Junkin', Bella and Trish, Oh My!

Cat Daddy and I got up at 4 am, Saturday morning to take the first of two trailers to Zapp Hall at Warrenton! Yes, you read that right...I said 4 am. I know to all you hunters and farmers that isn't all that early, but to this city girl, it's still night! Was I really awake, you ask? No, but I was sitting in the poodle seat where I belong and C.D really doesn't care if I sleep all the way down as long as I am awake when the work begins! To be honest, I do wake up at West...gotta get some hangdown or at least a breakfast sandwich! That's always a must stop on our itinerary.This is our biggest trailer and I won't bore you with the dimensions, but let's just say it's humongous! It's filled from the nose to the back door. In fact, it's always a good idea to stand back just a little bit when the door is lowered...wouldn't want to get hit by flying junk! We'll be taking the other trailer down on Thursday evening and that's when the fun begins! We were really blessed going down Saturday...nothing monumental happened. A very safe journey for which we are grateful. It's not always smooth sailing. One year we had two flats on the same side of the trailer in the middle of nowhere. C.D. limped the trailer into this little town where everything was closed for the day(at 12 Noon) including the one and only tire shop! A sweet gentleman came out of nowhere, had a key to the shop, sold us two tires for the owner (who was a friend of his) AND called his son to come up and change them for us. Imagine! The local policeman came by to check and see if we needed any other help. Didn't even question the selling of the tires. This same sweet gentleman wouldn't take a dime for himself or his son, but we insisted he at least let us buy them a steak dinner! This was small town kindness one just doesn't see much anymore.

This load went down without a hitch (except of course for the one on the truck, yuck, yuck!), although I can't say much about the highway conditions! I'm a little worried about what the inside of the trailer looks like...took quite a lot of bouncing.

Big Boy (the mannequin, not Cat Daddy) rode down in the back seat with Jakie. He'll have to spend the next few days in the trailer guarding all our "quality" merchandise just waiting for y'all to come on down and purchase!

It looks all peaceful and serene here, but just wait. That will all change in just a few short days. This is a shot of the side of Zapp Hall across from our tent. We are just a few steps out the back door. Theresa is at the front of the hall just around the corner. You can't see her little house, but Carolyn is my front door neighbor and on the other side of our tent is the Beer Garden! Royer's is right next door...can you smell the shrimp? Yum! And pie...lovely, lovely pie! I'm gaining weight just thinking about it.

This is the big tent and it will be full from stem to stern with vendors from all over. This grassy area is where you pick up purchases made at our show. Cheryl and the gang make it easy peasy for all you shoppers!

Ahhh! Home sweet home, at least for 10 days. On Friday morning this will all look so different...one hot mess! You can barely make out Country Gardens and Richard's tents in the rear of the photo. Getting the idea of why we have so much fun doing this show? We have the greatest of friends and neighbors here. It truly is a homecoming for us.

Some of you have asked if my new header is our space. Yes, it is the first show we did at Zapp Hall back in 2000. We've been doing the Warrenton show since 1997 and consider ourselves fortunate to have finally made it downtown. I told y'all I am a city girl! I had to be in the "city".

These photos were taken with one of those little disposable cameras. You know the kind...where you have to take them in for developing. I must have a 100 of those in a drawer that never made it to development. In fact, these are the only photos of our tent that I have at all! Thank goodness for Kodak digital cameras and progress! I hope you get the chance to come to the spring show and if you can, please come by and see us. We would love to meet each and every one of you.

Now, howsa about some bebe updates and pictures? Bella is still improving a little each day. She had to have a surgical procedure last Wednesday evening to close a chute (PDA) with a ring. She did beautifully and the doctors were pleased. Her spotlight has been removed along with her sleep mask. She is almost totally off the blood pressure meds and is now getting her mother's milk through a feeding tube. Her weight is now 1 lb. 3 oz. (Thank you God) and she is 11" long! She is quite the mighty mite! Jenn is changing her diaper and taking her temperature. She opens her tiny eyes when she "feels" Jenn close. It's just a beautiful thing to see. Continue to pray for her that she will continue to grow and get strong. Her oxygen is being turned down a little each day and she is still kicking those little legs. Maybe she'll be the Rockette I wanted to be! I have Jenn with me this week...Roby had to go back to work. If she thought I was hovering before, she ain't seen nothing yet! It looks like I may get to stay at Warrenton longer if things continue this great. God continues to hold her in His mighty hands and I give Him all the glory and praise! Jenn and I have decided to continue chronicling Bella Marie's (I love saying her name!) progress on Jenn's blog, The Apiary. We'll be doing it together and I'll let you know when that starts. Stay tuned!

I'm going to close this post now...I hear Jenn stirring around. I wanted to say once again thank you to Tricia at The Domestic Fringe for the interview. Her questions were really wonderful and made me have to think. I don't usually like to think too much...gives me a headache, but I enjoyed answering them all. It was such a great idea of hers...a way of ushering in spring. Very clever! You really should go back and read the others she did and there will be more coming. It is such a great way of finding other blogs and connecting with people. I was so honored to have got to be a part of it. Her blog is spectacular and if you love words like I love words, you'll love reading her musings. This chick is Fab U Lous!

I am going to try and get in one more post before Thursday, but in the meantime....ZAPP HALL OR BUST, BABY!!!!!