A sign of the Times

I have had several people look at me and laugh when I explain to them that I live in "Rural Webster County".  Is there anything in Webster County thats not Rural they ask?  Well.... they have a point there.

Webster county 911 addresses have been in use for well over a year - closer to two if I remember correctly, this being said, if you are trying to navigate through the county please do not expect that your iPhone mapping program or TomTom GPS will be able to get you where you are going even with the new fangled 911 addresses, you will find yourself LOST!!  Not just lost in the sense that you can call and give someone a geographical point or read then the road names at the nearest intersection - lost as in - No Service, not road signs and no houses for miles kind of lost.

This was the fact last week when a dusty van pulled slowly into our yard carrying a very polite gentleman who was looking for the residence of a friend.  He was armed with a GPS and a cell phone - and lost.  He had been driving around for over an hour and had stopped at a few houses - only to find no one home.  I told him that this was the norm and that I would try and help get him to his destination. Of course during this time his GPS jumped right in to let is know that he was recalculating - he said that he had been doing that for at least half and hour.  He gave me a strange look when I told him that he needed to switch to a female voice - it made sense to me.

Not being from this area I am often at a loss when asked where Mr and Mrs. XXXX live - I do recognize names that I have heard mentioned - but could not tell you where they live.  He had an address and a name and a phone number - so I felt that if we really tried we could get the job done.

I ran inside to receive my iPhone in hopes that I could use the resident iMap application to give him directions.  I carefully input the address information and hit find directions....... tick tick tick the seconds passed - flash the screen opened to a map indicating that the asked for address was located 76.4 miles away - Hmmm - lets look at this - well, goofy application - I want and address in Eupora MS not Louisville....  let's try again.... hmmmmm okay now it is pointing to an address in Houlka??? 

Okay lets back-up.  The gentleman told me that he had some directions that he had tried to follow but thought that maybe he had gone too far.  (When in doubt - READ THE DIRECTIONS!!) 

After pulling up a local map for the area on my trusty iPhone and tracking the directions carefully - we found that he had not gone far enough - and I was able to triangulate his destination.  One thing that I did notice on the map is that it had the old highway numbers as well as the new 911 road/street names so I was able to write down a turn by turn listing of roads and streets and even showed him what the turns looked like if you were a bird (nifty satellite view). 

As I waved goodbye to my new friend I began to laugh - I remembered that he did have a phone number and that I did have phone service - now why did we spend 15 minutes clicking and clacking on that iPhone when all we had to do was call his friend for more directions!!!!

This and That

Recent photo "contests" on one of my favorite blogs, The Pioneer Woman,  had me  looking through some of my older photos.  I really enjoy looking back over some of these as they bring back warm memories and many laughs. Enjoy!!

Dominos at the Farm!

 

My sweet Bonnie after she found the black iron pot and crawled into it! 

  

We lost this big tree this past year.  

  

  

Love this photo.   

More Loss.

February 2010 has not been a good month for us. February 5 we lost Marty's Father and now we are morning the loss of our sweet Duke. On Wednesday February 17 Duke earned his heavenly angel wings.

We had no idea that he was ill. Up until Sunday the 14th of February he was his usual happy self. On Wednesday we discovered that he was liver cancer and made the difficult decision to let him go.

Duke was a wonderful companion and is missed by all in our home.

He will be waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge.

The loss of a Wonderful Man

On February 5 Marty's father Nobel Clifton passed away in Idaho where he was living with Marty's sister. We miss you.

Noble Clifton Morgan

March 30, 1931 - February 5, 2010

Your time here is over but your memory remains.

I've been SKUNKED!!!!

And I am not talking about being drunk!

Thanks to my dear sweet Bear I was skunked at 5:20 a.m. on Tuesday February 2, 2010. A day that will be remembered for a long time - or until the smell goes away.

While walking with the dogs in the early morning hour (5 a.m.), I noticed that Bear was looking off into the distance but was not worried as he is a very observant dog and always looks off into the distance. I had turned my back on him to let Sport and LeeLee into the house when I realized that he was headed off at a faster than normal trot. Duke was not far behind him so as I called to them to come, I also headed toward the side of the new house. I saw Duke come to a sliding halt and then watched as he made a quick about face and began running toward the house looking over his shoulder in alarm. I started to yell for Bear when he rounded the corner and was headed toward me shaking his head and snorting and I then caught the smell. He'd been sprayed! I began backing up yelling No... Stop... Down...... Back....... CRAP!!! He quickly got to me and was foaming and grunting and then slammed into me rubbing his face and chest all over me. Then to make matters even better he threw up on my foot!!!

Marty had heard the noise and opened the front door sure that I was being attacked by some crazed lunatic. I yelled Skunk at him and he disappeared into the house returning with his flashlight. Marty began to scout for the varmint as I tried to keep Bear away from the front door while simultaneously trying not to touch him and trying to wipe the vomit off my foot.

I decided the best option at this time was to put Bear in the dog pen while we rounded up the needed items to de-skunk him. As I was heading to the pen I miss-stepped and fell flat on my back in the mud. Bear chose than moment to stand over my face dropping skunk flavored drool on my face covering my glasses. Marty, thinking that I had discovered the skunk ran over to check on me. Finding no skunk he stood at a safe distance and asked if I were hurt. This was one time I wished I had died from the fall. Then cleaning up this mess would have been someone else's job. But I was not so lucky. I guess the adrenalin was flowing and all I managed to do was sop up much of the muddy water that has been lingering in that portion of the yard. I got up and got Bear into the dog pen.

