Blessings From Michigan

Whew! Its been a busy week, but yesterday I drove to Texas to drop off a dear friend at the airport  who I picked up last Friday. I don't think I've been on the computer all week. We've been too busy! The following pictures are a combination of Ts and mine.

T and I came to know each other on a scrapbooking site years ago and about 5 years ago, our friendship grew past the computer screen. We began to correspond via the phone and I always enjoyed her visits greatly. In June, she booked a flight to visit me at the end of the dirt road and last Friday, after a bit of rerouting, she finally made it to Texas. Poor thing was such a good sport. She was slated to arrive at noon, but her flight was cancelled in Denver and she ended up flying to Houston before finally making her way to Amarillo. If you know Texas, that does not compute. It was after 7 pm when she finally made it to our designated airport and then we had a 4 hr drive before we finally made it home, after stopping at an iconic Texas establishment for a bite to eat:

                                                          

Where we were serenaded by a trio of singing cowboys who were absolutely charming as they sang "Hey Goodlookin":

This was the first time we had met, but it was like greeting an old friend. The kids used to tease me about my imaginary internet friend. Our girl was with me, and she and I spent a lovely day together while we waited for T to arrive. I'll share those adventures in another post.

It was just a tad before 1 am before we walked in the door and fell into our beds. We kind of needed a day to recuperate before we begin our NM adventure. No itinerary. Just a fly by the seat of our pants week where we paid no attention to the clock and the only thing we HAD to do was what we WANTED to do!

Of course an introduction to the chickens was a must:

                                        

And we spent lots of time in the kitchen:

                                                   

 where bread making lessons turned out yummy results:

                              

And where the teacher got sidetracked while making cards, burned one batch and came dangerously close to burning another although the student gets a gold star for turning out light and airy products:

                                             

A trip into town yielded some fashion fun:

                                             

A bit of time browsing through a very colorful gift shop:

                             

A little taste of Alien Beer:

                                 

A scrumptious serving of fried ice cream:

                                               

  As well as a stop at a local farm where I brought back my annual supply of green chile:

                              

We carved out some time to play with fabric:

                               

And blow the dust off of my scrapbooking supplies to make a few cards. I didn't get a picture of that mess, but it was fun.

T had the opportunity to meet a few of the local residents which included a scorpion and this fella in the bunkhouse shower:

                                   

She taught me that the addition of yeast to apple cider vinegar was the solution to fruit flies:

                                                     

DH smoked brisket for us:

                                  

And we hopped in the truck with him one morning to bounce along some ranch roads:

                       

And talk about what a huge blessing rain is in the dessert:

                       

I think she went home and told everyone that all I ever do is complain about how dry it is here and the whole time she was here, it rained.

I don't remember the last time I saw this Tasajillo (Desert Christmas Cactus) bloom:

                                                  

DH had to tell me what it was.

I spend a lot of time opening gates around here. Adding this shot because T told me I had to. :)



We drove 75 miles to another little town where we left some money at my favorite quilt shop:

And ate at the local antique cafe:

Next time I get over there, I'll have to take some pictures inside. You could spend a really long time looking at all the old stuff they have collected. I sure would hate to dust in there. The service wasn't very good, but the food was, and the company was even better.

When I drove back to Texas to take her back to the airport, I hauled a trailer up with me. I took a table and chairs to DD and brought back her horse. I dropped the trailer at the college pens where they kept the local mascot:

                                         

And I sent DH a picture of my impressive trailer backing skills:

                                 

    T told me that I could post all of these pictures as long as I included this one:

                                 

Yes, that is me taking the buffalo shot. :)

Forgot to take a picture of the two of us together until the last minute:



Thanks so much for making the trip T! You were a trooper and it was a blessing to have to here.

I had to chuckle at the rural humor on this sign at the airport:



I treasure T's friendship and the memories of her visit. We had a fun-filled week and now I think we both need to catch up on our sleep, but I know that she got back to Michigan at 3:30 in the morning and still had to go to work and we are on the verge of beginning our Fall Works so sleep will have to wait.