Antique time and other adventures. And yes Bruno too

 Okay so we've been worried about what Jerry or the cows would do if Bruno went into the pasture with them. I mean Jerry is supposed to protect the cows from coyote's and the cows have horns and they're not afraid to use them. Well now we know. After all the kissing and nose rubbing through the fence Jerry is just fine with Bruno. Now the cows would duck their heads like that's close enough bucko. Bruno would back up and the cows didn't charge at him.

Check it out. Bruno and Jerry.

On the weekend of our anniversary we were supposed to go antiquing in Mart, TX at Leon Junction Warehouse sale 

but due to impending bad weather they rescheduled it to the 16th-17th. So Friday the 16th we went to the store and then the warehouse. Only it wasn't really a warehouse it was a big old two story house. LOL  

I came home with a few children's books to have on hand and some alphabet blocks for an art project I want to work on eventually but that's it. David came out empty handed. 

Mart is pretty small so they didn't have a big selection of places to eat but we chose a place called MeMaw's Kitchen. David got fried fish and I had chicken tenders. I, of course came home with left overs. We now carry an ice chest when we're out and about with ice packs, a protein shake if needed and to keep left overs in. The food was pretty good. Not real big but the ladies were friendly that seem to run the place. We were trying to decide what to do next and I mentioned a couple of places in Calvert that we haven't shopped at yet but then comes up with a new idea....

David: Isn't Rosebud where that quilt shop you like to go to is?  

Me: Yes, Yes it is why? 

David: I'll take you there. I really don't mind.

Me: I don't need anything really so we don't have to go.

David: I really don't mind taking you there. I know how much you like the shop.

Awww then the light blub comes on.... Okay I get it and know exactly why he wants to go. LOL There's a soda/gift shop one door over and they serve Blue Bell ice cream and other good stuff. 

Me: Sure you can take me to The Fabric Barn quilt shop in Rosebud. But I'll take you to the shop a door over and I want one bite of your ice cream. And we'll pray one bite don't make me sick.

David: Deal.

Driving down the road to Rosebud we saw a Zonkey. Actually we saw 2 of them.  It's a cross between a ... Donkey and a Zebra. Isn't she cute? I want one. And she is fast.. watch the video.

    

Photo by Fabric Barn

David is such a mess. When I go into the quilt shop I tell the owner Tiffany that I dropped my husband off at the daycare one door down and told him to behave. LOL  It only cost me and ice cream cone.  But then I did buy a book of quilt block patterns, 3 pieces of fabric and a powder for fusing fabric, so it cost me more than a dang ice cream. I can't walk into a quilt shop and not buy something.  We are now done. Ready for a nap so home we went.

Saturday (9/17) We got up and headed to Huntsville County Fairgrounds for another Antique show by Huntsville Junkers/Huntsville Antique show. It was okay. We both walked out empty handed but we were tempted by an 8' long display cabinet that would go nicely in our dining area only we already have a hutch. 

After a debate we decided we didn't need to spend the money. But it was pretty. Could only take a side shot of it because there was a table and other purdy stuff in the way. 

The other item I saw that was cool was a white featherweight which I understand they are rare and this one was in great shape. I didn't have the money to buy it though so I passed. I have enough sewing machines.

I found some blue striped T-Towel fabric that was in nice condition but I looked at the price and it was $55 for 3 yards! Uh no, that's more than $15/yard. And a small bag of old buttons were $5. Another nope.

So we both walked out empty handed. It was time to find food.

We ended up at McKenzie's BBQ. This time I told David to buy a BBQ plate and I'll eat some of the meat and sides he gets. This worked out great. He ordered the 3 meat plate with 2 sides and the beans were free. The sliced up brisket, sausage and chicken. I was able to take enough of each and he still had plenty to munch on. We need to share a plate more often.  Makes me a cheap lunch date. He figures this means we can hit more BBQ joints sharing a plate like this. Works for me.

So while we were in Huntsville Pamela called and told us to come by Kaleb's parents house and meet them. We were just 3 miles away and She was already there. So we did. We got to meet Kaleb's Parents, Tori, Kevin and his 2 yr old twin boys. The boys fell asleep minutes after we got there since it was nap time but the rest of us had a real nice visit. His parents are really nice. Kaleb is Pamela's boyfriend in case I didn't mention that before. He's an awesome young man and he's a keeper. He puts up with Pamela. LOL  He's funny, polite and he makes Pamela happy. They make each other happy. They make a cute couple. Gotta love them.

