Hot weather and new camera...

I'm sure most of you know already that Texas is in the worst drought in 44 years and is being consumed by an explosion of wildfires. Let me just say...dang it's hot! The temps are now up into the nineties with heavy humidity, but still no rain. I can't even open the door without breaking out a sweat from the extreme heat.

Here at my house we haven't had any measurable rain since Sept. I do envy those who are getting rain, but yet I hear some are getting way too much rain with violent storms and even some tornado's thrown in. I watch Facebook status's and here lately I have had major concern for the safety of my friends and have a wave of relief when I see that those folks have posted again and are okay. Thank goodness.

I also learnt this morning that one of those wildfires is very close to my sister-in-law. The news was posting pics of places and hubby was calling out their names with a gasp. I think the hardest blow was the swimming hole that he played in many a summers while staying with his sister. We are both hopeful that they can get those fires under control. A little rain couldn't hurt either!
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We have wild blackberries all over the place around my house. I have been trying to go picking for the last few days but I can't stay out there for too long. BUT I will keep trying cause well....they are FREE! I already have 5 bags in the freezer, would have had 7 but we ate some already! LOL! I just might try my hand at making a pie, that requires flour...right? Hmmm, I'd better go get some.
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Soo remember the camera I soo wanted to the point of obsession. Well thanks to some donations and a sale, I was able to upgrade. No I didn't get THE camera of my dreams but I did manage to get...

Kodak® EasyShare Z981 14.0-Megapixel Digital Camera, with 26x optical zoom.

It should be arriving today!! I am super excited and want to thank all who donated to help me out with the camera fund. Yall are AWESOME!!!
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Okay well I'd better get out of this chair and get out there and pick some berries before the heat melts them away. Yall have a great day!

Randomness

Yesterday was a bad day for Taco, he was getting hurt left and right all day.
He tried to jump up on the chair and missed, he landed on his side and whimpered for a good two minutes. Scared him is all.
He wanted down from the chair and I raised my crocheting to let him pass and he jumped his face right into my hand. He has a loose tooth, so I know that really hurt.
He was doing circles in front of the door (The "let me out" dance), I go to open the door and Stitch rushes over and pushes Taco into the moving door. Hurt his right front foot.
I'm sure if he could, he would file "elder doggie abuse" on me! Really an "Off" day!
Today..he acts like he is going to try to sleep through this day. No chance of getting hurt while your sleeping, unless the cat pounces on him! Poor old man!
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I know most of yall are still being pounded by rain or snow and most think I am pretty lucky to be in Texas and to be getting spring already. For the most part I would agree, but believe me we are already hitting some problems.
For the last few days it has been gloomy and chilly outside, like it really wanted to rain. Heck it did rain all around us, but here at my house..Nothing. AND yet the grass keeps growing!!
The temps are already starting to climb back up and the fan in the livingroom decided to die and the AC in my bedroom isn't working right. One thing I have learned here in Texas, there is NO happy medium! Okay maybe there is but it only lasts about a week! It's either hot or cold, in a drought or flooded...warm with light showers is a rarity to be treasured. I want some of that!
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I forgot to post my last project in crocheting.


It's really hard to tell, but there is a large heart in the center of the bed. I made this for my bf's birthday.

I am currently working on a blanket for my dad, I'm about halfway finished with it.
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If you will notice there is a donation button for paypal over on the side panel, it is for a camera fund. I was talked into putting it up there, by a few folks. It's not that I don't already love the cameras I do have, they are both great in thier own ways. It would just be nice if all those features where in just one camera. Soo, I have been drooling over this camera for some time and of course the price of it is soo far out of my range it's pathetic.

Yeah, it sure is purty! I have it on my Christmas list, but the hubs hardly ever pays attention to the list, if he looks at it at all. He is NOT a shopper! LOL!

Sooo, I thought I would give the button a gander, we'll see.
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I guess I ought to give yall a little update on some past posts.

Mom and dad didn't kill each other, they stopped talking for a day and now they are both back to normal with some extra umph and gusto at working out some of the issues.

