Monday in SA

Drove into San Antonio last night. Had a great weekend in the Hill Country. D and I went junking Sat morning, ate a great lunch at the China Cafe. On the way home picked mulberries to make an apple and mulberry pie later. (Did that on Sunday). Then took the inflatible boat to the river and played until 6 or so. It was such fun.
Sunday was a clean up day around the place, pie making day (it was very good!) and another fab lunch at the Queen B in Ingram. Then watched the Spurs win the first game with the Suns.
It was nice to see family here. The girls have grown inches!! They are such cutie pies. Of course my daughter and I stayed up until midnight. I will be here long enough that we should not have to do that any more.
I did check in with Ne. Mom is doing fine and my nephew and his wife were out Friday and confirmed that fact. It is so nice to have them to depend on.

Friday

Another overcast morning..but think I will ride into town today. Need to go by the Gallery and see "what's hanging"..Maybe fix something in a black pot tonight. Got the spice box out to show D. and now I'm hungry..

Had a herd of fourteen Axis deer wander into the back yard yesterday with one huge buck herding them. Lots of little ones in the herd. Also D. has a hummingbird feeder and there are at least 10 of the little guys fighting for a turn at it. Fun to watch.

This has been a great respite..

Veggin' Out

Made it to the Hill Country Tues. evening and been vegging out every since and it is wonderful.
Going back to watching what I eat but D. watches too so that is not a problem. Hot tub this morning under a cloudy cool sky. Wind playing tag in the trees, just can't be beat!

Have a good book going, watched D. do a demo in pastels so tried my hand and am pleased how it came out.

Ah, life is good!!

Last Day

This is my last full day in OK City. Plan to head to the Texas Hill Country tomorrow.

We had a wonderful fondue yesterday. Six sauces, beef and pork, great salad, homemade sourdough rolls I had baked in the DO, itt was nice to sit around and take 3 hours to eat. Had it outside and it was cool, no critters annoying you, just nice.

Watched the NBA games last night. Was disappointed that the Spurs were beat, but that's the way it goes.

Storms

This is such an active storm time in the central US. Warnings out again last night but we lucked out and just received some rain. Sun is out right now and it is wonderfully cool.

Friday

Yesterday I cooked the Adobo Pork Roast in the black pots. Everyone liked it. Today I fried Mai Mai and it went over well. I am glad J.'s signifcant other does not mind me in her kitchen. Also got a sourdough starter going and will do rolls in the D.O. tomorrow. Having a fun time..but will need to watch my weight!!

So Far

Left Ne. Wed. afternoon to beat the storms and made it to OK City just fine. Will be here for a few days. Had no problems on the trip. It sure feels good.

Mom told me to have a good vacation. I replied she should too, since the old grouch was going to be gone..she said no, she would miss me..we both laughed at that.

J.s computer sure is fast. He got this one a few weeks ago.

Dithering

We are under a flash flood watch..frontal line on the Kansas Nebraska border...yuk..possible 1 to 3 inches of rain could happen..All the fibers in my being say LEAVE NOW.

I am going to load the truck and be ready anyway. It is gassed up, tires checked along with the oil and water, Rainx in the windshield washer, topped off the power steering fluid, checked brake fluid...best I can do for now. Oh, yes, got my Triple A renewed...could be on the road shortly!

Once again

Today's horrible scope...


"The universe has officially granted you 'off duty' status. Your compassion knows no bounds, but you've done absolutely everything you can for the ones you love. Now it's time for them to take care of themselves -- and for you to stop feeling guilty ....."

No Sleep

Must be too excited about the trip or something..woke up around 1:30, itchy and restless. Could not get back to sleep until round 4:30..so slept like a rock for 4 hours. Must get this fixed quickly..

The weather has switched back to being the worst on Thursday, my planned day of departure. Will just play it by ear. Thank goodness for all the radars I can check prior to leaving.

My check-off list is a mile long but almost everything is done. Just the loading of the truck and making sure windows closed, doors locked, computer and tv's unplugged, blah, blah...the morning I take off.

I am excited!

OK

I heard from all the kids plus DIL's so the day was quite nice.
About fell over as my sis called Mom. Something she hardly every does. Of course, Mom told her I was going to Texas. She started asking questions and Mom said "I don't know, I don't ask many questions." And yes, you are right, I was eavesdropping because I was certain Mom would blab and she did. She would not come out and ask S. to come out for a while, all she said was "I am sure going to miss having someone around here." So guess she will not miss me, just the body "what does the cookin' and stuff."

Got Mom a box of chocolate covered fruit whips and some new undies. Think she appreciated the thought. The chicken I cooked was really good!! I just love cooking in those black pots.

Hope everyone had a safe weekend.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all.

Windy and cool right now but the wind is from the south, thank goodness. I am doing a roast chicken and dressing in a dutch oven today. I placed butter with garlic under the skin of the chicken last night so that should smell wonderful when it starts to cook. Since the garage door faces north, I sould be in great shape as the wind is predicted to be 10 to 15. Would not be fun if it were swirling leaves right into my fire bed.