In my last post I mentioned Pamela was in Missouri at the end of August to visit her friend Hannah and her husband Phil. Well Kaleb went too. 

Pamela got take him to Hermann, MO which is a really cool place and it has wineries and a whiskey distillery. He and Phil tried the various whiskeys.

While in the area he also got to meet my sister Barbara and Cresia. I hear Barbara checked out what his intentions were with her niece. LOL. It sounded like Kaleb held his own. Didn't phase him a bit. I guess he got they're approval. He has ours. LOL

 I guess I need to finish the baby quilt on my machine and start the next one.  And then the next one.  Busy busy.

Plus it's almost time for quilt retreat time. Gotta finalize our menu for the week. I have a full retreat of 12. Some of the ladies have been retreating with me since 2013. 

Well that's it for now.

Until next blog....Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Doctors, Rain, Marital Bliss, Lunch and Sorority Fun Oh My!

On Tuesday (8/30) My turn to go to the bariatric doctor/nutritionist.  They were pleased with my progress and set new goals for me and had to answer all my questions. You know we grow up being told to watch our calories and if you've ever done Keto you have to watch your carbs. The rules are tad different since surgery.  I still have to be mindful of my portions but I'm not freaking out if I get 60 carbs in a day or less than a 1000 calories. I do have to get 60+grams of proteins in. 

I was worried because as I entered my meals for the day I was surprised how many carbs I had but my my calories weren't totally up to a 1000-1200 and that's what they want. I was worried my body might think I'm in starvation mode since my average calorie intake is running around 775-900.  But the nutritionist said I'm good for now but to work towards a 1000/day. My carb intake should run between 50-100 for the day (sounds like alot) . Carbs not so hard but the calories are hard to get. I just can't eat that much food or my stomach yells at me in the form of a big air bubble up into my chest and then painful hiccups.  My protein intake is now running between 70-90 and that will help me lose weight, help keep the loose skin to a minimum hopefully and limit the hair loss and help it grow back.  I thought I had made it past the hair loss stage but nope.  At 3.5 months my hair began falling out by the brush full so I need to work on the protein so it will grow back in. It's a little scary to see that much hair falling out. 

I go see my primary doctor this week and I already saw my blood work lab results and all my numbers are in the normal range.  First time in over 5+ years. Yahoo. 

 On the way home David and I drove through Anderson and found a couple antique shops to browse through then headed home.  I got a text and a call from Pamela's alarm company saying there were windows open at her house. Told them to send the cops and then I called Pamela who was in Missouri with Kaleb.  We were 30 minutes away but we stopped to check out the house. It had been pouring rain. We're thinking that lightning struck about a mile away and that's what set things off because no windows were open and things were locked up. 

The rain must have been coming down hard and fast. Not the best video but this is the little creek she has to cross every day that has been know to flood.

Okay more about Bruno. LOL He keeps us entertained. Bruno loves to explore and take walks to the mailbox with His Dad.  He seems to think the best place to nap is in David's lap. 

 

Friday (9/2) was our 44th wedding anniversary. We made it another year.  We went to dinner at Central Avenue Bistro in Cameron. Food is good and the price is right. David got the Surf n Turf and I got just the Surf. LOL No dessert this year. While waiting on our food one of our neighbor's came in with their family and then here comes our next door neighbor with his daughter and friends.  We all decided to go out to eat.  

Thursday (9/8) I went to lunch with Kelli. We went to the Cast Iron Bistro in Calvert. We both love that place. They've started serving evening meals so we need to bring the guys one night. I got the Texan Salad with chicken tenders. Big salad.  Too big actually. I ate my protein, the chicken but left a little more than half the salad. Now Kelli got the bistro bacon cheese burger on a ciabatta bun.  This thing was big, thick and juicy. Kelli loves me. I always catch her in mid bite.

From here she and I went to En Gedi winery a block down the street after I stopped at The Farmers to Market to buy some coffee. Their Calvert Crack coffee is awesome. I make a cold brew with mine but I'm sure it's good hot too. 

Unfortunately I still can't drink but I told Kelli I would be the DD and she could drink away.  The owners Karen and Pat at En Gedi are really nice folks. Karen was on her own for the afternoon. It was fun just hanging out and talking with her. She was telling me and Kelli all the events coming up in Calvert. We stayed until around 5:15 and took off for our next stop.  

We were going to a book club meeting at the Wildflyer Mead Company  in Navasota.  Yep our afternoon took us all over the place but we had fun. The book we were to discuss was The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. It was a good read. The main character Hannah, came home to find her husband missing and a note saying "Take care of her" meaning his daughter, her step-daughter.  She and the step-daughter started doing their own investigation/search for answers. Didn't expect the answers they uncovered or the end. 