I appreciate all of yall's help with the address labels and placed my order last night. #3 will be "mine" and #10 will be "ours". Between friends, family and awesome bloggers those are the ones with the most votes.
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Family Reunion - Day One

Friday evening I was a ball of anxiety and excitement. I felt like I wasn’t getting anything done or prepared right. Thankfully hubby went through the check list and we confirmed everything was A. Okay. BUT of course I still had that nagging little voice in my head that I was forgetting something. I had to walk away and turn it down to a whisper just so I could try to get to sleep. I slept four hours and walked out to the living room to find hubby still up. I asked him what was the matter and his reply was “I’m too excited to sleep!”

For my hubby this day was a lifelong dream that was finally coming true. All of his kids and grandkids together at last. It’s a miracle he slept at all! I had to remind him that if he didn’t get SOME sleep then he wouldn’t be able to make it through the day. That got him to sleep! BUT I had to wake him at 5 am to get the brisket fire going. Then I went back to sleep.

Hubby woke me with “They’re on their way!!” Son called to let him know and get directions. Hubby told me the directions he gave and I briefly said “They’re going to get lost”

The rain had been threatening to pour down all morning, but I don’t think anything could have dampened our moods. It did drizzle and then sprinkle, each passing wave of moisture seemed to be harder than the one before.

We got everything ready and waited. Hubby was outside sitting on the patio and I was pacing all over the place. I looked down at hubby and asked are you still so excited and all I got was a shake of his head and a grin, but his eyes never wavered from the gate. It was like he was using all his will power to force a car, any car to come on in. I was getting worried, yeah I can’t help myself. I called to see how far they are. AH, they stopped at the store. I told her she didn’t have to bring anything but I sure am glad she didn’t listen to me.

The girls and their families arrived and yes we were all having a wonderful time seeing each other and learning about the grandkids and life at home, but you could tell we were all waiting anxiously for the main event. The son and family that none of us have met. Well that is, except for hubby. Hubby was there when son was a baby and toddler, but had only seen him once since and that was nearly 10 years ago. The girls and I have talked to them on the phone and corresponded through Facebook, but it’s just not the same as getting to hug someone and experiencing them in real life.

It had been another hour since I talked to them and they still hadn’t arrived. Yup I knew it…they were lost! Not badly though, they were here before the kids and I could get to the stop sign. I quickly ushered all the kids back, I couldn’t wait to get son and family in my arms!

The day was wonderful with lots of food, hugs, catching up and playing around. Hubby smiled from ear to ear all day long!! He was having a glorious day; rain had no affect on his moment!

The kids and I went for a short walk, but if you ask Bryan he will tell you it was a long walk! We played, climbed, walked and talked. We did some Baby Shower Bingo, lots of fun there! Then the computer got turned on and let the games begin! Lots of fun playing with the umbrellas in the rain. The umbrellas didn’t survive, but I’m glad nobody got hurt while playing with them. Yes, I was a little worried of that.

There were tiffs and there were tantrums and even an ant attack, but all in all it went really well for eight kids in my small trailer and yard. Funny how what I perceived to be a large trailer and yard doesn’t appear to be with nearly 20 people in and around it.

Granny and Aunt D arrived and I have to say watching the reunion from that perspective was very touching. Seeing granny play Free Cell with her great granddaughter was awesome. Four generations in one house, I honestly never thought it was going to happen. We are so grateful that the kids pulled this off, they are the ones that planned it.
AND from my understanding there is already one in the works for next year. Fingers crossed!!!! I’m going to start saving NOW!

The day started too wined down and granny had already left. The younger grandkids were starting to look kinda tired and so was I! I rushed everyone outside while the rain had given us a break and tried to get some family group shots. I did get some good spousal shots, but I do wish I had managed to get some individual family group shots. You should have seen how difficult it was to get a pic with all eight kids in it. That was a riot! Hubby wanted a whole clan pic, but that didn’t happen either. Maybe next year!

