Graduation 2012...

Graduation is upon us once more. I am usually late getting my cards out and I mean late. Late as in December or the next May. The last few years I have been buying extra graduation cards because once it's over the cards disappear from the store shelves and if you procrastinate like me you are out of luck. This year I have already sent the cards out and have one to spare just in case.

 Hubby and I have three nephews graduating and we are proud of all three of them.

Joey from University.

Gage from High School.

Cash from Kindergaten.

Don't you just love the cap and yarn tassle he made at school?

Congratulations Sweet Boys!!!

Aunt Kye loves you!!!

Still Recovering From Carlsbad Caverns...

Lion's tails

Hall of Giants

I was going through some old family photos today and found a couple of pictures of Carlsbad Caverns when my aunt and uncle took my grandparents there in 1947.

 Waiting for the bats to fly out in 1947.

The entrance in 1947.

My calves are still not over the trip, but it was worth it.

Have a nice week!!!

Carlsbad Ain't Bad...

Just returned from a wonderfully, fun and quick trip to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. It's about six hours from home. We left Saturday morning and returned at 3:30 today. Approximately three-thousand people went through the cavern on Saturday and another three-thousand or so Sunday.

Luck seems to run in spurts for us and this weekend Lady Luck was hiding behind every nook and cranny. To start with we arrived at the cave before it opened making us one of the first to go down. The elevator signs warned you might have an hour wait to get on one when you were ready to come up out of the cave. We walked up to an elevator got in and rode to the top-no problem, but when we got out there was an enormously long line waiting to get tickets to go down. The sign for the elevator had been changed to say you would have an hour wait. People were literally everywhere. Moral of the story-get there early if you plan to enjoy your tour without fighting the crowds.

Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Down, down, down.

How would you like to climb down this way?

Or this way?

That's how they did it in the 20's.

Looking up from just below.

I've visited this cave at least a half-dozen times and never get tired of it. If you feel up to a 3 1/2 hour slow walk then put on your walking shoes and visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday.

Enjoy the week ahead.

Wordless Wednesday...

Have a nice week!!!

Sex Party...

O.K., I'm on the computer just now trying to decide what to blog about when my I-phone pings, meaning a text just came in. I look at the text and see that it's from my youngest.

She writes:

 Do you want to come to a sex party on June 30th?

A SEX PARTY?

 

I've never been invited to a "sex party" and if I had been I'm sure as heck it wouldn't have been an invitation from one of my kids.

Turns out my middle daughter is going to find out what she's having on June 29th. The sex party involves a cookout, a cake baked by youngest that is either pink or blue on the inside, and nobody(except youngest), not even pregnant daughter finds out what sex the baby is until the cake is cut.

O.K., I must admit, this sex party is starting to sound exciting. Oh, and did I tell you it's a "surprise sex party".

 

Have a great rest of the week!!!

Solar Eclipse...

The weatherman said it could be either rainy or too cloudy to view the solar eclipse, but at 7:40pm some friends gathered in my driveway. They came prepared with sun glasses and a camera. I had a small telescope and a piece of paper taped to some cardboard. I was scared to look at it. I said I was too old to go blind. Ha!

This is how it looked in the beginning when I was using the telescope and paper. It made it look upside down.

This is about 3/4 of the way

and unfortunately the weatherman's prediction came true. It dropped behind the clouds and we weren't able to see the full eclipse, but we felt fortunate to be able to see it at all. It was beautiful and

left the sky a magnificent shade of blue.
Have a great week!!!

The Rock Hunt...

About three years ago I started collecting rocks with the idea of making a path through my garden. The collecting was slow-going. It was difficult finding enough rocks that fit the criteria. First and foremost they had to be flat. They also had to be relatively thin and not too small.

Wednesday night a friend that helps me with the garden called and said she knew where we could get all the rocks we wanted. I picked her up at 10am this morning and we went on a "rock hunt".

We loaded the back of my truck with as many rocks as our muscles would allow. We had to leave a few behind that seemed perfect because the more we loaded the heavier they got.

We took them back to the garden and unloaded them. She dug the path while I carried them and placed them in the ground.

Just a few of the many rocks. 

 My helper preparing the path for me to lay the rocks.

 A section of the pathway.

 I'm exhausted!!!

Have a great weekend.

Wordless Wednesday...

(Photo courtesy of my youngest daughter.)
Linking with Wordless Wednesday.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!!



Death of a White Buffalo...

Last year on May 12th, 2011, Lightning Medicine Cloud was born in Greenville, Texas. It was cause for celebration. Lightning Medicine Cloud was a sacred white buffalo.

 According to the Internet white buffalo are extremely rare; the National Bison Association has estimated that they only occur in approximately one out of every 10 million births.

 Experts estimate that there are less than 50 white buffaloes in existence.

While people were gearing up for Lightning Medicine Cloud's first birthday evil was lurking in the shadows. Someone singled-out Lightning and his mother and killed them both and skinned Lightening. The reward is up to $45,000.

