Struggling to keep the home fires burning

It can be a fight and a non glorious one at that. It's the everyday details that are "oh so important" that can be the hardest to keep up and at the bottom of everyone's list. This morning there was a chill and cold rain and everyone was hiding under warm blankets. I was up early and feeling adventerous and cold. All we had left in our wood box was a few overly dried logs. I decided to tackle a big pile of assorted wood we had in the back yard from 2 enormous trees that came down over the last few years. Hmmmm- It was like a treasure hunt to find something to burn. As I climbed on top of it all. I was surprised to find that the small branches didn't support me. After thrashing around a bit, I came crashing down in a tangle of wet twigs. leaves and branches and probably sleeping snakes and spiders and a rodent or two. My feet were sticking straight up and my posterior was cushioned in a muddle of something gross but comfortable. I found that everything I tried to grab, broke! Toby, my noble 4 legged assistant, sympathetically stood guard over me on a nearby log while I fought my way out of the brambles for the next 30 minutes. I lost my borrowed boots somewhere in the mess. In the meantime, I was hoping no one ventured outside to see what all the noise was about. Lo and behold, it also began to down pour again. I would have been extremely embarrassed as I know no one expects 57 year old grandmothers to be quite this crazy. When I finally emerged I must have looked like a pathetic wood cutter's wife from the 14th century or someone rising from the grave! It was a hilarious situation but nothing a good warm bath , clean clothes couldn't fix, and a cup of hot chocolate!
PS......I got my wood and and again looking a bit prim and proper. Thankfully no one is up yet and no one witnessed my early morning foray. Hopefully I can keep it a secret and they will never know.
Isn't is a nice cosy morning in front of the fire? No one quite appreciates it like I do,
It's all in a days work of keeping the home fires burning.

Turkey woes

Here it is so early in the morning and I need to get the turkey started. I am delaying, trying to find anything I can to get distracted. I never really know how to cook turkeys. At like this, I miss my son-in-law Tim. I don't know why they really had to move away to Joplin! No one cooks a turkey quite as good as Tim (he is a bit proud about this fact however) and at the risk of him becoming even more proud, he is the best cook I know. Now, no comments about me being the worst cook he knows!
Thanksgiving really isn't the same around here now days- especially the turkey. It is just sitting here on my counter at 5am, still half frozen and looking a bit pathetic. I thought a lot about just boiling it and when I mentioned that, Mike and Michelle got on the phone, desperately trying to find another place to go for Thanksgiving. I really think it was just an excuse to fly the coop though.
Oh well, one comfort I have is that my little Bostons, and of course Ziggy- all just love my cooking and make me feel like a 5 star chef. Maybe I will just boil this turkey and serve them the whole bird and go find another place to spend Thanksgiving myself. Anywhere else.......here I come!

The Renfest is always a lot of fun and this year was no exception. We always enjoy the singing, plays and the demonstrations of life so long ago. I sometimes wonder about the actual historical value however. It is in a beautiful village close by to where we live. It just comes to life only once a year!

Mark was just jaunting along when the Barbarian queen snuck up and proposed marriage. He had to turn her down as he suspected it was only to get her green card.

Renfest 2007 !
The Highlands band escorted everyone out after the fireworks show. Michelle somehow wandered into the middle of it all and the drummer rescued her, showing her the way to safety. Everyone loved the Greek band here- the dancers came later.

After viewing Mia's Blog with Deren experiencing captivity at the Japanese zoo, I thought to post a Renaissance view of teen discipline. Terry, of course, thought it was fun. We have come a long way- haven't we?

Tim sent these flowers from Iraq and my Mom and Dad sent these tropical plants from Calif. They made my day!

Nov. 10th came once again. It never fails to roll around once a year and I realize I have grown yet another year older. The Lord made it easy to remember my age- being born in 1950. I guess that makes me a half century baby boomer. I knew I had yet another label!

Thanks to everyone that made my birthday special. I grow lots of plants and flowers and admire the beautiful flowers in all the floral shops but I rarely am on that particular recieving list. I was so pleased and surprised when this year I got a enchanting bouquet from Tim in Iraq with about 100 different flowers. My dad sent a wonderful tropical plant display with plants I have never seen before. I have a little bit of Hawaii in my home! Thanks Tim and Dad. Not stopping here but continuing to go around the world- Crystal, Mike and Michelle brought me over a purple flowering bush from Austrailia. Wow, the outback must be a beautiful place! These little purple flowers just sparkle.

Having my kids so far away is hard but trips to the mailbox hold a bit more excitement nowdays. Thanks Nadia, Maya and Perla and for your gifts. Thanks Karen and Joe for the movies etc. Fun! Titus and Mia made my day by all the incredible pictures of Deren and his new little sis that they sent my way. Japan "becomes them".
In case you haven't seen them- check out their Blog.
Oh, can't forget that my thoughtful husband took Teresa out to a lake that they suspected had tons of bass and blue gill as it was technically a "lost lake". They were trying to catch my dinner as they know how much I love fish. Mark went along and he had to beat down 8 ft. weeds, hoards of insects and spider webs to even find the lake. When ponds in East Texas are forgotten, they tend to get really hard to find. Teresa has pics of this all coming soon.

I do appreciate all the things people did for me this year. It was so exceptional. Jason even brought himself- showing up at 2 am at the airport! Mexico will miss him. I am most thankful for all the wonderful and incredibly different people the Lord has brought to brighten my life. I groan and grumble sometimes as my preference would be to have everyone right here in Houston all the time. Wouldn't that be something? Instead, the world is a richer place but thanks to you all for making my birthday a very good one! I look forward to 58!

Feeding time at the stables is quite an exciting time- it's easy to get walked on. These horses are endurance racers that are "barefooted". They never wear shoes so it's not all that bad. So we would like to think.

A few weeks back, we had a storm that flooded our area and the horses had to all be evacuated. There was waist deep water in the pastures. Cypress creek doesn't flood often but getting all the horses out made for a little excitement. We missed the evacuation but helped clean up after.

It's actually quite a work out with lots to do and learn but we also get to ride, which is a challenge as these horses are born to race. They have mercy on us and don't show us all their "stuff" however. Frankly, I think they sluff off a bit and take advantage of our lack of experience. I used to barrel race and thought I knew a lot about horses but this is a whole other kettle of fish. Oops, I mean herd of horses.