Since the rain we got a week or so ago our Belinda's dream rose bushes and the lantana have been blooming like crazy.

Saturday (9/10)  

Every year my sorority holds it's annual Salsa charity luncheon, benefitting Texas Children's Hospital. Pamela and I always try to go and this year she convinced her boyfriend Kaleb he needed to go with us. 

Well normally there's a handful of husbands there but nope not this year. Kaleb was the only guy. I don't know that we'll convince him to come back.  

He's always welcome though. I mean he was surrounded by beautiful women. Okay so most were older than him but we are still beautiful. LOL

This is a few of the 1970's Phi Mu Ladies.  The lady to my left was my big sister, Patty. Don't see most of these ladies but once a year except Sheryl and Kathy on the far right. We see each other more often.

Patty, Roberta, Jonell

      

Over all we had a good time at our table. I won one of the silent auctions. Five books, all by Phi Mu's.  Pretty cool.  Not included in my win was The Help but also written by a Phi Mu. I'm gonna have to go find out what other books all these ladies wrote.

Books I won were 

Southern Discomfort by Tena Clark

The Eighty year old Sorority Girls by Robin Benoit

The Physicist's Daughter by Mary Anna Evans

The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand

Where the Crawdad's Sing by Delia Owens

Pamela won two silent auctions. One was a basket with whiskey from a local distillery and can't remember what else.

That's it for now.  

Until next blog.....    "In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others." ~ André Maurois

Good News & Fun

 Let's start this off with good news... David finally got the call from his doctor saying that all is good. The cancer did not get into the into the lining or the muscle of the bladder so they got it all during the surgery back on the 10th.

Hallelujah! David took a deep breath and a sign of relief. We went out for dinner to celebrate. He will have to go back every 3-4 months for scopes or scans to watch for any changes. 

Where's Bruno? The other day I couldn't find Bruno and he was real quiet. I started looking for him and I looked over and I saw him under the pillows on the couch.

I started laughing and he popped up. You know that game at like Chucky Cheese called whack a mole? The mole pops up all over and you whack it, that's what we call Bruno. 

The next few days David and I are watching our grand-fluffs while Pamela and Kaleb go hang out in Missouri. Bruno loves the girls and wants to play but the girls still are real sure about him. So there's not a whole lot of peace and quiet until they wear themselves out. LOL

This is one of the quiet moments but it doesn't last long. 

David sat down on the couch and he was trying to get Bri to jump up and lay down but Bruno beat her.

They were having a stare off and then Bruno reached out with his paw and pushed Bri away like "Back off this is my daddy".  

Sophie doesn't take anything from Bruno. She puts him in his place. They seem to be getting along better after this little tif.

Pamela and Kaleb are having fun with Hannah and Phil in St Louis and surrounding area. Her baby fluff balls miss her.  

They're at Black Shire Distillery doing a tasting. I love the blackberry whiskey from here mixed with lemonade. Or at least I did before my surgery.  We'll see after 6 months what I think then when I can have a drink.

Saturday 8/27, David and I went into Tomball to meet some of the Bell Gang guys and their wives for dinner and some music by Ray Wylie Hubbard at Main Street Crossing. The drive for us is about 1 hr and 45 minutes but hanging with friends and listen to music is worth it.  Three of the Bell Guys Tom, Bill and Fred and their wives Marybeth, Cheryl and Kathy met for dinner at a place called Craft Grill off Kuykendahl. It's about 15 minutes from Main Street Crossing. Food was pretty tasty and the company was even better. Ray Wylie Hubbard was quite the character and put on a good show. Learned that his 29 year old son, Lucas is his lead guitarist. He was good.  RWH played his classics.... Up against the wall redneck mother, Snake Farm and others.

The show ended about 10:15 and we all walked to our cars and said our goodbyes. We got home right before midnight and the dogs were happy to see us. They had been outside since 3:30pm so they were happy to come inside for the AC.

Life has been kinda quiet so that's it for now.

Until next blog...Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow.  Swedish Proverb

Quilting away and other News

One of the nurses that Pamela works with had a baby girl and Pamela found some fabric for a quilt and of course you know who gets to make it. LOL. 

This pattern is called boxes and bows. The fabric has a vintage looks. Even David said he like this fabric. I really like how it turned out. Donna @ Donna's Lavender Nest did the quilting. 

