Good Mornin' from New York

Just some rambling thoughts on my mind this morning:

• Coffee is just the greatest thing to greet me in the mornings. It is just sooo good. I only have one cup but it sure is something I look forward to daily.
• I have been sick most of the time I have been here---just a nasty upper respiratory infection--just feel lousy--sore throat, that awful tickly feeling on the back of your throat that makes you cough constantly--can't sleep good and just don't feel myself. I think I am at the end of it though as each day gets better.
• This is our last day in New York. Has been a nice, long leisurely visit. We managed to help Barb get some projects done around her house: built an outdoor shed from a kit; Don cut down two huge dead trees; Don installed the icemaker in her new frig; and he built and installed new hand rails for her back door. So we feel we have somewhat earned our keep.
• Barb, Carol, Don and I went to the Yankee game on the 30th and watched the Rangers beat them. It was just fun being at Yankee stadium--had great seats--what a fun evening. I love baseball! And for us it was a win/win situation since we are Ranger fans as well as Yankee fans.
• Last night Barb and Don went again to the Yankee vs Red Sox game (Barb has season Sunday home game seats). This time instead of driving into the city they took the train and subway since the end-of-holiday-weekend-traffic was so awful. They are still asleep after getting home really late that I do not know who won or how it all went. Carol and I stayed home, rented "Little Miss Sunshine", and watched that. What a hilarious movie!
• We celebrated Barb's 60th birthday on Saturday with a big family party in the back yard at their house. Wally's son and family from Texas were here also so we enjoyed the visit with them--had not seen them since they came to our wedding. Then after all the guests had left Barb pulled out the patio fireplace from the shed and we sat outside around the fire just talking and laughing until late. How nice that the weather is cool enough to enjoy doing that. We even made s'mores.
• Weather has been in the 80's for highs--windows open in house--so nice--so DIFFERENT from our furnace blower intense heat back home. And it is so pretty and green and lush here. It isn't brown like home.
• Barb and Carol have two friends who have a beautiful old house on about 3 acres with grounds and gardens that are out of this world. They are in Georgia on vacation so I went with Barb to help water things and was just in awe. I mean this place should be on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens or Country Living of should be a place that hosts wedding receptions or something. It is just breathtakingly beautiful and decorated all country like with old antique farm implements, etc. I took about a jillion photos and will post them when I get home. I loved their home--inside and out--exactly my kind of decorating and tastes. Just so comfy cute and cozy. I absolutely loved it. I cannot begin to imagine how much time it must take to keep these gardens so gorgeous. I never saw one single weed. I just can't wait to post the pictures and share the beauty with you.
• I am actually looking forward to getting home tomorrow. I miss my dogs and cats and my baby chickens and my goats and my gardens and all. I hear we got a little rain, too.
• It feels weird to be in New York and not go spend a day in New York City like we always do but neither of us had the desire to do it this time. Though I did see that Taylor Hicks is playing in Grease on Broadway and I would have loved to see that. Another time. We like the city best in the fall.
• So that is all the news I have for now. Hopefully, we will be home tomorrow.

