Back on the Dirt Road

Someone please tell me how to keep these days and weeks and months from zipping along so quickly! I thought all of this technology was supposed to SAVE us time. Not happening around here. :)

Last Monday I drove to Texas to spend some time with my Mom and I drove back on Friday. It's always hard to leave my dirt road, but on Monday morning it was wet and drizzly, and that made it extra hard to leave.

Sure did miss that old dirt road when I got to the city:

Traffic is not fun! It rained from one end of the trip all the way to the other.

It's a good 9 hour drive if you don't stop, but I'm a stopper, and the little town of Fredricksburg is worth a stop. This time I went in search of peaches. On Monday, I picked some up to take to my Mom and friends and neighbors and they were SO good. Fredricksburg is known for their peaches, so I figured I would really load up on my way back through and take some to my SIL, who lives in a town I pass through, and my MIL who lives a few hours from us. Well heck, there wasn't a peach to be found. Come to find out they had  had a late freeze and there weren't any Fredricksburg peaches although they thought they would have some in August. Apparently the peaches I picked up on Monday were from a little town just down the road a piece. Then my SIL's husband told me that they grow peaches in Llano, but they had been invaded by grasshoppers, and the grasshoppers have eaten all the peaches, stripped the trees bare, and have left the seeds hanging on the leafless trees. I'm fairly certain that would make me cry.

So I drowned my sorrows in a bit of fabric therapy. :) My Mom has a friend that quilts and she told me about the quilt shop, One Quilt Place (formerly Pocket Full of Posies), in Fredricksburg. How did I not know about this? I drive through here all the time. When I walked in, one of the ladies asked me if I was from NM. Ummm...yes, ma'am. I was kind of curious as to how she knew that, but she laughed and said, "Yes, June called this morning and said you would be stopping in". LOL. What a fun, friendly shop. No pictures because they are actually moving on Friday to a new location and things were in a tizzy, but I did find a few pieces that just needed to come home with me. They had a great selection of reproduction prints and that's exactly what I've been hunting:

I also found this fun western print and I bought 6 yards for a backing:

Love the little coffee grinder, and iron, and wash tub, and water pump, and... oh, heck...I just loved all of it!

I kept thinking of my sweet friend, Donniene, who lived just up the road a piece so I picked up a little extra of the reproduction prints to share. I called her and told her to throw her rotary cutter and mat in the truck and we met up at another little shop that has a nice selection of quilting fabric at incredible prices. Debra carries some new fabric, but most of her inventory are older lines and her prices are hard to beat so 15  - 1/2 yard cuts came home with me, and yes, I have a plan:

                             

I love meeting up with Donniene when I make this trip and the sweet girl even planned a trip to town. She likes to go to town about as much as I do. I look a little road weary, but here we are:

And look what this dear girl brought for me:

Isn't that just the loveliest piece? I was so touched and set it on my dashboard for the rest of the trip. Thank you sweet friend - I will treasure it and think of you when I look at it.

I also think I ought to get some credit for driving over 500 miles with 2 dozen of these and actually making it back without taking even one bite:

I brought a dozen back for the family at our North Camp and a dozen for DH.

So this dirt road girl was EXTREMELY glad to be back home. When I hit the ranch, I rolled down all the winds and my heart was happy. DH is so sweet. He says he does not do well when I am away and by the 3rd day, he begins to sounds  little sad. It's kind of nice to know I am missed. Surely he wasn't just waiting for the donuts! :)

Christmas really DID come in July!!

We were really looking forward to the 4th this year. No big plans, but Caitlin was coming home and that's always a cause for celebration. Gary had just come in from the shop where he was making wheels for his smoker and I had just come in from the garden and sat down with a glass of water. I didn't even hear her pull up, but I heard her walk in and say, "I brought you something."

Oh my goodness! Did she ever!! Look what she brought:

 There are no words. Tears and hugs, yes, but no words.

Those 2 young'uns pulled a fast one on us!! We didn't have a clue. Haven't seen Tyler since he came home in October on his post deployment leave. He had a 96, which means he had 4 days off and he flew from California to Texas where Caitlin picked him up.

How awesome are they?!

We cooked supper over the firepit and set off fireworks which we have had for 3 years. Since it's been so dry, we hadn't used them. This year, the recent rains allowed us to indulge. We weren't even sure if they were still good, but there wasn't a dud in the bunch. Supper under the stars is a favorite around here:

The next morning, Blueberry Muffins were a given. Tyler loves them and can put them away in no time. They could only stay until early Sunday morning...very early Sunday morning. Tyler had a plane to catch in Texas at 10 which meant the kids had to pull out at 4 am.

