The November Arctic Blast

     It's Veterans Day and the arctic blast covering much of the United States has arrived.  Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and 80 degrees.  I had on a t-shirt, was running the air conditioner and had the windows open until 9 pm.  Then the wind came blasting in and temps started to plummet.  This morning we woke up to the upper 20's and winds blowing 30-40 mph.  This afternoon it is 41 degrees and very windy but the sun is out and it's a gorgeous day.  The trees in the RV park are a beautiful array of reds, oranges, yellows and greens.  The picture to the left is a maple in a friend's yard.  Its' one of the prettiest trees in her yard.   She told me that the other trees in her yard all cost a fairly significant sum but this one she saw at Walmart.  It was a small tree and cost her $12.50 and it is absolutely stunning.  

     This was the friend that we took care of while she had surgery.  John and I moved to her place one week after his surgery and he recuperated there while I took care of all her animals until she came home.  Then we spent another week taking care of her as well and helping her get back on her feet and able to take care of herself and her animals.  We were able to return home this past Friday.  John has been back at work for over a week now and doing very well.  

     We spent time this weekend battening down the hatches in preparation for this very long cold snap we are now in.  They are even talking snow this weekend.  John topped off the antifreeze in the motorhome and our two cars, hooked up a new heated hose and put insulation around it as well, and put lamps in where the refrigerator's pipes are to keep the ice maker from freezing and in where the sewer and water hookups are to keep them all from freezing.  So we are all snugly warm and ready for the long haul.

     Sunday we drove to the Wichita's near Lawton, Oklahoma to enjoy the pretty day before the cold blast.  It was nice to get out and walk with the girls,  We also saw lots of prairie dogs.  They are so cute.  

     Today Bailey and I finally were able to get back to the hospital for our pet therapy visits with the patients and staff.  It was nice to be back.  It's always tiring but I really enjoy talking to the patients and being able to pray with some of them.  They frequently like to share their pictures of their pets with me and those are fun to look at.  

     This morning I took the girls out and they seemed to love the cold, windy weather.  I bundled them up in their little sherpa coats and bundled myself up as well.  It was only about 31 degrees and very very windy.  The girls ran and ran and wrestled with each other as if it was an awesome weather day.  Crazy girls.  This afternoon when I got home I had to get the camera out to get some pics of the pretty trees in the RV park so I've shared them in this blog.

     This weekend we had planned to go to Cedar Blue but they are predicting possible snow and wintry mix so we will probably not take the RV.  There is no sense in taking a chance with our 'home' in bad weather on the road.  I have meetings to attend with the Board of Directors on Saturday so we will probably just drive down for the day.  The big news is our building project is done so we have a free-standing room that John and the girls can hang out in and watch TV or nap.  We have a room heater now to take down there so we can heat the place up.  We have had a beautiful Fall this year and now it's time to head through winter.