Just Stuff on my Mind

• We are in Stony Point, NY at Don's sister's home right now just relaxing. And how very good it is just to relax. It has been a very busy past two weeks and I was nearing the total exhaustion point.
• We had a wonderful week of keeping Mason and Grant. They were sooooooo good, could not have asked for better behaved boys BUT...they are 9 months and 5 years old with boundless energy and I confess, uh, I am just not as young as I once was....and that Grant--he is one big boy who is a load to carry around. Let's just say that my bedtimes were very early that week--between the extreme heat and playing with those boys I was glad to see the sun go down. But I loved every minute of it and miss them something awful.
• Also, had Tammy, Brian and Ariel for the week after that with our family reunion sandwiched in between. All the extra folks at our home along with still spending time outside in the heat keeping stuff watered wore me out. I loved being with family so much but I think we have gotten used to such a quiet, routine life with just the two of us that it is such a change. Our 100+ degree heat for weeks and weeks just saps my energy so quickly. It is sure nice being here in NY where it is in the 80's.
• Family Reunion: We had a wonderfully fun, simple family reunion held at Tammy's home in Leander. She had just the greatest swim pool--one of those above the ground blow-up kind. It was a grand hit with the kids. They lived in it. Jess put on a superb fish fry--ooh, that catfish and Tammie's hushpuppies, and Jennifer's potato salad.....WOW! that was some good eatin'. I just loved watching the kids play and listening to the different converstations going on in little groups all over the yard. I loved taking pictures of our family just being together and enjoying each other. I made my first "photo story" of pictures Jenny and I took put to music and I could just watch it over and over. As one of the song lyrics goes: "...I could not ask for more" just expresses my feelings and how thankful I am for family and the chance to gather together.
• my baby chicks: The snake saga continues. One more snake appeared and this time I was too late--he had already gobbled up 4 of my babies and another lay dead. We were in the process of murdering the snake when Jenny and boys arrived. Such a great welcome, huh? So Don got to work the next day and dug a trench all round the chicken house, installed hardware cloth a foot underground and up the wall of house a foot, then poured a concrete footer all around. There is no way a snake or any other varmit can now get in from the ground and we hope most of the other holes are now sealed and the chicken house is safe. All my chickies and baby ducks are growing fast and just so cute.
• Our trip to NY: We flew stand-by using our "parents of a pilot privileges with American Airlines". We left for the airport at 5:30am so we would have the day to try for seats and hopefully get to NY sometime that day. But we were blessed with actually getting on the first flight to Dallas and then directly on the flight to Newark. Only hitch came when due to bad weather in Newark our plane was held in Dallas for an extra hour. Our seats were in the very last row against the back of the plane--weird as we could not see anything but plane engines out the windows. It was really a tight fit for Don--no leg room at all, but we were thankful to have gotten seats and be on our way. This was our first time ever not to check our luggage. We each had one carry on suitcase and our backpacks and that was all. Those of you who know me well, must be shocked. I even left my beloved laptop at home. But it sure was nice not to have to go wait for your bags and all that. We caught the train at Newark airport and made it to Seacaucaus where we managed to miss the first two trains headed for Ridgewood, NJ, where we were being picked up by Don's sister, Claudia. But we finally made it there at 7pm--had a nice supper and visit and then Barb (his sister we are staying with in Stony Point) and Carol picked us up at 10 (they were at a party). It was soooooo good to get to our bed. I was so very tired. Slept until 9 this morning and am enjoying a quiet, restful, stay at home and watch the rain fall day here in New York. We made it clear we do not need or want entertaining--just to visit and enjoy family and be here. We love their house but I have never been here except in fall (remember those pretty autumn tree pictures I posted last November?) and winter. It is nice to see it all green and flowery and pretty in the summer. So that catches you up with me.

A Narrow Escape

Yesterday I moved my baby chickens from the garage to the hen house. Before doing this I had covered every nook and cranny and hole something could possibly get through to get inside the hen house. I felt it was truly secure and safe. But, just to be on the safe side, I put my babies inside a big dog crate inside the chicken house at night. This morning all looked well and my chickies were so glad to be set free to run about the hen house and the little outside porch area they have. I just love watching them running all about exploring everywhere.

So tonight, just before dark, Don and I were sitting down at the pond and I asked him if he thought I should put them in their dog crate or could I just shut the little door to the porch area and leave them out. Thank God, Don told me to put them in the crate and that he went with me to the barn to put them up. I guess they had learned the nightly routine already because most of them were already in the crate--just about 8 of them were snuggled down next to it. Don went inside the chicken yard to shut the little door out onto the porch and suddenly yelled at me that there was a big snake already inside the porch area and heading for the chicken house. He threw a cinder block at it but the snake kept coming and was half way in the chicken house where I was. I hollered for him to grab it (yea, right, just what he wanted to do) and he grabbed it and pulled it back but it came back inside again, and he grabbed it again and threw it out into the chicken yard, and slammed another cinder block down on it. It still kept coming back so I grabbed the hoe from the barn and handed it to him and that took care of the snake. It was a BIG ole Rat snake. I looked at him and didn't see any lumps in him so don't think he got any of my babies. I will count them tomorrow. So we took them back up to the garage.

I don't know what to do. How can you possibly make an old chicken house snake proof? Stupid guineas were right outside cheering us on but doing nothing. They are SUPPOSED to kill snakes but they sure were not doing their guard job, and neither were the barn cats. This big guy had to have crawled through the mesh in the chicken wire but he was bigger around than that. I just don't see how he could have gotten in. If anyone has any ideas or experience with snakes we need help. I want my babies to run free safely. I don't want to go through another chicken massacre. Is there such a thing as snake repellent????

