Sunday, December 30, 2018

Wrapping It Up

Gifts aren't the only things that are wrapped up during the Christmas season.  We wrapped up a hectic, but wonderful year.  Early December brought a trip to the farm with good friend Carol Hardaway and Gabby, her almost-fourteen-year-old border collie.  Carol and I met over ten years ago when Gabby (who certainly doesn't look her age) and our Nickie were competing in canine agility.  We have remained fast friends ever since, and enjoy these girls' weekends when we have the chance to get away.  (Don't feel too sorry for John, though.  He  was at the deer lease with Rick Lorentz harvesting a couple of deer and a nice feral pig.)



Two more cows and calves were delivered just before we arrived, bringing our “herd” to 8 cows and The General, our Hereford bull.  When we got to the farm, I found that our two new cows and their calves had settled in nicely, and that “Skinny Minnie” had a new baby calf. 



Rue and I were responsible for penning our five big calves so they could be picked up and sent to the auction.  She did a good job with the calves, and later helped to move the cows and bull into the creek pasture. 


On Saturday, December 15, Rue and I drove to Meridian some 30 miles from the farm to attend a herding clinic at the home of Jack and Vivian Christensen.  




Six or seven veteran handlers volunteered their time to help those less-experienced to develop skills necessary to enter trials with their border collies.  


 Vivian's pup, Tuff, isn't old enough to work sheep yet, but he was certainly interested.




Rue patiently waited her turn in her crate, knowing that she would soon have time with the sheep.  


We didn't work the ewes with new lambs, but they sure were cute.


It was a great Saturday with good friends and their dogs.

And then we were home for Christmas.  

The dogs wore their reindeer ears...briefly, but were much more interested in the new toys their stockings held.





The toys survived the day...somehow!

Gage and Cameron came over for Christmas lunch before returning to San Angelo where they are both students at Angelo State University. 

We loved their short visit, then finished preparing for Christmas dinner with our friends Carol and Larry Hardaway and Kathy Clark and Bill Menzies.

As I was setting the table for our Christmas dinner, I was re-living Christmases past and thinking of my mother and my two wonderful mothers-in-law.  The lovely red salad plates were a gift from my first mother-in-law, Audrey Wann, who lives in Tucson.


The Spode plates and glasses were given to us by John's mother, Maxine Bagley Johnston, with whom we spent almost every Christmas Eve until last year when she passed away at age 97.


The beautiful sterling silver Francis First flatware and hand-painted pitcher and serving plate came from my mother, Evelyn Jones, who was a blessing every day of her almost 99 years. 


Each time I use these special pieces, I think of them and all the good times we shared.  

John fixed a delicious prime rib roast for dinner, and we enjoyed a special evening. I hope all of you did the same. (Sorry I didn't get a picture of the food; it disappeared too fast!)

Love from our home to yours.  We hope all of you had a Merry Christmas,


and may God grant you a peaceful, prosperous and blessed New Year.

Saturday, December 29, 2018

A very busy November!

I am looking back at my last post and marveling at how fast the time has flown!  On our way home from Kansas, we stopped in Wiley for a short visit with RVing friends Rick and Alicia and Rocky and Sheri.  The people enjoyed each other's company,


while Rue was mesmerized by Rick and Alicia's two four-legged brush-hogs, Taco and Salad.



Resident Dog Bailey Mae was just bored by it all.


It seems like only yesterday we returned to our home near Lake Travis (in time to vote), unpacked the fifth wheel and started to get ready for the holidays.  We participated in a wet but well-attended "Trunk or Treat" at First Lakeview Church.


Then we were off to the farm to check on things.  We were glad to see Allan and his family, who arrived for a couple of days of R and R.  


Rachel and Clover showed off Clover’s new pack;


A few days later, Rick and Linda stopped by for a visit on their way to their winter "home" in Rockport.  We had a wonderful time.


Linda and I did some shopping and the guys did some chores.

We drove into Hamilton for a tour of tiny travel trailers owned by some "Sisters on the Fly."  The little rigs were all decorated for Christmas, and it was interesting to see how different they were, both in decor and in setup. (But we're glad our fifth wheel and Rick and Linda's Winnebago give us a little more elbow room.)






We also had plenty of porch time, and good walks through the pastures and woods.



It was a great visit, and we look forward to our next get-together.

On the 16th, we celebrated my birthday with Cousins Kathy and Eric at Sinclair's in Clifton.  The smoked quail were extraordinary, and the dessert scrumptious.


We then continued my birthday commemoration and celebrated an early Thanksgiving with Brian and Debi, and with Mallory and her fiancé, Daniel.  


There were long walks in the pasture, some wood cutting, and a lot of porch sitting.  It was a lovely time.  

Our Thanksgiving was a quiet one, but one we will remember.  John and I decided to try our luck fishing in our upper stock tank.  John caught the most fish, but I landed this beautiful bass. 



She fought hard enough to earn a pardon, but the others we caught were plenty for a memorable, if unconventional, Thanksgiving dinner.

We followed that memorable meal with another when we drove to Rough Creek Lodge outside Glen Rose to celebrate John's birthday with friends Larry and Carol Hardaway.  We agreed that the burgers were the best we've ever eaten, and again, dessert was delicious.



This fall we have made up for lost time with friends and family, mostly at the farm.  The weekend after Thanksgiving, the Joneses, Carmodys and McElhanys were up for a visit.  Jamey did some charcoal painting on his granddad’s flagstone patio;

Rachel and Laura posed for a portrait;


Rachel, Jamey and Laura (with some help from her Great-Auntie Michal) drove the John Deere Gator;




 and  a good time was had by all.  



Joel and Zeva had fun, too.  They did very well fishing at our upper stock tank!


It was a great month!