Where have I been this past year! Same place, same job. Young adults moving in, moving out, moving about. Got the son graduated from the junior college and happy he landed a great job; well, great is a subjective word - I'll leave at decent pay, steady work and a good education in something practical. The other house-mate, aka the niece, became engaged, I hosted her bridal shower just before Thanksgiving, graduated with her BA, married the next day, Christmas the next week and that brings me up to date just in time for a new year to begin. Sounds simple enough unless you are living life in the fast lane.
So - here I am again, house back to being very quite with the exception of the singing dog. Current goals: Get some scrap pages of the last year's vacations / events posted and have the niece's scrapbook done, printed and off to her in the next few weeks. Sounds do'able.
Checking In
Feb 14. Valentine's day.
I've been very busy and basically gotten lazy in posting.
In my lastest preps...
All American Canner arrived - so excited
Many heirloom seeds arrived, tomatoes (way too many varieties) all germinated and stepped up to their baby nusery cups.
I am in love with this site on food storeage and other very excellent news, tips. Check it out
http://foodstorageandsurvival.com/?p=492
I've been very busy and basically gotten lazy in posting.
In my lastest preps...
All American Canner arrived - so excited
Many heirloom seeds arrived, tomatoes (way too many varieties) all germinated and stepped up to their baby nusery cups.
I am in love with this site on food storeage and other very excellent news, tips. Check it out
http://foodstorageandsurvival.com/?p=492
Out with 2010 ~ In with 2011
A new year is almost here... what strange creatures we are that make such a noise about the change in date. No less, it seems like a good time to make note of some 2010 events. Today it was 70 degrees... too weird even for Texas.
Tim found his footing and a place to reside other than at my house... but always our home.
Gelica found Texas and decided to stay... became an official resident.
I tried to count every blessing, missing some I'm sure. For this I pray the Lord remains patient with this very willful, often disobedient child.
As is typical I found myself bored with digital scrapbooking... on a back burner, but I'm sure the urge will return.
End of this particular year found me reviewing how I've looked at what appears to be security. Often running my everyday vehicle to almost empty of fuel, relying on the weekly shopping to supply the next week's needs. Indeed, how did a relatively smart gal get to 50 yrs of living only to wake to the fact that nothing is very secure, much less our everydayness of living.
With this and a very appreciative husband that has been waiting on me to catch up... we embark on a very new path of self-reliance. It became startling clear how very unprepared for anything more than one week away we really are. But we are very fortunate that we are 'country type' folks. Many talents have been honed that will be very useful. Many hobbies coupled with pack-rat mentality means we have many tools, general merchandise on the homestead... if you can call 1 acre such a thing. Perhaps I will make notes here, but mostly I am much more tuned to what I can pick up and read without anything more than daylight or candles. I look forward to learning neglected skills... first up - putting my brand spankin' new All American canner to good use with the garden bounty that shamefully go to waste each year.
Happy New Year - 2011. I think we are up to the challenge. ~..~ vlm
Tim found his footing and a place to reside other than at my house... but always our home.
Gelica found Texas and decided to stay... became an official resident.
I tried to count every blessing, missing some I'm sure. For this I pray the Lord remains patient with this very willful, often disobedient child.
As is typical I found myself bored with digital scrapbooking... on a back burner, but I'm sure the urge will return.
End of this particular year found me reviewing how I've looked at what appears to be security. Often running my everyday vehicle to almost empty of fuel, relying on the weekly shopping to supply the next week's needs. Indeed, how did a relatively smart gal get to 50 yrs of living only to wake to the fact that nothing is very secure, much less our everydayness of living.
With this and a very appreciative husband that has been waiting on me to catch up... we embark on a very new path of self-reliance. It became startling clear how very unprepared for anything more than one week away we really are. But we are very fortunate that we are 'country type' folks. Many talents have been honed that will be very useful. Many hobbies coupled with pack-rat mentality means we have many tools, general merchandise on the homestead... if you can call 1 acre such a thing. Perhaps I will make notes here, but mostly I am much more tuned to what I can pick up and read without anything more than daylight or candles. I look forward to learning neglected skills... first up - putting my brand spankin' new All American canner to good use with the garden bounty that shamefully go to waste each year.