My Summer Favorites

Jenny's post about why she loves summer inspired me to write one of my own. So here is what I love about summer:

• the beautiful songs of the Mockingbird--I just love to listen to their long symphonies
• the smell of freshly mowed grass and the sound of lawnmowers
• big heavenly blue Morning Glories greeting me when I step outside
• the taste of a "still warm from the sun" homegrown tomato
• Sprinklers. I love to just watch them. Refreshing. Or to just water something with the hose.
• plums, peaches, cherries, and WATERMELON--those glorious fruits of summer
• the sweet sound of laughter coming from children in a swimming pool
• a big, cold glass of ice tea with lemon (or an ice cold Lonestar) after working outside in our extreme Texas heat.
• tank tops. I can barely abide sleeves at all in summer. I love tank tops! I don't even care if my arms are "dangly" these days......
• early morning walks while the birds serenade me-(the poem that goes "What is so rare as a day in June" always comes to mind.
• floating down the Frio River-(It has been way too long since we did this-I MISS IT!)
• sitting in the swing out front reading a good book
• family reunions
• hanging out clothes on the line. I love to see a full clothesline. It just feels good.
• my Mom's lemon meringue pie. Summer is a good time for a big slice of this delicious pie.
• watching my grandkids having fun swimming in our stock tank just as their parents did.
• going barefoot--I love to go barefoot still-except there are too many stickers around here-I miss that deep carpet grass we had when I was a kid. I could have gone the entire summer with no shoes--was a perpetual battle between my mom and me.
• that delicious aroma of grilled meat on a barbecue pit...and fresh corn on the cob.
• homemade ice cream-- (we need to do more of this, too)
• ooh, those fabulous sweet Fredericksburg peaches
• The sounds and lights of ballparks with Little League baseball games--my heart aches to return to those times of watching the kids in T-ball and baseball.
• Inks Lake-- Just the smell of the water takes me back to those wonderful times as a kid I had there at Camp Longhorn. We need to go here more, too.
• Hummingbirds. I love to watch them battle over the feeders--so tiny and delicate yet swift and mighty.
• big summer roses (Peace is my favorite)
• catchin' frogs and tadpoles in the creek with Mason
• fields of freshly baled hay
• our family 4th of July fireworks show
• at the ranch, right before bed on a hot night, taking a dip in that cold well water in the swim tank under the moon and stars--aah, how cool and refreshing (after the intital shock...) and peaceful and heavenly in the dark amidst the night sounds of nature.
• at the ranch, sitting on the porch steps watching the lighting bugs put on a fantastic show
• the sound of doves calling to each other in the late evening
• all the night sounds--the locusts, treefrogs, crickets, and deep sound of the bullfrogs from the creek
• the sweet smell of the Honeysuckle growing on the chicken yard fence
• popsicles
• slip n slides--I hope I never get too old to slipnslide!
• roastin' weenies and marshmallows over a campfire
• just sitting in a lawnchair outside visiting with someone
• *a new favorite--watching Don feed his fish in the pond in the late evening and seeing the armada of turtles there waiting for him to feed. Just sitting on the rock enjoying the sunset and watching life around the pond.
• *another new favorite--watching my baby chicks as I moved them to the chicken house. They were so excited to explore such a big area--trying their wings out and running all over the place "talking" to each other. And watching the goats we have here at home as they venture out into the big field and being relieved that the dogs (long time tenants of that field) are not bothered in the least by the new tenants.
• And I agree with Jenny--I love having it get light early (I might be an earlier riser than she is) and stay light late. I love summer--even the heat. I love being outdoors and watching stuff grow--plants and animals and kids! Thank you, God, for summer.

YIPEE!!!!

I did it. It came down to attacking my slooooooow dial-up service by bashing my computer or saying I have had enough and entering the wireless world. I was at the point of slamming my computer with a hammer (nothing, I mean nothing, can drive me to violence quicker than my computer). I could literally click on a website and then go downstairs, and outdoors, and move the water sprinkler to a new location and come back inside, go potty, and go back upstairs and still the site was not loaded. It was excruciating. So I grabbed our phone book and called every wireless provider and got their prices, etc. Then I remember an ad on TV we kept seeing for a little device that inserts in your USB port and you have wireless anywhere there are cell towers. I called my wonderful tech-support son, Micah, who suggested I look into Sprint since they are the carrier for our cell phones. I did and, lo and behold, a live person answered their phone--a very friendly, nice American person with no accent so I could actually understand what he was saying. We decided it was the right fit for us and he sent it out and we actually got it by UPS the next day. I am using it now. The cost was $49 up front and $60 per month. With a router Don and I can use it at the same time. Oh, how delightful it was to quickly get online and move from place to place quickly. I am so happy. We have 30 days to try it out and make sure it will work for us so we want to try it at different locations and with the router and all and make sure we are still happy with it. How nice it will be to not have to worry if we will have free internet where we stay with Red Cross--course, we still have to worry about the cell towers still standing after a disaster..........
Ok, so while I was solving our internet woes I figured I was on a good roll so might as well look into a DVR. Our VCR no longer works on our main TV so if we are gone we miss something and that is that. All you kids have raved about the wonders of a DVR so I called DISH and got that going, too. It will be installed on Tuesday. We are really moving into the modern age here at home.
Thank you for your nice comments about my blogging. I hope to more of it now that it is less time consuming and I am not stuck up in the unairconditioned, hot schoolroom where my dial -up line was located. Oh, boy, I can even sit out in my swing in the early morning and blog away. I am so excited!

