Category Archives: Family History

Deja Vu

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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

The Great Guinea Fowl Debate

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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!

We Saw Kinky’s Ass!

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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

Swimming in the River

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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.

TaTa’s Fence

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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!