The Story pg.3

A Room of His Own

We never knew if our foundling, WB, was a he or a she. But, because we connected his arriving with our son's leaving for Air Force boot camp, we always called it Wille or He. And he was given a room of his own. From the very beginning it was our hope that WB would grow, learn to eat and drink, fly, and some day be released to return to the sky with all of the other swallows that travel to and from this part of South Texas. Just as we had encouraged our own two children as they grew to be independent and self-sufficient, we knew it would be best for WB. So, we designated a room in our house for WB. His nest consisted of old cotton rags arranged in a small laundry basket. The basket was then set by an open window near other mud swallow nests. We were hoping this would encourage his vocalizing so that he would sound like the other swallows. We also left a radio playing softly nearby.....no not classical music to encourage the growth of his tiny brain.... probably our local country-western station to keep him company when we weren't home. Every time we would walk into that room he would throw back his head and strain his tiny beak open as wide as possible, bobbing up and down, in hopes a small morsel of wet cat food would land in it. During the first few days we avoided going into WB's room too often, even though we wanted to sit by his basket and just watch what he was doing. We felt like too much handling wouldn't be good for him. His first days were mostly sleeping and eating and bobbing with blind eyes, still covered with transparent eyelids. He grew quickly, his body thickened and lengthened. And the first evidence of feathers appeared. Have you ever watched feathers grow on a bird? We hadn't and we were amazed at what we saw.

The Story pg.2

A Foundling

WB was a foundling. The most amazing part of that statement was how that happened. The story Pops tells is that he was in the backyard. Mayday came from the frontyard and sat down at his feet. He didn't think much of it until Mayday started to whimper. When he didn't notice her, she continued to whine. He finally looked down at her and she had something she had layed on the ground she obviously wanted Pops to see. When Pops reached down to pick it up he realized it was a baby bird. Later he would discover the remains of a mud nest and two other babies on the ground. Sometimes when it is very dry the mud nests will not stay attached to the wall of the house and with a breeze will fall to the ground, shattering the nest and any contents. But this time, there was a survivor, WB. Think about that- a 5 month old mix breed mutt discovers a wiggling baby bird, retrieves it, and delivers it to Pops with an expression of "look here" and as Pops would later say, her eyes asked "what are you going to do about this?"

And what were we going to do about this? A baby bird to raise? Baby bird described is: no more than a day old, eyes still closed, absolutely no feathers, not even pin feathers, purplish pink wrinkled skin that is wiggling and opening its yellow edged mouth. After talking about it for a few minutes we decided we would give it a try. Fortunately cousins Walt and Martha had experience in raising baby birds they had shared with us so we had an idea of where to start. First was to be sure the baby was warm. Next to get it to eat.

Not being ornithologists and with absolutely no visible clues on WB as to what kind of bird we had, we just had to guess about food. W and M had explained how they would take dried cat food and soak it in water to feed their young birds, so that was what we decided to do. But how do you convince a one day old bird to open its mouth to take the food. Holding it near, tapping it on the beak didn't work. Pops solution was to scoop a little food on an orange stick (you ladies know what that is) and pry the baby's beak open. It took only two or three times before WB knew exactly what the tap on his beak and our voices was all about. Within a day all that was needed was for one of us to say something and that little beak flew open, anticipating another morsel. Feeding for the first week was around the clock. We fed every 2-3 hours and WB thrived.

Finally The Story

I've decided I am going to use this venue to finally write a story that I have promised myself for 10 years.... literally, 10 years. It will be written as I find/make the time to get the thoughts in my head arranged so that I am satisfied with what I am doing. My story is about a time when God gave Pops and me an opportunity that on the surface seemed to be all about another creature, but was, by far, more about us.