Blogger Block

What is wrong with me? I used to be able to sit down and just pour out my thoughts and the thoughts flowed and the writing was better than a primary school child's and now I just feel all choppy. When the thoughts are flowing I am in the car or someplace that I can't put them down and then when I am at the computer, zip--they vanish and I feel stuck. I truly miss blogging. I don't want to become the blog nobody bothers to check anymore because there is never anything new. I love reading all the blogs and I want to participate, I want to be read, too. So HELP---bear with me as I press through the writer's fog and blog something.

Yea! Summer is here and it sure does feel like it. We spend most of our days outdoors since we have had quite a large mess to clean up thanks to a huge windstorm over two weeks ago that demolished 6 of our grand old oak trees. Thankfully, no damage was done to our home or other buildings but Don is devastated that the three shady oaks next to the pond are no more. He had brought home three enormous rocks from a job he did and carefully placed them under those nice shady trees so we could sit there and enjoy the pond in comfort--and now there are just rocks too hot to sit on in the sun. But we have both worked very hard cleaning up all the debris, burning huge piles of limbs, and stacking up LOTS of firewood. The pond is no longer so sad looking now that it is cleaned up around it and the Martin house (which took a nose dive in the wind) and its residents (who miraculously hung on) is back up. We will plant more trees and the pond is still beautiful and the fish did not get washed over the spillway and downstream. We are very blessed as it could have been so much worse.

I spent three days at the ranch by myself this week. It had been way too long since we had been out there and I just needed to see for myself that all was well. The creek still had plenty of water, the grass was green and plentiful, and all the animals looked just fine. I gave the cabin a good cleaning and just reveled in the peace and quiet. I love the ranch. It restores my soul--I just feel so close to God there and have such good conversations with him as I work and walk on the land. It just fills me with such an appreciation of how greatly He has blessed us. I came home feeling very refreshed.

It has sure gotten hot quickly this year. It is nearly 100 today--we took the Sabbath seriously and after church just stayed inside and rested and watched a movie on TV. It takes lots of time in the evening to keep everything watered. I have a rather crazy garden this year. I have a bunch of tomatoes and peppers and eggplant growing in pots and then I took three old kid swim pools (they were cracked in bottom from being duck ponds), filled them with dirt (composted) from the chicken house and planted squash in one, cantaloupe in one, and watermelon in the other one. Everything is growing so nicely. I have lots of baby tomatoes and squash.

And this week my baby chickens arrive. We have been without chickens for almost a year now and I really miss them. So we cleaned out the barn and fortified the chicken house to make it predator safe, and I have ordered quite a nice assortment of babies. Some are rare breeds, some are Banties (probably will end up with another mean rooster), and some are our favorite barred rock layers and Aracauna layers (they lay green and blue and different color eggs). I can't wait to see chickens pecking about the yard again. I also ordered 3 Buckeye chickens which supposedly "roar" and 4 baby ducks. So the barnyard will be alive again. Yea!

And I have the cutest, sweetest, cuddliest great-grandson ever. Hayden has already gained a pound in his two weeks of life. He is already challenging Grant in the grub department. Both those boys love to eat! And how neat it is to have Hayden living right in the same town as us--I keep telling Amber they need to go out on a movie date or something so Gema can babysit.

I was given a Nintendo DS for Mother's day and have been pretty faithful in my "daily brain training". That is what I wanted it fo--Brain exercise. I can't even begin to play regular Nintendo games. Today I am feeling good as my brain age was 43. The last time it was 67--that is not good. Some of the exercises I am good at but others I am lost. But I shall persevere and strenghten my brain and keep those cells alive and well.

That is all I have for today.

I'm a Great-Gema!!!

On Friday, May 16, Amber gave birth to a great big beautiful boy--Hayden, who weighed in at 9 lbs. 6 ozs. He was a big one and I got to witness his birth. He is just so cute and so perfect--has lots of black hair and just looks too big to be a newborn. He seems to be a good baby who sleeps three hours, eats,poops, and sleeps somemore---at least for now. Amber kinda had a rough time with the birth with him being so big and all and has to take it real easy for a few days to recover so it is nice he is so good. Jerry was so excited--like a little kid before Christmas--he was a great comforter to Amber and just did a super job of being a new Dad. Holding Hayden for the first time was real scary for him. I think he was afraid he might break him or something but you could see the strong desire in his eyes to hold his son. Amber and Jerry will be great parents. It was just a blessing to me to get to be there and be part of his birth.

