a little late... but hey

Rabbit! Rabbit! White Rabbit!

I'm writing this Thursday night... at 11:35 PM... so it's a bit late. I think you're supposed to say "Rabbit! Rabbit! White Rabbit!"  first thing in the morning when you wake up on the first day of the month. But hey, it's still August 1st for another 25 minutes... might count for something.

                                      ________________________


Next are 2 pics taken outside of various critters that we see out front. My youngest granddaughter is fascinated with them and actually has a snail and doodlebug farm in a shoebox at her house. 

snail

toad cooling off in water dish

This little toad seemed very comfortable sitting in one of the cats' water dishes out front.

finding critters on beach

And this is a picture from my cell that son sent while granddaughter was exploring a beach for more little critters...

Tomorrow is the last day for pottery classes at the college. We will have a critique, but basically its a clean up day where we need to take everything from our lockers and shelves and bring home until classes start again in a few weeks. 

I missed last week due to family in town for a few days. But we had a wonderful visit where we ate way too much (crepes, whiskey cake, fresh peach pulled pork sandwiches, etc.), and talked ourselves blue in the face into the wee hours of the morning. Needless to say, I'm knackered.... from both the getting ready (cleaning, cooking, etc.) as well as the actual running around... and staying up late (age is taking it's toll here?). But all in all, it was fun! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. It is TGIF! 
Thanks for dropping by. BTW, the fig tree is finally slowing down production... it sure had a great season.


Hugs, 
Rian

Julie hanging out...

Julie

While I was dusting the front room today, Julie was hanging out watching me. Cats are very good at watching others work. I often tell them they should be doing something constructive... but to them that only means 'playing, eating, or napping'. They are good at those things... and at 'comforting'.

The little Siamese feral kittens (and their black sibling) are growing up... but still nursing their mama. They are very playful and I would like to get them friendly to people, but their mama has taught them well. As soon as that door opens, they scatter.

Mama and her 3 kits

..

another view

The kittens are growing up... but still nursing. She's a fantastic mom... watches them like a hawk. We saw her hiss and chase off one of the raccoon babies that was getting too close to a kitten. I think it just wanted to play... but mama said 'no way'.

DH and I had a fun 2 weeks of birthdays... (his is 9 days after mine).  Oldest son and his family flew in from Hawaii and we had a nice family gathering on Sunday. I made a ton of food as I wasn't sure how many would be at the house... but we almost finished most of it. 

Unfortunately the weather has been really hot. Supposed to hit 104 - 105 F later this week. And the 'haze' due to the Sahara sand blowing in doesn't help. 

I may be 'out of pocket' this next week, but will try to catch up ASAP.  

Have a great week! And try to keep 'cool'....

Family weekend at the Zoo...

 giraffes would let you feed them lettuce

giraffes, zebras, and  deer or gazelle can be all together on the savanna

enjoying the sun

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, but daughter and grand daughter came in for the weekend and the whole crew of us (6 adults and 4 kids) spent a fun weekend playing with new addition (grand daughter who is 3 months old now and seemed to really enjoy all the people around her). Sunday we all took off for the Dallas Zoo. It was a little chilly, but when the sun came out, it was comfortable.  I took beaucoup pictures on my iPhone, but will have to download (or upload?) them sometime today. But here are a few taken in the new addition, *the African Savanna*.

For the moment, I'm just checking in as there was no computer time this weekend with everyone here. It was pizza night Saturday night and we got home in time from the zoo for me to make chicken enchiladas Sunday night. This morning they all took off for the hill country as the kids are on Spring Break. I still have classes this week (my Spring Break is next week, but we don't plan to go anywhere). And this morning I have to be at class, so this will be short.  Hopefully, this afternoon I will be able to catch up reading  the weekend's blogs... and commenting.

My grand daughter (who is 11) put *pininterest*? on my iPhone.  I've heard of it, but had never checked it out. Now I will...


Happy Monday to all!

a first Christmas...

1st Christmas

Christmas 2012 has passed and the New Year 2013 is upon us!  We don't know what it will bring, but "hope springs eternal"...   I'm not worried about the world ending, nor the fiscal cliff.  I'm not worried about whether we will have enough money to last us through retirement nor whether our health will continue.  These things will always be a concern, but not a worry.

The important thing is that we have our friends and family around us and our new baby grand daughter is celebrating her first Christmas with us.  Life is good.

