A couple of carvings

The wood spirit is my first attempt at carving a walking stick. The dogs were sent to my daughter Stacy. She is starting a dog photography buisness and I thought she would enjoy them. We are going to Temple, TX on Friday to visit with Jesse, then to Belton, TX to a gold and treasure show. On Sunday we will back here so I can attend a carving show. Busy weekend. Good thing I only work 3 days a week.
Till next time
Duane and Louise

Sunset at the lake

My latest

We got together with Duane Jr. and Brandey over the weekend. Had steaks on the grill, then played cards. Had a great time. We haven't been doing much else. The weather has been really crappy, cold and windy. I was able to get out on the lake once in the past week, didn't catch a thing. It is suppose to start warming up later this week. Hopefully the water temperature will warm so the fish will be more active. We started rewiring some of the shelter houses here at the park. Last year this park was under water. The lake was 17 feet above normal. It flooded most of the shelters and ruined the wiring so they are redoing all of them. It is a nice change from working on toilets all day. The bear in the picture is the latest thing that I have carved. I am now working on learning how to carve faces on walking sticks. I hope to have one good enough to post soon. Louise has been busy working on quilts.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Just working away

The work here isn't bad at all. The people seem to be pretty good to get along with. We will get all the toilet repairs finished up today if all goes well. Then we start putting new shutoff valves on the water lines to all the restrooms. You have to shut them off at the street now. I am going to put valves in the buildings to make it easier to shut them down. The weather has been really up and down. A few days it's nice, then back to cold. Was able to get on the water to do a little fishing and looking around. Did a lot of fishing and looking, not much catching. Caught 2 fish one day, none the next. Learning a lot about the lake and now can't wait till the water warms a bit and the fish start biting better. We had severe storm pass here night before last. A lot of lightening and a little hail. There was house on the other side of the lake hit by the ligthening and caught fire. We came through it fine. I guess I had better get to work.
Till next time
Duane and Louise

Just a quick up date

I worked Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday this week. I have been repairing restrooms the last 2 weeks. They have a lot things that need fixed around here. Have the next 4 days off. I hope to get out fishing. The wind has been really bad the last week. It has been reather cool also, not very comfortable for fishing. It is suppose to warm up next week.

Till next time
Duane and Louise

Work,work, work...

I worked the last 2 days repairing restrooms and then riding with the security guard in the evening. From now on I will just be doing maintinance work most of the time. I rode with the guard to learn what all he checks in case they need help in that department. Pretty easy pace right now. I'll be working 3 days a week from now on. They say that when the weather gets warmer this place really gets busy. The wind has not stopped blowing since we got here. I am going to bring the bassboat down here today to get it ready to go. It has been way to cold and WINDY for me to get out there. I love to fish but I also like to be comfortable when I do it. The temperature has been in the 50s and the wind has been white capping the lake with 2 or 3 foot waves. I think I'll wait till it flattens out a bit. I am going to get a new depth finder for the boat, the old one quit working. It's over 10 years old, guess it got tired. Hope to be able to get out on the lake next week.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

This working is for the birds...........

Started the job at the campground today. Went to work at 9:00 AM fixing restrooms. There are 12 restrooms in the park, all needing some repair. I went to tell the boss what I had done today and he asked me if I would ride with the security guard to learn that job. I got done with that at 9:00 PM. Tomorrow I will ride with the guard from 5 to 10 PM, may fix a restroom before that, not sure. I only have to put in 24 hours in a week so I have 12 left to do. The work is not hard and I don't think the boss is gong to be bad to get along with. The other park workers I have met are really nice. While I was working my fingers to the bone, Louise sat on her behinder all day working on a quilt.....LOL Just NOT fair. I guess I had better get to bed so I can rest up for tomorrow.
Till next time
Duane and Louise

OH NO !!!!!! It's off to work I go

We have decided to take a workcamp job just north of Dallas. I will be working 24 hours a week in a camp ground doing maintenance work in exchange for a free camp site. They want us here all summer, not sure about that yet. If we like the job we will stay put till September before hitting the road again for a bit. Louise and I can share in the 24 hours. Say I work 12 and she works 12 or any comination. I most likely will doing the work while she quilts. They said they may ask her to work in the office if they are short handed . Any work over 24 pays money. This campground is on Lake Lewisville, so we can fish on our time off.