Our Pond

About our photo shoot......

Recently, I spent the weekend with Jenny and one of the things she wanted to do was a photo shoot of her and the boys. We wanted to do this in that wonderful magic hour right around dusk when the light would be just right for scenes of her and the boys at the city gardens downtown. Great idea, BUT, we had been out shopping all day with both boys, taxing them to the limit, and then first thing after we arrived at the gardens, Mason was running and tripped and skinned his arm and leg so was not in a good frame of mind for photos. Grant was in a great mood and absolutely loved all the grass and flowers--too much so--as it was hard to get his attention away from them to look at the camera. And then, you add to this fact that I am the photographer, not my talented daughter, so while we had fun and did get some cute shots, they are sure not in the same class as Jenny’s photo shoots. But I did get some cute ones of Grant taking his bath later, and of them at home. Thought I would share a few in the following slideshow.

Photo Shoot

Free Things I Love to Do

I have been away from blogging for way too long. I awoke this morning full of energy at 5:15 so decided to catch up on reading the blogs and my email. I read Tania's suggestion of each of posting our favorite free things to do so thought I would comply. Here goes.

Read a good book (I love Louis L'Amour westerns--they truly take me away to another era)

Putter around outdoors with Don fixin' or buildin' or plantin' or working with the animals.

Watch the birds at my bird feeders

Take pictures of pretty flowers and birds

Just look at all my favorite photos on my computer and organize them into albums.

Just talk to God and write in my prayer journal and think of all the things I am grateful for and thank God.

Read blogs and write blogs. Must admit that having dial-up keeps me away from computer because it all takes SOOOOOOO long thus sapping up my free time.

Plant things--just digging in the dirt--I love the smell and feel of freshly dug earth.

Watch our goats grazing and playing.

Go to the library and just look at all kinds of books. The library is one of my favorite places.

Talk to my family members on the phone.

Change a room around; organize or clean something;

Play games--dominoes, cards, board games.

Watch a good chick flick or an edge-of-the -seater.

Watch American Idol

Reading--just catching up on reading ministry newsletters from the various ministies we support and learning how God is working.

Learning new stuff--I love to read articles, books, internet and learn new things about what I am interested in (which is a lot of varied stuff)--photography, gardening, chickens, goats, ponds, good health

Brain exercise-- logic puzzles, trivia questions, math problems, sudoku, stuff to keep my brain alive--HINT, HINT--I am really hoping my children will all go in together and get me a Nintendo DS and a brain game for Mother's Day.

Go to garage sales (yea, I guess it is not free--but close to it)

Go for a walk--I especially love walking on the ranch

Ok--that is all for now. Tummy says feed me breakfast

Scenes from Our Life

Saturday Fun

Tammie, Alisa, and I were out the door before 7am to head to the garage sales. It was brrrrrsies! 38 degrees when we left, so we were layered up in our attire. First sale was a barn sale not far from the ranch--how I wished Don was there with the flatbed trailer as they had fencing and ranch gates very cheap. But since they would not fit in my Honda I had to let someone else snap them up. I did get a comforter for the "kids room" for a buck and a cute pair of shoes. St. Joseph's rummage sale was fun--so packed with stuff, but not as great as in the past--sadly, no $3 quilts. We must have hit about 20 more sales after that. My greatest treasures were a tripod for my camera for $1.50 and a great camera bag for $2. Then we found Amber a "baby basket" like I used for her dad as a baby. It is a straw basket with a hood and handles, about the size of a bassinet, that can be used for a newborn to sleep in and as a travel bed.I hope she enjoys it as much as we did with Brian. We all found various other items we could use--got a great camping table--one of those fold-up one that makes into a table and 4 seats. It will come in handy on our family camp-out this summer.
It had turned into a beautiful sunny day--just perfect for being out and about. We had fun just being together and buzzing around Fredericksburg. Went back to the rummage sale before it close in time for the "bluelight special" where you could stuff all you could get into a bag for $1. That was fun. Tammie came out way ahead on this deal as she got a duvet cover they had priced at $35 and a wonderful set of "portly" wisemen that were also pricey.
I have to add that we also managed to pick up a nice lawnchair that was on the side of the road. I mean, it matched all the others I had at the ranch and was just begging to go home with us.....
We ended the adventure by having lunch at Mamacita's. Was just a great day of fun and fellowship and good finds.

Ranch News

It is so good to be back at the ranch. My girl friends and I are having a girl's weekend here to relax AND to go to the multitude of garage sales on Saturday including our most favorite rummage sale at St. Joseph's Hall. Last year we got beautiful quilts from there for $3 each among other wonderful treasures. There are 42 garage sales listed in the paper. No way we can make all of them as around here most sales run from 8am til noon. So I used my super map program and mapped them all out in order so we would waste no time. It is supposed to be a gorgeous day, too.

