Dripping Springs Market Days

 I've been busy! So busy I didn't get to writing on this blog for a few days, here's a bit of what I've been up to..

As you know I had to sell my  cows and stop having Farm Days. That was pretty devastating for me, but  I started painting as a way to heal from the loss..
and I've written about selling art at farmers markets and what a pain in the ass they can be.. ...

Sooo a friend and I decided to put together a new market. We're calling it Dripping Springs Market Days, and it's indoors!!!
You'll notice the days is plural... we plan on having these market days at least once each season..
Getting this going has been taking my attention away from other matters.

I've still been working on art, not as much as I would like, but  some...
I've been painting small pictures.. see the photo...
these range in size from 2 to 4 inches...and I have lots more little pieces of wood left over from some of Jerry's carpentry projects...

To be honest I've always rather liked tiny pictures...there's always room.


 Today I feel gratitude for the talent the universe has given me, and all the ideas that flow into my head.. I used to view it as a curse ( I think it might be ADD)
but I choose to view this as a gift, cultivate it  and let's just see where  it takes me..

PS Dripping Springs Market Days is hoping you'll check out the facebook page and "Like" it!  If youre interested in being a vendor please message us!

My Weekend

This weekend was great.For startersiIt was, as we all know, a 3 dayer... which in itself is a bonus..
then...
My daughter and I went to Fredericksburg to shop. Whilie we were there a cold front blew in.. It was cold as a "witchs' t--" . now, while the shopping was enjoyable the best part was thinking how great it was not to be set and trying to sell outside somewhere in the cold wind... I had actually considered signing up for a show this weekend, but my daughter suggested I wait for Spring.. .. I'm sooo glad I listened to her!


Afterwards we went to my sisters house in town and stayed the night. She's something of a hospitality expert... she always makes an outstanding meal(I owe her about 100 in return)... we had shrimp, salad, potatoes, corn and wine.. excellent end to a wonderful day... good food, and good company.

Then on Sunday on our way home we dropped by to visit Sunny and Mattie, who now live nearby.

They are lazy, fat and happy... and that was really wonderful to see....

 Just to be clear, there were a few not so great things that happened this weekend, like my husband almost cutting off his finger and it costing us over a 1000.00... but the upside to that is we had the money... and he has his thumb!

It's all in the way you look at things and the way I see it... things are pretty good.

Glad It's a Long Weekend!

This year my daughter went to school.

That sounds unremarkable to most people, but it was huge for us. She had been home schooled up until this year.

She wanted to try high school, and we decided to let her....

Originally she tried a small charter school in Wimberley which I shall not name. It was the strangest experience we could have imagined...she ended up  being bullied by a transgender girl who wished she were a boy, and I think she/he... I don't know what to refer to this child as, was very angry and took it out on my daughter. So... we left.

We left a month before the end of the fall semester so my daughter had to really scramble to get caught up for the impending midterms at the new school, since apparently each school may cover the same material but not in the same order...and she was thrown into a sea of confusion...but she worked really hard and did it!

Now my daughter goes to our local public high school... and she isn't really having a great time...she's having
the "traditional school experience."  The experience of no choice, no time, exhaustion and boredom... she told me her vocabulary has gone down because she has no time to read!

More than anything she is experiencing what "mandatory attendance" really means.. and it's hard for us both to accept.. but, like I told her initially, we have to go by the rules, it's their game..

All that being said, this is a 3 day weekend! and we are both so looking forward to it. We havent scheduled anything, so we have the glorious freedom to choose what to do without any obligation....and the weather looks to be beautiful.
Today I'm so grateful to have a healthy beautiful daughter who is going to be home with me all the weekend!

Going to the Dogs

Nemo

 Today I show gratitude for the canine members of
my family.

We have 3 dogs, Nemo, Thor and Jasmine. I'm sure everyone who reads this and has a dog can relate to what I'm going to say here....

When I come home, no matter what , and I mean no matter what these 3 dogs act like I'm the messiah..

Thor

It's
kind of a heavy load but they don't have any expectation of me at all... they're just delighted to have me back at home.. I'm not any where as popular with anyone else..

They like to hang out with me no matter what I'm doing..
 If I'm not feeling well, they follow me into my bedroom and lie down with me..just for moral support.

I know if I were ever in danger all three of them would do their best to protect me, not just me but any of the family.

They ask for so little... food, shelter and companionship and they give back so much. When I'm down they listen and believe me  they've heard it all, complaining, worrying, crying and never once have they not listened quietly with understanding in their eyes..I always feel better after our talks.

Jerry and Jasmine

Yes, they are dirty, loud and tear up my house and yard... but I can get new furniture, clean the yard and handle some barking..
No one's perfect, and friends accept each other as they are...

It's been a long time since I was dogless and I hope it's a long time if ever, that I'm dogless again..
Life is meant to be fun, and it's so much more fun with these guys in it.

Seeing the Good in the Bad

This coming February will mark 2 years that my family was sued by our POA otherwise known as our "Phony HOA.".

I'll never forget the feeling of being served those papers. A rush of despair  flooded through me, I couldn't sleep, I cried, I worried, I lashed out, I spent hours and hours on the computer pouring over
possible loopholes to get ourselves out of the mess we seemed to have landed in...

Fast forward to today. We were blessed with a
an angel of an attorney, we have new wonderful neighbors and I have started a new venture....do I miss my cows? Yes of course, do I miss kids out here?
You bet... but things change. Change is a part of life, it's part of the journey, the path so to speak.

I honestly have to say that I am grateful for everything that has happened.. it sounds crazy but if my
journey had to include this lawsuit and this is what it took to bring me to where I am now... I guess I feel
gratitude for the experience...

