Don't hate me, please...I'm just real fortunate to live here...the south, in the spring, is 'the most wonderful time of the year...' 

Husband and I just stopped by our neighbor's house to see his new 5th wheel.  We travel with them sometimes. 

I took a few pictures, with my phone, because his place is so beautiful.  I hope you enjoy...

Okay...I'll leave now...off to watch Saturday Night Live...

It's that time of the year...ready to prepare for winter...hay season!
We should have plenty of hay this year, with all the good rain we've had.

Life on the farm, during hay season, goes something like this...

Around 1980, we decided to take a short vacation...My parents were with us...

The Big Easy was a stop over for us--our destination, Penscola, Florida.  

I get all kinds of magazines. I plan a lot of trips around places I've read about. Husband is pretty easy going, thank goodness. I, many times, name the place and he figures out how to get there.  Some trips have been wonderful while others have been a bust.

I read about Olivier House Hotel in a magazine called Ford Times, a magazine our dealership subscribed for us, mainly because we bought a very combustible Ford Pinto. It was easy on the gas, I was going to college, we didn't have much money, it was around the time of the first Arab oil embargo and we thought we were really doing something great by that purchase.  I'm glad I'm still here to tell the tale... 

I loved that magazine.  I don't think it's around anymore--neither are Ford Pintos! They really did explode if hit from the back... (We had a dark brown/orange one!)

Remember, it was the '80's.  There was no internet.  The written word was pretty much what we relied on...

Anyhoo--I booked us for a one night stay at Olivier House Hotel because Ford Times wrote about how wonderful this hotel was...It was in the heart of the French Quarter--right where I wanted to be.

We arrived, at the hotel, late at night and like many boutique hotels, our keys were waiting for us; however, a real person was not.  There was a sign on the wall telling us to leave our car keys on the front desk because they would move it in the morning or else it could be towed. 

Really?  Leave the keys to our only mode of transportation on the front desk of a run-down old hotel.  Husband and Daddy gave me 'the look', you know the one--the one that says, ever so quietly, 'what kind of place is this and why did you book us here?' 

Long story short, we arrived late and left early.  We did not leave our keys on the front desk...the place was awful and a bad time was had by all.

Fast forward to last week...

Husband and I are 'strolling' the Quarter and guess what hotel we ran into? You guessed it...Olivier House Hotel...I had completely forgotten about it--it's been at least 30 years...I had to 'take the tour'...and pictures...

As you can see from the pictures I have posted, the hotel is beautiful.  I did not ask to see an actual room; however, the foyer, courtyard, and pool area are amazing.  A reception was happening in the court yard or I would have taken even more pics...

Gee, what 30 years can do to a place...really and truly, this place has gotten better with age...

Will we ever stay here again?  Who knows?

It was, however, very fun to re-visit a place I had completely forgotten. 

As we looked around, Husband recounted the story of that trip in 1980..back to the future--I mean back to the past...

Husband and I just got back from the Big Easy...you know where that is I suppose...if you're from the south...right?  New Orleans, of course.

The most beautiful time of the year to visit New Orleans is NOW!  It's not too hot, not too cold, not too rainy, not too sunny...you get it?...just perfect weather.

We ate too much, walked too much, slept too little, shopped too little and our trip was too short.

Basically, it was perfect.  We did eat beignets and drink coffee at Cafe Du Monde.  Every visitor to New Orleans has to eat there.  It's just the right thing to do...

We stayed at the Omni Hotel, a small boutique hotel in the French Quarter.  Our room opened up to a courtyard...totally beautiful.  The old hotel is most beautiful and a good time was had by all...huh?  Anyway, you know what I mean.

As I stepped out of our room and on to the courtyard, these beautiful flowers greeted me!  Oh, to have a green thumb...

The entire courtyard had containers filled with beauties like these.

And these...

My mother-in-law was Cajun.  Maybe that's why we are so drawn to New Orleans.  We love to go there during the cooler times of the year. I am forever fascinated by the sites I see, food I eat, and feel of the city...

Have you ever seen that tv show where folks are hunting hogs?  Ever thought oh, that is so not real? Well, guess what? That show is pretty much reality--or at least--our reality...We have had a hog problem, on our farm, for several years.  We've had alot of hog hunters with their hog dogs, through the years, come in to save the farm from hogs.  So far, the hogs have won!

Hogs plow up our fields looking for food.  My husband insists, if they could be trained, they would be better plows than those big bad tractors he has in inventory!  So far, the hogs are not cooperating with his idea...

We, just recently, had a group in and they did manage to get two of the big monsters; however, one of the dogs was hurt and we haven't heard from them from that day to this...

We live in the country...seriously...My closest neighbor lives about 1/4 mile from me.  I'm 20 minutes from the local grocery store...

I've been married 35 years.  We have always lived in the country.  Starting out, we had a small mobile home 'in the woods' directly to the side of the house we live in now.

We had a water well, too.  Country water.  We dug the well and that's how we had water for our mobile home...

Then 30 years ago, we built our house...and built another water well with it.  

Last week, the new water well would not work.  Uh oh...no water in the house!

We tried the 'old' well...guess what?...it works...

We're done...our old well is now our new well!

Life's a circle...everything that's old is new again...save it--you never know when you'll need it...
well, whatever...