I was under the assumption that this was it, we weren’t going to get to see them again till next year, thankfully somebody told me that the plans had changed and we were all meeting up at granny’s house tomorrow. So letting everyone leave wasn't nearly as painful as I was prepared for it to be.

One last thing… A huge thanks to daughter K! That girl cleaned up my whole kitchen, even though I was continually protesting that it wasn’t necessary. Oh and for not listening to me about bringing anything, she made the most delicious cheesecake dessert I have ever had! Can’t wait to get the recipe!

Thanks to everybody for coming and making history happen! I loved every minute we got to spend together!

Tropical Storm Hermine - Part Two

The rain was downpoaring within minutes of getting back home and the thunder could be heard in the distance. I could tell it was going to be a whopper and boy was it ever!
The sky turned dark with heavy clouds.

The rain fell like a waterfall.

Finally it started to let up a bit.

We ventured out to check out the aftermath. (Some had to be forced out the door. That would be hubby and Chaquita! LOL!)
This what I found, a lake in my yard!

As we were taking a potty break and taking pics, hubby decided to move the trucks. We were only out there about five minutes and out of now where, lightning stuck in the field and thunder sounded at the same instant. Have ya ever seen a fat woman run without touching the ground???? I'm sure hubby did, he was still moving the trucks! I'm positive them feet never flew so fast!! I even left the umbrella out there to fend for itself! The camera was just lucky it was attached to my wrist!

After another good thirty minutes of chaos, I ventured out again. The water covered 90% of the yard.

The sun was starting to go down and the glow was spectacular, but for some reason I couldn't capture its awesomeness in the pics. They really don't do it justice.


No we didn't float away, but it surely was scary at times.
The water has no receaded in parts but the water that does remain, smells horrible!

Hubby's favorite saying:
How high's the water, mama?
Five feet high and risin'
A bit from Johnny Cash's Song

Tropical Storm Hermine - Part One

Wow, was she an angry one!
She dumped well over 10 inches in my yard, in the last two days. My rain gauge only goes to 5 inches and by time I remembered to empty it, it was already overflowing, twice! The rain beat the land, the thunder shook the house and lightning was way too close. The dogs panted and coward and I was jumping out of my skin at every boom. Hubby slept through the whole thing Tuesday night. How? I don't know!!

Yesterday morning hubby said the whole yard was under at least 3 inches of water when he got up. By time I got up the standing water was only in one corner. I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood with my camera while the weather was still good. I was hoping to find the area that the lightning hit the previous night, the one that had me going through the house and shutting everything off. I didn't find it but I did find some other interesting things.

Never seen this flower before. It grows on a bush and is very delicate and at closer inspection it has a feathery quality to it.

Haven't seen this flower since early summer.

Found this fungus in my tree, never seen that before either but it sure is pretty.

Found these mushrooms in my mums!

I was walking along the road and in the distance I saw something in the road. As I got closer I realised it was a turtle. There was a truck coming and he wasn't moving fast enough. I put up my hands for them to stop or slow down as I ran out in the street and scooped it up. The older couple just smiled and waved. I stood there looking down at it in the grass, trying to figure out if it was lost or where it might be going. I surmised that it must have been swept away from the canal during the storm. So I walked him back to the canal and put him on the edge. I debated whether or not to leave him in the center of two canals and just when I made up my mind to do so, I reached down to pick it back up and in a flash he was down the embankment and gone in the water.


As I was heading back home, I spotted this unusual pile of twigs that was formed by the run-off on the road.

The water puddles were large and in charge of putting off some spectacular reflections.

Shortly after getting back home the storm raged again!
Part Two..tomorrow.

Lawnmower Man, Music and a Storm.

Well yesterday was a really good and productive day with a stormy forecast.

Tuesday I called brother J and found out he was going to be free for the next few days from work. He is starting his own lawn maintenance business on the side and well.....you know just how much I really hate to deal with the yard (like haven't touched it in two or three weeks). One topic lead to another and voila, I have my own personal Lawnmower Man!

