Friendship and Our celebration

Well isn't this just lovely. Had this entire blog post disappear. I had saved it and even scheduled it to post and saved it again.  Awesome! My website shut down and puff it was gone. All that was saved was the next paragraph. Well here I go starting over.
Last weekend David decided to check out renting a room in a house near work instead of staying in a hotel. He'll save money. He found a place, signed on the dotted line and left a deposit. At least or at least we hope he won't have people fighting outside his room or people banging on his door in the middle of the night wanting in.  And the best part is it's clean. He'll have 3-4 roommates. It's gonna be like going to college. LOL. It's month to month so if he doesn't like it he can always give notice and go back to staying in a hotel. He's trying to work until he turns 65 which is another year and a half. He works Monday - Thursday most weeks but it varies sometimes. Basically he leaves here at 5:30 am on a Monday or Tuesday and returns Wed-Thursday or Friday anytime from noon on.  It all depends on his work schedule.
Wednesday, August 28 we needed to take my car in for repairs. To date we have not found a place around us for car repairs so I worked a few hours that morning, grabbed Lilley dropped her off at Pamela's in case we were late. Don't want that baby girl to miss a meal.  LOL.  Besides she likes hanging with her fur babies.
I got in to Houston by lunch time so I met up with my friends Samara and Genesis for some Thai food. I haven't found a Thai place around here and besides no one else in my family cares for Thai or at least they don't think they do. After lunch I went back to the Technology building to visit some of my former co-workers. I can never see all the people I want to.  My time always runs out. I miss my friends.
Monday, September 2 David and I  celebrated 41 years of marriage. The weekend is about us and no projects.







Thursday 8/29 - David was a little disappointed that we didn't run out and explore but I needed to get some work done First. I did go have coffee on the back porch and caught this little guy flying around. He's very shy. He lands on the backside of the feeder and at the very least amount of noise of movement he's gone.












Before I went in to get to work I counted 3 hummingbirds.









He likes to hang out in our desert willow tree David planted outside my sewing room window at the end of the back porch. Too bad he didn't land closer to the the branch that's flowering.

Today we stayed home so I could work and he worked on projects outside

Thursday was also the opening Aggie Game against Texas State. Pamela and nursing friend Amanda got tickets and went to enjoy the game and discovered beer is now served on the general admission side, Not on the student side.

Final score 41-7 Whoop!. David and Pamela feel the score should have had a wider spread.

Aggies need to pick up the pace if they plan on beating Clemson or Alabama.








Friday (8/29) I semi woke to the sounds of David getting in his night stand and the door chime as he went out. But then I woke up to POP POP POP. What the hell. I get up and go out the front door and see David shooting about 16-17 wild hogs running across our front pasture. This is the 2nd time they've been on the property. First time we thought they just came in the open gate but the gate was closed last night. So David got on the 4-wheeler to ride along the fence line to find a breach and he did at the bottom of the property that backs up to the railroad track.  Dang it. Something David will add to the 'To Do List' .
Since he was out there he decided he'd take the time to move Jerry and the cows to the front pasture since they've ate down most all the grass in the back pasture. It wasn't so hard since they all thought he had something to eat so they followed him like the Pied Piper with Jerry in the lead. LOL

These critters don't want to miss a treat but the only treat they'll find is fresh grass in the front pasture. They seemed to be happy enough bouncing through the gate.

The last little straggler was the calf born in April. We now think he's a bull. We were hoping for a female. Oh well.

He was very hesitate to come through the gate even with his Mom standing a few yards away but finally bounced through.                            Well with that excitement and the moving of Jerry and the cows over we were ready to begin our adventure.  This weekend is about us an quality time.

David and I jumped in the car and headed to to explore our new area. We had no clue where we'd end up but off we went.
David decided our first stop would be at Westphalia Market in Westphalia. He wanted see where it was and to get pricing for processing a couple of cows for the freezer when we were ready for that step.
There were other people around picking up their meat and other items available to purchase. When we walked out of the store this lady was sitting on the bed of her truck and she hollered at us "So y'all raising Dexter's" That's the breed of our cows. Well that started a conversation because David had all kinds of questions for her since raising and processing our cows is something new. They exchanged phone numbers and we left after a lengthy question and answer session. She was really nice and helpful.. In fact we hadn't been on the road more than 5 minutes she was already texting David some more information. Next time we're all in Taylor we're going to meet up at the Taylor Beer Co. LOL
All that talk of processing we realized we were hungry. We found a Deli just down the road but it was packed and David was thinking more on the lines of BBQ. Imagine. Being in the country it's not like you're gonna have a huge selection of eating places period. Our next stop was in Mart so we drove on down the road with our eyes open for somewhere to eat. We arrived to our turn off in Riesel to get to Mart and found a BBQ place for David.  We parked on the side of the road and saw the cute idea of how to use wall mounted sinks.  Too cute. The sinks were mounted on the wall and used as planters.  The yellow building made them stand out.
We ate at B&M BBQ in Riesel and was very pleased. The brisket and sausage were cooked and seasoned just right along with the sides of potato salad, green beans for me (yummy) and pinto beans for David. Very yummy. Next time we're in the area we'll stop again that's for sure
On the road again. Heading towards Mart to Leon Junction Antique. Pamela and I went there last year and I thought David would like it too. He seemed too.  He likes to collect the old metal signs and he found a couple there. I went to go take a picture of them and moved them somewhere.
Oh well. At our Tomball home he displayed them a couple on the patio and others inside the garage. Not sure where he'll hang them now. They're cool old signs.  He found this sign and we both laughed. He didn't buy it though.

