.

Refrain:

In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore;
In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore.

We shall sing on that beautiful shore
The melodious songs of the blessed;
And our spirits shall sorrow no more,
Not a sigh for the blessing of rest.

To our bountiful Father above,
We will offer our tribute of praise
For the glorious gift of His love
And the blessings that hallow our days.

I made some new friends, enjoyed good food and came away thankful to God for all of His many blessings, and for His love and tender mercies.

Here are some flowers from Plum Cottage gardens.  It is still warm and very humid down here.

This velvety foliage is from a yellow flowering buddleia.

Salvia coccinea

Garlic vine

Granada

Sunrise

Enjoy preparing for the upcoming holiday season, it is rapidly approaching.

Love and hugs to all of you.

FlowerLady