At this point I had to make a decision on how to get everything deskunked. Knowing that the famous Tomato Juice bath did not really work I remembered a recipe that took common kitchen ingredients. Using his new iPhone, Marty googled for the recipe. It seems that we were going to need to make a trip to the store.

Thankfully Marty did not have to work so he got dressed and headed to the store. I in the meantime consoled Bear as we waiting in the dog house for Marty's return. You see - my sweet Husband left me outside while he was gone!

Marty returned and cleared a path from the front door to the tub and I then allowed Bear and I to come into the house and go directly to the bathroom. He mixed up two batches of the de-skunk recipe and Bear and I scrubbed down with it. After using the elixir, I shampooed Bear and the left him to dry on several towel in the bathroom while I showered.

This happened several weeks ago and I still catch a whiff of skunk just about every day. Bear still has a slight skunk aroma on his face and I have penciled in a bath for him when we have a warm day.

Just more fun from the Morgan home!

New family Part One!

I want to extend a warm welcome to our newest family members. Damon and his daughter Kelly are now part of the wonderful Bennett family. Sarah (Lynne’s daughter) and Damon were married on December 19, 2010 in Maurice LA.

We began the "celebrations" in November with a grand wedding shower and gumbo attended by many family and friends. The shower was held at the Begnaud "Pond", everyone had

a great time. Of course we always have a great time when we get together. Lots of fun and great food.

Angela, Paul and their kids Elizabeth and Jake came in for the weekend. I know that Angela will LOVE this photo, she told me she loves to have her picture taken and posted. Paula and Danny came in from Broom, TX. Here they are sitting around the fire pit. It did get a little chilly after the sun went down. Bob and Susie also came in, however I see to have missed taking photos of them. Darn - I guess they escaped this time....

Here is a good friend of the entire family - Ms Cindy Fox..... She is always ready for a gathering and can be counted on to pitch in at family gatherings. Guess she is now just one of the gang! We do have a habit of picking up people along the road of life and they leave lots of footsteps on our hearts.

Here is a photo of Miles and David with Jackie. Can you tell that my dear brothers love having their photo taken? Come on guys smile! Jackie - you tried, but it is hard to get a smile out of a hardheaded brother.

These beautiful ladies are just a sampling of my nieces. Actually Ashly ( on left) is not a blood relative, but another of those folks we have adopted along the way. Ashly, thank you for all that you bring to our family. In the middle is Rae Ellen and on the right is Helen. As you can see, not a ugly one in the bunch!

Last but not least here are my wonderful sisters! Warm, caring and sometimes totally off the wall. I am so blessed to have family that I can call on and who really care for their families. We have had many bumps in the road and have made it through with the love and support of our family and friends.
Life is Good!

How to build a Home

As many of you know Marty and I have been building a home. From the ground up! Yes we have has assistance, we did have a crew come in and put in the footing and the shell, but have done the rest ourselves. We hope that when the house is completed we will owe nothing on it. It may take us a few months, okay a few Years to complete, but we will have no mortgage.

This has been a learning experience for both of us. I have learned more than I ever wanted to learn about electrical wiring and insulation. Marty has learned that I swing a mean hammer, and that I really dislike painting. There have been times of great frustration for both of us, but those times have been few and the good times working together far outshine the frustration. Now if I can just get Marty to paint a wall white I will be happy.

In July we had the pleasure of hosting a construction weekend. Sarah, Damon, Kyle, Carol, Allen and Bronson came to visit and assisted us greatly in getting the attic access installed and the ceilings done in most of the house. For added security and insulation we are putting plywood on the ceilings followed by ceiling tiles. This will give us better insulating plus give a more secure attic insulation area. It was difficult for the two of us to hold the 4’ x 8’ panels up and staple them. Allen, Damon, Carol and Kyle did a WONDERFUL job for us. While they were working on the panels Sarah and I were putting in the channels above the eaves for circulation. Kyle was a great help keeping everyone supplied with water and Gatorade and fetching needed items. Marty was a great motivator, he threaten us with his crutches and made faces behind Sarah’s back when she would tell him to SIT DOWN and PUT YOUR FOOT UP!

Of course it was not all work, we did have some fun on the 4-wheeler and with the Wii and ate BBQ ribs and venison chili!! I must also shout a Thank You to Van for the use of his shower facility at the barn. With only one bathroom in the old house, we sure needed the extra facilities to get cleaned up. July in Mississippi can get humid and hot and mix in a little sawdust and you have need of a shower.

Marty and I cannot thank these guys enough for their help.
Help like this means the difference between House construction and Home construction.

I'm Back - I think!

It has been a Long Long time since I last posted. So much has happened in my world, as it has a habit of doing as the days pass. I will be updating this blog with the new and at times unusual activities in my life.

Just an idea of things to expect are: New house work party, Wedding Shower, Museum opening, Thanksgiving, A WEDDING! Christmas and lots of fun photos opportunities.

Expect a new blog shortly!! Just getting my ducks all in a row.

Love Ya!
Ardra