So now what shall we do... We drove down the road toward Groesbeck to see what we could find. I also texted our good friends that live in the country near Groesbeck to see what they were up too.

About the time we hit Groesbeck my friend Sheryl texted back saying just hanging at the house to come on by.  She had been following my facebook post and knew we were in the area. So we had Siri map us to their place. Only Siri look us on the long route to NY and back. LOL Okay maybe not NY but she took us in a BIG loop. We finally made it by.  Sheryl decided she needed to repay me for all the wine she drank at my house and gave me a glass of wine and so on. Ross and David discussed live stock and farm life.
We even went out to visit their animals. They have 2 girl donkey's smaller than Jerry and 3 very small cows called Zebu's
These gals are so cute. And the cows oh my. They're so little. The black and white one is the boy. These babies stand barely 5 foot tall.

They look about the size of a Great Dane dog. My Dexter cows look huge upside these babies. LOL
Before we knew it, it was nearly 6pm. Yikes ! We say our goodbyes and turn the right direction to get back to the main highway and much shorter than Siri's path.
As we hit the highway David asked if we want to go try Leona General Store for dinner or should we head home. I said we had time and that Lilley girl would be fine so we headed to dinner. Oh wow so delicious. Thursday's is catfish night but Friday and Saturday is either Ribeye or bone grilled chicken. We chose the steak. It came with a salad, smashed taters and the best yeast rolls. Sorry but Taste of Texas may have met their match.  It was that good. The steak was seasoned to perfection, juicy, big and thick. We got lucky since it was opening football season so they weren't as busy so we walked right in and was seated. Our waitress told us they generally serve 500-600 a night. That's a lot of steaks and chicken.
Time to head home to feed our Lilley. She's gonna give us the business when we get there.
Tomorrow is another day. Stay tuned for the rest of our celebration.

Hopefully this one will post and not go into Internet la la land and have to recreate it again.

Until next blog post...The more you invest in a marriage, the more valuable it becomes . ~ Amy Grant

A Hodge Podge...Fun, Quilting, Antiques and food.

So for my Mom's birthday Pamela and I drove to Montgomery, TX picked her up and took her to Lunch at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Tomball and then we treated her to a spa day.  Look at long her hair has grown in the month or so. She's doing something right. It seems to have gotten thicker and definitely longer.   After Lunch we took her to get her hair cut at Trendsetters Salon by Brittney Bunch.  Mom loved the way she cut in June. It has been a few days. This time she asked about cutting it a little shorter and we did.   Mom loved the new cut.  

  After a hair cut we took her to get a Mani and a spa pedi. For years we had tried to get her to join us when we went but she always said no. This time she was in agreeance.  She can't see well enough to do her own so she needed it. While she was sitting in the chair and the little gal massaged her legs and feet she's going I've never had any one ever do this. It feels good and about that time the little gal dug her thumbs into Mom's. Not so hard! Please!  If you've ever had a spa pedi you probably know the feeling. I sure do. They get those thumbs to do a deep tissue massage.  Nope Nope not my thing either.  So when it was all done we asked Mom if next time she'd turn us down to join us... Her answer was very definite...."Hell NO" This was nice"  Success.

I'm planning my Fall retreat and picked the Fat Quarter theme for everyone going. We play games for small and sometimes silly door prizes.  This years theme is Black, Yellow and White. Any combination of the colors and any pattern.





One of my regular retreaters suggested we do something different and fun.  So I emailed those going if they would be interested in making a decorated witches hat. Everyone said they were in. We'll vote for the best hat and someone will get a prize. The clincher is you have to wear to lunch when meet up before going to retreat house.  Kountz, TX may never know what hit them. LOL. This is an example of Lori Holt's or at least from her pinterest.  This should be fun and interesting.

Maybe I'll get my artistic daughter to help me.

