Joe & I celebrated his birthday on the 4th by going to the temple. I wanted to take him to a movie afterward, but there wasn’t anything he wanted to see that fit with our schedule. We did go out to eat, though. Joe had shrimp and I had a really tasty lobster pizza.
It was very, very cold the first of the month and water froze again somewhere in the lines to the geo-thermal unit. But, we won’t go into that again. It warmed up considerably after that very cold snap. It was a good thing since Joe and Brett were part of the work party that went to KY on the 7th to help clean up after the very destructive ice storm that hit there.
Grandma Moffitt spent some time with us at Rocky River one warm, Sunday afternoon. It was nice to get out and enjoy the mild temps and to spend some time with her. When we were walking along the sandbar, she told us that when she was a little girl, her mother would have her find some sand and rub it on their wood floors – cleaned them and made them shine!
On Monday the 9th, Joe and I went to the Hoyle House to watch Kerry, his son, and his friend install tile. (Joe is the Hoyle Family’s home teacher). Kerry had done some tile work in the kitchen a while back and I had told him when he started his next project that I’d like to watch. Michelle remembered halfway through their latest project and let me know. It looked fairly easy, but most things do when I’m just watching those who know what they’re doing. On the way home, we stopped at a few nurseries until we found some crape myrtles that we liked – Pink Velour. Joe got them for me for Valentine’s Day. Right after we got home, Arthur brought us some crappie, bream, and catfish that he and a fishing buddy had caught earlier in the day. They were in icy water in a cooler and they were still alive!!! Kind of freaked me out. Joe got them out of their misery, cleaned and cooked them, and we enjoyed some very tasty fish for a couple of meals.
We spent the night at Rocky River on Friday 13th. After we planted the crape myrtles by the front porch, we cleaned off another area and burned a lot more brush. We worked until dark. After we cleaned up, we had some yummy Subway sandwiches that we’d taken with us. After a walk along the river the next morning, we came home to prepare for the Ellsworth arrival.
They arrived late on Valentine’s Day. It was so good to see them. Ceseley was happy to be out of her car seat, but she didn’t let me have much to do with her for the first few days they were here. She finally decided that I wasn’t dangerous, though, and warmed up to me. She even got to the point where she’d let me give her a bottle. She’d cuddle until her tummy was satisfied and then decide that there was no compelling reason to continue to do so. She is a very happy baby and her parents seem pretty happy, too. I believe they are all smitten with each other. She really liked to get into the kitchen cabinets and she and William had a lot of fun making a mess one night. A day or so later, Ceseley tried it again and broke a glass bowl. That put an end to her fun. No more playing in the cabinet.
On Monday, we all went to Grandma Miller’s to have lunch with her. She had made some delicious turkey salad and we took different kinds of crackers and breads to have with it. She had used a turkey breast to make it, so there was a lot left over. We happily ate it over the next few days. Joe and I had gone to Rocky River earlier in the day to burn some brush. It was windy, and he was afraid to leave the fire. So, after I helped clean up after lunch and visited a little bit, I left to take him some lunch and to work with him the rest of the daylight hours. Julee’s bunch and Lori & William came by later so that the Ellsworths could see for themselves what makes our little spot on Rocky River a favorite place for us.
We were saddened to hear of the death of David & Joanna Wade’s son, Jonathan. They asked Joe to speak at his funeral on the 21st and, of course, he did. It’s been a very difficult thing for their family. There were lots of people at the funeral. I talked to Joanna for a while after our church meetings that next Sunday. She became emotional as she acknowledged how overwhelmed she felt because of such an abundant outpouring of love and support they had received from their church family and their friends and neighbors.
Later on Saturday, we rode with the Ellsworths to Woodbury to have cheeseburgers at Joe’s Place. It was the longest wait Joe and I have ever had, but Ceseley endured well. They had planned on leaving that morning, but because Julee got a tummy bug and Dan got a neck bug, they decided to give themselves one more day to recover. They left Sunday morning, instead. I’ve missed Ceseley’s growls and giggles.
Our ward conference was that day. Sacrament Meeting was so uplifting. Jenny sang and played the most touching song, “Consider the Lilies.” Simply beautiful.
I attended Gertie Miller’s funeral on the 24th. She was 82. Her husband passed away some years ago. He was my daddy’s younger brother.
We learned a few days ago that the City of McMinnville has tabled their plan to annex our little community into the city. The last time they tried that – not long after we moved here – the community banded together, hired an attorney, and the city backed down. This time we’re not sure what happened – we’re just glad it’s over – for a while, anyway. It would have cost us another $1000 in property taxes each year if they had been successful in their conquest. Joe hardly ever gets worked up about anything, but he sure got a burr in his saddle over this. He researched annexation and discovered that TN is one of only 6 states where it is even legal. He’s fired off some letters to some of the powers that be – even the Channel 4 I-Team. It’s very frustrating because there is no one to speak for county residents. You can be annexed by politicians who are not accountable to you and that you never even had a chance to vote for in the first place. One thing is for sure, if it had gone to a vote, we would have known who NOT to vote for in the next election had we been forced to become city residents.
On Thursday the 26th, I took Mom to the doctor. She’s not been feeling very well and decided it was time for some blood work, etc. We should know the results in a day or so. I took her back home and then went to do a little shopping for her. After I left her house, I went by Rocky River to drop off some things there. It was such a nice day, I decided I’d pick up trash along the road and ended up with five bags FULL. That’s after picking up several bags already. Some of the bottles and cans had obviously been there for a long time and some were new. I guess throwing them over that bank on the lower end seems likes the perfect spot. Oh! Don’t get me started on what I think about people who throw trash out and leave it for someone else to pick up. I have zero tolerance for such behavior.
Every year in February there is a special meeting for CES instructors held via satellite. This year the speaker was Elder Quentin L. Cook. Joe went with me and really enjoyed his remarks. Me? Not so much. By the time we got home, I decided that I didn’t just have a bad attitude, but that maybe I was getting sick. I felt pretty yucky. By Saturday morning, there was no doubt I had a bug. When I got up, my goal was to get back to bed as soon as possible. I had a low-grade fever, a headache, and was freezing. I mostly slept until afternoon. I spent the rest of the day propped up in the living room watching a series of movies on the Hallmark channel. Several weeks ago we were channel surfing and found and watched Love Comes Softly. I told Lori about it and she said it was one of a series. As luck would have it, the second one, Love’s Enduring Promise, was coming on when I went in to watch TV. After that, Love’s Long Journey, Love’s Abiding Joy, Love’s Unending Legacy, and Love’s Unfolding Dream came on. It was a Love Comes Softly movie series marathon! At the exact same time I didn’t feel like doing anything and therefore didn’t feel guilty about taking the day off. What a rare find in this day and time to discover entertainment that is so wholesome, enjoyable, and uplifting. The movies are based on the books by Janette Oke. If it’s like it usually is, the books are even better than the movies.
That same day, February 28, was the one year anniversary of when Joe, Layla, Olivia, and I discovered 14142 Rocky River Road. That’s the day we walked along the Little House property for the first time.
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