Thursday, September 17, 2009

Layla's Two!!!!!

My adorable granddaughter Layla turned two on September 11th. We went to visit on the 15th and Layla and her mommy surprised us by coming home with us! It's been such a joy to have a two year old laughing and playing and running around the house! Even if my sweet baby Danielle was running a temp of 103 (yes we took her to the doctor, 3 prescriptions later, and she is on the road to recovery!)









Thursday, September 10, 2009

New Diet

NEW DIET

Yesterday I was at my local Wal-Mart buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for
my loyal pet, Chipper, the Wonder Dog, and was in the checkout line when the
woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

What did she think I had, an elephant? So since I'm retired and have little
to do, on impulse I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, I was starting
the Purina Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn't, because I ended
up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened
in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and
IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it
works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one
or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete so it
works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that
practically everyone in line was now enthralled with my story.)

Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food
poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish Setter's
behind and a car hit us both.

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack he was
laughing so hard.

Wal-Mart won't let me shop there anymore.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

A Texas Treat !!!!!



recipe coming soon.................

This is how we spent Labor Day.........

Puppy sitting on the back porch is how we spent Labor Day! Guess there are worse ways we could have spent it !! LOL









The two possible daddies..........

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Coffee Filters









COFFEE FILTERS

Coffee filters ..who knew! And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing.



1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave.
Coffee filters make excellent covers.



2. Clean windows and mirrors. Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.


3. Protect China
.. Separate your good dishes by putting a coffee filter between each dish.


4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.


5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.


6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.


7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.


8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.


9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.


10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent
the soil from going through the drainage holes.


11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.


12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters.


13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon,French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them.
Soaks out all the grease.


14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."





OH YEAH THEY ARE GREAT TO USE IN YOURCOFFEE MAKERS

Random Shots

Just some random shots................

Before


After


just playin' around....


storm clouds.........





Butterfly on the window........






Playin' with light


Hopper Ranch;


Shark

World Barrel Racing

Here a few pictures from this past weekend in Waco. Mia and Danielle did very well, no money or prizes, but they had fun....and that's what is really important.



Saturday, September 5, 2009

Butt Dust

The Sermon I think this Mom will never forget, is this particular Sunday’s sermon.

'Dear Lord', the minister began with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. 'Without you, we are but dust.'

He would have continued, but at that moment my very obedient daughter, who was listening, leaned over to me and asked quite audibly, in her shrill little four year old girl voice, 'Mom, what is butt dust?'

Pass this on to the smiles.

"Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain."

Have a great day :)

IN GOD WE TRUST.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Carrots, Eggs & Coffee

Carrots,
Eggs & Coffee

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high
fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs,
and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them
in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied..

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water..
Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside
became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with
a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance
that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

You might want to send this message to those people who mean something to you (I JUST DID); to those who have touched your life in one way or another; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those whose friendship you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life.

If you don't send it, you will just miss out on the opportunity to brighten someone's day with
this message!
May we all be COFFEE!!!!!!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Bath Time

I came home from work on Saturday to find that Danielle and Kara had deceided to give the puppies a bath..........ADORABLE!!! And smelling much better! Two or three have potential homes....Yea!!!






Meanwhile back at the Ranch


As luck would have it, what should have been two very enjoyable days off just didn't' turn out that way. Yesterday, my daughter took one very accident prone Thoroughbred to the vet to see what the reason was for the lameness he had going on in his foot. I get a call about an hour after they left telling me that they would have to go back at 4 to consult with another vet at the clinic, because apparently my horse had no pulse in his leg. Not knowing a whole lot about the equine anatomy, I could only guess that no pulse is a "bad thing" right? Apparently not, no pulse or faint pulse means that there is no injury or inflammation in the area, which is a good thing, except that we still are unable to deuterium the cause of the lameness. After several lameness exams, a few nerve blocks and two ultra sounds, we are instructed to rest the horse for the rest of the week, soak his foot twice a day in Epsom salt and apply a mixture of iodine and framalgahide(incorrect spelling...but not sure how to spell it) to kill any white line disease he may have going on. The ulta sound was done to determine if he had any damage to his suspensorary ligaments, which he didn't. After all was said and done this will probably cost me about $500 dollars and we still are not sure what is wrong, except that he probably needs his shoe put back on and he will be just fine.....just a thought!!! Meanwhile between vet visits we drove about an hour away to pick up a horse that belongs to one of my daughters Friends. The girl would like her horse pattenerd on barrels and wants my daughter to work with him. On the way home I find out that this horse is a stallion, but not to worry because he has never bred a mare and doesn't "know" he is a stallion; Hmmmmmmmmmmm ??? Okay, well this horse that doesn't know he is a stallion proceeds to jump our back fence in an attempt to get to our neighbors mares; and in the process cuts himself up pretty bad. I'm pretty sure he needs a vet to sew him up in a few places, but my daughter assures me that he will be "fine" So now we need to make a phone call and let these folks who own the horse know what has happened....FUN !!! Needless to say he is making the hour trek back home tonight! Have I mentioned lately that I really HATE horses!!!!

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My reading list

  • Nicholas Sparks; The Choice

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