Cowboy Symposium

Last Saturday, I received a telephone call from a friend that I haven’t seen in a couple of years. She and her husband were in town for the Cowboy Symposium. She stated she would like to see me and asked if I would meet them.

I really did not have a desire to attend the Cowboy Symposium. It is a neat event. I have attended in the past. It is not really my cup of tea. I did want to see my friend; so I headed out to the civic center.

We walked through the inside exhibits, looking at items of interest and catching up. We ended up outside walking among the chuck wagons. She stated that her husband had purchased a wagon and was in the process of rebuilding it.

Some of the wagons were really neat.

There had been a contest earlier in the day regarding which wagon cooked the best food. The cooks on each wagon had been given the same ingredients and told to prepare a meal. Then they were judged individually on the meat, potatoes, bread and dessert.

One of the wagons belonged to two sisters. Both of the sisters were in their 70’s. Each of them wore an apron from Imperial Sugar. I wasn’t there for lunch, so I can’t say how good the food was. I know they took home several awards. The aprons ROCKED! I want one!

Hope you are having a peaceful Sunday afternoon!

Family

I download a free desktop background from The Shabby Shoppe each month. It is so simple to drop your photo(s) into the background.

I took some pictures of dad to go on the August desktop. This is one of my favorites. He is in his element. He is happy.

Dad's birthday was August 27th. He is 78 years young. It was not possible for all of us to be together on his actual birthday; so we chose to celebrate during the Labor Day weekend. Mom prepared a great lunch, we had cake and home made ice cream. We had a great time together. Of course I had to take some pictures. It is so hard to get everyone to smile at the same time.

Look at Shawyn. He did not want any part of the photo shoot.

I love this picture of Dad and Caley.

Enjoy your Saturday!

Sunflowers

One of the neat things about living in rural america, is the agriculture.

I traveled to Abilene a couple of weeks ago. Just outside of Lubbock, I noticed a blanket of yellow sunflowers. It was beautiful. I knew it would be a great background for a picture.

I noticed the sunflowers again on the trip back from Abilene. I could not wait to take some pictures.

A couple of days later, I called my niece and nephew to see if they were up for a photo shoot.

My niece is always willing.



My nephew, not so much!

I wanted to take a few more pictures.

When we stopped, Shawyn would not get out of the car. I made the mistake of leaving the keys in the ignition. He locked all the doors!

I did manage to get some pictures of Caley. I love this picture; I just wish I knew enough about photoshop elements to get rid of the shadows. I need to work on lighting.

All in all it was a fun couple of hours…for me anyway. I did buy ice cream to pay for their services.

Enjoy your evening!

New Camera

I have always loved pictures. I can remember as a young girl, looking though old pictures in my Maw Maw’s picture box. There were pictures of my aunts and uncles. There were pictures of my daddy when he was a boy; then when he was a young man. There were also pictures of relatives that I had heard stories about, but never met.

My mom likes pictures, too. She has many, many pictures. I can remember mom having several different cameras. I especially remember the one that when she snapped the picture, she pulled it out and we watched it develop. We would all gather around to see what the picture looked like.

Memories.

A couple of months ago, I bought a new camera. I am excited and at the same time, a little over whelmed.

I haven’t figured it out yet. I’m still learning. It is fun.

I have a dilemma. Sophie, my sweet little dog, is very camera shy. She hides when she sees the camera in my hands. I don’t have kids of my own running around to snap pictures whenever I want to practice.

I do, however, have some nephews and a niece.

So I begged them to let me take some pictures.

They reluctantly agreed.

Brady modeled first. He is the oldest of the three and very handsome.


Then we took some group shots. Everything is going great. They are looking good.

Caley and Brady had their eyes closed in the picture below. Shawyn looked perfect. So I cropped the other two out.

By this time, Shawyn thought he had agreed to only one picture.

When he is done, he is done. Nothing will change his mind...not bribes of ice cream or money...nothing. He seems to have a bit of a stubborn streak. Personally, I think he gets it from his dad. Just my opinion...

Beautiful kids. Great models. Lots to learn.

Blessings,

Yard Work

I moved into my house six and a half years ago. The summer after I moved in, I had a lot of help to install Tex Turf 10 sod in my front and back yards.

My neighbor at the time, T, planted fescue in his front yard. T was very concerned that I installed Bermuda grass. He stated my yard would grow over into his fescue. He tried to convince me to plant fescue. His efforts were fruitless, however, because I loved my Bermuda grass.

T re-seeded his yard each year to fill in the bare spaces. Each year, to my dismay, I had sprigs of fescue in my yard. It was so aggravating. I would spend hours pulling that fescue out of my grass. I finally gave up on the strip that ran along the property line.

T passed away last year. His children sold his home.

I have new neighbors.

This past spring, new neighbor dug all of the fescue out of his yard. Well, all but the strip that runs along my property line. I have tried to pull this strip of fescue up. I think new neighbor thought I would never do anything, so he has dug some of it up, too. It is a slow process.