Happy New Year - 2011. I think we are up to the challenge. ~..~ vlm
Celebrating birthdays
For some ~ it might take an expensive gift or dinner, a large gathering of folks; maybe a trip to the city for excitement to celebrate a birthday. For me ~ it just does not get any better than spending a week with my best friend trying to get as lost as possible. Explore every dirt road, hiking the side of a mountain to stand in awe at huge rock crevices, walking along mountain streams, surrounded in nature the way God intended it to be enjoyed. Nights cool enough for a camp fire, snuggling in our very fancy tent - ha! This kind of peace and serenity can't be bought and is only found if you really look for it.... and if you are fortunate to love every minute spent with your mate.
To each his own, for sure, because I wouldn't trade my choice for anything else. My 52nd birthday, 22nd wedding anniversary spent at Devil's Den State Park, Arkansas. Our adventures just keeping getting better!
Changes
A week of changes.... JT traveled to Japan for his 1st duty station, Gelica hates good-byes but not as much as the sailor man. Tim moved to a new level of independence ~ even if it's less than 10 miles from home. First steps to somewhere further (perhaps) next year when Kilgore College tells him he has to go be a professional student somewhere else - lol. Rick bought me a dozen roses because I was a little sad to see my kido stretching his wings. I found this unknown flower while fishing with my buddy on Lake-O-the-Pines. It reminded me of these young people bursting away from the security they know.
Casper, Wy in August 2010
Few would dispute that I love to travel and a chance to see a far North part of the USA was a grand adventure. Casper lies in the east central part of the state and is locked away from the world when the winter snows arrive. As a southern native I was amazed to hear that Casper folks don't think it odd that the main and only road from here to there; I-25 is literally closed for weeks at a time. I loved the wide, open feeling, the cool moutain air provided by none other - Casper Mountain that establishes the Southern border of this lively town. The massive wind turbines dot the Northern hills. Located about 15 miles from the city, they dwarf the huge power plant they supply.
It's been a long time since I've flown and now remember why - I hate airports but the chance to capture the view from above the clouds was worth it.
To quote Dorothy - "There's no place like home".
Granbury, Tx July 2010
An extended weekend to visit this very historic town. Rick and I acting like professional tourist for a few days. A favorite photo spot - Grandbury Live theater. We didn't have a chance to catch a show, but hear that they rival Branson, MS shows. Maybe little morbid, but we love historic cemeteries and this town has some fantastic history. The old jail house has been converted to a museum with loads of stories from the retired volunteer gentleman who is old enough to recall a lot of first hand info and tales from his folks.
Notable facts -
Forensic anthropologists are conducting DNA testing on the bones of one J. Frank Dalton, who just prior to his 1951 death in Granbury claimed to be the notorious outlaw Jesse James. History currently purports that James died in 1882 in Missouri, gunned down by a member of his own gang. But revisionists in Granbury have long claimed that James came to their town in the 1880's to work on the railroad.
Then there was John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln's assassin. He evidently spent a lot of time in Granbury's saloons. And like Jesse James, Booth evidently assumed an alias.
Granbury Opera House takes front and center stage amongst the town's entertainment venues. Built in 1886, the opera house exhales a rich history that architects resuscitated in 1975 when they restored the building to its original grandeur.
A quick google of Granbury, Texas reaps a wealth of colorful history for this small, but growing, community with roots dating back to 1871.
Found Discarded / 365 - 7.18 to 7.24.10
DISCARD [dɪsˈkɑːd]
vb 1: to get rid of as useless or undesirable 2: abandon. There's nothing like finding a good deal - trash to treasure kind of thing, especially when a visit to the local library reaps an extraordinary find - FREE set of The International Encylopedia of Social Sciences. Doesn't matter that they were published in 1968 - all knowledge is good.
