Sand and Sisal: Pea and Moss Balls

Had to share this lovely idea!
Sand and Sisal: Pea and Moss Balls: Warmer temperatures and newly sprouting bulbs announce the arrival of spring! I wanted to add a touch of that fresh spring green color to m...

Back in Missouri

On February 14, we left the coast of Texas and traveled back to Missouri. Parked at my home just outside of Rolla, MO. It has left me with mixed feelings. I love being back home, where my children were raised and yet eager for summer. We have a job waiting for us starting in April at Caboose Junction Resort near Branson, MO.

I have also started making quilts again, love to see the pieces of fabric turn into something beautiful. So much fun to play with colors and textures.

Found a new blog today called,  It's Sew Kiki. 

They are having a giveaway of not one but four prizes. These prizes are from  Check out both of these pages if you are interested in quilting.

I've also discovered  and all the wonderful pictures of beautiful quilts. So much fun to see all the ideas others have come up with to entertain, delight and make life easier for us. If you would like to see my pins look for Lydia Whitehead Torres. See you there.

New Year, New Goals

     As I stirred up a fresh batch of bread dough this morning, my mind was busy thinking of all that I wanted to accomplish today. (My biggest fault is trying to do more than time will allow.) So as I relaxed, waiting for the dough to rise, resolutions came to mind and how to increase the productivity in the time allotted to each day. It would be difficult to cram more projects in each day, but maybe slowing down on the number of projects I try to do at the same time would help. Then the thought of enjoying the process of crafting came to mind. That sounds better to me. After all the years of working and pushing myself to the breaking point while trying to please everyone around me, it is time to slow down and enjoy the process.

     Family, friends and that which makes us happy are all we really need. So this year my goals are to really enjoy life and to learn all I can. To be the ray of sunshine that helps brighten the lives of everyone around me. To see the good in others first and to help each person to see what wonderful things they are capable of.

     My life is the best it has been in years. Living the life of my dreams, traveling the US and meeting new friends with the man of my dreams. What more could a girl ask for? Crafting when the mood hits me, sewing quilts (just for the love of sewing), and soon making my new granddaughter pretty little clothes, this is called really living.

     I love my "job" of camp hosting, although it can hardly be called work. How many people have a view of water and shore birds from their office?

     My challenge to you is, forget resolutions, relax, breathe, enjoy life and be thankful for all that is good in your life.

May your cup overflow with joy today,

Lydia

 

Thanksgiving

On this Thanksgiving Day, I pause to think of all the things for which I am grateful. My health and life in general,

for Dave, the most wonderful man in the world,

my family, kids, grandkids, sisters, brother-in laws, nieces, nephews and last but not least my wonderful mother. I am thankful for all those who are no longer with us, grandparents and father.

I am grateful for my faithful dog who loves me no matter what kind of mood I'm in. All the friends who have had my back in hard times. For those who are not related by blood but are closer than family, I am grateful for the opportunity to be there for you. To all my friends across the internet, thank you for the hand of friendship you have extended to me. Although we may never meet in this life, you have improved the quality of my life.

I feel extremely loved and blessed today. Thank you!

It's Monday!

Life is about starting over again. Several years ago, I had an idea for a children's book. Life seemed to always get in the way when I started to write. Now that I am living on the coast and life is much more simple, the desire to write has come back.

So I am declaring and setting a goal of writing a children's book. I appreciate any input from my friends about publishers or information on the subject.

Life at the Beach

As you can tell I am loving this life on the beach. It was another beautiful day here in Texas.

Shelling at Port O'Connor, TX

Date Palm in Port Lavaca, TX

Some of the small shells we have found.

Sunrise at Lighthouse Beach.

Watching the waves on the bird sanctuary walkway.

Shrimp boats in Sea Drift, TX

These tiny shells had tiny critters living in them.

One of the many cranes in the bird sanctuary.

A colorful name but they had some good shrimp at a decent price.

Sunset at the Lighthouse Beachin Port Lavaca, TX.

 

 

Port Lavaca, Texas

 Our home for the next few years.