Don and I came down yesterday to the ranch--Don pulling a trailer full of granite gravel to use to improve our ranch roads here. That was some hard work unloading that trailer a shovel full at a time since Bob is back at home. I did about 1/8 of it and Don did the rest. That man is one hard working machine! Next, we pulled the trailer up to this one field we have that is really covered with rocks and we proceeded to fill the trailer with rocks. Now that is lots of work, too. And we would work and work and you could still see the bottom of the trailer. All that bending over and battling the fire ants often hiding under the rock and the cactus all around--what fun! But it was a nice day--very cloudy and breezy with thunder rumbling in the background. Was a bit humid but the nice cool breeze made it bearable.

We were delighted when our younger cow showed up with her new calf probably born a week or two ago. Such a cute calf--takes after his Longhorn father, for sure. We named him Moon Pie--with help from Beki and her friends who said his name had to have moon in it since they were sure he was born around the full moon. The mama's name is Patty Cake (or Calf Patty, as Don calls her). The other cow is Patty (Cow Patty to Don) and I named her bull calf, Pot Pie. Guess we will raise these two calfs for beef for ourselves.

Back to the rock collecting. We are gathering these rocks to take back home to be used for erosion control for the pond. I ran out of steam much quicker than Don did so he kept on pickin' and I took the goats, sheep, and cows back to the cabin and fed them and started supper. Don moved the trailer closer to the cabin where he had stacked some big flagstone size rocks last summer and he began to load those. He had that whole trailer FULL of rocks. Unbelievable! I don't know how he could still walk.

He showered and collapsed into his recliner and I fed him 4 Advil and a big steak dinner which he devoured. That was one exhausted man! But he was up early and eager to get the rocks home and start to work again putting them where he wanted around the pond. We had a cold front come in during the night along with a brief rain shower but none of the severe weather that was predicted. It is cold right now--low 50's and very windy. I am content to stay inside and catch up my blogging until the sun comes out later on. It is just so nice and peaceful out here. My friends will arrive later this evening.

Ok-it is now two days later. My computer acted up again and I could not post this blog. So here it is.

Jenny's "Try This"

Jenny said, "If you're bored and have nothing better to do, try this:"

Julie said, "Ooh, I love fun stuff like this so here goes....

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car): Candy Honda
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME (fave ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): Cherry Garcia Sneakers
3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): Yellow Dog
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): None Colorado City
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name):Barju
6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Apricot Water
7. NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers): William Earl
8. STRIPPER NAME ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent,favorite candy): Honeysuckle GummyWorms
9. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Horner Houston
10. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Autumn Pansy
11. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing rightnow): Plum Jeans
12. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Biscuit Pecan

We have a windmill

While I was away at the ranch, Don and some friends set up our new windmill. It is big. It looks so great and creaks and sounds like a windmill should. It will pump air into our new pond. I just love it! I have always wanted a windmill and now we have one. It is quite the envy and conversation piece of the neighborhood. Don has done an outstanding job of digging this pond and putting together the windmill. I am so impressed and so excited by it all. When we get rain and the grass grows and we add a little landscaping it will be so beautiful and relaxing.

Thank you, Don, for all your hard work. I just love it! And, I love you.