This is our story of Free Willie......yes, I know a movie has already been made (and maybe a book written) with this same title. But, in reality, that is what we called this experience. In this written account, I think I will refer to this Willie as WB. That would be for Willie Bird or it could be WS- Willie Swallow or WCS- Willie Cliff Swallow. Yes, that's right, the creature God brought to us was a common cliff or house swallow. The dark, blue black insectivors that race around the sky capturing meals. They build mud and grass nests in the most inconvenient places, over doorways or walkways, over patio furniture, leaving mounds of bird droppings in the worst of places. Until this particular summer, I had battled against them by spraying ammonia water in the areas I didn't want them to nest or knocking down the nests as they were being built. But WB was to change our whole outlook.

To really begin this story I also have to include one of our canine companions, Mayday. It was Mayday who brought WB to us. At the time she was only a pup, about 5 months old. She had been rescued from the dog pound on May 1st and so received her name, "Mayday". Of all the animals I have ever spent time with, I have never known a spirit any more gentle than hers. Her story is one that should also be told. Maybe that will be at another time.

The story of WB had it's beginning one morning in July, shortly after we had delivered our youngest to the United States Air Force Academy for summer training prior to entering their world of academics. Right here is where we should have realized that God had sent this little creature to us for a purpose. Our youngest had left the nest to pursue a future in the skies. Yes, we were "empty nesters" and feeling it all the way home in that long drive from Colorado Springs to South Texas. Once home, the void not yet filled, we filled our thoughts with support for our son. We even ran and worked out because we knew that would be what he was doing. It was a form of spiritual moral support. And a form of prayer for his strength and endurance.

technology helpme!!!!

After 6+ months searching for my next phone, I finally decided on a Samsung Impression. It is a kissing cousin to the iPhone...... without the iPhone charges. There are, of course, some differences. I think this phone will be a perfect transition phone to touch screen 3G technology.... but this old dog will have to study her help manual to learn the new tricks. So, if you try to call me, leave me a message and give me a little time. I WILL get back. Another of life's little adventures!!!!

Are they coming back?

Yesterday we saw a "horny toad" aka Texas horned lizard.......

for the first time in quite a while. I was walking with the dogs in the early morning and noticed RA stopped along our fence line- out of the truck- looking under the truck. I thought he had snagged a piece of fence wire under his truck and was trying to untangle it. But when I got to him he said he had seen a horny toad and was afraid it had run under the pickup. RA is notorious for spotting horny toads while driving down the road- I am always amazed. Just about the time we had decided it had moved on to the other side of the fence, RA looked down and it was at the tip of his boot.

I hope this is a good sign that they are increasing in numbers here at our place.

sweet basil ideas???

My sweet basil is thriving, but it is going to seed. I cut off over half of the stalks and leaves and I'm drying them in the dehydrator. Any other suggestions on what to do with so much basil at one time??? A. Lee-Lee would say " put them on a tomato and mayo sandwich".

The Valley of the Jolly (H0-Ho-Ho) Green Giant

The past month I have been watching the progress of these three century plant blooms. They are in the yard of friends- Rusty and Caroline. It just so happens their yard is just across the street from the parking lot I drive from each afternoon and these "giant asparagus" have been silhouetted against the sky.

Last week I finally stopped to visit with Rusty about how large these three plants have become. He said they are about 6 years old. He has no idea why they are growing so large. Several others around the community are also putting on large blooms.

Another teacher ( and friend), Elizabeth, also came over to talk about the plants. This week's addition to the blooming were all of the smaller blooms coming off of the "pups". Rusty estimated the blooms on the large plants to be about 30 feet high. Supposedly, the century plant dies after it has bloomed. If that is true, there will be a big bald spot in the middle of all of that cluster of plants.

The Gardening Bug

Like so many postings I have read recently, we too have been bitten by the "gardening bug". Now, this isn't anything new to us. I remember when we first moved to this place, we used to garden a huge vegetable garden, probably 15 X 30 feet, maybe more. RA would take the tractor and plow to the flat part of the pasture (off of the hill, east of the house) and plow it first so it wouldn't be so hard to work the soil. Then we would run water lines from the pump. It was quite an operation. It has been years since we gardened on that scale, but we have always had a small garden outside the yard fence- with mostly tomatoes and squash. This year the tomatoes are growing like crazy- lots of small green tomatoes forming. I also have two kinds of bell peppers, oregano, basil, and a beautiful grapevine starting.