And the best part is that Lauren liked the quilt for her baby girl Allison.

I also made a quilt for a cousin. Their daughter had a baby boy and I wasn't very quick at getting this one done. I believe Liam turned 6 months. Better late than never. I started another quilt pattern that wasn't going so well. Actually very slow. At the rate I was going Liam was gonna be a year old by the time I finished so I changed directions and came up with this idea.  Momma Jordan sent me a message and she loved it.  Nothing went quite right with this one. I had an idea for the back but I couldn't find the fabric and then I found this one. It was perfect.

My friend Donna @ Donna's Lavender Next quilted it with a boots and stars motif.  It came out really cute.                               I've already started my next quilt with 3 more in the que. Sew Sew Sew.

Thursday (8/4) was Date day for me and David. We've been wanting to go to this Texas Rustic place in Waco and off we went. And we found this bookcase for his office. He is getting to finally be able to unpack his boxes for his office and get it organized the way he wants it. And we bought a 2nd nightstand for the Texas guest room that I didn't take a picture of.  He's been trying to decide what size and kind of bookcase and now he found one he likes.  

Monday (8/8) was my Mom's birthday so Pamela and I drove down to Mom and Joe's to visit. Pamela and I have always spent the day with her for her birthday or close to it. She was in great spirits. Very talkative and alert until the end of our visit. She said she was really tired and I told she couldn't go to sleep because she had to visit with us. But the minute we said we had to get home and Pamela stood up, Mom laid over and was closing her eyes. I think she was asleep before we hit the door. It was a really good visit.

So on Wednesday 8/10 David had surgery. I haven't talked about it really but to a couple people but here I am on my blog. With David's permission of course. The week before he had a CT scan thinking he had kidney stones again but instead they told him he had a tumor on his bladder.  What?! This is hard and he definitely don't like being down.  They removed the tumor but we have to wait until the pathology report comes back to know the final outcome. The good news would be they got it all and it didn't go into the lining and he'll just need to come in for check ups every few months but the not so good news could be Chemo or radiation treatments. We just don't know. It's not something you expect obviously but we're hoping for the best.  He's recovering from the surgery pretty good except for some cramping but the doctor said it's not uncommon. I know David doesn't feel good when he's willing to stay inside and watch TV. He is normally working outside and yes even in this Texas heat. Hopefully we'll know something before this week is out. Please say a prayer for him and that we get good news.

Bruno and I took a walk out to the mailbox and I saw this ugly bug last week. Anyone know what it is? I thought it was a spider at first glance but upon closer inspection I decided it was a bug. A Creepy bug at that.                                                                        We went to the backyard and Jerry wanted to hang with Bruno. I missed the shot where they were kissing on each other. Animals are funny and cute.

Bruno is a mess. It's hard to water the plants without him wanting to help. This time David shot water out into the flowerbed so Bruno could play. He loves jumping and snapping at the water. If you listening you can hear him snapping in the video.

And if he's entertaining himself..... he starts throwing the blue bucket around in the backyard. He's pretty much destroyed it between tossing it and chewing on it.

  

He's been such a sweet and entertaining guy.

He loves to cuddle in David's lap and hasn't been able too since David was recovering from the surgery. He also likes to come running and jump over the side of the recliner and land in his lap but I set up a barrier of bar stools to avoid that. Or so I thought.  Last night David was leaning back in the recliner and Bruno saw an opening and leaped between the bar stool and the back of the recliner. He landed on David's chest. That sent the recliner further back to the point I thought the chair was gonna flip over to the floor. Here's the result

Bruno was now a happy boy. 

My Life journey is progressing slowly. As of Monday 8/15 I have lost 40 pounds. I can sort of see it in some pictures but I can mostly tell in my clothes and how they fit.  My little sister told me about this Unjury protein powder that I now use. Can't thank her enough because I wasn't able to get in the protein I needed just by eating and I was getting tired of drinking the premier shakes all the time. Now I can have juice and decaf coffee, etc. I have added the unflavored powder in some food if I'm making something for just me. Not sure David wants my protein powder in his food. Not that he'd know it.

Also went to the Heart Rhythm doctor to check out my pacemaker today (8/17).  Good report there. Everything is working and they saw on incident of Afib that lasted 20 seconds and said no problem.  Don't have to go back for 6 months. Yay. Doc was happy with the weight loss and was glad to hear that I have very few issues with or after the bariatric surgery.

That's my news for now. 

Until next blog... The mind is it's own place, and in itself can make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n ~ John Milton