Yesterday was the Bastrop scooter ride. It was always my favorite one. If wishes were scooters, I would've been on one in Bastrop. The State Meet will be held in Seguin the first part of June. Hope to get by and see some of my friends then.

I have been good about not baking any bread in my quest to lose and also keep some weight off but just could not resist ordering some bread flour from Dakota Maid Mill. Their flour is made from 100% hard wheat. I had it sent to my son in OK City. It may not be there while I am, but if it is, will start a sourdough starter. J's signifcant other is a bread baker. The flour is reasonable but of course shipping gets you a little, so I ordered the 25# bag of bread flour and a 5# of whole wheat, with shipping it comes to 75 cents a pound. If it is good as several people I know claim, it will be worh it. I will let you know.

DakotaMill

Windy Sat.

The expected storm never materialized during the night. Did not want the storm part but could still use the rain. Wind is blowing up a bit right now.

I mowed the back forty last night to get it all done at the same length. I will need to do it again before I leave. The birds come in and have a feast as they can get to the bugs in the short grass.

There is an auction going on today so will slide by and see if there is anything to stay for. I sold both the pieces I got last time.

Gave Mom the news yesterday about my departure. Instead of say the usual, "I'm going to try and go south for a while" or "I'm going to Karen's" all I said was I'm going home for a couple of months." All she asked was when did I plan to leave. None of the usual button pushing stuff I normally get. I have my nephews lined up to come sometime each weekend, envelopes typed for a couple of bills, Meals on Wheels and she has her Lifeline button if she will just carry it around. Man, I am feeling a tug of freedom just writing about it!

Shooting For

May the 12th, as a heading south date. I have checked the 10 day forecast and possible rain and or T-storms keeps moving from Thursday to Friday. Right now it is listed for Friday. I do stay flexible. A prerequisite for the way I travel these days.

I have finished my packing as it certinly was a "redo" since I had planned to leave in Feb. before getting sick. More shorts and all the sweats are packed away in the closet.

I read my "horrible scope" for fun but sometimes, they hit the nail on the head. Today it said something to the effect of "coming out of a dark, black shell". Hmmmmmmm, now if I can just stay out..smile

Toggle Switch in the Mind

Looking out the window
Blurred by mesh of screen
A snapshot of nature
Apricot and cherry trees
Green grass, yellow dandelions
The difference?
It is just a screen
Not bars

Mid-week

Good news and bad news on the back forty. I was able to get the mower going yesterday and was whipping around the far back side at a pretty good clip. Poor little garter snake could not get out of the way in time. Makes me sad, as they are neat little creatures. The good news is the baby bunny got out of the way. He/she put that little head down and slipped through the grass, out of danger. Last fall had three pair of rabbits around, this spring have only seen one. There are cats that stalk the back forty doing their thing and I have found tuffs of hare hair (just had to say it) that make me think they have been successful in their hunting. When I started out last month to prepare the area for mowing, I contemplated cleaning things up to the fence line. Then I realized this was an area for the wild things to hide so just let it stay.

On today's adjenda is a road trip to another small town that has a decent sized hardware store and two, read 'em, two grocery stores plus a Mexican market. It is amazing how most people adjust to circumstances, only took me a year to slide into a form of "well, I am here, do what you can" mode and look at an eighteen mile, one way trip, as a road trip.

Some time back I mentioned a few people are trying to get the funds to restore the old opera house down in the main part of town. I finally got to see it a couple of weeks ago. It is upstairs in a commercial building on 2nd Street. Lots of work involved but a woth while project, in my opinion. Neat old stuff sitting around up there. They are having an open house Memorial Day Weekend but I should be in San Antonio by then. I hope they get a good turn out. That will be the banquet weekend for alumni/alumnae.
I wonder if they will get any support from the out of town crowd?

What a Surprise

Wow, all I can say is wow!

Today in the mail I received Dr. Wayne Dyer’s The Power of Intention and I read the last chapter as he suggested in his forward. Then, I picked up a book I have been reading called The Marching Wind by Leonard Clark. This book was written in the early fifties. The page I read today involved an old Tibetan tailor discussing basically the same ideas in Dr. Dyers book.
I realize all has been said before in some manner or other by many authors, but to “get the message” sent to me in a way that I couldn’t miss was a tad bit startling.

May

Spring is here but the temperatures in Neb. are below spring norms. At least the grass does not grow as fast. I will have to call to get the mower serviced as I could not keep it running last week.

Today will be recycle day and I will haul papers and cans to the bins. Then load up the Baby Truck with branches and take them to the dump.

I tackled a fantasy chicken this weekend. No, not the cooking kind, a magenta and blue chicken head done in pastels. I will be glad when I get to the stage of what I see in my mind's eye can be translated to paper.

Even in the cold wind, I attended a Classic Auto Show Sunday afternoon. For being out in the middle of nowhere, there were about forty entries. It was held at a small museum depicting that county's heritage and was an enjoyable respite.