Twenty CARE residents, staff and guests went to a restaurant on the shore of Lake Livingston (adjacent to the KOA). Some of us sat outside on the deck overlooking the lake; some sat in the extremely cold air-conditioned building. ~~ Look at my hair; humidity makes it curl. My hair has always been straight as a string, baby-fine, but now it is curly. ~~ I’ve been at CARE for almost eight months and this is the first time I’ve joined an outing. Good food; great fellowship!! ~~ (Believe it or not [in the picture]: I was servings as cane (or crutch) for Butch. For some unknown reason… the walkers and wheel chairs were never off-loaded from the bus.)

**Sorry!!**

It isn’t convenient for me to run to the CARE dining room to use free WiFi. My Verizon “Hot Spot” won’t “refresh” until June 9th; I’ve exhausted ninety percent of this months allocation. I’m on a budget; I don’t want to pay for more gigabytes. 

It continues to rain and (as of 2:00 PM Friday, May 30th) I have seventeen containers with rain water.

…for my plants.

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Plants thrive on rain water. I have enough saved… to quench their thirst for a week or two. ~~ Rain stopped for several hours but returned full force. I pulled more containers from the storage building so (at 3:00 PM) there are eleven. ~~ Click each picture for details, and to enlarge.

At last count, twelve containers!! I think I can find a couple more containers because rain is forecast all week and over the weekend.

This blog may be published at a later date but it is 3:00 PM, Monday, May 26th, 2014 (Memorial Day Holiday). I have been searching the web again for additional information regarding mold facts and Thieves Oil. I believe my health is well worth extensive research and additional expense if necessary. I suspect I should have included Thieves Household Cleaner with my original order?! ~~ I’ve been “diffusing” for several days (off and on), in the T@B trailer. Tomorrow I’ll return to the project after activities that took me away from my home and garden.

Request: If you decide to order Essential Oils from Young Living, please indicate that you learned from Lorraine Edwards member #1824917. Frankly, I “joined” because I could purchase the items I needed at a discounted price. I’m on a budget!!

Actually, I’ll publish… and return later with additional information.

Did you read Rome wasn’t built in a day, Mold in T@B–part one,  Mold in T@B–part two, Mold in T@B–part three, Mold in T@B– part four and Mold in T@B–part five??

Touching base on this Memorial Day Holiday Monday. (I disapprove! We should honor the true date.) So far today, cool and pleasant; overcast. ~~ I have a new helper; his name is Stanley. (Large Halo vacuum will be donated to Habitat thrift shop; CARE Health Fair did not want it for their Silent Auction.) ~~ I gave “Ivy” some tender loving care because she misses her former home (owner couldn’t take her [and three other plants] across the Canadian border en route to Alaska). ~~ I hammered two long pieces of metal into the ground to support the planter with Calibrachoa, and tied planter to metal. ~~ I’ve been diffusing Thieves Oil in the T@B to kill any remaining mold.  ~~ Almost all day Saturday occupied helping with a Memorial Service for former resident. ~~ Sunday (almost all day) to and from Houston to visit a Staff member friend in the hospital after a vehicle accident on Saturday.

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Definitely **NOT** a terribly exciting day. It’s 5:00 PM and I’ve been in the CARE Center all day working on blog messages, uploading pictures, researching on the Internet, and checking my Bank statement on-line. I’m told it has begun to rain and is terribly humid outside. I’ll go home in a few minutes and prepare a nice BIG salad. Hot dogs and hamburgers were served (here) at noon. I ate potato salad and watermelon!! ~~ Hope you enjoyed a pleasant holiday!!

Seventy-five percent of my Verizon “Hot Spot” 5-gig was used in twelve days. I’ll need to go to the CARE Center for WiFi–upload pictures and prepare a blog. That really isn’t convenient!! It is more enjoyable when I can sit in my trailer, in my pajamas, hair uncombed, etc., or come into the trailer for iced tea between tasks.

For a smile: It’s eight o’clock and I haven’t been up very long. I looked out… and a friend’s dog had escaped her leash and was running through the area. I called Sam (her owner) and then went outdoors–in my pink pajamas–to catch her. Can you see it? Pink pajamas, hair uncombed??

The Thieves Oil arrived in the mail yesterday, and I’ve read the literature. Maybe today I’ll get it going in the little trailer.

Yesterday was an “Impulsive / Compulsive” day; I just couldn’t stop working on projects in the yard!! I took lots of pictures, too, but due to restraints it may be awhile before I get them in the blog.

Best wishes to all!!

“Life’s all about my garden.”

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Today I worked in the yard; I was compelled… I couldn’t stop!! ~~ I received the package with Thieves’ Oil, and other essential oils. I’ve read their literature. ~~ I hung flags to celebrate Memorial Day and draped flag patio lights on a “tree” trellis. ~~ I’m a “plant sitter” so several pictures taken to send to the owner to show they are surviving, and thriving. ~~ Isn’t my Asian Lily pretty?