New neighbor installed Bermuda sod.

His yard is beautiful. Just beautiful.

Another thing you should know is that three years ago I started travelling with my job. I am away from home a lot.

I have a sprinkler system and Perm-a-green comes about every six weeks. However, it is all I can do to mow the yard and keep up with the inside chores.

New neighbor has a beautiful yard.

Because new neighbor has a beautiful yard, I have been trying harder with my yard this year. I don’t want to be known as the woman who let her yard go, with sprigs of fescue sticking up every where, seeding and ultimately ruining new neighbor’s beautiful yard. I have my pride you know.

This past weekend I worked in my yard. I mowed. I researched the internet on how to go about leveling said yard; as it contains low spots. I made a mental note to buy some topsoil to fill in the low places. This top soil process needs to be completed during the growing season.

I worked in the flower bed in the back yard, too. Here is a picture of the flower bed that was taken about five years ago.

Notice the purple grass along the fence. I thought that purple grass was so beautiful. I was so proud of that grass. However, I did not plant it again after that summer because it would not come back every year.

Or so I thought.

I didn’t take a before picture of the flower bed; because frankly, I was embarrassed. It was horrible. It was over run with weeds and grass. It was just horrible.

Here is an after picture of the flower bed. Notice the two Gerber daisies on each side. I purchased these daisies at Ivy Gardens at least four years ago. I am amazed that they come back out each year. They haven’t received much TLC. The delicate yellow flowers in the center came from Ivy Gardens, too. These have come back for at least two years.

Do you see the little sprigs of grass?

They are there. Believe me.

I pulled grass out of the flower bed for what seemed like forever. The grass just sprouts back out. It reminds me of gray hair, you pull one out and two replace it. And while I loved the purple grass a couple of years ago, I am no longer feeling the love.

I bought some chemical at Little Red Riding Hood nursery last year. It cost $30 for a small bottle. It is supposed to kill the grass without harming your other plants. As far as I can tell it hasn’t killed anything.

If you are reading this post and know of some sure fire way to get rid of that grass, without killing my hardy Gerber daisies, please, please, please let me know what it is.

I am also open to suggestions as what plants I should add to my grassy flower bed.

Blessings,

Cousins

Recently I observed a presentation on “cousin camp”. The presenter stated that she and her husband did not have a close relationship with their cousins growing up. When they had grandchildren, they began to see the importance of having close relationships with extended family members. She and her husband created a “cousin camp”. For one week each summer she hosts “cousin camp” at her home. Her grandchildren attend “cousin camp” to send time and form relationships with their cousins. No parents are allowed at cousin camp.

I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation. It made me think of my cousins.

I have a bunch of cousins on both sides of my family. However, I must admit that I am much closer to my cousins on my daddy’s side of the family. Many of us are very close in age. We practically grew up together. We were each others best friends. We shared good times and bad. We laughed and cried.

Here is a picture of Jill, Shirley, Daisy and me. The picture quality is poor (it was taken with one of those cameras that shoots the picture out and then you watch it develop). It still brings back lots of memories.

Through the years, we have all gone our separate ways. We are scattered all over the United States; which makes it hard for everyone to get together at the same time. However, when we do get together, we are all reminded of the bonds we formed as children.

These were taken in April. We still act silly; but most importantly we laugh! Joy, me, Jill, Shirley, J.L. Paul and James.


I think we need to plan a "cousin camp". Maybe for a weekend, I'm to old for hanging out a whole week...LOL... I would love to hear your suggestions!

Blessings,

Houston

I am finally catching my breath again. I have been travelling a lot for work. I always think I will take the time to update my blog while I am on the road; but it never happens.

I worked in Houston from May 4 - May 23. I didn't look forward to the trip. The first time I travelled to Houston, I hated every minute of it. The traffic was horrible, the people were not very friendly, you name it.

I actually loved the time I spent there in May. The weather was beautiful...not to humid. The traffic did not bother me. I was much more comfortable. I don't know what the difference was this time. It could be that I have travelled a great deal for work during the past three years or my handy, dandy GPS. Whatever it was, I loved being in Houston. The Galleria area is awesome. I told someone that I could see myself living there. LOL...

My one and only niece celebrated her ninth birthday while I was in Houston. I was a little disappointed, as she had her party at the Clay Cafe, and I wasn't able to attend.

I told her that I would buy the paper goods for her party. She also wanted a cookie cake, which I told her I would buy. Before I left for Houston, I met she and her mom at Party City to pick out the plates, napkins, etc. She also picked out some cute party favors.

A few months ago, I purchased the cutest purse template from Papertrey Ink. I have been dying to use it. I told my sister-in-law that I would make "purses" to hold the party favors. I made four, one for my niece and each of her friends. I loved the way they turned out!

Sometimes I feel guilty that I don't make as much stuff for the boys. There are just so many things to make for girls. I really don't think the boys notice. As long as they get $$ they seem quite content.



Blessings,