Rocks, A Bulldog, and Relaxing

Tuesday
August 18, 2009

We had another usual morning drinking our coffee outside while watching so many birds eat out of the feeders. There are so many birds that they are eating about five pounds of bird seed a day. Gina worked in her garden removing some of the annual plants that are dying off. She brought back so many rocks from our recent trip to Kentucky and Illinois that she keeps moving them around in her new flower bed. I guess she has a vision that only she can see. Here are a few rock pictures. She is very selective when she picks up rocks on our trips. They must be unique in her eyes but to me there just rocks.

The Rock with a Paw Print Inbedded in it


Unique Colors


Another Unique Rock


More Rocks and A Special Plant Ashley & Parker Gave Gina

In the afternoon we took a drive to another ornamental concrete place for Gina to look for a bulldog. All of the flower beds in her garden have a theme and the newest one is the U.S. Marines for Thomas’s graduation from Marine Corps boot camp. Her other themes consist of Navy, patriotic, angels, faith, love, and hope. She didn’t find any bulldogs there so off to Hobby Lobby we went. They didn’t have any bulldogs either. However, all of their scrapbooking supplies were 50 percent off. Gina bought a lot of Marine Corps stuff so Nicole can create a scrapbook of Thomas’s Marine Corps service. We didn’t have a lot of time to drive all over town because we invited Aunt Nell and Uncle Jim over for dinner tonight. They brought over jalapeno cornbread and fresh crowder peas and Gina cooked stuffed pork chops, smothered potatoes and fresh corn. The food was delicious and dessert was a homemade almond coffee cake. After dessert we all went outside and sat on the swings in the garden talking. It was getting dark outside so they decided to call it an evening and left around 8:30 to go home. We then went inside and pretty much called it a day. We watched a little TV before we both were sound asleep.

Wednesday
August 19, 2009

We woke up this morning with an agenda. However, we still had to have our coffee outside first. It was another beautiful morning with the birds eating and we just enjoyed listening to the soft flowing water while the birds serenaded us. Finally, we got dressed and went over to Uncle Jim’s so I could use his truck to go pick up an Elm tree Gina wants to plant when we get back from Parris Island. We got the tree unloaded and then we decided to drive about 60 miles to Napoleonville so Gina could look for a bulldog. D & D Ornamental Concrete is the largest ornamental concrete manufacturer in the south. They have over three acres of ornamental concrete pieces.

A Lot of Ornamental Concrete Items

Gina found her a bulldog. We were going to stop by a plantation but the weather had got nasty with thunderstorms so we decided to head to Sam’s warehouse in Baton Rouge. There were a few items that we needed to stock up on before we leave for South Carolina. From there we went back to our house. I decided to grill hamburgers while Gina watered her garden. We are currently dog sitting for our daughter and son-in-law’s two dogs, Zora and Scarlet. One is a Doberman and the other is a toy poodle.

Zora & Scarlet

While I was outside lighting the grill Zora decided she wanted our hamburgers because when I came inside they were gone and she was licking her lips. Now with no hamburgers to grill we grilled some sausage. Dinner was good and we just settled in for the night.

Thursday
August 20, 2009

We woke up and had our coffee outside then Gina got to scrubbing and cleaning her bulldog. Once it’s dries she will then stain it.

Gina and Her Bulldog


That's My Toothbrush, She Wants Really Wants it Clean

Once the bulldog was clean she got cleaned up herself and went over to Aunt Nell’s to take her shopping for some new clothes. I couldn’t leave the house today since I was waiting on FedEx to deliver a package. I ordered a trip routing / GPS program called Truck CoPilot for laptops. This was based on recommendations from other guys that pull fifth wheels with big trucks. After Gina left I put a roast on the grill. I wanted to try making my own roast beef instead of buying it from the deli. Since Gina was gone and the roast was cooking I decided to work on the electrical panel I installed in the truck to run the AC. The problem has been I cannot hook up power to a GFCI breaker without it tripping. I finally figured out the problem and got it fixed. Then I started cleaning the inside of the truck since it was still dirty from our trip to Kentucky. When Gina returned from shopping I removed the roast beef from the grill. I then sliced it on our meat slicer and we both agreed it tasted excellent. I now had to deal with a starter problem on our Honda since it would not start. My dad came over and we removed the starter and verified that it was bad. Now all I had to do was find a rebuilt one. I went to all the auto part stores in town and no one had it. So tomorrow I will see if I can find one or have this one rebuilt. By this time it was after nine o’clock at night and both Gina and I were tired. I took a shower and then we both relaxed watching a little TV before we headed off to bed.


Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.