a bit of comfort...

peach pecan dump cake

With all that's going on in the world... I thought we needed a little 'comfort food'  -  so I made an old favorite from years ago - a peach pecan dump cake! DH and my grandson approved and ate it while it was still warm from the oven today. 

I won't say there's not a lot going on as there is... what with politics, Corona virus, weather-related catastrophes, and some personal medical concerns. But it does no good to dwell on these things (as everyone knows). I think each of us has to deal with life in our own way. As the saying goes, "It is what it is... " (and we can handle it)... at least this is what I've always told myself.

I don't dare try to predict the future results from the Primaries. I can only hope ("Hope springs eternal within the human breast"... Alexander Pope) and pray.

As for the Corona virus... as much as we refuse to panic or worry about the possible implications, I find they prey on our brains subconsciously.  Almost all of us have family or friends in areas that are already affected. We haven't bought masks or hoarded supplies. But we do try to avoid large gatherings, wash our hands constantly, and be basically cautious.

There is not much anyone can do about weather related catastrophes except pray for those affected, give donations, or physically help if possible. And personal medical concerns require choices and follow through... which sometimes drain us emotionally and physically (although we try not to admit it).

But when it comes down to it, despite it all,  how can we not be grateful for the years we've been given? DH and I will be 75 this year and have been married for 52 years. Life's had its ups and downs, but all in all, it's been a good life. Our daughter tells me that she doesn't think of us as 'old'... and I suppose that's good, but truth be told, we ARE old. 

And we miss Tux and Julie... that's for sure.  Ghost does too. She's still a little bewildered at being the only cat in the house. 

Guess I'm rambling now so I'd better close.  Thanks for visiting and I pray you and yours stay well.

Our cats... a few years ago

a new addition...

Snuffy on bed with Tux

Recently fell in love with this little guy while walking at the mall with DH. Originally planned to give it to grand daughter (since her birthday and Christmas are both coming up) - but soon realized that I didn't want to part with him. He now sits (along with cats) on top of our bed!

I have always been interested in elephants (and crows) and have an elephant picture that I inherited from my brother in our bedroom. See below.

They are such majestic animals... as is our Tux.

The weather this week is cold and rainy... so the cats and I are spending our days by the fireplace. 

It seems the smartest thing to do. And DH and I both got our flu shots this week... so taking it easy and out of the weather seems like a good idea.

A few more pics here at the end that I took at Neiman Marcus when DH and I were walking at the mall Monday. Christmas is everywhere already... (abeit a bit early)!

    Love the bear tree best!











By the way, I named the elephant Snuffy for Snuffaluffagus...

I should be wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving instead of posting Christmas decorations, but we seem to go right from Halloween into Christmas these days. And besides, I don't really have much in the way of Thanksgiving decorations.  It seems to be more about family and food (which is always fun -although sometimes a lot of work).

But I guess we're now on the big countdown from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas. Always lots to do (hope I'm still up to it).  But as the mantra goes, "Breathe in, breathe out, move on!"

Hugs,
Rian

Thursday in Texas...

This is our Celeste Fig tree (on left). It is actually behind the gate, but falls over into the front drive.

The picture on the right show how many figs it seems to be making. We're not sure if they will all ripen as there are way too many.

We enjoy eating these figs fresh...
if the birds (mostly bluejays) and squirrels leave us some.  We do have a Turkey fig tree in the backyard - these we leave for the birds and squirrels.





We also have a ton of mint growing out front. It is taking over our front yard. But we love it and it smells wonderful.  Also tastes great in DH's sweet tea!

even growing out of cracks in walkway!

Weather has gotten warm... supposed to be up to 98 this afternoon. We're also in for more severe weather this evening if the weathermen can be believed. This spring has been a bit much with the tornado watches and severe thunderstorms. Our sirens went off yesterday afternoon and we were like... "WTF?" (sorry) The sun was out in our area and it looked fine - but sure enough, it got black and started pouring in about 30 mins and they kept the tornado watch on until about 8 pm. But luckily our area was fine. Some were not so lucky. But unless I'm mistaken, no one was hurt.

This next pic is oldest grand daughter at a horse event last Saturday. She has been working a lot lately and this is the first event in a while that she could attend. Both she and her horse did well. My daughter sent us the pic.

June 2019

I'm still working on my seals. This last one, "seal and pup" I just finished.  Well, not finished,  as it will have to dry and then be underglazed and fired. But it's a little larger than I usually do... maybe 6 inches. Most of my sculptures are between 2 and 4.

seal and pup

tiny fat cat

OK... that's all I've got.  Going to go read for a while and maybe take a short nap. Thanks for visiting! Wish I could serve you some tea or coffee.  We have a really good Lemon Ice-box pie in the freezer. It was a new recipe that is definitely a keeper. 

Hugs,
Rian

strange weather, beautiful blooms, critters, and coyotes

Is it just me or have you noticed that the weather around the world has been a bit erratic?  I know that hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunami, earthquakes, lava flows, floods, etc. happen... and have happened throughout history,  but do they seem to be happening a lot more?

I do believe in Climate Change... and I expect this is all a part of that, but with the earth warming and the seas rising, I worry (no, not worry exactly... but am concerned) that things may be happening faster than people seem to realize or care to admit. 

We went from almost 80 degrees to in the low 20's recently... and although probably not that unusual - seems like a small warning sign saying the weather is 'in flux' (not sure that's the right word, but it fits my feeling).

Anyway, on to happier things...

Amaryllis with 4 blooms on each stalk

Thought you might like to see our amaryllis in total bloom. It has 4 large flowers on each stalk. Really pretty! And so far, the cats haven't even noticed it. Of course it's not usually in the center of our kitchen... but the light was better here for the pic.

The weather here has been cold, damp, and downright nasty. Perfect for sitting by the fireplace with a good book.  Since I use that area for my pottery too... it's a great time to underglaze my little critters.  

seal 

puffin

These are on the shelf ready for the first firing...

Oh.. and a heads up! DH and I just chased a very large coyote out of our backyard! He was after one of the feral cats. Don't think he caught him... at least we hope not. DH went out with one of those 'screaming canisters' and I ran out banging pots together. He ran. Must have jumped the 6 foot fence...

We've had a few coyotes around the neighborhood. They usually run when you make noise. I've never worried too much about them, but some areas (Frisco, TX) have had people attacked lately... really odd that they would do that. 

As always - Have a wonderful week and thanks for reading! I plan to go make a bacon cheeseburger meatloaf for supper tonight... something I saw on one of the cooking shows and thought the boys would like. Will let you know how it turns out. 

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!