What I've Been Up To

 Last week I was away, spending time with my mom for her birthday. It rained a lot and even when it doesn't rain, the humidity is just so oppressive. It's hard to breath and even the smallest outdoor activity, like cleaning off the deck and re-potting plants, left me drenched and wrung out. I'm so glad that I was able to spend that time with my mom and help her tend to some chores, but I am definitely a low humidity kind of gal. Thankfully, 1" of this glorious rain ended up in the headquarters rain gauge at the ranch.

On Sunday, DH and I spent a little time at my favorite fishing spot

where we once again, caught dinner:

The baby chicks are growing fast and have been relocated from the brooder - really just an old water tank - to the coop. They have their own little patch of the coop where they are safe from the big girls who are not very hospitable when it comes to sharing their home with the new tenants.

 Hopefully, after a few weeks, they will have acclimated to each other and peace will reign in the coop. I'm bribing them! :)

We've had such a pretty spring, but it seems summer has made a rather bold entrance this week as today it's expected to reach 100.

 I'm thinking I should have planted more watermelon in the garden. When it gets this hot, watermelon is the only thing that sounds good.

Much of my mornings this time of the year are spent outside trying to get ahead of the heat. This morning I was walking at 5:30, soaking in the cool of the morning. And this afternoon, while the wind howled, DH and I spent 4 hours in the truck, hauling cattle to another sale barn:

                             

 In sewing  news, I'm working on the Safari quilt:

And stitching on a binding

This time of the year, it's a slow process as I do all of my binding in the evenings and by the time I sit down at night, I'm just plumb tuckered out and ready for bed. And yes, that's usually before 9:00. :)

We Interrupt This Blog...

Taking a break here gals! I'm presently adding to the population of the great state of Texas for a bit. Just visiting my Mom and wallowing in real estate acccounting and shredding 30 yrs worth of business paperwork. Keeping 7.


We've been running nonstop since I got here. I can't keep up with my 71 yr old Mom! Nevermind what that says about me. Maybe the 'always on the go' genes will kick in later? One can only hope! I'm always busy at home, but it's just a different routine. The mornings don't start as early around here, but the nights are much later than I am used to.


I brought along some hexagon's to work on flowers some in the evenings, but even that time has been negligible. However, we're getting a lot accomplished and that's one of the reasons I came down. Mom and Daddy's anniversary is coming up and that'll be a hard day so I'm glad I could be here.

It's good to have some time just to visit too. We're catching up between visits to every carpet store on the planet. Surely one of these stores carries the perfect carpet. We only need one. That's not asking too much, but thus far, it has eluded us.

Mom's car was in the shop and after 2 trips, we're hoping it's fixed properly this time. We're having the tile grout cleaned too and they didn't do a very good job, so everything is still in disarray while we wait for them to clean it again. I'm thinking that taking pride in a job well done is becoming a thing of the past. I just don't get it.

My Mom volunteers a lot and she and Daddy started a citizens police academy group to support the local police a few years back. They're involved in everything that happens around here. We had 10 people over the other day for a fund raising meeting - food included. They have a function later and they're selling nachos and popcorn and raffling off a pretty scrap quilt. Think I'll be buying some raffle tickets!

I'm hoping to sneak off to a quilt shop before heading back home, but we'll see. I'm missing my family and my sewing machine, but I'm enjoying my time with my Mom and hopefully I'm helping her with a few things.

I'll have to catch up with everyone when I get back. Computer time is negligible unless it involves accounting. Ya'll behave while I'm away!

Spring and Blogging Don't Mix

Yes. Everything's fine. Thank you for asking.
No. I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Thank you for checking.

My only excuse for my lack of posting is that Spring has arrived and my computer time has been severely cut. Rest assured, once the mercury rises past the triple digit mark, I'll find refuge at the keyboard once again.

It's simply been too nice outside to linger indoors. Yes, we still have too many days where we are visited by the infamous New Mexico wind, but on those days, if we are home, the wind just sucks all the energy right out of you and you are suddenly rendered useless.

It's been a busy couple of weeks. DD and I made a trip to Lubbock this past Tuesday to...believe it or not...shop! Neither of us is a shopper, but we did enjoy the trip. DD seriously needed some clothes for upcoming events that required something other than her requisite boots and jeans and hat ensemble. So we took a deep breath and headed to the city and we even managed to fill the day with laughter. Spend any amount of time around the two of us and you're pretty much guaranteed we'll break out into chortles and guffaws at some point and time. Our hunt was successful and we even came home with 2 dresses as well as a number of other cute things. Needless to say, after leaving the lingerie department, we felt as if we had escaped from a war zone. I have to admit that we were utterly exhausted by the time we headed home. I was so tired that I even bypassed a trip to the fabulous quilt store. I simply could not muster up the energy to make even one more stop.

DD commented that she didn't know why I was tired since SHE was the one who wrestled with 347 thousand gazillion articles of clothing. And she really did wrestle with some of them. As she tried on a cute turquoise summer dress I heard cries of, "Help!... I'm stuck!... Mom!" I suddenly became incapacitated with laughter and wasn't much help to poor DD who wailed, "M-o-o-o-o-M! Stop laughing!"

And we won't bore you with the reason I spewed water all over the steering wheel as we drove home.

The good news is that we won't have to make another big trip like that for a very long time!

Let's see, what else? There really isn't anything earth shattering to report. DS is getting ready to attend Prom in another town. Being homeschooled, I didn't think we would be renting a tux any time soon, but rent one we did.

DD's social life keeps me on my toes. For years I was inundated with concerns from a myriad of people about how homeschooling was detrimental to a child's socialization skills. Chuckle. Giggle. Snicker. LOL! I'm not saying that isn't the case for some children, but I'm pretty sure we can cross that off the list for mine!

I'm itching to get my garden in. After the last snow/hard freeze, I've been hesitant, and it's not been easy to wait for May 1st. Patience may not be my thing.

The kids have been busy horseback. We've been gathering Corriente calves and I've been taking pictures of them for prospective buyers. Tomorrow we're sending some out after we get back from the trap/skeet range.

DH and DD are at the horse sale today. We're selling 6 mares. Oh, and the colts are starting to drop! One filly so far.

I've started to ride again. Haven't ridden in a long while and I have missed it. It felt so good to be back on a horse. DD and I thoroughly enjoyed an evening riding through a pasture last week. And yes, I was kind of sore the next morning.

I've also started walking again and I even bought some running shoes last month. I'm hoping to get back into shape. Yes, round is a shape, but that's not really what I was going for.

So, that about catches y'all up on the latest around here. May is already filling up fast. The kids will be competing in the State Shooting Sports Competition, we've got to make a fast and furious trip to San Antonio for my Mom's 70th birthday, and we'll be branding.

Maybe things will slow down in June.
Don't bet on it.