The Rest of the Story

Well, the rains came.  Once started, they didn’t stop all night last night.  Today, we’ve had sprinkles off and on, but mostly just a dreary day.  Late this afternoon, it started raining again and, if we can believe the forecast, will rain all night and throughout tomorrow.  It’s cold, too.

Found this on one of our hikes this week.

The rain has given us the opportunity to stay inside and get some real work done.  Gene had computer maintenance to do and kept himself occupied while I did the laundry.  Right after lunch we got out and got our errands done before the next round of heavy rain started.  We buzzed through Wal-mart, Lowes, and Hobby Lobby and were back at home within a couple hours.

This hawk hangs our on this utility pole next door.  We see him nearly every day.

We haven’t just been hiking since we got here, although that’s pretty much how it seems.  I’ve decorated our humble abode with the few Christmas decorations I have.  Like last year, I stopped in Hobby Lobby and picked up one of the smallest trees they have.  It’s about 2 feet tall and sits perfectly on the large shelf we have over the cab.  I put on one strand of lights and about 40 miniature ornaments.  Even has a star on top.  So far, Peanut has left it alone.  There’s no storage space to keep it, of course, so after Christmas I’ll give it away.  I think Kayley may have last year’s tree in her room this year.

Peanut got in some big trouble his first Christmas.  We were living in the Montana 5th wheel then and I put up a small tree, maybe 4 feet.  We came home one afternoon from work and found the tree toppled over, ornaments everywhere, and Peanut in the middle of the tree.  After that we did things a little differently when it came to Christmas decorations.

We decorated the garland above the slides; well out of the reach of a certain CAT.

I continue to enter a few posts from the old Trip Journal into Blogger every day.  I’m about halfway through 2008 now.  That was the year we went to New York for the summer.  It’s been fun rereading those old posts and especially looking at the photos.

On our way to the trailheads, we’ve been seeing some of rural Northern Alabama.  It’s farmland planted in the summer with primarily corn, cotton, and hay.  Of course, the fields are empty now.  Most have been cut and are ready for spring planting when the time comes.  There are a fair number of dairy farmers with large herds of cattle.  It seems like poultry farms were big business at one time.  There are many of those long, low barns used by poultry raisers.  They’re dilapidated and falling down now. The communities we pass through are small with a church or two, a gas station, a small market, and a few houses.

We came across this old store one day.  Looks like they used to sell gas, too.  There was a small shed on one side and an outhouse on the other.  I loved the outhouse with the galvanized tub hanging on the side.  When I was a small child and visited my grandparents, I’d get a bath in a tub just like that on Saturday night.  This outhouse, complete with its bathtub, reminded me of Judy, Emma’s mama, and her post a few days ago (Nov 24) about her first shower.  I’m not sure I could even get in a tub like that anymore.  One thing I’m pretty sure of--if I got in, I’d have a tough time getting out!

So, that’s the rest of what we’ve been doing this week.  Thanks for tagging along.