Last one in is a rotten egg

I've been busy decor hunting on eBay and Etsy lately, trying to find some fun and casual items for the river house. Lo and behold, I ran across a shop that had a sign with the following saying: Last one in is a rotten egg. Did you know that comes from a book written by Leonard Kessler back in 1969?

 

I sure didn't. I was a few years old when it was published, but I can't recall reading it when I was in elementary school, though I figure it must have been in the library. I've been thinking about ordering this sign for a couple weeks now and finally did it yesterday. The shop owner sent me several selections on fonts and I went with option 4. It will have pride of place at the bottom of the stairs on the Guadalupe River. I can hardly wait until we close on Tuesday so I can get busy making the river house a reflection of our taste and start enjoying it.

 

SARA Sanctuary

Over the weekend, the younger daughter and I visited the SARA Sanctuary outside Seguin, Texas. The SARA acronym stands for Society for Animal Rescue and Adoption. It's a farm sanctuary on 128 acres started in 1996 by Tracy Frank. It relies on donations to cover the feed and care of over 600 animals. As you can imagine, it's a tireless and ongoing process to acquire the funds to keep the place running.

We were happy to donate many bags of carrots so that kids visiting on Earth Day could feed the animals and enjoy getting to know more about this wonderful place that values the lives of all God's creatures. They recently took in seventeen more mouths to feed when a small herd of alpacas needed a safe haven. Earlier in April they were shorn of their winter coats in anticipation of the impending heat of our usual Texas summers, so their precious little furry heads were a sight to behold.

I have to admit that the pigs are my favorite. They're always grateful for a scratch and carrot snack. There's something about them I find endearing, particularly their sweet little eyes and grunting conversations.

Spending time with the animals at the sanctuary is a great way to reconnect with animals who are considered disposable by lots of folks. When you hang out with them for a while, you're reminded that they have personalities and were created for a purpose. Psalm 104:24 praises God for His creation: How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. In the words of female Anglican hymnist Cecil Frances Alexander... All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.

If you'd like to support Tracy's mission at the sanctuary, please click on the link below. Any and all donations will gladly be put to good use for the animals.

SARA Sanctuary

Kicking it country

We had ladies night on Friday when the younger daughter (left in pic below) and I hosted a good friend and her daughter for the Morgan Wallen concert at the AT&T. 

I'm afraid it's a testament to my aging that I thought the music was kinda loud and the flashing lights were blinding at times. I was grateful for the big screens that zoomed in on Morgan as he moseyed around the stage belting out his hits. He was concert ready in an old pair of jeans and the sort of heather gray t-shirt I wear when I work out.

Don't get me wrong, the singing was great. We were close enough to feel heat blasts from the pyrotechnics. And the lighting/mood changes from song to song were cool to see. 

 

I was only familiar with a few songs for the two opening acts. Then Morgan kicked off his part of the show with one we all knew, as he and the piano ascended to stage level in a cloud of fog.

However, we all enjoyed singing along to some current country staples like "Whiskey Glasses" and "Chasing You". Back in the day, I could boot scoot with the best of them. Now I'm lucky to figure out the lyrics to what they're playing on the radio these days!

Easter 2022

Alas, another holiday and I didn't snap one picture. I love hosting family and friends, but that means I'm spending the bulk of my time in the kitchen. And I'm fine with that because I enjoy decorating and preparing a meal for family to enjoy. So I'm thinking it's true... I have become my grandmother. Once the older generations are gone, I guess that's inevitable. One of these days, I pray I'll be busy playing with grandbabies and can turn over the kitchen chores to our happily married girls.

The Easter decor has been packed away and house put back to rights. I'm about to drive up to the river house on the Guadalupe to meet with a painter to get a bid for having the interior freshened up. With the sale of the lake house complete, I'm ready to focus my energies on getting the river house up and running for the summer season.

Signed, sealed and somebody else's

This afternoon we signed the paperwork to sell the lake house. Once the buyers sign tomorrow, it will fund and be a done deal. Several weeks ago, we spent most of the weekend up there emptying out our personal belongings. I was happy to sell it fully furnished because the river house we're buying will convey with lots of furniture. Oh sure, some of it isn't my style, but it's a good place to start. Thankfully, our lake buyers also wanted to purchase the jet skis and boat. I'm looking forward to using that money to pay for a bit of updating to the river house.

 

 

 

The oversized club chair and ottoman below were mother's favorite place to hold court at the lake. When I moved the ottoman out of the way while cleaning up one final time, I discovered her old house shoes underneath that she wore her last weekend up there in the fall and it made me all weepy.