As it happened (and I mentioned this already on my 'Cats, Coffee, and Chocolate' site), we celebrated Christmas Sunday evening this year due to the impending snow and ice supposedly coming our way Christmas day.  This allowed those who needed to get back on the road to leave before the weather got bad.  It worked rather well. 

The kids got to open gifts ahead of time  (which we have never done before - but they certainly didn't mind). And since both older grand kids got 26' mountain bikes, they were also able to ride them Christmas Eve morning.  It wouldn't have been possible to do this Christmas Day as it was pouring rain (before it started snowing).

So... as it probably was in almost every one's home, we ate, laughed, ate some more, sat by the fire, ate even more, talked,... and passed the baby around. She was a little angel... smiling most of the time, but frowning with all the flashes from cameras in her tiny face.

The cats had a pretty good Christmas too  as everyone had left before Christmas morning so they had the whole house to themselves.  I wrote (and posted pictures of them) about this on my other site ("Cats, Coffee...").

Now I'm going to post a picture of our family taken all together (which is a difficult thing to do as they 'act up' and I get 6 silly pics to every good one - but that's normal too I suppose). The silly ones are fun to look at, but not exactly what you want to post.

These are kids and grand kids with the exception of one son-in-law that was home sick and one grandson that was elsewhere at the time.  We tried to take another over by the Christmas tree, but everyone was acting silly and none turned out too great.

So here's wishing all of you out there a Happy and Safe 2013! 

the day is done... (Thanksgiving that is)

rose from our garden

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!  This photo was taken of a rose that DH brought in from the garden a few days ago.  He brought it in as a bud, but when it opened, it was huge and really beautiful... a deep pink with red highlights. Don't know the name. We used to have lots of rose bushes (and knew all the names), but as time went by, we've not had as many or paid as much attention.  But this one caught our eye!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I cooked for 3 days.  DH smokes the turkey, I made Bourbon Sweet Potatoes with Pecan and Marshmallow topping, my mom's Oyster Stuffing,  a new Green Bean Casserole (all fresh - no canned - but similar to the traditional recipe), a Hatch Chili stuffing (for the Vegetarians at the table), cranberry sauce, and cheese biscuits... also a traditional pudding recipe that has a cookie base (boys HAVE to have this) and an apple pie.

We ate, we laughed, we discussed the new baby who was sitting at the table with her mom and has not yet decided to grace us with her presence (she is due to make her appearance anytime). Then we all adjoined to the den so those who were inclined could continue watching the football games while others of us could either knit or sleep... until it was time for more coffee and dessert!  My daughter and her family (who live in the hill country and weren't with us for dinner this year) kept texting us and her brothers as to what was going on at her house.  The boys kept sending her pictures of mom's food.

All in all, it was a nice day. The cats enjoyed it too.  They laid around in baskets and on the sofa with the family... except for Molly who decided to sit on the bench next to DIL during dinner.  Mostly the cats are not allowed near the table while we're eating and they're pretty good about it. But Molly is 19, so when she joined us, no one was offended.  She just sat there and listened to the conversation. The weather was beautiful. This morning it's a bit cooler - 59 or 60 I believe.  




quilt we saw at shop in Celeste, TX

 Took this picture of a quilt my friend and I saw at this little shop in Celeste last week. I fell in love with it. My friend is the quilter, not me. I have one that I did start and it is almost finished except for the last bit... but as it turns out, when I have time on my hands, I'd rather work on the wheel or knit (and so it has sat unfinished in my closet for about a year). Truth is, I LOVE quilts! Just not making them myself. So we bought the material and she is going to make it for me.  She is one of those people that has quilts started and finished everywhere in her house. But, as I told her, there is no hurry on my part. I'm just excited to have found one that I really like. There are so many designs and materials out there that it makes my head spin. Some are gorgeous... just not my house style. This one is perfect.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Where do you live?



We live in Texas

Ever since I started this blog, I've been meaning to do 'something' to remember where the 'bloggers I read' live.  Some are easy to remember by the pictures of the area they post. Others are generic or (like myself) change their pictures from day to day.  In the beginning when I read just a few, it was easy... but now since I've increased the number (and decreased my brain cells), I'm finding it more difficult. I'll be reading a site and then have to surf over to their 'profile' to check out their home base.  Anyway, now I've started a list that immediately shows me who is from where. Archaic, but hey,  it works for me. 

