25 and Snowing--What do I know?

It was snowing when I went to school this morning.

It has stopped now but it is still 25 degrees--and to think

yesterday I was in crops pants and birks!

You Wouldn't Believe it!

Yesterday I trimmed all the shrubs, did the weed eating, mowed the grass and am ready for the spring summer growing season. The trees have all sprouted their new leaves and at this moment it is 80 degrees. A Perfect Chamber of Congress spring day. There is however a weather warning for tonight. Winter Storm Warning. A high tomorrow of 39 and snow and wintery mix tonight--yeah right--we will see. I'll keep you posted.

Headin' Home

What a great spring break! We got to go up to Wickenburg

to see Jo and Scott's South Star Ranch--

spend time with Maisie and Erin--
enjoy the mountains--

in Arizona--
and New Mexico--

went through Tatum, New Mexico--

by the Tatum mural--

back to the flat land of Texas--

and the oil wells now still (oil is only $40 a barrel)--

See Jo --why I don't walk up and down the hills? There are none!!

Guess it is time to head back to the Lone Star state!

The Mountain

I have been trying to find the perfect picture for my blog. Boomer definitely wasn't working. I needed a picture that was long and narrow.

While driving back from Wickenburg yesterday I happend to look out at the mountains and noticed all the colors of blue. There was my picture. We were flying down the highway and I had to snap it through the glass at warp speed. I really didn't think it would turn out. With a little editing though, I had my picture--and from the lens of my own camera no less.

Although always a flatlander, I love the mountains--and hope--someday before I die to be able to enjoy them every day from my own window.

On the road again

On this trip to Arizona, besides to see Maisie,

we went up to Wickenburg to see my cousin's

new ranch, South Star.

And WHAT a star it was!

We arrived late in the afternoon.

After walking through the front gate you see the front of the house.

This is the color palate for my next quilt. The corner
of Jo's front porch.

Rio is one of the "stars" of West and South Star. She is
5 now and had just gotten cleaned up after herding some
livestock for Scott.

Rio and Scott listening to Erin's wedding story--no one
can ever believe it!

I was going to take a picture of the waterfall,
but I got distracted by the sunset.

Anyway back to the waterfall. It is on the back terrace, can be turned on

and off and Smoke, the cat, knows where the jets are

so he can go up to get the last couple of drops of water.

From the terrace you can see:

the arena for the horses--------------------the guest house and the

bunk house (which I accidentally deleted.)

Erin, Maisie and Jo on the back terrace.




The walk from the back terrace to go down to the arena.

View of the side of the back terrace.

And then there is the fire pit and the outdoor kitchen.

Erin and Maisie by the fire pit.

A front view of the house.

I woke up at 4 am to the sound of the coyotes and had to go out.

Pretty picture but I could only hear the coyotes--that though, was

a good thing.

Maisie drooling and playing with the little farm that Jo gave her.

She wants to play with it nonstop! Thanks Jo!!

Then, much too soon, it was time to hit the road again.

Thanks Jo and Scott for having us up!! We loved the visit!!

Now I guess I have TWO died and gone to heaven places!

Boston Travelers

Maisie was born two days before Erin's birthday.Since they couldn't celebrate it then,

Adam surprised Erin with a trip to Boston in February.
Maisie of course got to go too!

The gang with the "Make Way For Ducklings" statues.

Maisie and her dad in front of a ship.


Fenway Park
And all the sights of Boston.

Celebrate!!!!

My beautiful first cousin, once removed, Rusti Shea, got married recently! I am so thrilled for her and Jarod. They will be starting their married life on a beautiful bluff in Washington, which is incidentally, my "Died and Gone to Heaven" place. Here is a picture of her with her sister, Dad and Mom, Jo, my first cousin. Congrats!! Jadon!!

Rusti and Jadon were married at her parent's place in Arizona. Something besides animals on my blog--finally!!

The Pound

Austin went to the pound today to see if Tristan had showed up. He said there were so many sad faced dogs there--but no Tristan. I hope whoever had him loves him as much as we did.

Dyslexia Seminar

Wow!! Today I went to a Dyslexia Seminar at the Scottish Rite Learning Center. The speaker was Dr. Marcia Henry. As she talked about Dyslexia--I felt like she was recalling my childhood! I am so excited at possibly getting to take the Dyslexia Therapy Training. I would love to have that training to help my students. What a world of knowledge was opened to me today!

Still no Tristan--

West Texas Dust Storm

It seems that spring and all the dust in Texas has arrived in Lubbock. Spring is so wonderful on the days with no dust. Jim says, " Either 10 dusty days in Lubbock or 350 days of humidity on the coast." I will tolerate the dust--thank you.

Another week--and still no sign of Tristan.

Quiet Around Hayes House

This has been a sadly quiet week around our house. Last Sunday when we came home from church our gate was standing open. Joel our next door neighbor noticed it when he took a walk. I went out to shut it and noticed our border collie mix, Tristan was gone. Jim, Austin and I searched for most of the day to no avail. I called our vet, the animal shelter--no Tristan.

We bought Tris from a lady in Shallowater who assured us that he was a FULL BLOOD border collie. She told us to call her in two weeks to get his papers. In the mean time his little face began to look more like a lab and a big brown "saddle" on his back began to look a little Beagle-ish. Needless to say in two weeks the lady had moved and the phone was disconnected. We had already fallen in love with our "Beaglaborcollie". He always had a smile on his face, was easily house broken and was precious. He became a much loved member of the family. He had his faults, he couldn't concentrate, and when he came in the house he was like the "Tasmainian Devil". His tail had the strength of a crane and anything it came in contact with got slapped across the room, while our other dog would come inside and go obediently to her bed when told. Tristan had to root out all the cat toys, and chase the cat to the top of the frig at least once.

He took all the obedience classes and had passed his therapy dog class. We went to the hospital on one of the party days and he was amazing with the children. They pulled his ears, sat on his back and gave him hugs while he sat patiently and smiled. He loved his walks and always was interested in all the children playing.

One day we were taking a walk when a littl girl was trying to learn to ride her bike, she lost her balance and veered into me. Tristan was so upset he snapped at the child--he thought she was trying to hurt me. After that he trusted children no longer, and if a child tried to pet him he snapped at them. That was the end of his therapy days. I couldn't trust him after that. He became just a family dog at that point, no more community service. He would be sitting "smiling" at the back door whenever we came in. If he got our glance he would tilt his head from side to side in that ever so adoring way.

I hope you are safe Tris, well fed and have a warm bed, wherever you are. I also hope that whoever has you, sees in you, all the good qualities you possess. I hope you are happy---we still love you.