I'll never understand why someone would want to do this.
Have a good week!!!

 

Mother's Day Outing...

Happy Mother's Day to every mother out there.

I had a wonderful weekend. Hubby took me to Granbury, Texas for an all day, 9:30am to 6:00pm, shopping day Saturday. I did a lot of shopping and he did a lot of sitting on benches and reading, but the nice thing was he told me to take my time and shop as long as I wanted to. He kept saying, "It's your weekend."

We started the day with coffee at The Nutshell Eatery & Bakery. This happy little sign greeted us on our table. 

 I love the unique shops around the square. They are all housed in old, historical buildings.

I can truly say we "shopped 'til we dropped."  

Today we drove around Granbury and around the lake. I snapped some pictures of these very interesting insects roaming around in the pastures.

 Now this one was really creepy

and this one I'll let y'all guess at, lol. That's pretty gross. I can't imagine why someone would think to make him.

Next we drove through the Acton Cemetery where Davy Crockett's wife is buried.

As we were leaving I saw this unusual tombstone. I would be curious to know how much it cost. It was huge, but really cool.

These ducks seemed to be enjoying mother's day too as they relaxed on the dock and

here were some very photogenic deer that were more than happy to pose for a picture.

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day and hope you are all looking forward to a great week ahead.

Fuzzy Friday...

Summer is on it's way.

Have a "warm & Fuzzy" weekend!!!

Hunger Games Trilogy...

“To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed.”

Hunger Games Trilogy

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.~~Amazon.com

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Author: Suzanne Collins

Published: 2008

Purchase: Amazon.com

Review:

I am not a big fan of Science Fiction, so it took some coaxing to get me to finally read Hunger Games, but when I did I read all three. As soon as I finished the third one my youngest daughter and I went to see the movie. She had already seen it, but liked it so much she wanted to see it again. I really liked the first book and enjoyed the second one, but by the time the third one ended I was ready. I'm glad I read them and would recommend them to anyone who hasn't read them yet. The movie was really good and followed the book as close as can be expected. Even though I'm not into Sci-Fi and was getting a little tired of it at the end it was well worth the read. I give it 4 stars for being unique and very entertaining. If you love Science Fiction you'll love Hunger Games, so you might as well get the trilogy.

Happy Reading!!!

Weekend Plans...

Mother's Day is approaching and hubby has plans. He asked me if I would like to spend the weekend in Grandbury, Texas. My answer was yes, so I am packing. Our plan is for me to meet him in Grandbury Friday night for supper. Saturday we will shop on the square, drive around the lake and take in anything else that strikes our fancy. He knows how I love Johnny Depp, so we are going to see the movie Dark Shadows on Sunday.

I remember watching Dark Shadows in Junior High. It came on at 3:30 as soon as I arrived home from school. This Dark Shadows is a spoof, but since I have never seen a Johnny Depp movie I didn't like it should be good.

On a sadder note Maurice Sendak passed away.

I found him to be a bit strange, well, O.K. a lot strange, but loved his works.

Where the Wild Things Are was one of my favorites.

Also, I have followed Ray White's blog for about 5 years. He is the oldest living blogger in the U.S. He is 98 years old. His blog is called Dad's Tomato Garden. He gave some great advice on planting a tomato garden. He loved life and was a good christian man. His son posted on his blog today. I was sad to read that he passed away unexpectedly this morning.  Here is a portion of his last entry. He fell shortly after posting this and passed away in the hospital.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Dads Mondays Entry Six Thousand Two Hundred Fifty One Hundred Fifty one

Good Morning.

Lets try to begin the week with God and continue and end the week with Him.

This day of the week is my day. I love Mondays. It’s a day that I am glad to get out of the house and get my hands and clothes dirty.

We speak a lot about the clean , unspotted sheet that God gives us each morning. we need to do our best to keep it clean and white until the end of this week, and we can with Gods help, and not in ourselves and by the Grace of God, live a life that God will be pleased with, we should live this week for others.

Dad-The Tomato Man.

Time is so precious –do not waste it living only yourself, Give a little of your to others.

I'm going to miss his daily entries.

He was such an inspiration.

Have a great rest of the week!!!

A Zebra In The Mix...

It's been forever since my last post. Things seem to keep edging out my blog time. Things like work, funerals, trips, lack of Internet... imagine that, but today I saw something so remarkable I just had to blog about it.
I had to go out of town for work and as I was driving along a county road I saw a white mule standing out in the pasture with, of all things, a zebra. I made a u-turn to check it out. Sure enough there was a zebra standing with a mule and over in one corner of the pasture under some shade trees were several longhorn cattle. Now I live in rural Texas, so the mule and longhorns are no big deal, but a zebra, that made me do a double-take. The only camera I had with me was my I-phone, so the pictures I took are not very good. In fact, the picture of the zebra is awful, but it's all I have so am posting it anyway.

The horns on these bulls are almost as impressive as the zebra.

Have a great rest of the week!!!