Friday, May 22, 2009

Barn Swallows and Outdoor Living

I found this cute outdoor set yesterday at Home Depot. I have been wanting a light, small outdoor table and chairs for some time and this one fits the bill. However, it is sitting


here, instead of


here, because of

this barn swallows nest, which leaves


this, i.e., babies on board.

Barn swallows are the most sociable of birds. They love to show off their flight and diving skills to us every evening. They keep the insects population down, but as you can see, they can be a tad messy. Barn swallows breed like rabbits; we had four sets of babies in this nest last year! The babies are so precious and look like little bandits when they peer over their nest at you.

The swallows come back to the same place year after year and we have had a nest in the same location for 25 years. When they try to spread out by placing nests on other parts of the house, I find them before there is not much more than a few dabs of mud and knock it down. Unfortunately, I missed one this year and there is another nest under the front porch. I messed up. I'll try to be more alert next year and not allow that second nest to be built. I could care less when a nest appears in the barn, but I'm not fond of more than one nest on my house.

I thank God every day for allowing me to live here.

Until next time, God bless.

Women of Dripping Springs

We had our final meeting until September this past Wednesday. The day was magnificent to picnic at Harrison Ranch Park, one of our five parks in Dripping Springs. For the record, the Dripping Springs proper population is 1500. Most of us live outside of what is actually Dripping Springs and I have no idea what that number is but probably at least ten times the DS population. We've become a very popular location in which to live. Sometimes, I wish we were not so popular, but then, that is another story. :D

The mayor giving us the scoop on future plans for the five parks.


While at the ranch, I discover this marvelous tree in the distance with beautiful red blossoms. It is a pomegranate tree! I had no idea pomegranates could make it though our winters. And, did you know that pomegranates are mentioned 25 times in the Old Testament?

You've probably heard that pomegranates are now one of the "must" have foods because of its health benefits. It is highly concentrated in anti-oxidants and it is thought to reduce plaque build up in the brain, in the arteries, and on teeth. There is a warning that too much may interfere with cholesterol lowering medications as well as blood pressure meds. It is recommended that you talk with your doctor if you are on these meds before going all out on a pomegranate binge.


Isn't the flower magnificent?


Aha, the fruit.

From what I saw at Harrison Ranch Park, pomegranates thrive in our rocky, limestone soil, which is a big plus from my standpoint. I must have one or two of these trees, maybe three, and I'm on an all out search for a seller in Austin. :D There are dozens of different types.

Until next time, God bless.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Most Favorite





I have been honored with this award (My Most Favorite) by Rae at My Weather Vane and by Squirrel Queen of Through Squirrel Eyes. Thank you both!

These are the rules in accepting this award:
Deliver this award to eight bloggers who then must choose eight more and include the following text into the award.

“These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.”

I would like to honor the following bloggers. As noted in the text above, my aim is to find them as friends. They have wonderful blogs. Please take some time and visit.








Crafty Sue




Home Sweet Home Inspirations




The Tiny Homestead




Design by Cathleen




Tablescaping




Made in Heaven




And So It Goes In Shreveport



Until next time, God bless.























Trade Days - Fredericksburg, TX

It has been about a year since my friend and I made a quick trip up to Fredericksburg for Trade Days. We are about 38 miles from the Trade Days grounds and it started raining a hour before we left. Being troopers, we were not going to allow a little weather change stop us. It turned out to be one of our best trips; the weather was wet but cool. It was wonderful!

On the way we reminisced about some of our previous trips. One January, ice was on the ground and highway but I kept saying don't worry, the vendors will all have heaters. Let me just say that it was miserable; I've never been so cold. On a couple of other trips, it was unbearably hot. We would spend an inordinate amount of time in one of the "food courts," I use the term loosely, because it had misting machines. We'd sit in front of the misting machines for a time drinking sodas or lemonade, shop, then return to the misting machine to ingest more fluids, shop, misting machine, shop, etc. lol

I really enjoy Trade Days, street fairs, and community craft events because there is no place better to find out just how creative, artistic, and imaginative people are from your child's teacher, your neighbor down the street, your pastor, the retired couple on the next block, or someone you don't know. Their handcrafted wares just blow you away.

Here are a couple of photos of this and that at Fredericksburg this weekend.One of these days I'm going to breakdown and bring one of these home. :D They are so funky.I want one of these for somewhere; perhaps in the little hallway between the master bedroom and the master bath. I've been watching too much HGTV. Thinking about getting this Hoosier kitchen table for my hobby room if it is still there next month. Trade Days are on the third weekend of each month.

Can someone give me a clue as to what one would do with a fuchsia, polka dot washing machine?
I haven't the foggiest idea what this is unless it is an upmarket outhouse. I should have opened the door. If you look close on the right, you see part of a bathtub and beyond that was an iron stove. So.............if you have a sense of humor and want to spend $500, one might buy it for a deer lease. lol

I love cactus -- we have plenty of prickly pear cactus growing all around us but these are so neat.Turkey feeder planter. The Trade Days grounds were once a turkey farm and the vendors had little booths in the old barns. The Days have become so popular that small one or two-story buildings are springing up all over the place.

I couldn't make up my mind: jalapeno cheese bread or 3-cheese bread so I bought an apricot oatmeal cookie.

As we were returning to our car, I discovered these two cool, restored cars in the parking lot.




We had one small hitch on this trip, nothing that couldn't be fixed, and it was. My friend forgot to turn off her lights when we arrived. And though we were only gone for two or three hours, the battery died. But as luck would have it, we discovered her battery was in the trunk. We stood in the drizzle a while until we'd see someone, ask if they had jumper cables, and finally found someone who did. He jumped us off and we were on our way to one of our favorite cafes in Johnson City, TX for a late lunch. All is well that ends well.

Until next time, God bless.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Tomato juice, a skunk and Maggie

While on a walk this morning, hubby, Luc and Maggie encountered a skunk. Fortunately for the skunk and for us, hubby was able to get Maggie away before she could grab it and slam the skunk into the ground. We've seen her do it several times.



I'm doing the tomato juice remedy to get rid of the smell. I have another remedy for ridding skunk smells on dogs, but I'm trying the easiest first. It'll be an hour or so before she is completely dry for me to do the nose test. :D At the moment, she thinks she is being severely punished for what she hasn't a clue.



Luc has been skunked a couple of times and seems to make every effort to avoid them. He escaped this morning. Seeing I'm not after him for a bath, he felt like he was safe and could approach me with his ball.

Until next time, God bless.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Friday, May 15, 2009

An Unusual Alarm Clock

We have a unique alarm clock at our house and it comes in red and black.

This little guy does not know that it is 6 o'clock in the morning when he starts attacking the master bath window. When he tires of that window, he comes around to one or two of the bedroom windows. I've named him "the bird from . . . .," but he is beautiful, isn't he?

Last summer he or one of his friends spent hours attacking just about every window in the house for at least two months, give or take a few days. When he tired, his mate took over. During those two months I kept thinking about the movie, The Birds. lol

Whether I want to or not, I'll be up tomorrow morning around 6:30 AM. Ugh. :D Getting up early tomorrow is a good thing because I'll be ready by 10 AM to go with a friend to Trade Days in Fredricksburg. I'll let you in on a little secret, though, I wouldn't trade for anything for this blessing to live in the country. I'm a former Houstonian, so I know a little about city life.

Until next time, God bless.