We made it! What an adventure. I wonder if the pilgrims felt as I did on our way down? We left Licking Missouri at 9:30am on September 21, 2011. On our way to Rolla, the trailer started swaying and fishtailing. Talk about having your heart in your throat! We could not figure out what was causing it. Every time we had pulled it before, the trailer had towed like a dream. We stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up a few snacks and necessities before starting out again. After getting on the interstate and increasing our speed the trailer started to act up again. We did not want to drive all the way to Texas at speeds of 50 to 55 mph. I kept going over and over in my mind everything my dad had taught me and all I had heard about towing trailers. Then it hit us, we had filled the fresh water tank. As it happens, the 45 gallon tank sits under the bed which is behind the tires of the trailer. Every bump and sway of the trailer had the water sloshing which made the trailer sway even worse. We pulled over at the rest area near Doolittle, MO and searched until we figured out how to drain the water tank. Dave pulled the drain valve and off we went again, this time watering the highway along the way. The trailer then pulled like a dream. Lesson learned!

I wanted to stop at Camping World to check out a bumper attached clothes line. As we pulled into the parking lot, trying to figure out where and how to park, we introduced the rear of our trailer to the back corner of a small pop-up camper. How embarrassed we were. No doubt about it, we are newbies to the rv world. Thanks to the kindness of the owner of the trailer and Camping World, we had no problem exchanging insurance information and everyone kept saying "No problem". After all that, I didn't get the clothes line. LOL

We headed out again and made it south of Springfield. About 12 miles from Carthage, MO we heard a loud boom. Yes, a tire on the passengers side had blown out. We had not replaced any of the tires even though they were cracking a little. However, we had purchased a spare tire. We pulled onto the shoulder of I-44 to put on the spare. Changing a tire is never fun but it was made harder by a sloping shoulder. Try to jack up a trailer, keeping your balance while standing on a steep slope with large trucks flying by, causing the trailer to rock sideways. Talk about a work out! Thankfully a couple of Missouri Highway Patrol pulled behind us and waited with their flashing lights on until we were finished. They informed us that there was an RV dealer about 10 miles down the road. We pulled into Colaws and purchased another tire. They did not have a way to mount it onto the rim but directed us to a Wal-Mart a few miles down the road. We had the tire mounted and headed toward Oklahoma. After traveling all day we crossed the state line a little after 5pm. 

Dave decided he could make it driving to Durant Oklahoma, so we kept going. After driving on some of the roughest roads we arrived in Durant at 10:15pm We had already located the Wal-Mart there on our GPS, we pulled into the parking lot, crawled into the trailer and fell asleep. Waking up around 5:30 the next morning, we filled up the truck and left Durant about 6am. 

We hit the Texas line at 6:30am and felt like everything would go smoothly from there. Because of the time we started out that morning, we hit Dallas at rush hour. Bumper to bumper, stop and go, with at least 6 accidents that we saw. I don't know how people manage to do it day after day. We were out of Dallas around 8:20am and southbound again. 

Somewhere close to Waco, we stopped to fill up the truck and a gentleman noticed that one of the tires on the trailer, drivers side, was slipping the tread. We pulled out of the gas station and down the road a few 100 feet and pulled off in an old driveway. We changed that tire a little faster thanks to flat ground. Starting out again, Dave said we are almost out of money and can't afford to get another spare. I said that's okay, God will help us and keep us safe. From then on I was in constant prayer.  

I even changed the words to a song as a way of thanking God for helping us to make it. 

The song goes like this, 

"It's really surprising what the Lord can do. 

He can take a lost sinner and make him good as new. 

And if you will let him, he will pardon you. 

It's really surprising, what the Lord can do."

My version;

"It's really surprising what the Lord can do.

He can take an old tire and make it good as new.

And if you will let him, he can help you too.

It's really surprising, what the Lord can do"

We stopped at a rest area to stretch and Dave noticed that the other tires were starting to slip their tread too. We eased on toward the coast, trusting that God would take care of us. I think we traveled on some of the roughest roads in the US. The trailer started swaying and swerving if we drove over 55mph. We were counting down the miles and were happy to see the city limit sign of Port Lavaca, Texas. The other camp hosts were happy to see us pull into the park. Dave was exhausted and asked me to back the trailer into our spot. After getting it in place, he motioned for me to come to the back of the trailer. We had lost one of the treads on a rear tire. He looked at me smiling and said, "We really did come in on hope and a prayer." God does take care of us.

We are here and in good health. Enjoying some down time before starting work on Thursday (9-29). 

Sunrise in Port Lavaca, TX

The Lighthouse Beach

Even the dog seems to enjoy the sea breeze.

Hope the day brings you just enough sunshine and rain to make the flowers bloom.

Love, Lydia

Getting ready to leave.

