IF THE MEDICINE IS HERE SO ARE WE

All our pill boxes are back on the TV ledge. It is a sign that we are home.

Whew, this was a hectic, but great, five day trip. We were so busy we barely missed being home, but all the way back I talked of worry for the chickens and Ron talked of worry for his pets – his tomatoes. Needless to say, tomatoes and chickens are all well. Tim did a great job. Those Araucanas almost doubled in size.

We had fun in East Peoria and spent a great deal of time with Roger and Kass. I always come back with a lot of household tips from Kass and my favorite lesson this year was how to make a most delicious Caesar Salad.

Talk about the size of chicks – That Aunt Juliette “chick” has reduced in size. She lost about 20 lbs for the party and she was beautiful and in excellent health. All her children were gracious and kind to welcome us and graceful in allowing us to leave after only a brief time.

It was so nice to get to see Elenore and Print and Elaine. We get to see Elenore quite a bit, but isn't it strange that we had to drive to Chicago to see our Oklahoma siblings? Christy, Karen, Mike and even Nora got to stop in for the celebration. It was a thrill to watch Nora look around the crowded room and spy her grandmother Elenore and reach out immediately.

David represented Margaret’s clan. He was tired and had to guard against fatigue but he was determined and the usual life of the party. Becky was coming from Jim and Ruby’s clan but we had to leave without getting to see her. Someone said she wasn’t arriving until Sunday.

Ron and I pulled our usual ma and pa kettle stuff and came home loaded with yard sale booty. Elenore and Elaine laughed to see our sock armrest covers in the van. Traveling with Ron is always an adventure and we laugh at images conjured up over signs like “fishing worms” (picture little worms holding tiny fishing poles) and “Butchering pigs” (Picture a group of pigs coming after you with chain saws and hatchets). In frustrating moments in his highway driving Ron will yell things like “Everything went to hell when they did away with that law that said you could kill a person just because they needed killing!” (Anyone remember “that law”?)

Speaking of killing, I was gathering the chicken eggs when we arrived home. I had to shoo a hen off the nest to get to the stash and just as I reached for the eggs I noticed something unusual in the nest. Something black. A Black Snake with an egg in its jaws! I ran to get Ron and together we battled the snake. Actually Ron did the battling and when the snake was subdued, I cut its head off with shears.

Bless Jessi’s heart, she wrote a couple of blog entries because she felt obligated to write. Hum, I wonder why she would feel obligated? Isn’t she a good girl!

Yesterday was Chelle and Kit’s 12th wedding anniversary and today is Hope’s third birthday. We are thinking of them and hoping they are having a wonderful time in Indianna.

Meanwhile, be it ever so humble, there is no place like home for us!