How about going to Hogwarts with Harry Potty?  LOL. Top Paw Pet Spa thing in July was Harry Potty.  After she grooms the dogs she has a photo corner set up with a different theme each month. She does a great job with the girls, reasonably priced and ends it with a photo. Thanks Misty.   Bri is sitting so pretty and looking very studious.  Lilley looks like she's ready to take off to play game of Quid ditch.

 Sophie looks cute and ready to fly.






I'm always showing off the great nephew and niece babies so I thought I'd share the picture my nephew posted of his oldest for first day of 3rd grade.  (You were right Barb, he's in 3rd)
This is Carson. Geez he's grown. I don't remember him being this big in May when were visiting Missouri.

 He looks like his Dad, Zachariah.
Zachariah and Bailey Jo have raised him to be very polite and well behaved.  Okay he is a boy and he will have his moments but he was awesome when we were visiting at dinner. He's pretty cute too.



We live on a loop. This is the East end of our County Road. When it's graded like it is now I really like to go down it to get to our house on the West end.  I like the way the trees arch over the road. And there's always a few Cardinals that fly across the road in front of me. They're so pretty. Now it can be a little tight on the East end if you meet another vehicle.
But everyone is very polite and moves over and shares the road or finds a wide spot to pull over to get out of the way.
I found two quilt patterns I want to make when I'm done with the 5 on my list already.  The background on this first quilt is newsprint or printed words of some kind. I found some fabric today in the sale bin that looked like the small receipt pads that the old hamburger stands use(d).

 It uses scraps of fabric from other projects. I might have a few of those laying around in a tub. Some I've given away but I still have some for myself.

This quilt will be easy to find fabric scraps. It's made with Kaffe Fassett fabric line and I have lots of it. All the colors and designs in Kaffe Fassett work well together. I made my daughter's guest room bedding, pillow cases, shams and dust ruffle out this line of fabric. I just pick up a new piece every so often to add to the collection and use the leftovers with some new to make more quilts.. 
 So this weekend my sister Barb was in San Antonio working. She was in the Air Force Reserves and now works on setting up what was called the Yellow Ribbon Program. The program helps returning soldiers find the resources they need to re-enter civilian life like insurance, medical care, etc. Anyway she mentioned to us in May when she would be down to Texas so Pamela and I decided we'd drive to San Antonio to see her. It took us about 2 hr and 50 minutes but it wasn't a bad drive at all. So Pamela drives to the Rock'n K. She walks into my room as I'm walking out and goes... "What! You can't wear pink!"  LOL She's wearing pink too. We had not planned our wardrobe.
When we arrive in San Antonio we head straight to the hotel because Barb had thought she'd be off by 2. Well that didn't happen. We walked in the lobby and gave her a call to find out that she would be another hour or so before she could hang out.
The lobby was loud and full of people so we needed think of something to do until Barb was free.  So we do what we like to do and Pamela found us a Wine Room about 10 minutes down the road.  The folks behind the counter and their patrons were very friendly and funny.  We had fun there and while tasting some wine at the Stray Grape.
They have some nice wines.
Barb finally texted saying she was free. So we paid our bill and headed back to the hotel to pick her up.
 So as we're driving down the street to the Hotel I could see Barb. She was wearing a bright Pink T-Shirt. She had taken off the hot pink cowboy boots that she had been wearing for the program. They try to make it fun and informational obviously. She looks great in pink but it's not a color she tends to wear.
So without knowing it we all three were dressed in some form or fashion of Pink. We were Pretty in Pink. LOL
We thought we'd try to find a distillery but that was a big fail.  Lol We ended up in parking lot with a fitness gym. and some other shops. MMMM who knows where it was.  Our next stop landed us in Helotes at the Helotes Creek Winery. Cute place with lots of outdoor sitting which might have been great if it wasn't 106 outside.  In the shade it was almost bearable. Almost.
This place was about 3 doors down from John T. Flores General Store that used to cater to travellers between San Antonio and Bandera but for the 60 years plus it hosts live music, BBQ and a bar.  And has a huge dance floor. Willie Nelson plays there with 3000 plus fans. I can't image what it looks like with that many people at this place. I just looked at their website and it's been hosting music for 75 years now.
We were all getting hungry and Barb said there was a Mexican Restaurant just down the road somewhere. She had gone with a friend who lives in Helotes. We didn't even have to drive out onto the highway. It was right there on the side road. The parking lot was packed. We figured it would be an hour wait but surprised it was only 20. The El Chaparal was good and reasonable priced. Service was good too. We had a great afternoon visiting and playing. Maybe we can do it again next year.

This is my great nephew Tate. This little guy looks just like his Mom but every now and then he makes some face and I see his Dad. He and Dad are watching TV I'm guessing. He's 5 months old. He's a little ham I do believe. Look at that face, posing for the camera. Then he's over it. He's adorable. LOL. 