We survived the busy weekend. Spent all last week finishing 4 Adirondack chairs for a customer, while trying to gather things up for the yard sale. The yard sale lasted Friday thru Monday. I worked at 2 different restaurants on Friday and at the yard sale the rest of the weekend. We delivered the chairs to our customer's cabin on the Current River on Monday morning. What a beautiful and out of the way place. We had to travel on 6 different gravel roads and then down a dirt road for  2 1/2 miles. (I sure would hate for get home from grocery shopping only to realize you had forgot the milk.) However the peace and quiet of being surrounded by nature was wonderful.

Here is a photo of Dave and myself in front of the trailer. (Just a couple of goofy looking people.)

A pic of the front of our 1997 Jayco Eagle. It is 35' long and perfect for a couple to live in.

The weather here in Missouri has changed from hot summer to perfect fall weather over the weekend. This is just a taste of what we will get to enjoy all winter long.

Today I am re-upholstering a rocker-glider and footstool for my daughter. (Really for my coming granddaughter.) It will be done and delivered this week. Then next week we will finish cleaning out the house and garage, and getting everything ready to be closed up for the winter. Can hardly wait to get on the road and headed for our new adventure.

Have a great week, Lydia

Camp host job.

It is official, we are going south for the winter. We accepted a camp host job in Port Lavaca, TX starting September 23. I am so excited! As of now we will be working 4 days and off 8. This will be the most relaxing job I've ever had. LOL Plenty of time to walk on the beach, fish and enjoy the birds at the nearby bird sanctuary. There is a raise walk and observation cabanas all around the sanctuary and a 1,000 foot fishing pier off the end of the beach. I will get the see and hear the ocean all day long. Fresh fish for supper and a long walk every evening, sounds like heaven to me. I will miss my family and friends, but through the use of modern technology we will be able to stay in touch.

We had a wonderful visit by some new neighbors this morning. John and Mary Schwartz are a sweet Amish couple that live down the road from us. They voiced interest in learning to build our outdoor furniture. It would be wonderful to share with them what we have learned. I so admire the stamina and determination of the Amish way of life. They will be building everything by hand, wow, I wish I had the patience to do that.

Well, I had better get back to work and finish packing up stuff to sell at the yard sale this weekend. It will be held just south of the Pilot Knob Church on Hwy. 63. Come by and see all the goodies available, Friday thru Monday.

To all my friends who enjoy this blog and want to see what we are doing, be sure to click the 'follow this post' button.
Lots of love to all of you.
Lydia

RV Living

It has been 2 weeks since we moved into our camper. At this point we are practicing for the real thing. Everything seems to work and I am enjoying my grown-up play house. Made carrot cake cup cakes this week and even passed some along to the neighbors. It is fun to have all my favorite belongings in one place. Knitting, crocheting, sewing, reading and even watching movies are all close and easy to reach. I don't think it will be possible for me to get bored.
Yesterday at a yard sale, I found 2 sets of CDs by Dr Joe Vitale (The Secret to Attracting Money and The Missing Secret). I had often wished I could afford these. At $2 each they are now mine. What fun I will have expanding my mind and learning while traveling around the US. Wouldn't it be cool if I could earn money by traveling and recording my adventures?
I feel so very blessed tonight. My oldest son, Nathan, is getting married in a couple of weeks to a very sweet girl. She has a son, so I will be a grandmother sooner than expected. My youngest daughter is expecting her first child, a girl, mid November. It will be difficult to leave all my babies, but I know it is time for me to allow them to make their own lives. I have the sweetest man to enjoy the rest of my life with.

Life is good, Love is sweet and Laughter is good exercise.
Lydia

First night in the camper.

We spent our first night in the travel trailer, last night. I slept very well. Dave on the other hand did not. Not sure if it was the different bed, the excitement or what. He apparently kept himself entertained by making a recording of my snoring. After listening to it, I must agree it did sound funny. If you can imagine a cross between a cow and a hoot owl in the distance, that was me but with the underlying sound of a grown man trying to muffle his giggles. He is threatening to share that recording with my family. That's okay, I see lots of mornings with him bringing me coffee in bed. (Pay backs can be so much fun.) Life with him will be a grand and fun adventure!

I have enjoyed my morning answering emails and drinking coffee in my beautiful little trailer. Time to get back to building the chairs. We have 4 Adirondack chairs to build and have them about halfway done. Lots of sanding yet before staining and assembly can begin.

Hello

 As a lover of the beach, I have been land locked for most of my life. Except for a short stay in Hawaii, I have lived most of my life in Missouri. Now things have changed and I am ready to travel around the US. We, my fiance Dave and I, have purchased a travel trailer. The inside was in need of updating, leveling jacks were broken and the awning was missing. After a few months of hard work we are nearly ready to set sail on this new adventure.