Transformation of a Trailer

Have horse. Will travel. Danny and I bought our Featherlight trailer 5 years ago with a vision of building out the dressing room into a weekender camper for the two of us. It has taken all these years to come up the money and the time to pull it all together. Finally, we are almost finished!

Here's what we started with:



And this is what we have now:



We still need to add the cherry trim, a door to the closet, and the drawers and sink are not installed. But that is all that is left!

See the progress:

Floor installation




Finished floor and wall insulation phase



Ceiling and lights:





Paneling goes in


Corner closet:





Counter top is in!



More coming when we get it all finished!!

Snow Day

Remembering the wonderful white winter we had in Middle Tennessee.




Kolten says "I don't think that's a good idea, Danny. Let me stop you from sliding down the hill. It's my job to protect you!"



"Uh...oh...no...there you go!"



What goes down, must come up.



Hank decides to give sledding a try.



And discovers it's better with a buddy.



"Am I having fun yet?" --Hank



Wipe Out!



"What's so great about sledding? Gimme a spring day and a squirrel to chase!"--Hank



Isn't this sign great? It was posted at Puckett's. That's life in the Fork.

I love trees. They have beauty. They have strength. They sway wind the wind blows. They let unhealthy branches fall. They endure harsh seasons—they continue to grow.
A large, old tree has an aura of wisdom.

I just finished week 3 of a great Bible study written by Beth Moore. And what a week it’s been. God has a lot of wisdom to reveal to me this week. It started on Monday. Danny was laid off from his job of 10 years. The wind of life was blowing hard.

Hardship in life is inevitable. But it’s also one of God’s greatest gifts. Help comes to us in times of trouble, and once I accept my hardship I can redirect my focus from fear to faithfulness. (Thanks Beth!)

We go through trials because that is how God draws us closer to Him.

A few Scriptures from my Bible study that really spoke to me this week:

1 Peter 7
“These trials show that your faith is genuine. When your faith remains strong through many trials it will bring you much glory and honor and praise on the day when Christ is revealed.”

2 Corinthians 4:17
“Our present troubles are small and won’t last very long—they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!”

Philippians 4:6
“Don’t worry about anything. Instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for what he has done. Then, you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

My faith is more precious than gold—nothing can take it away from me. When life’s hardships come, I can be glad. It’s how I will test my faith, and know it is real. It’s how I will grow wise and stand strong—like a tree.

How to torture your dog on a snow day

Yay! We got our first snow of the year. Of course, I had to pop out the camera and take pics for Christmas cards. Hank was none too excited about that assignment.


"You want me to do WHAT?! I am much to intelligent to be treated this way."


"Okay. Fine. But don't expect me to look at that camera."


"I mean it! I am NOT LOOKING at the camera. You might as well put it away."


"Please hurry..I don't want Obie--the short-legged Jack next door--to see me like this!"


"Come on somebody. Open the dang door. Pleeeeeze! It is fffreezing out here. I swear, if one of our neighbor dogs sees me like this...."

Christmas Quail Hunt

Ahhh..the day after Christmas. The sugar-plum fairies are danced out and everyone is sleeping in—LATE. Except me. I am getting up at 5 a.m. (earlier than I got up for Santa!) to join my husband, Danny, his son, and his dad on a quail hunt. Danny's dad told me I could get some nice photos. That's about all the incentive I needed.

Meet the hunters:

LUCY



SUE--the three-legged wonder





DIXIE



Big Richard, Danny, Little Richard



Little did I know that quail hunting is an ALL DAY event. I thought I was signing up for a few hours at the most. After spending all morning walking through muddy pine needles and thorns, watching the bird dogs working the woods, and watching the boys shoot, I was more than ready to head back to civilization.









Once the dogs got tired we headed back to the hunting cabin. Hunting cabins are nothing fancy, but I thought this one was pretty nice. It had a water heater, propane room heater, stove, sink, two bunks, couch, easy chairs, and a big round table where hunger hunters can sit around and eat play cards, and sharpen their knives. The interior decorating inspired me...



Speaking of eating... and hungry hunters...I was getting a little grumbly in the tummy. Danny informed me I had a choice of vienna sausages, sardines, or tuna. The canned tuna was actually looking good. That's how hungry I was. Fortunatley, we outvoted Danny and decided to go home for the day--where a warm lunch of Christmas dinner leftovers was waiting to be devoured.

Fall Camping

I survived a great fall camping trip at Big South Fork. Survived is the key word here. Camping is always fun, but there is an element of work involved. And when you are cramped in close quarters with your loved ones for more than a few hours...well...let's just say that I survived along with everyone else!

If you have never visited Tennessee in the fall you just have to do it! Here's why:








And that's just the view from the back of my horse, hence the reason some of these shots are blurry. Hard to be still when you are moving!!


Cody taking in the scenery along the O&W railroad bed trail:



Our friends- Fred, Pat, and Sheryl. They ride gay--er, gaited horses. If you have never been to Tennessee, you probably don't know what that is. That's alright. I didn't either.



Sheryl and Elizabeth:



Pat and Fred show off their new awning...Santa--pay attention to this!!



And...what would a camping trip be without our dogs! This darling isn't mine, it's Elizabeth's beloved pug, "Bella". I neglected to take pics of Dillon Fields and BB Lehman, but they were there too.

The Glow-pen Incident

You'll never guess what this is...



Nope, not fireworks.

Nope, not city lights.

This is how a teenager "redecorates" his room. By cutting open glow-pens and flinging it all over everything. You know, just to see how it will look.

Well, looks cool, doesn't it!

Now it looks like someone sprayed kool-aide all over the ceiling and walls.