Happens Every Year...

 That's right.....I had another birthday!  I'm not complaining...but I do wish that the aging thing would put the breaks on...   Sweetheart and I both have our birthdays within a few days of each other...so..this year we spent the whole week just...celebrating!  We traveled, shopped, ate too much and just had a great time. Ya....we lived another year!   Our kiddos...helped us celebrate.  We really are So blessed, to be surrounded by such a wonderful family!

Have fun with my self portrait...we are!  Laughing helps prolong your life..this should help!

 The heavens opened up and a comet fell just for us!  Wow, are we special are what!

OK..............it is a stump from a tree that  had to be cut due to the drought. 

 

Sweetheart took me to the Round Top Antique Festival on my special day!  We had a great day.  We came home with a lot of goodies.  This is something I have wanted for a good while....it is a European flax grain sack.  I love the way they feel as well as look. 

 My Loyal Companion went looking for a treasure...will he give it to me on my big day?

No.......But.....he did pose for a picture.....such a little ham!  Sweetheart ask me if I knew what happened to the rest of the cow?....Hmmmm...I'm not really sure.  We are not missing any cows, but we do have a few cows missing a horn or two!
From our pasture where I have one more day on my birthday week....Blessings to you!

Small Talk

 My roses are loving this perfect weather!  Naturally an uninvited guest landed on the bloom  just as I took this picture....have they any shame?...( no, none! )

 

 Sweetheart mowed an area of the pasture....I played with my watercolors!  (Don't tell! )
 

Last night we had a three quarter moon!  It had the wow factor in a big way...I had to stand outside and just admire it.  The coyotes were admiring it in their own way....Howling, and the young ones were yapping.  I could hear a couple of wolves talking back and forth to each other as the light from that moon lit up what would have been a very dark night!  There was a Texas chill in the air...all was right with the world for just a few minutes as I stood there gazing.

We have so much to be thankful for in our little corner of the world.....
From the pasture where Sweetheart and I are still swatting at those pesky little bugs...
blessings to you!

It's Fall in the Pasture

 

The girl chicks and their men have new shavings for fall!  In this picture they are all huddling together because there is a human in their domain...A few forgot about the human and started looking for treasures in the shavings....you never know where there might be something creepy and crawly...

This little one is the newest addition on the place...He is not sure what I am....but he is interested....

Our grands came up and had their school day here.   ( They are home schooled .)  We had a great day...and decided to do some math in the kitchen!  We baked up a batch of Ginger Snaps.  Ummmm...were they good!  As usual I ate too many.  Now we ( mainly me ) need to have a lesson in health and nutrition!

 Sweetheart took me to a tag sale....here are our treasures!  The frame with the glare on it has a nice linen embroidered  Serenity Prayer.  I love hand mades!

 Score!  Sweetheart found this really old and very cool...ice cooler.  This will look good ( not to mention functional ) at one of our picnics! 

We will not be having a picnic here at the pasture for a while....We have some uninvited guest. ( pest )  The obnoxious Love Bug is here.  We did not invite them...they just showed up at our door....and they will not  go away.  !

My Loyal Companion does not like our guest but he does like it when he sees me with the camera!   He is also loving this great fall weather.

Blessings from our pasture where the new calf and the Love Bugs are both just "hanging out!"

Ahhhh...Lavender

 On a crisp fall morning...with chores completed....Sweetheart and I set out to find ...a lavender farm!   We had to travel a bit....to an old community called "Chappell Hill."   But...the travel was worth it.  It is so beautiful there.   Rolling hills and a lot of....peace!

Lavender is so aromatic and these beautiful shrubs are no exception!  I could not get enough of this clean lavender scented air in my lungs....I noticed that Sweetheart was doing some deep breathing also!

 

While I have never crossed the ocean and viewed  France for myself....I feel as if I have had a sample of that serene countryside!  But ...I never left my beloved Texas!

We noticed that several of the large plants were dieing ... so we inquired with the proprietor of the farm...we were told...this is normal for our area because....of.....the ....Texas....Humidity!   Of course...I should have known.  That dreadful wet air does a number on your hair too....  

In the background you see the young plants that will replace the plants that succumb to the humidity.

Sweetheart and I snipped only a  few sprigs.. . There was not an abundance of buds at this time. ( I would love to have picked a truck load...next time...we will go earlier in the season. ) ....We thought we would leave some for the other guest...we did not want to be ( look ) pig-ish!

Blessings from our pasture and the great Lone Star....where lavender will grow and humidity ..happens!

May your week be blessed!

Is This Fall?

 Believe it or not....it is almost Fall.  When the kiddos start back to school and the weather drops...just a tad...I start feeling kind of fall-ish!  I like to get things ready for whats ahead AND I like to get out and enjoy all of the things there is to do in the Fall!

 I love needle work.  Our grand little grand has a birthday this month....he will be three!   I make these little alphabet samplers for the little ones for their third year.  It is a good time for them to learn their alphabet and hopefully this helps!

 The girl chicks ( and their men...) have a new perch!  They are very excited!  This project was made by the adult kiddos!   We are so fortunate....we have youth around here!  They are workers!!

 Fall is a good time to hang out the rugs that will help warm our feet this winter! 

 There is one special one on the fence....

 So many years ago...my best bud found a lady who was selling her Mothers old handmade rugs.  The sweet lady told us that her Mother was of German descent.  She had lived in Pennsylvania and made rugs by hand.  I feel sure this rug is probably 100 years old.  It is very frail...but I still use it...for a pretty only.  I have tried ..in vain to figure out how these are made.  While they are braided, it is different from the conventional braid.  Maybe someday...someone will come along...who knows about this flat braid!

 Hang the rugs on the fence and the girls will come!  They are so nosy!!

