Scenes from my country Easter

 I loved my Easter Holiday. We attended the Easter Sunrise Service at church. Butterfly decorations were used in the Sanctuary and live butterflies were released during the service. The weather was beautiful and so was the ceremony.



Roses adorned the cross.

The rest of my weekend was spent at my childhood home. My sisters and I took 2 tours around the property that day. Both were lazy, slow drives and I was able to take lots of pictures.

 We checked on the progress of a camp house my nieces and nephews were building.

We checked on the cows to make sure all of them were where they were supposed to be, and not in the neighbor's pasture.

This butterfly loved my sister.

We startled a deer in the woods and she stood very still, allowing me to take her picture.We also saw a raccoon, 3 armadillos, a hawk, and a very long, fast snake.

As the sun began to set, an airplane caught our attention by reflecting the last of the light.

This was such a nice way to enjoy our time together.

Eagerly waiting

Here are some of the "girls" and their calves. Waiting. As you can see, there isn't much grass because of the drought. It looks pretty and green under the trees but the green is mostly weeds (or cactus like in the pictures in the last post). They are waiting for some extra feed. They respond to any vehicle that comes by. I'm sorry, but I was just riding around taking pictures.  My brother-in-law came later to feed them. The cows are still in good shape but they will require extra hay and range cubes through the summer...since there is little grass.

A few years ago, the farmers and ranchers had a hard time getting enough hay. The hay is usually baled in the Spring and Summer and saved for the Winter. But in the extreme drought, not much hay was produced. And with little pasture, what hay that was saved had to be used in the summer. Some hay had to be brought in from other states. Looks like we will be in that situation again. At least our area hasn't had the huge wildfires that burn for days. But that is a worry in the next few months.

Texas blooms in the midst of drought

A great part of Texas is burning and all of Texas is in a drought, but there are several things you can always count on. Mesquite trees and Prickly Pear Cactus, which you can see in these pictures. Did you know that cattle and humans can eat mesquite beans? And, that you can eat the cactus leaves and the "pears" that form after these blooms?

Another thing to remember is to watch for Rattlesnakes. We always have those too!

Foto Friday challenge: WHITE

http://zeahrenaissance.blogspot.com/

Perhaps it was the idea of the 92 degree temperature forcast for today, or just because I was sweating during the large amount of cooking I did this morning. But, the first thing that came to mind when I thought about the theme for today's  WHITE photo challenge was: snow.

We actually have had  two or three good snow days in the last 2 years here in my part of Texas. That is unheard of!

We put out a lot of bird seed during this snow in February. Look at all the tiny little prints that remained after the feast. I remember how quiet, still and clean it was when I took my afternoon walk. The air was so cold and the ground was mostly an undisturbed field of crisp white snow. Everything felt and looked so fresh and pure. It was a joy to experience....so much white.

Pets! Friday's Challenge (Foto Friday)

I have 4 pets and I really enjoy them. I'll have to figure out how to photograph my two fish. Last week, I featured my cat Anderson and all of his sleeping positions. He came up with a new one this week and he was very lucky that I hadn't cleaned off that table yet.  He looks very comfortable here and why shouldn't he be? He has fruit, books, a bottle of water, and if you look right by his tail-a movie that just came in the mail.

But I don't want to neglect featuring my little dog, Amos. He took a walk out in the grass, can you tell?

And after a dip out in the tank, he cleverly rolled in all the dry, powdered clay and turned his face to the wind to dry off. He looks very satisfied with himself.

I've shown Amos in these photos before, but I smile everytime I look at them. I thought maybe they would make you smile as well.

Nine Lives (for Foto Friday)

He is Anderson. You know how they say cats have 9 lives? He does. Here they are:

1. sleeping on the living room couch

2. sleeping in the office chair

3. sleeping in a basket on the porch

4. sleeping on the sunroom couch

5. sleeping on the sunroom floor

6. yawning to try to wake up

7. eating

8. eating again

 9. eating some more

He wants to stay out all night (yes he is fixed!). I think he has more lives that I don't know about....


Thanks to our host, Rebecca

Art Bras for Breast Cancer Research

It is time to make art bras again! This is really fun. They will be photographed to make a calendar for fundraising and also will be autioned off at the big event in October. All the money goes to the cancer resource center in a nearby county. Here are my entries this year.

This is my "Jungle Trophies" entry. Did you notice the play on words? I hope it isn't too subtle. That's as suggestive as I want to get....

I actually finished this bra for a friend of mine. She started it but lost confidence. She's 91, so I think this activity is a little out of her comfort zone. She took apart what she had started, so I took her idea and added to it. Those are tiny jingle bells glued on the cups, and there are little Christmas trees on the trim. I call this one "Jingle, Jangle, Jiggle". Hopefully my daughter will have time to make one once her semester at college is done.She made 2 really pretty bras last year and I'd love to see what she comes up with.

There are a lot of Art bras on the internet and you might enjoy looking some up. Quite entertaining!

First Fish

A year and a half after enlarging our tank, and restocking it with catfish, we can start harvesting the fish. I caught 2 nice sized ones last week. Within an hour, I caught them, Mike cleaned them, and then I cooked and served them. I'd call that pretty fresh-wouldn't you?

The "Shoe" Challenge

This week's photo challenge was "shoes".  I happened to remember this little red number....from about 50 years ago. You call that "vintage" right? It it a single shoe, a survivor if you will....

 Shows a little wear and tear...

 Look a the stylish details...

Tiny enough to hold in my hand. Tiny enough to fit a 2 year old little girl. Yes, it is mine, or my middle sister's-my mother doesn't exactly remember. To me, it is precious either way. Now, if I only had my little white cowboy boots with the fringe.......


Visit Rebecca again to see more interesting pictures.