THE TURTLE COTTAGE

    Yesterday I drove up to Elgin to see my sis. She has been in and out of 2 different hospitals and 2 different nursing homes many assorted times lately… Her quality of life really stinks right now, and she is slowly going down a very slippery path where most anything could happen.  I have been thinking about what could happen when we leave here for our “mecca” South, and have wondered on many occasions if I should leave.  But, as this all began about the end of July, she has come to the point where I think she will never be able to go home, and will be living in the nursing home for the remainder of her life.

  I have also decided that Dennis and I are going to go ahead with our plans to leave next Monday morning with the Hiker in tow…There is nothing more I can do here for her, and this could go on for another month…or another year.  I call her on the phone regularly..(sometimes I have to call her husband to FIND her, she moves around so much..I told her I need to attach a GPS to her behind so I know where to find her…Luckily, she has a great sense of humor)…And so, we will leave Monday morning…letting life lead wherever it may.  We are only a phone call , flight, or truck ride away…and it’s time to get McGuyver and myself on the road..together again!

  On a lighter note, yesterday, after seeing Darlene, I met an old college girlfriend for lunch.  I hadn’t seen Peggy since 1969, so it was a great reunion.  We went to a place called Golden Corral for the luncheon buffet. We both laughed when Peggy said we wanted the Sr. Citizen price..I looked behind me to see who she was talking about…we hadn’t been together since we were 20  years old..and now we were Sr. Citizens..Lots of water under THAT bridge, to be sure.

  After lunch we took a ride …Peg wanted to show me some of the more “unique” homes in the St. Charles, IL. area. She is a huge fan of the architect, Frank Lloyd Wright , and is very knowledgeable about various types of architecture.

 

 

 

Peggy calls this house “money gone wrong”….Not the most inviting home I’ve ever seen.  I thought the landscaping was one of those Prairie Grass yards, but she said it was just weeds.

 

 

 

This is Turtle Cottage…It sits high up on a hill that goes down to the Fox River….and it is really lovely….

Note the two fireplaces…and the pumpkins on the roof…Peg calls this an “Arts and Crafts” style home.

        IF  YOU LOOK CLOSELY IN THE PHOTO ON THE RIGHT, YOU WILL SEE 2 TURTLES……..

 

 

ONE IN FRONT OF THE FOUNTAIN, AND ONE BACK BY THE PORCH…..

 

 

 

 

     

…..AND THE ONE BY THE PORCH MOVED…I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK…PEGGY LAUGHED…OBVIOUSLY SHE KNEW THAT MR. TORTOISE WAS A LIVING ,BREATHING “WATCH TORTOISE”…..WHO WOULD WALK THROUGH THE GATE WITH THIS GUY CREEPING AROUND??….I ‘LL BET HE IS A BIG HIT  ON HALLOWEEN!!! (I’D BE AFRAID SOMEONE WOULD FIND HIM AN ATTRACTIVE FELLOW, AND STEAL HIM!!  I THOUGHT HIS SHELL TO BE BEAUTIFUL!!)

   It was a great day, and just what I needed to cheer me up after visiting the nursing home….I’m soooo glad Peggy and I re-connected after so long…Like I said….just what the mental health DOC prescribed for me!!

Over the years living with McGuyver and watching him very meticulously start his campfires, I decided to surprise him and get one started before he came home…..

I learned the “teepee” stacking of wood by closely watching Dennis…a little newspaper stuffed carefully underneath helps, too….    

 

  So, the weather today was EXTREMELY windy..but not as bad as what Judy and Emma were in the middle of in Texas.  That is the only problem with RV’ing in very dangerous weather…Ya gotta have a structure to run to…unless you sleep through the warning, which is what McGuyver and I did once…

 

This one is for you, Nellie and Jonathan…….

This little critter wandered across our driveway the other day…I walked up to him and tried to jump around so he wouldn’t find the Hiker and decide to hitch a free ride South for the winter….He finally got tired of watching me make a total fool of myself, and he wandered into the brush…He just BETTER NOT show up somewhere in Louisiana, feasting on left over Cajun food crumbs in our camper!!!!!

THANKS FOR LISTENING TO ME…DENNIS AND I ARE JUST LIVIN’ LIFE…AND HAPPY TO BE HERE!!