need to laugh? Try these...

What????

Peep!!??

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at the Vet

I love this last one as it looks like the black ferals 

around our neighborhood...

OK, just a few more

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OK, that's it. After hearing some of the news this evening, I desperately needed a distraction. And although many of these are probably ones you've seen before, they are still funny... 

 And this was our last year's calendar we had on the kitchen wall:

Photos that speak... and other things

Have you ever noticed that certain photos seem to capture a feeling, or a moment? Something someone wrote recently made me think of this. So..oo I went through some of my old photos trying to find examples of this and here is what I found:

Ghost holdup in her favorite spot

Ghost helping me read

Ghost as a kitten in the front window

my work station in front room (with Tux)

Jack on top of ship shelf

 

Photo taken after our slate floors were put in 2005

cats in computer room

Rose in blinds' shadow

Now I realize that possibly these may only speak to me - but I thought I'd share anyway.

And for those of you who enjoy tea and teacups (which I do also) here's a few more - usually taken at teatime here at home (which is also reading time).  

 First a poster that says it all...

 

As you can see, I like tea cups... and have collected quite a few which I use daily. However, I also have some others that I don't use as much anymore because they have the gold or platinum trim that cannot go into the microwave. I do use them for company on occasion, but the occasions have become fewer as time goes on.  

But I will show you my MIL's tea service that I had given her years ago, and was returned to me after she passed. It's one of my very favorites. She and I were probably the only ones who ever used it when I visited.

Post note: the books that you see in the photos with the teacups are not necessarily good reads (of course 'some' were), but my dear friend keeps me with a constant supply of books since she knows I read daily (in the afternoon and at bedtime... as well as anytime I'm stuck somewhere with time to spare).  However, I did just read one that surprised me... because I didn't care for the cover... but the book itself was very good. It was "The Shoemaker's Wife" by Adriana Trigiani.




Have a wonderful rest of the week and hopefully I didn't bore you too much with things that possibly 'only speak to me' but...

Perhaps you have photos that 'only speak to you' that you might like to share??


 

Quilt show... my favorites... and other stuff

Today was the first day of the Plano Quilt Show. Both my dear friend and my DIL make beautiful quilts. I make quilts, but just for the fun of it... functional quilts that serve as cat quilts for sofas, or baby quilts, or possibly quilt throws for covering up when chilly. I don't make anything that takes fancy stitching or anything big enough to cover a bed... although I do like quilts on beds and have several that both have made for me.

There were dozens of beautiful quilts at the show. However, I only took pics of my 2 favorites.

This dragonfly quilt was my all time favorite...  and next is a closeup of the quilting.

And this parrot quilt was just wonderful...

I consider these "Art"... not meant to be used as a throw or bed cover, but hung on a wall. Just beautiful!

So that's how I spent my Friday - enjoying the quilt show and having coffee after at Starbucks with my friend. 

I did make a fresh peach torte this week using the peaches from Ham's Peach Orchard. The variety was O'Henry and they were extremely sweet and juicy. And Central Market had their Hatch Chili Peppers on sale this week! We bought roasted Hatch Chilies, Hatch stuffed chicken breasts, Hatch crab cakes, Hatch Chili sauce, Hatch cheese, Hatch tortillas, etc. As you can see, we like them... (I do use the mild, not the hot).

And the  bell pepper from my container garden did finally turn red. I picked it when it was starting to turn - just to see if it would continue to turn when placed on my window sill. It did. And when I took it off the window to take a picture, I just stuck it on top of some cookbooks in the hall.... and got this pic.

Believe it or not... I didn't set the pepper up to look like that. After I took the pic and looked at it, I had to show it to DH... it looks like John is actually holding the pepper in his hands! How serendipitous!

I really hope that all of you out there in blogging land have been enjoying your summer.  School has already started in some places and summer is coming to an end. Before we know it Fall will be upon us. This summer seems to have passed extremely fast... maybe it's age or maybe it's been especially busy with my appendectomy, kids moving, and family visiting. All I know is that time is flying by. 

Fall is always welcome, but winter (even though we don't have it half as bad as some of you) not so much. With winter comes cold weather, icy roads, broken pipes, colds and flu. We always get our flu shots, but they aren't totally effective. Of course the thought of hot home-made casseroles and soups as well as hot chocolate by a warm cozy fire sounds good. The cats and I will hibernate by the fire-place or the Aga. At the moment the 3 of them are hibernating on our bed.

 
And I'm going to close with a picture of this plant that turned up out front. I'm sure it's wild... and probably a gift from the birds, but I don't know what it is. It has the soft furry leaves of lambs ear... 

What do you think?

Favorite photos of Texas... and recent ones of Hawaii

Big Texas Sky

I had to take this picture as DH and I were driving home from the grocery this week. The sky was so pretty and the green grass and yellow hay bales just made a terrific photo.

Here are a few others of my favorite photos of Texas:

Horses 

Rodeos

 
    

Texas Hill country 

It is HOT here in the summer... but Texas has it's own appeal!

Now... our oldest son who only recently moved to Hawaii has been sending us beautiful pictures of the area that they are in. I will share a few of them here:

 Sky, Sea, and Sand...

and from the look of this next one... contentment !

Sorry I had to use such large photos, but you really don't get the effect with smaller ones. Hope they aren't a problem on your blog.


These photos may not be of any interest to you. There are so many beautiful places in this world... but Texas has it's moments... and it's nice to be able to share. 

Ham's peach orchard in Terrill, TX...

the train that runs by Ham's in Terrill, TX

This past Friday we made our annual visit to Ham's Peach Orchard in Terrill.  DH's brother and his wife are visiting from Houston and this is one of the places on their "must go" list.  I took several pictures so you could see why.... but the fresh home-made peach and strawberry ice-cream is the principle draw. 

They also have peach (and other fruit) pastry, pies, cakes, salsas, ciders, etc. We have a few favorite things we get each visit, but we also pick up a few things to try... and haven't been disappointed yet. 

   





Strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries, fresh and in jars

fresh peaches - 2 varieties

fruit ciders (I love the peach cider!)

      pastries, pies,cakes, and cobblers

fresh veggies

and  that first picture at the top is of the locomotive that runs on the tracks right in front on Ham's. We've been there when the train has stopped.. and we watched two people get off,  pick up some fresh peach ice-cream cones, and head back on out. Didn't happen this time... and don't know if it's a normal practice, but thought it was an interesting event.

And those of you that are familiar with our cats may know that Tux and Julie are black and white DSH siblings that are an integral part of our house-hold. Well, these two are particularly fond of going into our office or computer room - mainly because we keep that door closed most of the time and a closed door is just too much for their curiosity. Well, today after our company left, I came in here to work on my blog and decided to let them in while I worked. They are in hog heaven. Both have curled up on the bed in here... just as content as can be. 

Tux and Julie

And lastly, our youngest grand daughter (at 4) is a big fan of Spider-man. Well, DH's brother (who was visiting) brought her a Spider-man T-shirt and she decided that it made a great Spider-man nightie.

You can't actually see the Spider on the front... but it is there!


Hope you all have a fantastic week!  It's supposed to be in the middle 80's for the next few days here... if the weatherman is right! For August in Texas, this is pretty wonderful.