Saturday at Silent Valley

Well this has been another busy week for us.  We got up here on September 21st, and after setting up we were exhausted, so we took it easy on Friday.  Our friend Jim Hubert came over for a short visit before going home from work.  Since Donna & George were coming up on Sunday, we had to do a little grocery shopping on Saturday.  While at Wal-Mart I spied something I just had to get for Donna, since she also loves and collects owls.  

I'm happy to report that Donna was pleased with her gift of the cute owl cookie jar.  She had

previously mentioned that she has been looking for an owl tee shirt but had never seen one, so I went online and found a cute one from Wal-Mart and had it sent here for her.  That picture will follow a bit later.  We had a grand time together on Sunday, and they left before dark to get down off this hill.
As you can see in these two pictures, the dogs do tend to get a little rowdy when we are not at home.
 Monday we had a couple errands we needed to do, so alas, we went back down the hill again.  Tuesday was Jim's appointment at the Loma Linda VA and all went well.  Jim Hubert came over and walked the dogs since we didn't get back before they would need to do so.  Thanks again Jim, it's always a relief to know someone is willing to help our furry kids when we can't be here.  
I had hoped Jim could get his flu shot while we were at Loma Linda, but they won't be giving them until next week, and we really didn't want to have to drive all that way just for that.  They gave us a form so he could get it at any Walgreen's Drug store.  Thursday we drove down the hill yet again.... first stop was to pick up some mail..........but it was not there.  We also needed to get a replacement latch for our screen door while we were in Banning. After leaving the post office, we realized our driver's side rear tire was low.  We had apparently driven down the hill on a leaking tire, but God always watches over us and we made it down to Banning safely.  Jim tried to inflate it, but it wouldn't hold much air, so we drove over to a tire place in town.  All the workers were at lunch so we had a long wait before someone got to it.  The bad news was that the leak was in the side wall, which can't be patched.  The good news was that he had a very GOOD used tire he could sell me, so we took it.  Finally we got on our way again to go to Walgreen's for Jim's flu shot.  More bad news, they tried to tell us that the birth date we gave them does not match the one on record with the VA.  It did but she had entered a number incorrectly, however this wasted still another 30 minutes before he could get his injection.  Then we went to Wal-Mart for me to get mine.  Again we ran into a snafu as she could not verify my Humana/Wal-Mart insurance.  Again, after a couple phone calls and re-entering our New Mexico address, she finally was able to process the request, and I got my injection.  By the time we got out of there, the place we needed to go for the screen door part was closed..................so guess where we had to go again on Friday, and my owl cookie jar was in to pick up at Wal-Mart.  
As you can see, Millie was not too impressed with it, or the cute blue owl placemats I got, but I love them!  Donna called me that she had a book she thought I would enjoy called "Heaven is For Real" which I did very much want to read.  After a little discussion, it was decided that we would meet for lunch Saturday in Banning, and she would bring the book for me.  We also brought her a cute cookie plate and two coffee mugs that match her owl cookie jar.  She was wearing the owl tee shirt we had given her.  It looked really nice on her.  George was also wearing the shirt we got him.

I think they both looked great!  Donna said they have no pictures of us, but George said they see pictures we take on every blog.  He said I always include a picture of Jim and the dogs, so here is the latest one.........

I persuaded Jim to get a haircut and have his beard trimmed yesterday.  Doesn't he look handsome?  He likes the Grizzly Adams look, me not so much.  The place he usually goes was swamped with people, so we tried a new place called The Alley, and Jim liked the guy who did his haircut.  He even used a warm towel on his neck before he shaved it.  WOW!  Reminded me of Floyd's Barbershop on the old Andy Griffith show.  
Tomorrow after church I might give Millie a haircut and do her nails...........they really need it.  After the fiasco at a Petco up in Washington that resulted in the death of our beloved Mitzi due to a collapsed trachea, I will NEVER, EVER take any dog of mine to a groomer again.  
Well that is all the news for now.  Next time I will share some of Pastor Paul's messages from his sermons that Terry Ives sends to us.  I hope Pastor Paul doesn't mind if I include them because he does provide a lot of wisdom and inspiration, that I feel is a blessing to us, and a blessing to be shared.  
Have a great weekend, and a good week ahead.  Keep the rubber side down and look up to see all the blessings God provides for all of us.