Quilt Therapy

I have received my “Georgia Sunshine” BOM quilt back from my lovely friend and longarm quilter, Meloney – and will spend the weekend putting the binding on it.  It is destined for a special young lady, who is getting married next weekend.  My husband calls her his “first” girl, since he was living with her parents (they were all in college) when she was born – he was the first baby butt he diapered!

Hope you get some quilt therapy in this weekend, too!

The kids are back in school.  And this time, all four are attending the local public school.  I pray with all my heart that it works out for our son-man, and I’m very happy with the teacher he has this year.  If there’s any teacher I would choose for him, she would be the one.  He only got to go a half of a day yesterday because we had to get him another shot (let’s not go there, mkay?).  But, he attended three afternoon classes and was very happy when he came home, especially because he had homework!  The girls are great and happy with their classes, for the most part.  We have a new neighbor who is in DD#2’s grade and her dad was wondering where we were for the past two months – he had no idea so many kids lived on this hill!  I’m sure she and our second daughter will become fast friends since we live so close to them.

We’ve had a guinea sitting on 6 eggs – and we didn’t know when she layed them, so we had no clue when they were going to hatch (gestation usually 26-28 days).  Wouldn’t you know, just as I was ready to nap yesterday afternoon, all three of our adult guineas were raising such a ruckus that DH couldn’t even talk on the phone – so, I went out to check it out.  There was the mama, with baby keets running around her feet. 

Now, we’ve already lost 6 adult guineas to some varmints - DH suspects feral cats, but it could be any number of things because they’re free range.  And the mama was under an agareta bush and not otherwise protected, so we had to move her and the keets to a special area of the coop that DH and DD#1 set up last week. 

Have you ever tried to get a guinea mama?  DH’s arms are all scratched up from the bush as those babies were near-impossible to see on the ground.  We finally got the mama away, after being attacked a half-dozen times, and picked up 4 keets and took them to the little swimming pool we had set up.  Then, we realized one hadn’t hatched yet, so DH got that egg over to the pool.  The pool has bedding in it, but it has sides that are high enough that the baby chicks or keets can’t jump out for a few weeks – great place to keep them contained.  So, there was 1 left, but DH had to get a fax from his mom’s and then go get the girls. 

DS and I finally got the mama into the pool without being attacked anymore, before DH left.  But, we could NOT find that last baby (see the pix above to see how hard they are to see in the grass) - and we were so scared to step on it that I told DS we needed to wait for DH & the girls to come home to see if we could let the mama out and see if she could get the other one. 

Of course, this being the first day of school for the girls, we had to hear all about their day and didn’t get a chance to get back out to the guineas until my men left for scouts.  When we went to the coop, we found that the lost baby had made it over to the pen and had crawled under the chicken wire and was sitting outside of the pool. 

SO, my next adventure was to get that baby into the pool where the others were, as well as feed and water.  OY.  I have a small prick on my finger where the mama attacked me.  I finally had one of the kids go get one of DH’s garden buckets and put it on top of the mama and picked that baby up and put it in the pool.  Mama calmed down and we left.  Whew. 

We still have to see if that last keet will finish hatching – will open it later this morning.  I know she originally had 14 eggs and threw a number of them out of her nest, but the girls saw the keet moving inside the egg tonight, so we’ll pray that it lives and finally hatches before morning.

I usually don’t toot my birthday horn, but figured since I’m working and no one else is around, I’d have to sing birthday wishes to myself.  My husband and kids took me out for a delish lunch after church yesterday and then my MIL will have a birthday dinner for us tomorrow night.  We just have too much to do today, to deal with it (and I’m totally ok with that).  DH sent the 3 girls off this morning on the bus to their first day of school for the new school year, and is desparately trying to get our son-mans immunization records so he can go to school, too.  Our emergency does not constitute and emergency on anyone else’s part, even when it may have an effect on a child’s heart.  They’ll get the info to us if or when they have time.   Sad, but true!