I'm also adding flowering plants this year- in hopes of enticing more butterflies and hummingbirds. My additions include Esperanza, agapanthus and firebush. I had never seen agapanthus before yesterday when I stopped at a nursery near Bulverde. Then I stopped at another outstandng nursery on I-10 just outside Boerne. Here are examples of what I bought:

AGAPANTHUS

MEXICAN FIREBUSH

Not knowing the name of this plant, I used it as an illustration when I was talking about the "burning bush" with my pre-school Sunday school class. In the summer the yellow butterflies are attracted to it. With the red blooms and yellow butterflies it looks like the bush is on fire!!

YELLOW ESPERANZA

These are just about the brightest yellow flower in this part of the country. And with a name like "Hope", I just had to have one. Once again, it will attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

Variegated White African violet

The nursery I visited in Boerne bills itself as an African violet nursery, something you don't see very often around here. Well, let me tell you, it's a whole lot more than just African violets. They had at least 10 long green houses open to the public as well as an acre, if not two, of plants outside on the grounds. I have always loved raising African violets and had been looking for a white one. Grandmother Smylie had a beautiful white violet on her kitchen table for years. I had never seen the variegated leaves before, so I am excited to try to grow this one. It is a small starter plant, only 5 leaves with two blooms. It may be a challenge.

Some time this week I will go outside and take pictures of Ray's beautiful tomato plants. He's very proud of them this year.

A Great Evening

For those who were with me this evening........ It was a great evening. The friends, the food, the funny stories...... and then the land where we will all gather again in 4 weeks. Here is the recipe for the Sopapilla Cheesecake so many of you asked for. And then Big Al's Margaritas.


Enjoy-


Sopapilla Cheesecake

Ingredients:
2 (8oz) pkgs. Cream cheese
2(8oz) pkgs. Refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 c. sugar
1 tskp. Vanilla extract or almond extract
½ c. margarine or butter melted
½ c cinnamon sugar (combine about ½ c. sugar with 1 Tbsp. cinnamon)

1) Using a 9 X 13 baking pan, unroll one package of refrigerated crescent rolls in the bottom of the pan.
2) Flatten. (spread them out with your fingers- don’t separate)
3) Mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and extract.
4) Spread over the crescent rolls.
5) Unroll the other can of rolls and place them on top of the cream cheese mixture.
6) Pour one stick of melted butter or margarine over the top and sprinkle with the ½ cup of cinnamon sugar mixture.
7) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Makes 12-20 servings…….. very rich!!!!


Big Al's Margaritas

1 can frozen limeade concentrate (12 oz makes a pitcher)
1 can tequila
1/2 can triple sec
Add water to the strength you want..... usually 2-3 cans.

Salt the rim of your favorite margarita glass. Add ice and margarita.

Drink cautiously..... the taste can be deceiving.


YUMMMMMM

latest remodel

Ever start a project because it absolutely had to be done then only to find out it meant starting another project you hadn't planned to start?????? That's what this quasi-porch is all about. We needed to repair a poorly planned seam in our metal roof. A leak had started and the ceiling on the enclosed porch was suffering. So, repair the roof........ but if we ever wanted to extend another porch, we needed to do it now, so that the metal on the roof would be extended in one piece, not several. So, the extension has happened. What we are going to do to finish it out, I'm not sure. Rock or slab or tile or brick for the floor. Probably beadboard for the ceiling. It's much larger that either of us anticipated. Should be a great place to winter my potted plants. Will keep updating as anything else changes.