The picture at the top is one that my son sent me when he was in West Texas doing some amphibian research for the Dallas Zoo. I figure it might help people remember that WE LIVE IN TEXAS.

I know that I post a lot of pictures of New Orleans because that is where DH and I were born and raised (and our family is still there), but we've lived in Texas since 1971 and raised our kids here. That should qualify us for honorary Texas residents, don't you think?  (BTW, my oldest son was born in New Orleans, daughter in Florida, and youngest son in Texas - we stopped moving after that...)



95th Birthday!... no, not mine



Beignets and Cafe Aulait - Again!  This time in Baton Rouge.


DH and I just returned from another trip to Louisiana. This time to Ethel, La... a little town outside of Baton Rouge.  DH's mom had her 95th birthday this past week.  She is doing well, still lives in her house, and gets around fairly well with her walker (when she remembers to use it).  Her mind is sharp, but her body is failing... which I guess at 95 is expected.  But as she says, "it's frustrating" because the things she likes to do (gardening, cooking, walking, taking care of her cats and the outside birds) has become increasingly difficult. She can no longer drive and dislikes being dependent on others. And she's "tired".

What can you say? I know all this is true and I feel helpless. She has wonderful family nearby that keep close tabs on her and try to involve her in activities, but as she says, she doesn't enjoy needing all this help. She does feel grateful that she has lived this long, but she misses her friends who have all passed on. I can relate (on the friends' issue).  I have lost my mom, dad, and both siblings over the years. And this past summer I lost a very dear friend.  She was 86 and had lived a long happy (for the most part) life.  But I still miss her.

BTW, the photo at the top is beignets and cafe aulait at a place in Baton Rouge. The cafe aulait was good, but the smaller beignets just didn't do the ones in New Orleans justice. We're LSU graduates (class of '68 ) and try to visit our old haunts whenever we're in town. (Usually eat at Mike Anderson's, but this time tried Pairran's- cajun for godfather.  Had poboys and gumbo!) LSU's campus is covered with huge old oak trees.  Most of the limbs touch the ground these days (whether this is from age or hurricanes I'm not sure). But I have to say that even all these years later, the campus is still beautiful.

We stayed at DH's brother's house outside of Houston on our way home so we could watch the LSU-Idaho game (score was 62-14) Saturday night.  Wasn't much of a game...




DH's brother's cat



Hurricane Isaac... 7 years to the day

This is my cousin's house in New Orleans.  I know that I just showed this in my previous post, but her old one was destroyed by Katrina and it took 5 years to get this one built.  As you can see, the living area is on the 2nd floor.  Having just spoken to her on her cell today, she said that the electricity was off and the streets were flooded, but apparently the levees were holding.  So she was fine.  And that she was definitely going to look into getting herself a generator so she will be even better prepared next time.

One cousin evacuated to Baton Rouge, another stayed in his house in Kenner.  Haven't been able to reach a few, but I believe that they are all fine.  From the pictures on TV and from what people there have told me, there are some badly flooded areas, but not near the catastrophe Katrina caused with the broken levees and pumps.

The way the storm came in and the fact that it was so 'slow' moving (maybe 5 - 6 mph) has caused some unexpected problems.  The flooding is almost always expected, but apparently Plaquemines Parish and the West Bank got more than their share.  Plaquemines Parish is the 'toe' of the boot (Louisiana) that sits out in the Gulf.  But we must remember that back in 2005 when Katrina came in (and left), we thought at first that all was well... until the levees burst.  So it wouldn't do to be too confident yet.  Once Isaac moves on (hopefully soon), we'll have a more realistic view.

And from what we see on TV, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Waveland, and Biloxi got hit hard again.  These are areas where we spent our childhood summers.  In fact, we reminisced about them just this past Friday when we were all together at the house in this picture. We could walk from my cousin's house to the beach.  I loved the long piers out over the water... and once sat on one and watched a storm come in.  It was a strange 'out of this world' feeling as the blackness neared that tended to put all your life into prospective.  On TV tonight the main road, Hwy 90, running through Waveland was closed.  It looked like a raging river. My family told me that many of the huge old homes that used to be across from the beach there on 90 were not rebuilt after Katrina (who can blame them?). They said some were, but there were still a lot of empty lots. 



Other views of City Park in N.O.




Can you see the ducks?

Well, life changes... and so does the climate. We're now seeing hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados, and global warming.  Guess we need to 'be prepared'... and maybe pray?