So, today, I’ll celebrate in silence as I work.  And I’m ok with that, too.  Gives me time to reflect on who is missing in my life, who I wish – beyond anything else – that they could share this birthday celebration with me …. Mom, Dad, Mike, Gramma from Tramma.  And those who are still around, but who will forget or not take the time to say anything to me – Tom, Jeff, Cody, Kayla and a host of others who shall remain nameless.

I’m 46 today.  I’ve lived longer than both of my parents did and my older brother.  I celebrate every milestone, and I’ll take this one with my boots on.

When I received the latest issue of Country magazine in the mail:

I noticed an article that for some reason, reminded me of SOMETHING that I couldn’t place:

I asked DD#1 if she recognized the place, because that stained glass ceiling sure looked familiar!  She said, “Yeah, it does look familiar.  Hey, isn’t that the place where we ate lunch….and then, just before we finished, that nice old lady came up to you and told you that you had the nicest and best mannered children she’d ever encountered in such a nice restaurant.”

Aha, of course!  Here’s a few pix I had taken of the Geiser Grand Hotel:

And here’s the notes about our experience:

I had to have the Cowboy Reuben – just to compare it to the others I’ve had across the states!  I would probably rate it as #2 on my list thus far.  It still didn’t beat the one at The Ram in Boise!  JD had a grilled chicken Caesar salad and said it was good … but, it became MUCH better when the waitress brought out a small loaf of freshly made sourdough bread!  I love to watch him eat his meal slow, while enjoying every bite!

After we were finished eating, we were sitting at the table enjoying digestion.  A lady diner, about 70 years old, came over to our table and put her hands on JD and my shoulders.  She was there to compliment us and our children!  She said many times she’s eaten in restaurants where other people’s children just make her meal miserable.  She said she truly enjoyed her meal and she truly enjoyed the fact that our children were so well behaved during their meal!  She said when she saw children who behaved so well, she always tried to go to their table and tell them – they deserved recognition and appreciation!

We, of course, were wondering what planet she was on!  hehe

A local dude ranch gave us nine guineas.  They are good for the land, help to get rid of bugs & snakes and provide decent fertilizer that is helpful for the compost pile.

Unfortunately, we also have predators in our neck o’the woods.  As far as we can tell, it’s feral cats that have been thinning our flock.  We are now down to just three guineas, and we thought all of them were male.

Until DD#1 found a nest, and eggs scattered everywhere.  She picked up the eggs that had been kicked out of the next and then counted 14 eggs within a nest.  We figure the eggs were from one of the other birds who was killed and the sitting guinea didn’t want them in her clutch in this very thorny agareta bush:

Guess one of the guy guineas is actually a girl guinea:

The gestation for guinea eggs is less than 30 days, and we had no clue how long ago she’d laid the eggs….so, we had a lot of work to do, to get ready for babies – and to try to save them from further harm.  Hubby and the kids enlarged our chicken coop and then lined half of it with chicken wire, to help contain the keets when they make their appearance.  DD#1 noticed today that the mother guinea had been pulling out her fluffy down and lining the clutch with them.  Seems that is a sign that the keets should hatch soon enough.  The kids are excited to see the babies, and I’m just wondering how many more “kids” we can keep up with!

While Meloney and her kids were here, we took the time to go visit the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch.  This is a no-kill rescue facility for dogs, though they’ve also rescued a duck, pigs, cats and even a few donkeys.  The land for the rescue is owned by our very own, Kinky Friedman.  He’s a hoot, and if he were to run for governor again, I’d vote for him hands-down.  In years gone by, he was known in country music as the “Singing Jew”.  Since then, he’s become a wanna-be politician, an author, a dog-saver and he also runs a family-owned ranch for kids.