My Sweetheart doing sweetheart stuff!  He went across the creek to rake up pine straw for my flower garden.  He's good that way....I read that pine straw is good to use as a mulch in the summer and as a protective barrier in the winter!  Ya we have two seasons covered...Look at that good looking pasture...it has dried up and withered away.  Hmmmm....we sure could use a rain!  There is just no place like Texas!

From our dry pasture where you just might see cows licking on my rugs....

Blessings to you!

Cattle Drive....

 

 Sweetheart went out early and did his cattle call....(the girls and their calves come running when they hear Sweetheart calling them....they love him!)  Sweetheart gives them....cow- candy!

They come right on in the lot....well most of them do!

 After we have a load of calves penned.... they have to be loaded into the trailer.  Sometimes they just hop right on in there....sometimes they don't....When they don't...the cowboys (and girls) starts to hoot and holler and make all kinds of racket...they think we have lost our minds and proceed to load....well sometimes they do!  I have never seen this acted out on any western movie, but it is the way we have always done it.  I don't think we are abnormal....but others might!



 Barn Kitty decides she will watch from a distance....she wants to make sure she doesn't wind up in that trailer!



 The calves are loaded and ready to make the trip to the sale.  The ride could get a little bumpy..hold on!

Time for the girls to head back out to the pasture.
 Sweetheart will take them some cow-candy later in the day. 

  He's good that way!

From the pasture where you can get cow-candy....if you are a cow....Blessings to you!

From Our Own Vineyard

Long years ago my Daddy took me to a little spot out near the creek.  There, he showed me where a tiny wild grape was growing....he called it a "Possum Grape."  He said that my Grandmaw made jelly with that little grape and that it was "mighty fine."   Well...I gave it a try, and I've been making my version of Possum Grape jelly every since!

 

My cooking always requires that I make a mess....most of the time its a Big mess!  I scouted out my jars...they are of assorted shapes and sizes!  They have been sterilized and are ready to be filled.  That blue funnel helps me keep jelly off of the sides of the jar....but it wouldn't be much of a memory if I didn't get the sticky stuff everywhere!

 My version of jelly uses a box of this stuff called SureJell.  If I follow the directions it works...if I tweak the recipe a tad....it will not work.  I know this from experience!  For today....I followed the directions on the box.  Looks like some good stuff......and it is!

 Look!  I made jelly!  I've tested it....(aka scraping the stuff off of the pot when all the jars are filled)  It is....Delicious!  While I didn't photograph the mess that was created...let me just share that a good memory was made!  Several kitchen towels are now permanently colored this deep grape color!  That really neat funnel had more on the outside of it then on the inside...not sure how I managed to do that!

Sweetheart and I worshiped at our little country church this morning.  I love to go there. Our church family has become so special and important to us.  While this is not our sweet church it is so beautiful that I wanted to end my post today with it.  I hope you have a special place to worship.  It will add so much to your life when you do!

May your week be blessed ....from the pasture where the sweet grapes grow...blessings!

Can We Stay Here Awhile?

 

Oh Sweetheart...can you make our drive look like this?  His response....we don't have a drive....Hmmm...we need a drive and it needs to look like this!

This beautiful garden...place is The Wildseed Farm in Fredricksburg.  Sweetheart and I were here a few years back and we wanted to check it out again.  We didn't want to leave. It's so relaxing here..

 Sweetheart can you make our flower garden look like this.....

I love all of these flowers! 

 

The land of cotton!  Texas is amazing.  From flowers and wine vineyards to fields of cotton.  This is one fine state!

And of course I can't leave out my Loyal Companion.  He is fine too.  He gave me an earful when we returned home....I think he was trying to sing to me, "Oh give me a home ... where the buffalo roam...(Oh yea we saw buffalo while we were away...but..I couldn't get to my camera fast enough..)

I promise...no more family pictures ..of our little excursion!!

Blessings from all over our great state...and our pasture!

Traveling Time

 Sweetheart and I are the parents to 3 of the best kiddos in the world. (At least we think so...)We have a very special son-n-law too!  The kiddos (that includes the very special son-n-law) surprised us with a "get away" trip to....the Texas Hill Country!   Yes we were excited....We spend a lot of our time working on our place and well....time does get away from us.  We have needed to stop and smell the roses...

This is Enchanted Rock, a very large granite rock.  A national park all in itself with wild life everywhere. 

We did not see or smell any roses...but we did stop...and just look in awe at this amazing rock!

 We went and watched the bats emerge out of an old railroad tunnel.  This is at a state park....very interesting.   The Park Ranger said that we didn't even need to cover our necks....the bats  were interested in moths....not our blood!  Those dark looking masses (very hard to see)  in the sky are bats flying!

 This is somewhere near Fredricksburg.  Creeks are dammed up to provide a water source to a very dry land!

 A quaint little road.  There is a vineyard a little further down.  What was sheep and goat country is now....wine country.  Beautiful vineyards everywhere.  And  they have wine tastings!  No....we didn't!  We were having plenty of fun without the bubbly!

 I love the view.  My toes stayed curled and sometimes I had to shut my eyes.  I'm a little anxious riding....on the side of a mountain...even if it is a Texas mountain! (aka a little hill)

 Awesome!  Mountains just pop up all over!

I was very excited to find out this mountain did not have any pavement on it

We stayed in Fredricksburg in a very sweet Bed and Breakfast.  Did we have fun......yes we sure did!

We took the very long way home stopping at every small town to just..check out the area.  This great state is filled with the kindest people.  The scenery is awesome too!  Wildlife as well as cattle still rule in this wonderful place!  

Traveling is fun...but there is no place like...home!

From the pasture...our great state of Texas...and my wonderful home....rich blessings to you!