Big Snake Story #2

This time I was an eye witness. R A was working on rebuilding the picnic table ( the wrecking crew from Austin had worked it over a few weeks ago) and heard BW (the cat) making noises. The dogs were in the yard with him and he teasingly told Plata to "get the cat". As soon as she got to the cat on the other side of the yard, R A said he could hear the snake start rattling. He ran into the house (with the dogs) and grabbed his 20 ga. shotgun. The snake was just outside the fence- just as before, coiled and ready to strike. When R A shot it, I saw BW jump and take off away from the house. I haven't seen him since...... might be next week before we see him again.

The best part of the afternoon......

Ray's Big Snake Story

You will have to ask Ray about the story........ I do know there were a few more inches and a head before Walter Ray shot this one with a shotgun.

Ray thinks this is the biggest one we have seen here.

COWGIRL, FIX MY BLOG!!!!!

Please....................... I tried to add another blog to my list of favorite blogs and managed to lose all of them. Do you know where the went???? Are they just hiding behind a tree or did they poof and go away???? Help!!! You are my ER of the blogging world.

Thanks!!! Yo- Momma

A Long Day

Today started very early. I had to be at John Knox Ranch by 9:00 am for a Camp, Conference, and Retreat Committee meeting. It is 150 miles (this is beginning to sound like a statement problem in math!!!) and it always takes me 3 hours to get there....... maybe 2.75 if I take very quick stops and there is no traffic. To get there in time I had to leave by 6:15 am- which is still totally dark... not even a hint of daylight. Well, for me to be driving out of the driveway by 6:15, I have to wake up at 5:15am.... and that is WAAAAYYYYYY too early. The wonderful part about driving that early in that direction is that it takes me through some beautiful Texas hill country. My drive was east to Hondo, north to Bandera, east to Boerne, north and east to Canyon Lake, and then north again to John Knox Ranch. Take a look at each of the charming little southwest Texas towns. Hondo is on a railroad line that runs from San Antonio to El Paso. Between Uvalde and San Antonio are small towns that are 15-25 miles apart from each other. My understanding is that the distances had to do with how far you could travel by wagon each day. And I know there were more towns, but the ones the railroad went to survived. Many others didn't. Hondo still has its original train depot and is a stop for Amtrak. Bandera is becoming known as the "Branson of Texas". It plays up its cowboy/western heritage with dude ranches and rustic store fronts. It is on the Medina River and some of my early memories include going with my father to Bandera Wool and Mohair when he was a wool buyer. The same building is now an Antique mall. Boerne has embraced its rustic German heritage and is becoming a "place to go" for antiquers and those who enjoy a weekend at a B&B. The townsfolk will describe Boerne as a "bedroom" community since a large number of those who live there commute to San Antonio to work. Canyon Lake is a town I have yet to explore at length. My turn to John Knox Ranch skirts around the north edge of the town of Canyon Lake. The lake itself is the result of Canyon Dam on the Guadalupe River. The town seems to be the result of people wanting to have "lake homes" and is spread across several hills in the area. I hope to spend more time discovering this community in the future. And then there is John Knox Ranch...my attachment to JKR goes waaaayyyyyy back. I was a camper at JKR in the 2nd year it was open for camping. (1965) It is in a cedar rich hill country setting. The camp itself sits on only a small portion of a ranch bought by Mission Presbytery in 1962. The total ranch acreage is now 300 acres. The committee I serve on works to be good stewards of the assets this camp/retreat center has to offer. Summer camps are typical church camps as well as day camps for local children. We also have bereavement camps for kids, environmental camp for school districts, adventure camps at the coast and backpack camps to the mountains, private requests by both church and non-church related groups, high and low ropes courses with staff to assist, the list goes on and on. But one of the most unique things about JKR is that it is still a bit "primitive", "rustic", "natural", and yet it can be very accomodating for those who don't want to rough-it. I have one more year on this rotation. At that time I will have served the Presbytery on this committee for 10 years. Every minute has been worth it........ but give me my recliner once I'm home!!!

Bible Study-

Tonight was the first meeting of this year's PW bible study. Our study is the book of Luke and about his Gospel for the Poor. It started some very good discussion about issues of being "poor" as in being on the outside of the mainstream. Three of the members in the group are new to our town and they talked about their different experiences of feeling accepted or feeling "outside". Two are single with no family connections here. One is married and her husband has lived in this area for quite a while. One of the two single ladies found it difficult to feel accepted and find friends. The other two did not. It was uplifting to hear how our small church gave them a connection and a feeling of belonging. That is as it should be.

Four Pounds of Hamburger, 16 hotdogs

This evening we hosted our church youth group for a swim and supper. We had 6 boys and 2 girls along with 5 adults. Ray cooked 4 pounds of hamburgers and 16 hotdogs. We served chips, sodas and cookies and fruit. At the end of the evening we had no hamburgers, 3 hotdogs, 10 cookies and no fruit left. AMAZING!!! I think we have forgotten just how much high school athletes have to consume to keep going. They spent about an hour in the tank swimming (our equivalent of the "cement pond" on the Beverly Hillbillies!!) and playing either Marco Polo or Sharks and ??????? It was great. The sky was clear. Temps in the low 90s. Light breeze from the southeast. It was wonderful. If any of you has some fun ideas of things to do with a combined Junior High/High School church youth group, please let me know. We are going to have some activities with the youth of another church in town. We also have two weekend retreats in the plans and a trip through the Corn Maze outside a nearby town. Any other ideas???

We're on a roll

Uvalde 21
Fredericksburg 7

It was an exciting and energetic night.

Week 2 ends

The beginning of this school year has been such a total opposite from last year. The staff and kids are upbeat. Discipline seems so much simpler. On the most part, my students seem to be genuinely excited about class. Students are arriving with supplies. This is good. I hope it will continue.
Last week's pep rally and football game were outstanding. The student body was involved and having fun. Even at the game, they were on their feet the entire game doing chants and dances and generally supporting the Coyotes. We won over Carrizo Spgs 38-0. Tonight we will be watching the Coyotes play against the Fredericksburg Billies. They are usually a much bigger team than we are. Hopefully we will be faster and wylier than they. We will see. Our pep rally this week was sponsored by Wal Mart and held as a community pep rally last night. It wasn't as well attended as during school. I dildn't get a good sense at school that the student body was as enthusiastic as they were last week, but I am hoping I will see differently tonight.

I will let you know how the Coyotes did when I get back to my computer later.

Back to School

My first day back with my new students went very well. Tomorrow I will meet the other classes. I hope they go as smoothly.

July Weekends- weekend 2

We have had an outstanding July- three of the four weekends we have been on adventures. The first weekend I have already posted about- the VHPA reunion. The second weekend came about spur-of-the-moment when on Thursday bro Walt called to see if we wanted to join them on a kayak trip down a section of the San Marcos River. Our response was a resounding YES and we were off. It just so happened to coincide with the girls' get-away (Char and Amy) to Austin and worked out to be a good time for Charla to return to Uvalde for a little visit time.

We arrived in Austin Friday evening just in time to join Walt and Carey at their church to watch Amazing Grace the movie. It is a great movie. Highly recommended by ME. It is the story of William Wilburforce, a member of the House of Commons who was instrumental in abolishing the slave trade in England after being influenced by John Weston, the writer of the original lyrics to Amazing Grace.

Saturday we had a great float on the San Marcos. It was about 1 hour longer than my body thought we should be there, but I wouldn't pass it up if it were offered again. On this trip we made 4 decisions:
1. My kayak is too short and high and wide- sell it.

2. My flotation vest is too big- sell it.

3. Ray's kayak seat needs more support for his back- sell it.

4. Ray wants a curved kayak paddle, his is straight- sell it.

Anyone want to buy????? I think I am going to try the San Antonio Craigslist...... anyone with suggestions???

Here are pictures of Ray taming my kayak.

Saturday night was a great grilled dinner. Needless to say, everyone was so tired we slept very well.

Sunday, after some coordinating with Charla and Amy, we were able to meet in Round Rock at the Hearthstone Rehab Center and visit with Aunt June. She is looking great and making very good progress in regaining her strength.