It didn't look like our place anymore once the decor was packed away to take to the river house, so that made it easier to say goodbye. I left the new owners some lake specific things I bought for that house. The Lake LBJ vintage postcards I had matted and framed were a favorite of mine, but they don't make sense at the river. I've been collecting some Hunt and Guadalupe River black-and-white vintage postcards to frame for the new place. 

 

Our next step is closing the river house by the end of the month so we can get busy prepping it to host friends and family for the summer season. We're getting rid of the boat because it's time to float!

 

Like a hawk

Until the chorkie gained some weight, we had to monitor him any time he was outside in the back yard because he was just the right size for a snack. We've had hawks in the neighborhood for years now. We've also seen bobcats, coyotes and foxes on our street, but that's a story for another day. I figure the momma hawk must nest around here somewhere. Every so often, we find the feathers of a meal that she enjoyed in the yard. 

I've been spending more time outside lately, watering in my new sod and plants to get the roots established before the Texas heat sets in. Sure enough, I've heard her and the fledged babies calling to each other. I even spied one of them in the yard this week and snapped a pic. She's camouflaged pretty well, but you can't miss her on the flattened part of the oak trunk above.

Always on my mind

Several years ago, I played tour guide and took my mother plus a few of her friends visiting from DFW into downtown to do a bit of sightseeing. As we were leaving the restaurant where we had lunch, mother and her friend stopped to take a look at the unique Elvis. They thought it was a mannequin, but then he moved. We all had a good laugh. 

 

I recently saw this headline below and it made me think of the old girls. Turns out mother and Hispanic Elvis were the same age, and passed away a couple months apart.

 

Time flies. We close our eyes for a nap in preschool and wake up to the realization that we're about to qualify for the senior discount. As the cute t-shirt in my closet reads: Buy the shoes, eat the cake, take the trip. And don't forget to have a good laugh along the way while you're making memories with family and friends.

A night to honor our military heroes

The husband's company celebrated the 100th year of sponsoring a local PGA golf tournament. Neither of us are golfers, but we always attend "The Night to Honor our Heroes". Here in Military City USA, we have a proud history of armed forces bases that both train and provide medical care for service members.

The evening kicks off with cocktails and a display of rare military artifacts. We are treated to a performance by a local high school JROTC drill team. Then there's a guest speaker after dinner. In the past I've had the honor of hearing senators and a former president. This year, we were treated to a trifecta of golf dignitaries. Native Texan Ben Crenshaw was seated at our table. He was joined by Lee Trevino and Tom Watson for a Q&A onstage with the Golf Channel's Dan Hicks. 

 

Before the golf luminaries were invited to speak, Mr. Crenshaw and Hicks joked that Lee Trevino would be there telling stories until midnight if they'd let him. I quickly learned how very entertaining Lee Trevino could be and didn't doubt he'd be there telling yet another funny story well into the night. 

It was a lovely evening, and I'm so glad I got to be a part of honoring the many active duty as well as retired service men and women who were in attendance. God bless the USA, and those who serve to defend her!

Water toys for the river house

The girls have been lamenting the fact that we are closing on the lake house in a couple weeks and they'll no longer have access to the boat and jet skis that we're also selling to the buyers. 

So the husband and I went kayak and stand up paddle board (SUP) shopping last weekend. The girls really just wanted the SUPs, but I thought it would be fun to have a kayak, too. At the lake we had a nice inflatable SUP, so we purchased a solid one for them to give a try at the river house. If it gets the thumbs up, then we'll purchase another one. For now, they're safely stored in the cabana of our house in town until we close on the river house and trailer them up there.

I'm still searching for a pedal boat. The husband did his usual investigations through reviews to find the one we should get. Since he finished that, I've been unable to locate the brand and model he believes we need. I don't know if it's a pandemic-supply chain issue, or whether pedal boats are so in demand they're hard to find. That means I'll have to keep perusing the internet and local retail stores to try and get my hands on one.

With a fine tooth comb

Last week we had inspections at the river house. As usual, the husband joined in and crawled all over while we had three separate guys checking out the well, septic and structures. Thankfully, there were only a few items we felt the owner needs to address before we close on it later this month. 

 

 

While the husband was busy, my friend and I roamed around checking out the water and views, as well as home furnishings that will convey with the sale. 

 

I think we could have spent hours in a lawn chair watching the fish. Thanks to a riverbed that's mostly rock, the fish were easy to spot. 

 

This time I walked further down the bank to take a closer look at the limestone cliff. I knew that Texas was a shallow sea bed more than 200 million years ago. Sure enough, I quickly spied some ancient seashells embedded in the walls of our cliff. Ever the history nerd, I thought it was really cool.