Till next time
Duane and Louise

Comment feature

I have sent up the comment feature to work again. I was getting some oddball comments so I stopped it for a while. Several people have ask about leaving comments so I reinstated it to see how it works out. If you click on comment, leave a meesage, you have to click on anonymous if you don't want your nickmane to appear.

Till next time
Duane and Louise

Returning to Dallas area

Lake Livingston

We will be heading back to the campground at Hidden Cove near Dallas on Sunday. I have an interview for a work camp job there on Monday. He called today and said I had the job if we can work out the details. As much as I would like to head on south, we need to stop for a little while to save some money and decide which way we will go come spring. The job there should last 3 months, at least that is what I plan to work out when we meet with the park manager. The good thing about this park is that it is right on a lake so we will be able to fish a lot if the weather ever gets a little nicer. In the first interveiw he said for 24 hrs. a week work we would get a free camp site. That is where the save money thing comes in. With no campground fees and no fuel being used in the motorhome for 3 months, we should be able to save some money. I will post on Monday with the results of the interview.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Livingston, Tx

Jesse's quilt
Jesse's quilt
My Carving box made by Duane Jr.

We are now in Livingston, Tx at the Escapee's RV Park. Our friends Bob and Sharon are here with us till the weekend. We are planning on staying here till the end of the month. After that, we are not sure yet. We hope to do some siteseeing around here before moving on. Louise finally finished the quilt, Jesse loved it. Duane Jr. made me a carving box to carry and store my carving tools in, I love it... Tomorrow I think we will drive over to Lake Livingston to check it out.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

About to get on the way

All the doctor appointments have been taken care of and all is pretty well. A few down sides to getting older, but better than the other option...lol We are camped at Lake Lewisville till Monday. The plan is to head toward Livingston, TX to the Escapees RV Park next. The park is about 200 miles south of here. While here I have been able to get the bassboat and do a little fishing. Notice I said fishing...not catching...lol. The wind has been real bad most of the days we have been here. Not pleasent to fish in. I have used the metal detector some in this park. Found a couple of dollars in change, nothing real good. Louise has finished up the quilt she has been working on. We plan to go through Temple, TX when we head south to drop it off at Jesse's, I think. Now that the quilt is done, we can start doing some geocaching again. She has worked on that quilt all day and half the night for the last month. We are both glad it's done...lol After Livingston, not sure what we will do yet, still up in the air a bit. Got to spend some time with Duane Jr. and Brandey. Had a great time playing cards and visiting. Duane made me a tool box for my carving tools, real cool. He did a great job on it.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Moved down the road

We have move over to the city of "The Colony". We are a in campground on Lake Lewisville, about 20 minutes from Duane Jr. and Brandey's. Our plan is stay here for a week or so. I will go pick the bassboat up from Duane's house so we can get some fishing in. Last night it got down to 23, way to cold for me. It is suppose to warm up over the weekend to the low 70s. Now that's what I call NICE. Our friends Bob and Sharon are camping here while they visit with their son and daughter-in-law. We had a real great time with them in Big Bend National Park, so we are looking forward to our time with them. We will also get to spent some time with Duane and Brandey.
Till next time
Duane and Louise

Christmas in Troy with the kids

Simon and his Uncle Duane

Simon, Jack, Carrie and Brandey
Madeleine
Madeleine
Jackson
Simon and Jackson were born 2 weeks apart

We got to spend the evening with 4 of our six children and their families last night. We enjoy the chance to get the family together. As the kids get older and more spread out across the country it gets harder to get all 6 together at once. Everyone had a good time eating too much and passing out presents. The little ones were angels as always....lol

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Good news Bad news

Went to Doctors today. The good news is my kidney exam turned out all clear, no more cancer. The eye exam, not so good. My ARMD is on the move. The right eye is getting blurry and there is nothing they can do about it. He said that new glasses nor surgery would help. I just have to live with it for now, there is no cure. The family Doctor said my colesterol is up and my blood pressure is high. This getting old is hard.....lol
Louise gets her new glasses tomorrow so at least one of us can see. Louise has to go to one more doctor before she gets her all clear.

We are leaving in the morning for Ohio.