Julie, Alisa, and Blue's Hill Country Adventures

What a glorious weekend I had! Alisa and I left for the ranch on Friday about 5. We were driving "Ole Blue", Don's now retired, 1990 old blue pickup, which has become our garage sale truck. It was a beautiful, but HOT, spring afternoon, and Blue's AC decided to go kapoot. I must say this was the most miserable drive to the ranch ever. The sun was so intense and the wind was so HOT. I dreamed of cold ice tea...or a frozen Margarita..waiting for us at Mamacita's in Fredericksburg. It was the longest drive........but finally, we got there, and what a wonderful thing it was to walk into air conditioning and sit down and cool off and have that ice tea, glasses and glasses of it. We tried to stay as long as we could but that sun was still up when we finally left, and since we were driving west, directly in our eyes nearly blinding us. What a relief just to get to the ranch!
All the goats, sheep, and cows came rushing to meet us as we arrived. We had stopped at the feed store so had treats for them--50 pound sacks of feed and a fresh bale of hay. They were all thrilled. We enjoyed watching them. There are 9 baby goats, 7 little lambs, and 1 baby calf--so cute and frisky.
We left before daylight Saturday morning to head out to the garage sales in Fredericksburg--11 of them. BUT, in the early dawn of a beautiful spring morn the countryside was just too alluring with so many sights to behold. We stopped to watch several flocks of wild turkeys, and many, many deer were out, and the sun coming up giving that special haze to the fields and farmsteads--so many kodak moments. We stopped to take so many pictures (we both have new cameras). It was a beautiful, slow trip to town--early morning is just such a pretty time.
The garage sales were fun but not the greatest ever---no real treasures sitting there waiting for us to find them. I guess my greatest find was a hand carved wooden Nativity set from Paraguay. I just love it. And I found a really pretty quilted purse for $1. Found some books for the grandkids and thats about it. But we enjoyed looking--it is fun just getting to drive through all the neighborhoods of Fred. and see all the many old houses. I love Fredericksburg--so much history and German culture everywhere.
We were done with the sales about 11 so headed for Mason to an estate sale there and to have lunch at a little place visited by the Texas Country Reporter. It was a great little Mexican cafe that opened up in an old gas station. Had terrific gorditos and guacamole and lots of cold tea and DP. It all tasted so good. Estate sale was ok--that is where I found my nativity set. Then we just walked around Mason, a really old, small Texas town with lots of history. The writer of "Old Yeller" was raised here and the setting for the book took place here. Lots of neat old buildings and homes. We shopped a little in the shops then drove around taking more photos of grand old houses, old movie theatre, and lots of windmills. Alisa and I both love windmills.
We took a small little county road back toward Doss. Stopped and took lots of windmill, old barn, old farmstead, creeks, Llano river, and livestock pictures. Also, stopped at Hilda and took lots of pics of a beautiful old Methodist church just sitting out there all by itself in a big field. So very picturesque. We stopped and talked with some of the local people who were out and were warmly welcomed. At Doss, we stopped and got a DP at the Doss country store and took photos of the Doss school, one of the few remaining open one room school houses in the state. Then we headed back to the ranch through more back roads taking more pictures of old farmsteads and windmills and anything else unique and interesting. We had such a wonderful time. What a pretty spring day and so much beautiful country to see---and the wildflowers are not even out yet and it is still pretty. Though VERY DRY! We need rain really bad.
We got back to the ranch and crashed. Sat in front of the TV and watched movies and ate fritos and bean dip and Hot Tamales (candy) for supper. We were exhausted but sure had a grand day.
This morning we got up and got to work. Cleaned all the hunter's stuff out of the upper cabin and scrubbed it down and fixed it back up pretty to look like a guest cabin again. What a makeover! It looks so pretty and cute with colorful quilts on the beds instead of camo sleeping bags.
Then we cleaned up our cabin so it would be ready for Beki and her guests Easter weekend. All the critters came down so we treated them to somemore feed and said a sad goodbye. It is always so hard to leave the ranch. We headed home a different way through Llano on the back ranch roads. Stopped to take old school house pictures and then spent some time watching the baby Eagles in their nest outside of Llano. It looked like they were getting flying lessons. They would flap their wings and lift up about 6 inches from the nest and back down again. We took a ton of pics but I think they were still too far away for great photos. But it was fun to watch them. A great ending to our weekend. Just had to share our wonderful weekend with you.

Lovin' this spring weather!

Thought I would catch you up on our life so here come the bullets:

• Don and I went to Kyle to visit Josh and Kara and see their new home. Wow! It is so nice and we both just loved it. Great floor plan, just a great house. And brand new! I am so happy for them and know they will have fun decorating it and just making it theirs. Josh cooked us a wonderful lasagna dinner and we had a fun visit. I was disappointed not to get to visit with their two cats, Sunny and Rosey, who are still traumatized by the move and in hiding. And we all need to pray for Kara to find a job in Kyle---that commute to San Antonio is about to do her in.
• Alisa and I are going to the ranch tonight to check on things AND to go garage sales in Fredericksburg and Mason tomorrow. We are just looking forward to getting out there and having fun together. It has been way too long.
• A couple of weeks ago we had a big group over on Saturday and finally got the liner put in the big pond Don dug on our acreage next to house. It was quite a project. Then he worked for a week putting together the windmill that will aeriate the pond. He said he never had seen so many nuts and bolts in his life......Now tomorrow he and friends will put the windmill in place. Don has been filling the pond for the last 10 days with the hose. I have been really praying that the well and pump holds out. We are on a really huge aquafer but still......I really don't want to be hauling buckets of water to the house from the pond for our use....... It is almost full and looks really pretty. Don wants to put fish in it and get a little boat and just use it to have fun with grandkids swimming and fishin' in it. He is putting some sod and grass seed out, too, and will line it with big flat rocks. It should really be nice when all done.
• Tammie and I leave on our adventure to Georgia to see Adam graduate from boot camp on Tuesday. We are looking forward to the time together and to get to see Adam.
• I have the planting bug. I just love this time of year with all the pretty bedding plants in the nurseries. Love potting flowers. And even wish I still had my big vegetable garden...but we are just gone too much for that. Anyway, I keep looking for the wildflowers to pop out--saw just a few bluebonnets on the bridge going to Kingsland. Can't wait though to try my new camera on the wildflowers though.
• Speaking of my new camera...I have had more fun using the telephoto to take pictures of the birds coming to my feeders. I have a finch sock that is always full of pretty, colorful little finches and another feeder that attracks the cardinals and nuthatches. I just love watching the birds and especially love that melodial water dripping sound the Purple Martins make--and the cheerful songs of the Mockingirds and the mournful calls of the doves. I just love spring!
• That's all for now--I need to finish potting my new marigolds and lantana--the outdoors bekons......