 
 Today (8/20) I met up with a couple of my quilting pals in town about 50 minutes away from the Rock'n K. We met up at The Whistle Stop Antique Store. That place can be dangerous I tell you. They have so many of the the things I like and collect that I have no more room for but it's fun to look and who knows maybe find something old that I can't live without. I was able to restrain myself and only Donna and Sandy opened their wallet. From here we went a block down and across the road to another Antique store called Jackie Arnold's.

They too had lots of cool things. Well this time I couldn't pass up something. I love this picture with a crazy quilt behind the barn tin cut outs of quilt block.  Now to decide where to hang it.  When I spoke to David tonight he asked me where I was thinking of hanging and I wasn't sure but I have since thought about it and have a couple of ideas now.
One place is over my Quilt Room Door.

Our tummies were starting to growl so time to find food.





From here we went to lunch at the Giddings Downtown Restaurant. It cafeteria style. For lunch it's $7.95 for and entree and 2 sides. It's like a home cooked meal. The ladies that run provide excellent service.

It's in an old building right on the hwy 290
.After a satisfying of meal of smothered chopped steak with yams and green beans I was ready for the next stop..... the quilt shop All Around the Block.  Not that I needed anything but I love to look at all the pretty colors and patterns.  I was looking for some gingham fabric to go with this piece of fabric I already have.  Didn't spend much but I did find what I wanted.  Donna and Sandy bought lots of fabric for projects they want to start. 
Well with our pocketbooks a little lighter it was time to go our separate ways and head home.

That's it for now.
Until next blog....Behind every sewer is a huge pile of fabric.

New Beginnings, Old Friends & Gardening

On August 3rd Pamela and I drove into Houston for a special event. My GodChild Michelle's Bridal Shower. We were happy to be included in the celebration. Michelle was radiate. Can't wait to see her on her wedding day. She was all smiles that day. Standing with her is her Aunt Rebecca, her Abue (grandmother) and her Mom Gigi. Beautiful family for sure.

This is a picture of her with her Aunt Lisa and Aunt Robyn.

Her Aunt Lisa told Pamela to jump in the picture because she was like part of the family.
Lisa is surrounded by her beautiful nieces.










And a picture of Michelle and her Mom Gigi

Then a picture of me and Robyn. Michelle's Mom and her Aunt Robyn and I ran around together when in college and we all first met. We even took trips together along with the men in our life. We always had fun and created a lot of fond memories. It had been a while since we'd seen each other.

The young lady in the picture with Pamela and Michelle is Michelle's little brother's girlfriend, Erica. We were giving her a bad time that no one realized Nicholas had a girlfriend. She was a sweetheart.

It was a pleasant afternoon see the family and wishing Michelle the best.

David built 2 raised garden beds. Of which caused him some injuries when he tried to drag them by himself and fell. Messed up his shoulder and aggravated his back that already had problems. This man is determined to get things done even if it kills him.

He even planted veggies in them. The yellow squash gave us these pretty flowers and today I picked our first baby squash. They were very tasty.
It was a late garden but the tomatoes are growing almost faster than we can eat them.  They're starting slow down a little. OH NO... How can we go back to eating store bought tomatoes. The fresh tomatoes have the best flavor ever! Our baby squash. More are forming. Might be able to pick more by Saturday or Sunday.

David also planted some pickling cucumbers. Some are really big. I picked some last week and they taste good just sliced up. I'm gonna have to go find a pickling recipe.  If anyone has a good one send it to me.

David also planted yellow, green, red and purple bell peppers. We're new at this gardening thing and most of our produce is small but its edible. 
We didn't get to eat any green beans. We have a rabbit that I call... what else Peter Cottontail. He comes every morning to check out the garden he ate all the beans and in the last 2-3 weeks he ate the leaves of the plant. Oh well.




Then there is the Okra. We had no clue when to pick. Well let me tell you.... You pick them when they are 2-3" inches long. If they crunch when you squeeze or try put your nail through them or there's resistance it's too late. By the time they're 4" long you can barely get a knife through them. Some that were longer needed a chainsaw.  We had no clue. We thought the longer the better. NOPE not so much. The cows have a surprise in their feeding trough.
They have beautiful flower before they become the vegetable. I was able to pick enough tonight to add to my vegetable medley I made for dinner. I used squash, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, Anaheim pepper, onion, Okra and some cut up tomatoes. I added the tomatoes in at the last 5 minutes. I used Adams House seasoning and a wine and garlic seasoning also by Adams. So tasty.
Wow I'm finally catching up with my postings. YAY

But I need to transfer the pictures off my phone so I guess this will be a good stopping point.

Until next blog post....“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller