I bought a cowhide from Tandy Leather and recovered four bar stools. I finished the last three today while watching the Cowboys dismal loss to the Eagles on TV. At right is the fabric "before" bar stool. After ten years of use, the fabric was looking pretty soiled and faded. At left is the leather "after" bar stool. Better than new.
Work in progress...
I'm just going to throw this picture out there. I converted it to black and white and cropped it for emphasis. By now, you probably know I LOVE candid pictures! I love to catch people just being themselves. This is my kind of picture.
Today is Grandma's 83rd birthday! Mindy and I took her to lunch today to celebrate. Let me tell you a little bit about my mom's mom. First of all, she still lives on her own. She drives. She cooks. She mows her own yard. She cleans her own house. As a matter of fact, once a week she cleans my mom's house too. She babysits. Are you getting the picture?
She grew up in the great depression. When she was a little girl, she lived in a tent year round. Her dad worked in the timber. Making railroad ties. With a broad axe. For fifty cents each. They got their water from a creek and strained out the tadpoles and mosquito larva, which she called "wigglers." They ate wild game, poke salad and whatever they could pick or trade for to supplement what little they could afford to buy. As she said, "There weren't any fat people in the camps where I grew up."
They heated the tent with a wood burning stove. They had no furniture, only cots and foot lockers, which served as beds, storage, chairs and tables. They made their own soap. And a lot of other things that we take for granted. They washed their clothes in a tub over an open fire, agitating them with a stick. And hung them on branches and over bushes to dry. They had coal oil lamps, which she said they were hardly ever allowed to burn because, "Daddy was so tired by the time it got dark, he didn't want the light on."
She had four brothers. But one was killed at age 17 when a tree fell on him. Grandma worked in the fields, picking whatever was in season. She dropped out of school when she was in the sixth grade to work full time. It was a very different time.
She was working as a waitress when she met my grandpa during WWII. He was a staff sergeant in the army and had already seen combat. He was temporarily stationed in California to help train new recruits. But after my mom was born, he was sent back overseas. He received three purple hearts. He was shot, cut with a bayonet and blown out of a foxhole by shell fire, but I don't know if those were the particular things for which the purple hearts were awarded. I do know he had a lot of scars. Some shrapnel messed up his insides pretty bad and the surgeons weren't able to put everything back exactly as it had been. He was plagued with stomach and digestive problems for the rest of his life. But I'll tell you one thing. He never missed a chance to take his grandson fishing!
Grandma and Grandpa had four children. My mom is the oldest, followed by Tony, Connie and then Mike. My uncle Tony was killed in a car accident during his second year of college. Grandma told us of that again today with tears in her eyes. She still grieves. She grieves for Grandpa too. He died of cancer about 25 years ago. I had to think about that and I can't believe it's been that long. I miss him.
The picture above is of Grandma and Mom. There's so much more I could tell you, but I think I'll stop there. Happy Birthday, Grandma!
Brown a couple pounds of meat with some chopped onions.
Add a couple packs of seasoning.
Add a few cans of this and that. Some of it's kind of hot.
Throw in a little chopped cilantro. It makes everything taste better!
It should look something like this when it's done.
Put some corn chips in your bowls.
And serve up some fresh Taco Soup.
Click here to view today's photo enlarged and on a black background.
The little toy solder Christmas ornament is made from a wooden clothes pin. It is, by far, the oldest ornament on my tree. I was a mere child when I first received it. It decorated a present given to me by my uncle Tony's girlfriend, Carolynn. I think she made it herself, but I could be wrong on that point. No matter. I was just a kid, but I can remember she was very sweet to me and I loved her just as much as I loved Tony. They were going to get married and that would have suited this little boy just fine!
But Tony was tragically killed in a car accident while they were in college. Carolynn picked up her life and went on, eventually to become a wife, mother and, I suspect, a grandmother. I hope her life is filled with joy and love.
This was one of our family's ornaments as I grew up. When I was all grown up with Christmas trees of my own, my mom made sure I got it. It represents my childhood to me. And two people I loved, but who left my life far too soon.
I'm still making Christmas memories. Mindy and I went to a Christmas party at my mom's. We played a matching game where you had to guess which person was responsible for each piece of Christmas trivia. It could be a favorite memory, a favorite present, a Christmas tradition or just a little-known fact. As long as it was Christmas related and wouldn't be common knowledge of the people at the party. Anyway, I thought it might be fun to share some with you.
Here's Mindy's...
"The house I grew up in had no fireplace. Since it's common knowledge that Santa comes down the chimney, we had to build a cardboard fireplace every year to facilitate his entrance. I have no idea where one buys a cardboard fireplace (maybe Sears and Roebuck). But we had one. We hung the stockings on the chimney with care, with a stick pin. The fireplace had red brick, white mortar with a black shelf on top. And we had some orange paper flames with an orange light bulb behind to similate a nice cozy fire."
Sweet, isn't it? Can't you just imagine a sweet little baby-girl Mindy eagerly awaiting Santa next to their cardboard fireplace? Awwww!
Here's my mom's...
"Christmas time is full of wonder for me. It is truly a time of love, joy and sharing. My first memory of our Christmas tree was purchased from a "tree lot" then decorated with lights, cardboard ornaments and lots of tinsel icicles which had to be carefully draped - not thrown - over the limbs. The kids would pick and string up red berries along with freshly popped corn to use as garland."
A simpler time, for sure!
My own was just a bit of trivia that I didn't think many people would know about me. "I prefer my egg nog diluted with skim milk." I love the flaver of egg nog, but it's just so thick, it doesn't seem like a drink. So I mix just a little skim milk in it to thin it down. Oh, and of course, sprinkle with nutmeg!
No, it's not another picture of Mindy. This is a DIFFERENT kind of fox! ;-)
Just for grins, I thought I'd show you this picture I took last May. A pair of foxes raised a litter of kits under Mindy's barn. I love to photograph wildlife, so this was a golden opportunity.
Even knowing where they were raising the kits, sightings were infrequent. As you may suspect, getting a picture of even one fox is difficult. So to get both male and female foxes in the same picture has to be quite a rarity. But to have the female stop while standing directly on top of this log and look back over her shoulder... well... THAT was just too good to be true!
It's better to be lucky than good!
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. A hunting trip weekend before last was followed closely by a Thanksgiving trip to Bandera. It was a great family time. And the best part for me was sharing it with the love of my life! Mindy loves family... both hers and mine. Just one more reason I am so crazy about her!
While we were in Bandera, I snapped this photo of my three favorite women. Of course, you recognize Mindy in the middle. By now, if you've been paying any attiention at all, you pretty much know how I feel about her. Yeah, mushy, mushy! I can't help myself. But I'll try to move on quickly today before it gets out of hand.
At left is my daughter, Alissa. She's fifteen and learning to drive. Fair warning! No, not really... she's a good driver. She even drove the entire way from Bandera to Rockwall. She's on the JV Tennis team. She's a good student, never gives me a bit of trouble (well, relatively speaking... she IS a teenager, after all) and her heart is just as beautiful as she is. I'm just a little bit proud of her, can you tell?
The lady on the right is my mom. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. She's pretty and young looking. It's a curse! People mistake her for my wife all the time. I tell myself that it's because she looks so young, not because I look so old. Don't burst my bubble. What can I say about my mom? She's like a really big deal in our family. She has energy to burn... all the time! She's the one that plans everyrthing, organizes everything and can always be counted on no matter what. The matriarch, if you will. I'm not sure exactly when she took that role from my grandmother. I guess it just happened gradually. I'll have to introduce you to my grandmother another time. And, believe me, she deserves a page all her own!
Anyway, these are my three favorite women. And they're getting along great! Which makes me VERY happy!
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