I have learned a great deal from this whole ordeal. It's made me much, much stronger than I was before, it's caused me to meet neighbors I hadn't met before, and funny to say it's made this neighborhood more like an
actual neighborhood.. We have had to reach out and that's had a sort of ripple effect.

More than anything it's shown me how much my family, my husband, my kids, my friends love me. Everyone has been so supportive.

Lastly I/we met Bill Davis, our attorney. Just the greatest guy you could want to meet... I probably wouldn't have met him otherwise.

Reading this probably makes you think I'll  be sorry to have this whole thing end... yeah well .... not quite..
but it helps to look at the good if you can.. it's always there.

Wonderful Warmth

Today it hit me how nice it is to have this wood
burning stove.

Its a little old fashioned, but it really warms the place up.. and there's just something about the glow of a fire...just kind of makes me feel like the house is a home..

I'm so lucky to have this wonderful thing in my house...one of the best things about winter!

 

I express gratitude for this humble little stove!

Thank God for Thrift Stores

 I'm sure I've mentioned that I am the youngest of 8 children....
My husband tops that by actually being one of ... 15 children..
and yes we are both Catholic... or were raised Catholic.. the fertile religion..

Anyway when I was a kid I wore basically 2 types of clothing.
School uniforms and" hand me downs".

Hand me downs are the clothes your older siblings and their friends have outgrown and are still considered to have some wear left in them.. It wasn't a big deal to me because  all of my friends were in the same situation...(parochial school).

I didn't really mind that my clothes were preworn... but it would have been kind of nice to have gotten to pick them out!


Basically though the reason we had to wear our siblings old clothes was a matter of stretching the old family wallet...

Enter the Thrift Store of today! Full of pre used clothes and other interesting and useful items!

I love going to thrift stores, it's fun, affordable, interesting ( as you really never know what you'll find), and green.

If I can save an item from being thrown out, and by not buying a new item it means I'm helping the planet, keeping it cleaner! and I get a bargain..

We just don't think about for instance how much water it takes to produce the cotton for the t shirts we wear..
If you have a moment check out this link
http://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/the-impact-of-a-cotton-t-shirt

So... I guess I have to say...
I"m grateful I live in an area and in a time where it is easy and
acceptable to shop green at local thrift stores!

Ha! I bet I'm not alone!

Pedernales State Park

 School starts tomorrow, after 2 glorious weeks off... The anticipation of the end of the break has been, well not really good..This being the last day and it was so beautiful  we decided to go to the Pedernales State Park for the afternoon.

We hiked down to the falls and found a little trail that led down to the water, which was like a storybook picture...

Pedernales Park is pretty close by and we go there when we can..
it's actually pretty cool to be so near a place like this... In the summer we can swim in the river and in the Fall and Winter we can go to  hike and enjoy the scenery..

I am grateful to live so near, and that the powers that be have kept and preserved parks for we the public to enjoy...I gotta say, government aint all bad.....

 Tomorrow when Juliette is sitting in school, she can remember her day today and it will fortify her.

My beautiful yard

After, what... how many days of gloom and yesterdays really cold wet weather you can probably guess what I feel thanks for today...

Woke up to sunshine! Thank you, thank you universe for this fantastic, clear, shiny day! This is why we live in Texas..

By the way, what I'm finding is how much there is to be grateful for... how much I have that I just take for granted.

Know what I mean?

An Attitude of Gratitude.. Day 2

Today I want  to express my gratitude for Jerry, my husband.

This photo isn't very good, but I still like it ...it makes me happy to see it..
Any way I am grateful to have my husband in my life.  Our relationship isn't always easy, and I'm not quite sure which one of us it is that makes it trying at times, but our relationship has made me a better, stronger person... and when we are getting along he's actually pretty amazing.

He can honestly do anything.. He can build a house, make anything, fix anything and figure out anything.. This guy is capable in everyway...( well not cooking, he'a not a good cook).

He is also an amazing musician, and the fact he has this artistic side that is always being denied for our benefit is not lost on me.. he is sacrificing for our family and I hope he knows I feel gratitude for what he does for us.
Jerry is the one who has always encouraged me to find what I want to be, even when I feel like giving up, he listens and cheers me up and tells me I can do it. To have someone who believes in me is such a gift, a blessing.

Oh yeah, one other thing... he made great kids with me... there's just somethings you can't do on your own...

Jerry, thanks for  everything! I love you and appreciate you!

2016 Living in Gratitude

Happy 2016! 

Thus begins a year of gratitude...
Day 1: I am grateful for my beginnings... my parents.

My parents were actually pretty average, but to me and most of my siblings we think they were the best.. I think the primary thing they did for us as their children was to appear madly in love with each other.

My father passed away when he was far too young. I believe he was not quite 70. I was 30 and my oldest child was 6 months at the time. He died of cancer. I recall my dad at home ( he was receiving Hospice), any way I recall him sitting up in his bed, looking at my mom and telling her how pretty she looked.... he's dying and he wants her to know he still sees her as a beautiful woman...that's what I remember about my dad...

Now that I'm older I realize they were both way too young to be parents.. I mean really all parents are just people... without a clue.. just winging it the best they can....and it's all about love. Love for each other, love for their children... and love for the life they live together..

I was born in 1963, which means my parents were products of the depression era, WWII, all that stuff....
My upbringing was fun, not perfect but I have to say I always felt loved...

So Mom and Dad, I say thanks for being the best parents you could be for me and for the rest of my siblings...you made me who I am today...literally.
I love you both..
I am Grateful for having Maxine and Tom Bordelon for parents..