Can you say 'soak up every second'? I was so excited to have them both home that I had a hard time falling asleep, but once I did, I slept so well. It does a Mama's heart good to know that both of her cubs are sleeping in their rooms. I was half tempted to sit by their beds and watch them sleep like I did when they were babies. :)

They're didn't stay  nearly long enough and I couldn't even begin to fix all their favorite foods, but no one went hungry.

The kids went to town on Friday afternoon for a movie at 5...Despicable Me 2 received 2 thumbs up. LOL Then on Saturday morning we all loaded up and headed to one of our favorite places at 7:30:

                                                             


1

2

 3

4 rounds of skeet apiece

and lots of catching up:

before heading to the mountains for a ranch rodeo and a good visit with Granny and Grandpa:

On  the way home,  we stopped at Dairy Queen. Strawberry Shakes are somewhat of a tradition from when the kids were little:

The boys both shot clean on that 4th round of skeet. 25 out of 25. Caitlin shot a 22 which is awesome...unless your Daddy and brother shoot 25's. LOL This is my favorite picture from the weekend:

Thanks you two! It was the best surprise ever!! Love and miss you already.

Yes, Please!

If there were a way to place an order for weather, I would like a double dose of this please:

July 2, 1:30 PM and it's 83°. Heaven.

     

 We've had rain 3 out of seven days and it's clouding up again.

                             

I've been puttering in the yard and garden and it was all I could do to go inside and cook dinner. 

I've got a couple of quilts to bind so I loaded up and found a place to camp for the afternoon:

I am feeling a little guilty for enjoying this so much:

I even had a visitor:

Sweet Sylvester.


                            

When I am outside, he is by my side:

For an outside barn cat, he is very lovable, and my favorite feline buddy:

Yep, I could get used to this:

                                      

Wonder if I could get hubby to be my cabana boy!

                                               

Smokin' on the Pecos

July sure did get here in a hurry. July and August are generally when we get our rain...IF we get rain so we're all hopeful that rain'll be part of God's plan for us this year. I know so many of you have had your fill, and for those of you that have, may you dry out!

Last weeks' highs were 108-110°. THIS is our 5 day forecast for this week:

TonightJun 30

96°FObserved High4:05 pm

67°F

Scattered T-Storms

CHANCE OF RAIN:

60%

 

WIND:

E at 13 mph

Details

MonJul 1

82°

63°

Scattered T-Storms

CHANCE OF RAIN:

50%

 

WIND:

ESE at 11 mph

Details

TueJul 2

82°

63°

Scattered T-Storms

CHANCE OF RAIN:

40%

 

WIND:

SE at 11 mph

Details

WedJul 3

84°

61°

Scattered T-Storms

CHANCE OF RAIN:

40%

 

WIND:

S at 12 mph

Details

ThuJul 4

88°

63°

Scattered T-Storms

Full Fourth of July Forecast

CHANCE OF RAIN:

40%

 

WIND:

S at 13 mph

Details

Sure do like the looks of THAT!
DH and I drove to a town south of us for the NM State BBQ Championship on Saturday. This is only the 2nd year they've had it. It's called Smokin' on the Pecos and it's held in a little town about an hour and a half south of us. No, we don't compete, but DH is beginning to build a smoker and we thought it would be fun to make a day trip of it. We had no idea that BBQ competitions were THAT big. Apparently building a smoker is only the first step. Gotta have a RV to go with it. It was like an RV city. These people are serious about their BBQ. Some of these setups were quite the deal!

Even saw one converted horse trailer:

We don't watch much television, but we've watched BBQ Pitmasters and saw a familiar face:

I guess if you don't watch that show, you don't know who Johnny Trigg is, but he's a big whig in the BBQ world.

Loved this little guy perched on top of a smoker:

We ran into a friend who was cooking with one of the teams. He has a metal shop and he and DH discussed the ins and outs of building a pit:



The best meat we had was some of what is known as the money meat. It's part of the pork butt, and after they had turned in their competition box, we munched on what was left. It was darn tasty!

Had good music to visit by too. Mark Chesnutt was playing that night and he was running through some of his show that morning. At least it SOUNDED like Mark Chesnutt, but it sure doesn't LOOK like him. Probably just a band member with a really good voice.



We sure enjoyed our day, but we had had our fill of BBQ and people by mid afternoon and we were home by 4. It was a big day for a hermit. :)