Bentley and the Texas A/M Guide Dog School Dogs

Bentley is the white Doodle in front. He is about to turn 1 year old this January. 

My Three Sons

I have 3 sons. I have to keep reminding myself that. Tim, the accountant/medic/student  doesn't surface much. He is a busy guy on the other side of the Houston blob. Titus is firmly imbedded in Japanese life and I do hear from him a bit more but am forgetting what he looks like fast. Jason is just still finding his wings and pops in every now and then for a visit, good food (keeping our refrigerator clean) and a place on the couch. I think the food is the main draw. Well, Jason is presently here camping out in our little office loft. We can't find the printer as I suppose it has become the makeshift pillow of the moment. The lighting is a bit of a problem as the lamps have become clothing racks for his American Eagle attire.
Ah well. I keep  reminding myself that I really do have THREE sons. Where are you boys????? (excluding Jason that is- at least for the next week).

Life

Our backyard here is huge. At the moment it lacks character as the previous owners prefered "bland". It is basically just grass and crawdad hills. I am busy working on it hwever. After the last 2 deep freezes, everything just looks brown and gloomy. We do have a very large Red tailed hawk that has adopted us. He overheard me talking about putting in a bird feeder. That will attract his dinner. We call him Henry. He is very interested in us. Come to think of it, maybe he likes our tasty homegrown crawdads. We are going to put in a bird feeder.

We have a beautiful Red Arabian horse. At least we hope he's ours, He was living on a cattle ranch with another colt. The other colt died and we were given Red as his owners couldn't feed him. He had  a rare parasite due to drought conditions and living with cows. He was in need of urgent care so we took him in. He is looking so good after 2 weeks of good grain and hay. I love to watch him run. We are going to begin training him very soon and the children should be able to ride him by the end of summer.
One plus is that I have my own fertilizer factory. Sorry Home Depot. I won't be buying that from you anymore.
I planted 2 rose bushes today. It seems that the new fantastic hybrid for Texas is the Knock Out Rose. I took my trusty red shovel and dug up 4 banana trees to make room. This property evidently had bald cypress trees a one time and when  I dig down, I hit the remnants of the trees underground., Digging isn't easy. Hmmmm....maybe our house is on an ancient Cypress Bog since we are so close to Spring Creek. I will start looking for arrow heads too. I used to do that as a kid and found quite a few digging around the river bottoms of the Feather River in Northern California,
Awwww..... I love life!

New Years

Everything was great for the holidays. First off, to be in a new house was a uplift of the most supreme kind! Nadia just couldn't stop decorating and buying more decorations. I have to admit that I became very fond of the snowman theme, We had fun but we missed Denise. She was stuck in London. First it was business, then snow and then business again. It just didn't seem the same without her. Everyone else made it but Titus and Tim. Tim is close by but in another "life". School gets a bit consuming. I am thankful he has the GI bill however.
Speaking of school- Teri is at the top of her class in Chemistry. I didn't even take it in HS so I am proud of her. Her next step is Drivers School next month and on to driving. My last child will be driving.
As careful and precise as she is, I know she will make a great driver.
Pearl and Alex are heading for Belarus next month. We have searched for all the warmest clothes we could find.They are there for just 2 months.

Just around the corner

Christmas is just around the corner and I've been dwelling on the thought of how different it is from last year. So much has happened and so many things have been shaken up this past year. It's been one of those years of change that takes a lot of grace to pass through with grace and faith. I was thinking about how I have quite a list I need to compile for the New Year.
I will have to do it in stages. The biggest thing that comes to mind is that we finally moved. With all of the changes in our work here and our co workers goals changing,, it seemed our possibilities were slim. Our home was in a state of disrepair that we didn't seem to be able to handle. So, with Nadia and Justin's brave venture into the world of "home ownership" we finally moved from Doral Sept. 1st. It was a battle 'til the last day but when we heard the news that the loan went thru, I was in awe and still am.
I am getting to know my grandkids a lot better. I feel that that I am getting more mileage out of life and giving to people that appreciate the "gift". I can't explain it well but the circumstances of the last stage of my life seemed to be mottled with spots of "ingratitude". We all want to be pouring into people  and  life projects that are lasting and meaningful. It's just nice to be in a better place and rounding out.

Camping

A day out in the wild is always good for one's soul. It was hard to get away at first as I am also getting ready to go to California for a  week but we did it! It is still a bit muggy here in Houston but still there was a lot to enjoy.
First, a complaint. I absolutely hate air mattresses. It is hard enough for me to bend down and crawl into a little tent but then ti be jostled around and have my balanced threatened. It is a bit too much. I found if I settle in and lay absolutely still, it is endurable. I really do have to find something else however.
The grilled dinner was fantastic, excluding the one chicken leg that fell into the fire. Kiona took an unannounced shortcut and got lost for 15 minutes. That was a bit of excitement as it was dark. The Hoot (Screech) owls kept me awake quite a bit and basically I lay awake listen to all the wonderful night sounds, thinking of how alive the forest was all around. I began to feel smaller and smaller. I WAS SURROUNDED!
The next day, we woke early on for a bike ride to Lake Isabel. It was a 3 mile trip, made a LOT more exciting by a wild boar dashing across our path. She either didn't like us or she was in a big hurry to get someplace. The only time I have ever seen a boar up close was Kochi. We were traveling the mountain road between Kochi and Matsuyama and stopped at a Sport Shop for food. They had cages of wild boars that men could come and buy. Then the boar would be turned loose and they would hunt them. I thought that was terrible sportsmanship but Japanese are always in such a hurry and so efficient.
The lake itself was small. It is actually a bog lake, surrounded by  Bald Cypress trees. It was actually the most beautiful lake I have ever seen and so clean. We laid on the dock and watched the fish. I am sure there was lots of wildlife there but they were hiding, all except the swamp rabbit. which wouldn't go away.

We took a walk around and I was surprised as the area had suffered a firs and the trees had burn marks around the bottom. They all still lived though. There were also woodedn troughs discarded which looked remarkably like the gold sluices I would run across on the Yuba river. I am sure there wasn't gold in the bog. Anyway it was a mystery. I am sure it has a history.
Since I had the small city bike, I barely made it back. I felt every bump. I am thinking I need a Mountain Bike- granny style.
Anyone up for camping? I have a year's membership at the Wilderness park and can take 3 extra people!

PS to Spider lillies

Now for the real spider. I was raised in Northern California and meeting up with Black Widow spiders and rattle snakes was nearly an everyday occurrence. One time in particular was when our dog had puppies under the house and I had to crawl way back under to get them all out. There were black widows hanging everywhere and I was crawling 50 feet or so and back to get the puppies. I have not seen one for approximately 50 years. Today I was quietly sitting on the park bench at Jesse Jones Park. The kids had been playing after our hike and had just come back from the slide. I was leaning to the side and put my hand down on the bench by Jude when I felt something soft and squishy. Now, that can be anything when you are taking care of a  2 year old. My finger was just a bit down in the crack of the bench. I looked and saw a big spider egg and a Black Widow spider just next to it. She looked as if she wasn't too happy to see a big finger smashing  her babies. I was in shock as I had not seen one in so many years and it was too close to me and my Grandson Jude. I picked up a stick and chased it. I was explaining how poison it was but Jude wanted to touch it so bad. I had to quickly smash it and then he still wanted to touch it. So, I had to give him one of Grandma's scary lectures. I have to be so quick when I am with Jude. I had to grab him with one arm and smash the spider with the other. I just am terrified of those awful creatures. I really didn't think they lived in Texas- at least this part.