I also talked to sister J about the music SonIL downloaded for me to my MP3 player. Next thing I know she is giving me homework to list some of my favorite artists and songs. I emailed her the list several hours later. A looooong list! I really like most all types of music from the 40's to about a decade ago and from rock n roll to country.
It was a very difficult piece of homework... "Oh I like that song!" Now come on brain, who the heck sings it?? What's that song that Cinderella (Not the cartoon) did way back when? Very difficult task indeed!!

From my understanding they were going to leave at noon, so as usual in my mommy mode I called several times, mostly to make sure he was up and on schedule. I know I can be a pain in the rear sometimes, especially with him. What can I say, he was the baby when I was still taking care of the kids and living at home. We were/are tight like that.

On to yesterday's events...

After calling him (and yes he was still asleep), I started to look for something.
I can't remember what that initial item was, cause I got lost in dragging out all of the items in the kitchen closet and tool cabinet. Seriously I had stuff everywhere! Every surface in my kitchen was littered with this and that, from paint supplies to screws and nails and JUNK!

I was sitting here taking a break from my work and checking my pages (which were dead, btw). A knock on the window scares the Cr** out of, Whiskers (who was sitting in that window), made me jump up and cuss and the dogs all start with the barking.
Surprise! It was hubby, who was laughing his head off at all of us fraidy cats!

Two minutes later brother showed up. Okay now..this boy (not a boy anymore, a 30 yr old man) was just too cute being all professional with me like I was a client (well really I was, I did pay him). I was resisting the urge to bust out laughing! Asking questions of what I wanted and not. Just way too cute! I had to leave him to it or I wouldn't have had the heart to let him do it.

Sister downloaded all the songs she had for me from their external hard drive.
4GB!!! YIKES! That is a lot of songs! It is going to take me forever to go through them all and only pick 2GB of them to put on my MP3 player! We had a good time chatting, while I continued on my task of organizing and putting things back in place.

I broke my rule of eating out and sister and I went to Micky D's to get supper.

Speaking of food...Earlier this morning my landlord dropped by and gave me a huge bag of plums. There was no way we was going to be able to eat it all, so I asked brother if he would drop them off at mother's on his way back home. He said yes.
(I'll have to call mom and find out if she got any of them, brother was eating a lot of them)
Good since your going there, you can take this..and this..and that. This is for sister M, this is for Boo and that is for Mom, oh yeah and this is for sister E and go ahead and give this to Dad(just to aggravate Mom)!

Back to the end of my story...

Brother worked his skinny little butt off and at times I was very worried about him. I happened to have looked at him in passing and the veins on the sides of his forehead looked like they were going to burst! It was a little freaky!

But my Yard is done all the way around and with trees trimmed! I have only managed to do that a few times and it takes me all friggin day! AND at least two days to recoop!

They were getting ready to leave and we could tell a storm was rolling in. Loading up the truck with all my offerings for them and other family members, the storm was moving in very fast. It went from calm and a little hazy with noise in the distance, to heavy wind with the storm practically on us. We was rushing back and forth to get all the stuff as quickly as possible.

The peach tree has been so heavy with peaches that the largest branch was laying on top of the house. I went out with arm full of stuff and had no problem walking under the branch. With the wind picking up as harshly as it did, it moved the branch and it was now drooping down on the steps. I had to duck to get under it.

Just after they pulled out and was on their way, I was showing the branch to hubby through the door window. Right before our eyes the wind picked up the branch and broke it, leaving it blocking the steps to the porch.

Brother Come Back!!! I have some more work for you!! LOL!

Rainy Days

The rain has been falling for days.
The air is heavy with it and the humidity is very muggy.
The down pours are brutal and the showers calming.
The yard is a pool over here and over there.


The weight of the rain is weighing down every branch and some even snapped.


The muddy shoes are by the door and how many times do I need to wash the floor?


The birds came out to play and bathe in the fresh new rain.



The flowers have been beaten with every never ending drop and will they recover, I know not.


The dogs need coaxing to go outside, a push and a shove and a towel to dry.


The weatherman says only a few more days; I sure hope we don’t float away!


(All photos are from a google search)