There's a new "Lefty" at Wildernest

Over the years there have been several stray cats show up here. Some have stayed for extended peiods of time - some didn't. (It probably gets boring when we're gone for a couple weeks at at time.) I've named all of them Lefty - because of Willie Nelson's song "Pancho and Lefty" which has a fetching lyric and melody. . . so our cats are Pancho and Lefty. I think this one will be here for a while. He was sort of a Reyes cat before we got here.

I said it's Willie's song but it was actually written by Townes Van Zandt - an old Texas music writer and performer. The link here is a video of the song with Willie and Merle Haggard. Townes has several cameos in it including the guy playing the guitar in the diner towards the end of the song.

If you like the song you should listen to this Emmylou Harris version too. The 1993 version by Townes Van Zandt has some great guitar as well as the song being sung by the man that wrote it.

This week -

We celebrated the closing of the sale of the condo with a sorta formal brunch on the deck, complete with mimosas - a favorite from our favorite brunch place, Terilli's on lower Greenville.


And we also cashed in a couple gift cards for boxwoods for the walk to the Gazebo!

Glynda's new rose

It's called a Bengal Tiger Rose. (Purchases of this rose helps the Save the Tiger Fund, established to support conservation of Asia's wild tiger population.) We're planning on buying only Earth Kind Roses now because of the low maintenance, earth friendly characteristics but Glynda really loved the color of this one. We did also buy a Belinda's Dream that is an Earth Kind Rose.

Retirement Report #2

Practice, practice, practice!!

Retirement Report #1

This flower, a "Gazania" is a new discovery from Hughes Plant Farm south of Tyler. This is a great place to buy plants and we filled up the back of the Ranger on a trip there earlier this week. I still don't have everything in the ground. Approx 1/2 to 1/3 of Dallas prices.

We're enjoyng the daily discoveries walking through the plantings from last year. Everyday something else pokes it head through the dirt or a blossom appears where that was none yesterday. We are working hard in the yard and there's a lot more to do. By Sunday evening we'll have another 50-60 shrubs to plant and some other amenities to add.

We are feeling like retirees in a small town. We drove into town today so I could get a haircut while Glynda was doing the same. We topped off the activities by checking out a new cell phone plan, getting library cards, and making arrangements for a trailer to bring back the last of what's remaining in the condo.

We visited with Bev and Alex Wednesday evening while enjoying a glass of (really good) homemade blueberry wine!

I've taken a couple bike rides and today did the four miler around the block (hay ride route).

Highlights of the day include walking to the mail box to see what Kathy (the mailperson) has left and watching the noon news after lunch.

The vegetable garden is in. Tomatos, onions, bell peppers, red bell peppers, green beans, okra, zuchinni squash, yellow squash, carrots, turnips, and I'm going to try some lettuce.

We are staying very busy!



And thanks to everyone for coming to our retirement party. It was a great afternoon weatherwise and a really great family gathering. (I'm using this picture to get even with Jill for her failure to delete a really bad picture of me. Don't forget to click on it so you can see the large image!)

$300 an hour for digging ditches

The satellite dish for the HDTV needed to be moved 33 feet from the old location. Direct TV charges $3/foot for digging ditches and I'm too cheap to pay that! In the East Texas sand it took me less than twenty minutes. That's more money per hour than I've ever made before! What a way to start a retirement!

OK - so it really did happen!

We did actually leave our jobs and move to Quitman!
We did actually sign a contract to sell the condo!
We do actually have HDTV and DSL installed at our new home!
It's 9:30 om a weekday and I'm sitting in my study having coffee and a piece of coconut pie that Glynda made yesterday.
The agenda for the rest of the day is really open!
I think I'm going to like this.

First Spring Flowers

We pushed back the mulch and found the crocus. The daffodils are blooming too!

The Oldest Photograph in Our Family

Isabella Walmsley

I ran across this old picture the other day and decided to put it on the blog. This is Isabella Walmsley, an immigrant from Staleybridge England, a village on the outskirts of Manchester. She came to the United States about 1848 when she was eighteem years old. She is a direct ancestor on the Flanders side of the family and, of course, the source of the unusual "Walmsley" name that appears several times in our family.

• Isabella married Charles Flanders


• - Charles Clark Flanders


• - - Charles Lorenzo Flanders


• - - - Charles Walmsley Flanders


• - - - - Ida Narcissus Flanders

There are a lot of "greats" in her relationship to those who call me Grandpa. She looks to be in her fifty's in this photograph so it was probably taken in the 1880s'

Is it Real?

Greg sent this to me the other day and I thought I'd share it. There is a little controversy about it though. Greg thinks it's real but after watching it a couple times, I'm pretty sure it's fake. What do you think?? Click Here

Notices Ready - Will Mail in About a Month

A White Squirrel at the Pond

I looked out the window last weekend and saw this little creature eating away on something in the back yard by the pond. I'd never heard of a white squirrel and I even consulted an expert on white squirrels that I found on the internet. He says that this little guy is certainly unusual.

(My rule for photographing wild life is first get "a" picture and then try to get a good picture. He wasn't around long enough for the good picture.)

A Busy Morning at the Birdfeeder

A lot was happening at the birdfeeder when we had our mid-morning coffee today. Continual action and eleven species of birds. We had Chipping Sparrows, White-Throated Sparrows, a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Nuthatches, Titmouses, Carolina Chickadees, Cardinals, Pine Warblers, Summer Tanagers, House Wrens, and the official bird of Wildernest Estate - a Carolina Wren!





The House Finch






The Red-Bellied Woodpecker



We will also have added one bird to the property bird list when we identify this guy:

A new restaurant in Winnsboro

When we move to Q, we'll miss all of the places to eat out (although we'll be eating out a lot less frequently) so it was good to find this place in Winnsboro on Saturday evening. It's like a real restaurant and has good food!

There's a new mailbox on CR4940

It's not really new - just moved from the place by the house where it's stood for several years now. And the move isn't really complete. It's just sitting there attached to the mounting template which I'll remove the next time we go down after the concrete has set. (And of course it needs paint.) Glynda's task is to get the post office to give it a number.

On a related note - the condo's been hosting potential buyers very regularly for the last several days - three on Thursday, one on Friday, three on Saturday and two on Sunday. One or two still considering it but nothing hot to talk about. The unit itself is getting high marks but it's just not meeting the needs of the people that have seen it so far. Like I told Glynda, we only need one person to buy it and we'd really rather they came along in another two weeks or so. I don't want to have to move out while we're still working. A commute from Quitman would not be fun and an extended stay motel doesn't sound that great either.