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The pictures were uploaded after 11:57 and I’m ready to start this blog message after 12:33. (Look at time and temperature.) I’m instructed to stay indoors because the men (washing my big trailer) say they are using “powerful chemicals.” Yippes!! ~~ One-thirty and I can smell “the chemicals” from inside my trailer!! ~~ Two-ten and the scrubbing project is completed. Now I need to finish tasks in the yard.

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The pictures are not in consecutive order (according to time) because I did a few things in, and with, the T@B and then in, and with, the yard. “Expect the unexpected!!” It was too hot to spend time in the T@B. Due to the cleaning of the Carriage, I forced myself to make some unscheduled changes in the yard.

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“They” said they would be here between nine and eleven. It was almost twelve…. Then they insisted my plants had to be moved!! Yippes!! ~~ It’s 1:37 and 84 degrees inside; 87 degrees outside. They are cleaning the awning right now. It is/was in BAD shape!! Rain had accumulated… and the fabric is/was rotting.

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The pictures have been uploaded from Canon camera to Picasa, Picasa to blog. Time to add some dialog. It’s 5: 20 and I am exhausted. I should sleep well tonight!! This time last night I did not have any idea I would make major changes. Today I decided the big table has to go bye-bye. The storage boxes next to the trailer will be great for yard and garden items. First the big storage container. Oh, I’ll add the other two… so I need cement blocks…. A total of five very, very heavy cement blocks were moved via my hand truck, and positioned. Changed my mind, I’ll bring the T@B items, too, and the extra chairs.

It’s all “a work in progress.”

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Two tasks required my attention: coil the garden hose, and fold two tarps. ~~ Now I’m going to settle back in my easy chair and watch Field of Dreams (on VHS-tape).

The label says “[Folex] Instant results. No rinsing, vacuuming or waiting to see results. Spots vanish before your eyes. Amazing surfactant action. Instantly removes stubborn grease, dirt and grime.” Further down there are instructions for carpet cleaning.  On the front of the bottle: “Instant Carpet Spot Remover; The Solution To Your Stain. Removes … most old stains, excellent for upholstery.” Picture #2 shows “before”; #3 & #4 show “after” area was sprayed. Picture #5 shows area thirty-one minutes later and I see no improvement. Next I used DampRid and find it very satisfactory for vinyl and wood surfaces. (But did not find the product described on their website. Isn’t that curious?) ~~ Taking a break because “standing on my head” is really hard on my neck!!

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Eleven-thirty and time for yours truly to get out of her “grubbies” and dress appropriately for the dining room.

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Regarding Baking Soda: Indeed some baking soda in a vacuum cleaner bag will stifle odor. I thought I read that tip somewhere. I emptied the bag on the tiny Electrolux vacuum cleaner (and vacuumed it with my big vacuum) so it is ready whenever I get to the T@B cushions. Before that…  I’ll go over all the wood surfaces with Murphy’s Oil Soap. Maybe it is over-kill to use so many cleaning products but I want to protect the wood that I have recently scrubbed with a product and water.

Three-thirty PM, hot and humid 86 degrees outside (85 degrees inside). “Too soon old, too late smart.”  ~~ “Too many irons in the fire.” ~~  “Bit off more than I can chew.“ A neighbor was having the exterior of his trailer thoroughly cleaned. I asked the worker for the price to clean my big trailer “at his convenience.” He’s coming tomorrow morning!! I don’t need this on top of my other tasks BUT will follow through. So-o-o-o I have had two dozen things to move that were leaning against the trailer, under the trailer, etc.

Five-thirty: OMG, I forgot about square dancing tonight. I don’t think I have an ounce of energy left after moving things around!! I’ll take a shower and wash my hair. I’ll see if that energizes me.

The devotion today from Oswald Chambers My Utmost For His Highest.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Romans 8:35

God does not keep a man immune from trouble; He says —“I will be with him in trouble.” It does not matter what actual troubles in the most extreme form get hold of a man’s life, not one of them can separate him from his relationship to God. We are “more than conquerors in all these things.” Paul is not talking of imaginary things, but of things that are desperately actual; and he says we are super-victors in the midst of them, not by our ingenuity, or by our courage, or by anything other than the fact that not one of them affects our relationship to God in Jesus Christ. Rightly or wrongly, we are where we are, exactly in the condition we are in. I am sorry for the Christian who has not something in his circumstances he wishes was not there.

“Shall tribulation…?” Let tribulation be what it may–exhausting, galling, it is not able to separate us from the love of God. Never let cares or tribulations separate you from the fact that God loves you.

“Shall anguish…?” –can God’s love hold when everything says that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice?

“Shall famine…?” –can we not only believe in the love of God but be more than conquerors, even while we are being starved/

Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver and Paul is deluded, or some extraordinary thing happens to a man who holds on to the love of God when the odds are against God’s character. Logic is silenced in the face of every one of these things. Only one thing can account for it–the love of God in Christ. “Out of the wreck I rise” every time.