Cousin Nancy and Cousin Tony (dog rescuers) were at the local library last week and gave all of the kids in attendance a talk about what they did and some fun stories about their dogs and some folks who have helped them throughout the years.  It was a fun presentation, and Cousin Nancy has also written two books (that both of my older girls devoured) about stories at the ranch.  On Saturday, Cousin Nancy took us on a tour of their facilities.  Both Meloney and I are Girl Scout leaders and we have girls interested in working with the Rescue Ranch to earn their Bronze and Silver awards.  Not to mention that our troops, as well as my husband’s Cub Scout pack, are interested in organizing tours for our scouts.

After reading Cousin Nancy’s second book, DD#2 remembered that Cousin Nancy encouraged folks to bring snacks for the residents of the ranch, so she grabbed some carrots when we left the house, so the kids could feed the donkeys.  They weren’t down with the dogs, so Cousin Nancy took us on a little tour of the rest of the ranch and up by Kinky’s house, we found three donkeys and a beautiful horse.  Unfortunately, Kinky wasn’t home, but we did get to see his ass!

Kinky’s Ass, Cousin Nancy & our Kids at Echo Hill Ranch

My quilter, Meloney, and her two children came and spent a night in the country last weekend.  I had to laugh when I asked her if she got lost.  She said, “No, but I followed your directions to a T – but, I still wasn’t sure we were going to actually find you because you are so far out in the middle of nothing!”

So true.  And we LIKE it that way!

While they were here, we took my two youngest kids and her daughter and son swimming in the Medina river.  They all had a great time and enjoyed their time in the cool water.

My father-in-law was known to his grandchildren, nieces & nephews as TaTa.  His headstone even has it engraved on it. 

35 years ago, when he and my MIL bought this property where we call home, they had the survey conducted and put up a fence around most of the property.  Over the years, the wild hogs, deer and other varmints did their best to work that fence loose, but they didn’t quite succeed.  About five years ago, a new owner purchased the property to the east of us and took it upon himself to replace the fence.  My MIL was NOT happy, and she marched out and told him so.  Not just that, but the survey pins disappeared, and that made her even more unhappy.

This summer, the ‘new’ owner finally finished the fence he’d started to rebuild, and now he’s been busy hiring crews to fix his driveway and I believe he’s having a well drilled, too.  Or perhaps it’s a wastewater treatment system.  I don’t know as I’ve not been over there, but I can certainly hear the rock-hammer pounding away at the rock all day long!

Anyway, this ball of barbed (to us Texan’s, it’s bobbed) wire has been gracing the side of his front gate for some time, and it wasn’t until just recently that I realized it was TaTa’s fence!  I think it makes quite a statement, especially since his is the first piece of property on our lane.  It’s a testament to all of the work TaTa put into this land, and how that work can be replaced – but, the beauty of the tangible fence can be used as art.  LOVE it!

The dad-person and our manly-man escaped the heat of our casa and exchanged it for the heat of scout camp last week.  I can tell you that their dogs were barking when they returned home!  All of the scout camp is uphill.  At least that’s the story I got, and they’re sticking to it.  Well gee, we DO live in the Hill Country of Texas – so, ummm, yeah, there are hills.  But, when hubby told me everything was uphill, it reminded me of my folks telling me they used to walk 10 miles to school in the frozen north winters, and all of it was uphill.  hehe

Son had a great time.  He got to play with older and younger scouts, got to go fishing and canoeing and although he nearly starved to death (oranges and tortillas were about the only thing he’d eat from the dining hall), he was a little bug-bitten, a bit sun-burned but he still had a smile on his face when he returned.  Plus, he missed me <awwwww> and gave me a big ole’ hug when he saw me.

Hubster was reminded of his age, I’m afraid.  He was already over 40 when the son-man was born – and the son-man is now 11.  hehe  The math on that one is pretty simple!

Now, I can settle back and get back into our ‘norm’ around here.  Everyone has been to camp (except me) and I pray that I am able to work more than I have been able to, while trying to shuffle and hustle the kids so they are taken care of and entertained.  Whew.