Till next time
Duane and Louise

Just about ready to head North

I have been falling down on the job of updating the blog lately. We are still sitting at Jeremy and Jennifer's house. I have been doing some carving and Louise has been sewing. I haven't been taking a lot of pictures accept for my carvings, so I guess I'll post those....lol We have a BUNCH of doctor appointments on Monday. 8:00 Louise goes to the dentist, 10:00 is my cat scan on the kidney, 1:00 Louise goes for a breast exam and at 3:00 I go to the eye doctor. Somewhere in there we are suppose to meet with the finacial planner and I'm suppose to stop by the family doc to get my blood pressure rechecked......I hope to head north for Christmas on Tuesday. That is if everything goes according to plan. We will take a couple of days to get there. I think we will return here a day or 2 after Christmas. We are taking the car to Ohio leaving the coach here. After returning to Texas we plan on going to the Celina area for a bit before heading on south.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Hanging out in Kilgore

We are hanging out in Kilgore, TX for a while. We are parked at our son's house while we do all the doctor appointments. We have a bunch of appointments on th 17th that should finish the doctors for a while....we hope. We spent one day visiting with a rv couple we have ran into 4 times now. Our paths keep crossing. We have met with them in Van Wert, Ohio, Benson, Arizona, Arlington, TX and now in Tyler, TX. They started fulltiming in 06 also. I have been doing a little hunting but so far nothing to talk about. Louise is working on Christmas presents and I have been carving. Jeremy and I got the 50 amp service ran out to where we park the motorhome today. We can now run the microwave and don't have to worry about blowing a breaker. Makes life easier for sure. Had to fold up today to go down the road to a rv park to dump the tanks and refill the the water tank up. We're set for about another 14 days now before we to dump again.
Till next time
Duane and Louise

Kilgore, TX

We are in Kilgore. TX at Jeremy and Jennifer's. We had go to Shreveport, LA to the docs for our checkup today. Then I went to the plant to visit some of the guys I use to work with. Tomorrow we have to go back for my checkup with the cancer doctor and then to the dentist. We plan on going to Ohio by car for Christmas. Louise got a jury duty call for the 10th of December. We will have to wait to see how that turns out so we can plan on when to leave for Ohio.

Till next time
Duane and Louise

Back in Kilgore

We moved from Celina to Kilgore this morning. Took the motorhome to get the Texas sticker first thing this morning. After all the trouble I had finding a place to get it, I thought it as going to be a big deal. When I got there they took the mileage off the coach, went inside and came out with a sticker for the window. They didn't check anything....go figure. I payed my money and was on the way. Visited Jeremy, Jennifer and Allie this evening. Allie is 2 1/2 now and will talk your leg off. Tonight we are in a rv park a few miles from their house. We will move over there tomorrow. Had to check the ground tonight to make sure it was firm enough to park on.

Till next time
Duane and Louise

The beach at Gulf Shores

We spent Monday morning at the beach in Gulf Shores. I talked to a worker on the beach and found out that run a beach sweeper up and down the beach every day so I didn't find much with the detector. I had fun looking something of value and Louise was looking for shells. We decided to head to Texas for Thanksgiving. We arrived in Celina Wensday evening after a bit of a trying day. Our inspection sticker on the motorhome had expirde when we were on the road. We stopped at the first town in Texas to renew it, they were closed!! We went to the next town, all the stations were closed for the holiday. After getting on the net, looking up numbers in nearby towns, calling them to find out they were all closed or didn't do motorhomes, we headed on to Celina hoping a cop didn't stop us. We made it!! We will get a new one Monday. Not sure yet what we will do after Monday.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Driving around the area

Ye Ole Swimming hole...Geocaching site

Pump in the swamp Cotton baler at work
Fish River geocaching site
Geocaching
Pitcher Plant...meat eating plant

We spent the day driving around the area geocaching, found 4 out of 5 we went after. This area has a lot Civil War history. Most of the sites we went to had something to do with the war. One of the caches took us to a swamp park that has the Pitcher Plant growing in it. This plant fills with water, catches bugs, then eats them, pretty wild huh.....We have decided to stay here till Tuesday before heading on to Texas. The caving get together here at the park was fun. One of the guys here carves thread spools. He had light houses, bears and all kinds of things carved in them. Really cool!! The plan is to go to the coast again Monday to spend the day. I think we will hang out here for the weekend.

Till next time

Duane and Louise