Rick rescues many unwanted things - sometimes cheap and other times, well, not so. I now have a beautiful desk that was originally a dresser; ugly, unwanted, greatly used up. In his usual methodical manner this rejected bedroom suite is slowly being restored.
When is a flower a weed - when it goes wildly about the yard in unwanted places - like the lawn.
I think of the many, many, endeavors I've taken up - only to be abandoned when I reach my self-described level of competency. This is especially true considering the time, money and complete satisfaction I found when I was aspiring to be an acrylic artist.
365 - 7.11 to 7.17.2010
Everyday sounds - all around us. I've come to accept them as part of the hum... the 'up and moving' section of my day. This week I made a conscious effort to stop and listen to something other than the white noise of my life - constant chatter of the T.V, endless chirping of the resident bird, misc music turned on without a thought to what I want to hear, news, traffic, phones ringing, people talking, etc.
The first thing required is that I tone down the constant clamor in my head ~ not an easy task ~ then take a deep breath and LISTEN... to the sound of my favorite wind chimes, TM's gentle snore of deep slumber (how in that contorted position is beyond me) ...the humming and twitter of little birds that I believe are mislabeled as 'cute' (these warriors are very brutal when it comes to their territory)...
And then there is a sound that is as much a part of my person as the air I breath. The summer sound of cicadas (aka locust according to the older generation I grew up with, but simply not a fact - a completely different bug). While this insect & it's discarded shell after molting have a rich history of terrifying young kids; for me the droning of these creatures have such lulling effect on me that I can't find any repulsion in the little buggers. Endless summer memories carry me away and like a photo that you never tire of looking at; it's a SONG I look forward to.
365 - 7.4 to 7.10.10
365 - 6.27 to 7.3.2010
Other than this little set back the week was pretty usual. Fresh corn ready, more tomatoes and peppers than I know what to do with. Seems everyones garden is flourishing also, so no one wants anything. Lots of summer showers. Best ending I could come up with - margaritas, wonderful baja fish tacos and the best group I know to hang with ~ Rick, Tim & Gelica... ahhhh - you can't be unhappy with that - LOL.
365 - 6.20 to 6.26.10
I just love ordinary weeks when nothing unpredicable creeps in to mess it up. Perhaps this is a sign of aging (gracefully) that it doesn't take a lot of colorful drama to make my life complete.... I'll take it any old day. I definitely prefer watching corn grow, rainbows that show up in the water sprinkler, finding chalk buckets on my back porch and thinking it's pretty cool that some 20+ year olds know how to have fun. An ice cold water (with a few slices of lime and fresh peach... odd, I know, but strangely refreshing and very low cal). The two whimsical critters that reside in the mint pot make me smile each time I look at them (lovingly named Rick & Vanessa... hahaha). A visit by a tree frog to my back porch...and the week is complete with ordinary things that are not very much at all.
6-13 to 6-19 / 365 project
How my garden grows
Procrastination
June 2010
Life can be so exceptional on any given day. My goal is to capture a little of it with my camera every chance I get.
Favorite Shoes
These are quite possibly the most comfortable, durable shoes I've ever owned. This is very important when you spend lots of time outdoors, stomping around in all kinds of terrain. Rick bought a pair a couple of years ago and after seeing how they held up under his abuse - I knew I had to have some.
I highly recommend these if you don't mind spending a little more than you ever wanted to on a pair of 'do-everything' shoes.
Hill Country INSECTS
Of the 200+ photos it's not really odd that I started scrapping a page of BUGS. Unique creatures have always captured my attention. I got past the icky, yucky, panic of discovering one when I was - oh - about 4 yrs old, LOL.
I just see the extraordinary beauty in every living thing and I found some pretty unusual ones in the Tx Hill Country. I wish I could have gotten a good picture of the most awesome spider that spread a web about 6 ft between our camp and the one next to us. She was a subject of many wishful pictures. I even had Tim get involved in catching food in an attempt to lure her off of the cedar branch into her web. Camera shy is all I could figure. Bet she was glad when I left after 4 days of messing with her.i
