No clue what kind of a blossom tree this is ... just that it's pretty

Well ... I also have no clue what to write about this time. There's absolutely nothing happening at the moment, sooooo ....

Oh wait, it was my birthday! Another one. Yahoo ... !

And this time James didn't forget:

... and he made sure I didn't either! 

He also took me out for Sushi for dinner:

It was rather delicious!

Birthdays are of course also reminders of checking your drivers license (well, here in the US it is), and mine actually expired this year so I started the on-line renewal process.
Guess what? I wasn't eligible! To renew online you have to be an American Citizen. 
And I'm not. Ha!
So, I had to go to a DMV 'in person'. Fortunately, we're right at the Texas state border here, so we drove to Jasper, TX, only about 45 minutes away.

Well, the picture could be worse ...

I'd tried to make an appointment since DMV's are usually packed and waiting lines can be crazy long, but this DMV didn't have that option. I shouldn't have worried though because we were the only ones in there and after filling out the paperwork, taking fingerprints and a picture we were out of the door in 20 minutes! 
Sweet, I'm glad that's over until 2023.

Like I mentioned, not much to talk about. I'm still golfing every other day and enjoying my walks in between.
I'm not finding too much interesting wildlife around here, but here's a few:

This little guy is actually quite big for a squirrel, almost like a Fox Squirrel, but he's completely black, which I've never seen before.
Turns out he's a common Eastern Grey Squirrel, but he's a very UN-common black one.
He lives somewhere in the Pines around the RV and I see him almost every day.

The small Woodpecker on the left is a (female)Downy Woodpecker and the cutey on the right a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher ...

  

The pond in front of me attracts lots of Dragonflies like this (unknown) one:

... and this Green Snake-tail

James has done some minor repairs on the RV, like this break-plug that engages the RV brakes. Can you say erosion? Wow! No wonder they didn't (make contact) work!

                                                      

We're still sort of on a diet (lost 8 pounds so far!) so I'm a little 'off' baking but when I noticed the other day that I was out of hot-dog buns ... I made them myself ... 

They came out OK, a little denser than I wanted, but they tasted pretty good.

I've also worked a little more on our 'going-North' itinerary. I'd ordered some brochures from the different states we're going to drive through and we pretty much have decided which route to take.

We're probably going to move back to Hammond this next weekend or shortly thereafter, where we're going to hang out for a couple of days or maybe a week, until James has closed off this last job with his boss and returned some tools. 

Than it's off to do some sight-seeing at the Mississippi coast!

I can't wait! "Places to see, things to do!"

You better watch those eggs!

Although Easter has already come and gone, I thought this card was too funny not to use!

Otherwise, our Easter was a quiet affair, as usual. We had some lamb (leg-steaks this time) for brunch and deviled eggs around happy hour, when we invited our neighbor over for a beer.

The town of Leesville is right next to a military 'post', Fort Polk, and a lot of guys live off base here at this RV Park. 

Some visit their families, if they have one, when they have some days off, or they'll come up every now and then to visit, but many are just by themselves most of the time.

Our neighbor's family is in Kentucky and he appreciated some time with 'a family' for Easter.

Like last year, I used some Mardi-Gras beads as decoration. I thought I had some other 'stuff' somewhere, but I guess I threw it away ... oh, well, this works too.

The weather is just perfect at the moment. Not too hot, around 80F, and not too humid .. yet ...

We try to eat outside when we can right now, because soon it will get too uncomfortable and we'll be forced to make a run for the AC!

I think he needs a shave and a haircut ...

My Surfinias (in the top of the pic) are not too happy. For some reason, mine are never abundantly overflowing their pots, like they do in the adds ...

High in the tree-tops the large (Southern) Magnolias are starting to bloom. I'll  have to wait until the lower ones will open up, to get some better shots of these gorgeous white flowers.

And these little pink fluff-balls are from a Mimosa variety! Their vines creep through the grass and are very prickly.

It's called Mimosa Pudica. 
Also called sensitive plant, sleepy plant, touch-me-not, or shy plant. It's leaves fold inward and droop as soon as it is touched and shaken, defending it-selves from harm, and than to re-open a few minutes later. How cool is that? 

This is a 'False Dandelion'. Since I cannot find any Daffodils around here (an Easter without daffodils? Gasp!), this 'weed' has to do for the cheery bright yellow that (for me) says, "it's Easter"!

A nice little surprise this week was this Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that I spotted one morning around the golf course!
I've seen one before, in the Texas Hill Country, and that's where they are fairly common. 
But over here they are quite rare, as for in the rest of the country, where they are basically non-existent.

        

Not the best shot, but isn't it a beauty? Look at that tail!

Well, it's a rather short post I'm afraid but I really don't have much else to write about. 
Things are cruising along on schedule, and without too many problems, over at James job-site and I'm filling my time rather happily and uneventfully with some walking an golfing and a little reading and spinning.

This is my cozy little 'window seat' where I spend most of my afternoons when it gets too warm outside.

Life is good!

It's that time of the year again, birds are singing everywhere, and somehow they're real loud over here! 
It probably helps that this part of Louisiana is very woodsy but I start to think the main reason they sing so loud is because they have to over-ride the horn of the train that blasts through the neighborhood at all hours of the day (and night!). Man, that thing is loud!
Why is it, that somehow there's always a train passing by any good campground worth it's salt?



Any-who, we'll survive ... The weather is mostly very mild, as in 'not hot yet', at the moment and I'm not complaining! For some reason we're below average for this time of the year. Yahoo!
I love the mornings best and especially my walks through the neighborhood.

Most of the days I walk over to the golf course and than walk around each 'loop' of 4 and 5 holes ... it's so pretty over there ...

   

Twice a week I actually golf 6 of the holes and most of the time I'm all by myself. I love a private golf course!

Trees are all leaving now and more and more flowers are starting to emerge:

This is a 'Horrible Thistle'. Seriously, that's it's real name!

The flower below is common but I don't know the name. I do know that's a giant bumblebee on it though!

It's been so pleasant that I even have been spinning outside for a couple of times!

But, it can't be wonderful all the time off course, and boy ... it sure does rain here on occasion! 
I'd hoped we got away from these downpours and, god forbid, the dreaded flooding, but what do you know ... I swear it followed us all the way up here!



I don't think I've ever experienced a thunderstorm that lasted this long. It 'thundered and lightened' all day long, from 11 o'clock in the morning until 11 at night! Unbelievable!



Somewhere in the afternoon 'a river started running through it', through our site, that is, leaving mud and debris all over the mat ...
Fortunately, most of the water rushed right past us and into the lake, which started to overfill, but no flooding, thank god!

Which was not the case at the store where James is working at ...  it sure did flood!

They 'only' got about 2 to 3 inches, but lost a day pumping the water out, mopping everything up, and raising materials like drywall and boards up against the wall so they could dry out (I even got recruited). Fortunately, other than a few battery chargers that died, most of his other tools survived.

The little bridge over the drainage canal next to the store had to be closed of for a while since it was impassable.

And the porta-potty James had rented for duration of the job and had placed in front of the store, must have floated away and has completely disappeared, and this dumpster appeared from somewhere ... ?

Art. The power of water ...

All in all we were lucky though, since close-by Alexandria had a tornado touch down, Anacocco, just down the road, had some severe flooding and the Tangipahoa River at Hidden Oaks in Hammond rose once again to over 16,5'! 

Needless to say, I've been getting a little more serious in planning our way 'out of here' (just kidding)!

But I've started to look into which areas we want to explore in and around Wisconsin and Michigan, and the best campgrounds to stay at and golf courses to play ...

We've started to eat a little different lately, mainly because I really need to loose some inches of my 'over-forty' belly-pouch, so we're pretty much sticking to only 2 meals a day and I've completely sworn off sugar. 
It's not too bad so far, I'm not getting too hungry and so far I've lost 5 pounds so ... it's working!

I'm still using my Instant Pot a lot and made this delicious Corned Beef for Saint Patrick's day

Once a week we break down though and we head over to 'Lucky Donuts', where we indulge in one of their delicious fresh-baked creations (James favors the apple fritters and I just love their simple glazed ones):

Oh man, do they taste heavenly after a week of 'no sugar'!

This is me at the tee-box of the 8th hole of 'our' Municipal golf course. 
This part of the course is rather flat and the fairways are the longest here. This is actually the only par 5 of the course.
Finally the course is starting to dry up a little and the weather is just perfect (around 68F), so we've been out here several times already!

1st hole fairway

This guy keeps following me around ....

Arguably the best part of this course is (apart from the only $40/month membership), that it's only a 7 minute walk away! Yeah!
They've agreed to store my bag in the office, so I just take a short walk through the neighborhood behind the campground, and golf a couple of holes whenever I feel like it!
Funny enough, it's the first time I play by myself, without James, since we always had just the one car and no way for me to get to any course. It's quite liberating, I have to say, and I seem to play better? ( I can also cheat of-course ...)

Eh, let's see, what else did we do?
We visited the Hodges Gardens State Park, just 16 miles up the road from us. 



Beautifully designed as a private garden by Mr Hodges in 1940, opened to the public in 1959 and since 2007 a State Park, it's threatened to be closed this summer due to insufficient funds to maintain it. What a shame, it's so beautiful!

The fountain at Willow Point

The Park includes 925 acres referred to as Hodges Gardens, and features 60 acres of formal gardens.
It is the largest horticultural park and recreation area in the United States and offers walking trails, foot bridges, formal gardens, an arboretum, the Azalea Overlook, waterfalls, and a visitor center.  

James walking up to the Azalea Overlook

We just caught the butt end of the azalea and camellia flowering season:

St Francis of Assisi overlooks the Magnolia garden:



I think camellias are some of the most perfect flowers around ...

We walked most of the formal gardens. Unfortunately, due to maintenance, there was no water in most of the ponds and the waterfalls weren't running but we still loved walking up and down the meandering paths and over the numerous little stone bridges ...





                                           

This is the Observation tower, not accessible to the public, but rather striking looking in a sort of '70's-futuristic-style design.

This flowering tree/bush had us puzzled, in fact, I still don't know what it is?



The following one showed up in my little plants and animal book though. It's a Fringe Tree.

Very unusual and very pretty!

We drove the 'loop' around the lake, and stopped to hike the short 0.5 mile Wild Azalea Trail.

Wild Azalea

And on the other side of the lake I found some Louisiana Irises starting to bloom:

After doing the loop you'll end up at the entrance of the park once again, which now becomes your exit off course ... duhhh

There's a nice overlook where, on a clear day, you'll be able to see Texas in the distance ..

Well, I think that's about 'all she wrote' for this time.
James is working 'hard' at the store, but finds enough time to get some golf in whenever he has an hour or so to spare, so he's a happy camper.
And I'm starting to plan our trip north for when we'll leave here in May. Fun!

I'm still using my Instant Pot whenever I can and so far everything has come out absolutely delicious!

Here's a picture of a meal NOT made in 'the Pot', but just as good. Grilled tilapia and roasted asparagus with sprinkled Parmesan.

As you can see, everybody has his own place at the table in the Hess household. 
And yes, I know, some people think this is disgusting, having a cat on the table ....