Happy Birthday, Tammie

I have written before about how much God has blessed me by giving me the desires of my heart. Growing up an only child I had always yearned to have a sister--my idea of a sister was like having a best friend that was with you all the time--you got to share living in the same house.

Another desire of my heart was to have a big family--extended family living together or close to each other. I remember my neighbor in Houston sharing with me how she grew up in a big old house in the country with her cousins and grandparents--several families living under the same roof and how fun it was and how close they were. That was the kind of life I wanted.

And it all happened--a little bit at a time--but God fulfilled those desires of my heart. And one of those answered prayers came in the person of Tammie. Tammie and my oldest son, Brian, married very young and had two children--Adam and Amber. Their marriage fell apart and in 1989 Tammie and my two grandchildren moved in with us. Adam was almost 3 and Amber was 9 months old at the time. Our family already numbered seven: Rick, me, Micah, Christy, Josh, Jenny, and Gina (who was then our foster child). And we had foster child number 2, Robert, a failure to thrive two-month old, on his way to us as soon as he was released from the hospital. So we quickly became a family of eleven.

What can I say but that God’s grace was all over this. Tammie and I got along fantastically and shared in the raising of these kids and the many other foster children that would pass through our doors over the next seven years. Tammie blossomed from a frightened, insecure teenager who didn’t even have her driver’s license yet into an awesome, nurturing mother, a fabulous cook, a creative homemaker, an excellent college student, and a leader of the Children’s program at church, and a dear friend. Together, we home schooled, led Girl Scouts, survived T-Ball, Little League, Little Dribblers, Gymnastics, Vacation Bible School and various other kid activities along with enjoying the trials and tribulations of the older kids teen years.

Ours was a crazy, rambunctious, but fairly orderly and disciplined household. It was everything I ever dreamed of and more. And Tammie more than fulfilled my longing for a sister. Yes, technically she was my daughter-in-law, but we just had a closer, more equal, relationship than that. We were peers raising our children together; she became that sister I always wanted. Two women living in the same house can often be a disaster but for us, because of God’s grace, it was a beautiful success. Tammie is my very closest female friend whom I love dearly and thank God for bringing her into my life. I treasure those 7 crazy years together and cherish the wonderful memories we shared--and the memories we continue to make.

I am awed by her--she inspires me. She completed her degree while living with us and is an excellent, well-respected Occupational Therapist. She can just do anything she sets her mind to--a very hard worker whose creativity and love for others just spills over into everything she does. And I am so happy that God saw fit to put Jess Fisher in her life and bless her with such a wonderful husband who loves her so much.

So all this to say Happy 40th Birthday, Tammie. You are wonderful and I pray you will have 40 more wonderful birthdays to celebrate. And may our times and adventures together just get better and better. We soon will be GRAND-PARENTING together!!! Yipee!!!

You are loved.

Time for Bullets

• So good to be home. Got back from Arkansas on Friday night. We both enjoyed working on this Disaster Response--loved Arkansas and the great people there.
• Our weather is sure all over the place....97 one day (in Llano) and then 29 last night.....and that wind is something else.
• We had a brush fire come within a block of our house. They stopped it just before it got to the outbuilding of the house down the street.
• We have a new baby calf--about a week old--so very cute and frisky.
• Went to the ranch yesterday to get the Bobcat as Don is determined to finish his pond here. He worked on it all day today. Has bunch of friends coming on Saturday to help him put the liner in. We have big visions of fishing with grandkids in it.
• It is starting to feel like spring: my Jasmine is in bloom, the birds are singing, just that feelin' is in the air. I expect to see a few Bluebonnets poking their heads out soon. And I can already taste the strawberries from Sweetberry Farm down the road. I love spring.
• We are thankful to have escaped all the flu and bugs going around.
• That's all my news for now. Just enjoying the time at home.