I'm blushing but this is just too funny not to share!

Post  # 92
So, the Amarillo Sox have a disturbing new mascot joshwoodtx blog     <---click here

Amarillo has a baseball team. They used to be called Amarillo Dillas .....as in armadillos. This year the team changed owners and the new people wanted to go back to the name used years ago... Amarillo Gold Sox. There was a problem with that.....some other team was using Gold Sox so the new owners changed it to Amarillo Sox. Next they needed a mascot so they ordered a gold sock. It didn't turn out to be the best choice. click on Josh's blog above to see a picture.  The sock has since been returned to the company.
I suggest we just drop the whole Sox thing and move on to another name so we all don't have that mental picture every time we hear the team's name.
and if someone doesn't leave a comment about this one then I don't believe anyone is reading my blog! just all in fun g- rated comments only

Taylor and her daddy

Post # 91  I was at my son's home when he got off work today.  Taylor was tickled to see him!

IT RAINED !!!

Post # 90

there were 3 more but I ate them while I was in the garden

 My first taste of a real tomato for the summer!  And hallelujah! Last night between 1 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. we received some very appreciated rain ...0.88,  My weather radio went off twice in the night warning of severe thunderstorms.  We had quite a bit of wind, blew some limbs off my neighbor's elm trees but I aways say if you pray for rain don't complain about the mud or the wind and say thank you for what you got. 

This branch bounced off Becky's car we assume
because there is a new dent in the door

                                                                



Glad no one got hit by this limb,
it would have been quite a conk on the head.
(that red thing is one of the dogs toys)

I tried but finally had to wait for my daughter's and
grandson's to come help get it over the fence



blew the door off my shed

The wind knocked over a few buckets. It never
 crossed my mind to anchor them somehow

What's Blooming Monday

Post # 89


could these be rain clouds??

 

sweet 100 tomatoes


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there were 3 more but I ate them right in the garden :)

 

black eyed peas

I was outside and puttering in the yard from 7 a.m. until 11 a.m.  It was great. There was a nice breeze, I don't know what the temperature was but it was nice and the sky was...gray. Gray?!  Could it possibly be rain clouds?!  I really thought maybe it would rain but....not yet.  Maybe tonight. It was just so wonderful to have a temperature that was comfortable.  I was just sure it was going to rain this morning so I  hunted down all the seeds I had left.  I planted more turnips (the first planting never came up), 4 o"clocks, green beans  (from 3 pkgs of beans I planted earlier I think I have 3 vines), morning glories and some grass seed.  I harvested my first tomatoes!  Back to seeds... I will never again buy a package of seeds if I can get it in bulk.  I just discovered that at my favorite greenhouse they sell morning glory seeds by the scoop.  I have bought I don't know how many packages of morning glory seeds at Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot and the grocery store  this year.  I think the most seeds I have found in a package is 30.  For $1.99 I got a scoop of seeds, I am guessing maybe several hundred.

My corn is coming up but won't be
 "knee high by the fourth of July".
About half of my corn plants
have disapeared but what is left
is doing good, I think. I've never
grown corn before.

 

my squash is growing like crazy



 

I was planting morning glory seeds
in the front yard and Zoe just got tired.
The poor thing had red ants crawling
all around her.  I show you the beautiful bits
of my yard...most of it looks more like this, :(



eggplants



I love moss rose!









 


love the vibrancy of the color of these two verbenas



this shade of pink makes me
think of pink cake frosting



i prefer the pale yellow

111 degrees

post # 88
High today in Amarillo----111 degrees!  Portales is a little town about 100 miles away and they are serious about conserving water ..... hope it does not get this serious here although I am suprised it has not reached this ....... I will be sick if I have to let my garden and bedding plants die, not to mention my morning glories.  And the dogs' little squares of grass, oh man!  If we could just get some rain for our plants.  But until then I would rather conserve water now so we have water to DRINK!


no water for flowers

Portales, NM - Emergency water rationing is now in effect for parts of Eastern New Mexico. Starting June 26, the City of Portales is under the following restrictions...

No outdoor landscape water.

No car washing at your house

No filling up spas, pools or fountains

No washing off your driveway or the sidewalk.  If you do not follow the water rationing rules, the city will disconnect your water service.



no water for gardens?



or sod? Well, you do what you have
to do, conserve and then pray for rain.

Wide Load

Post # 87

"Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves, for we shall never cease to be amused."

Author: Unknown

I just remembered something that made me laugh...  not too long ago I was trying on jeans..size 14W & 16W and nothing fit right.  My DD Casey, who hasn't got a mean bone in her body said maybe you don't need the "wide" anymore.  LOL!  I told her the "W" stood for "women" not "wide" but hers was a more accurate description.

My heart just swelled out of my chest

Post # 86

Travis, Mason and their cousin Taylor

I was telling my 10 year old grandson, Mason, goodnight and I told him he and his brother, Travis who is 9, are just the best two kids I know.  Then, jokingly I said but that Taylor, I think that little girl is going to be a mess...her daddy is going to pay for his raising. Mason said "it's ok, grandma, I'll teach her how to be good."  What a sweet boy he is.

  

My third grandchild, Taylor, 7 months and a sweetie

Mom, I hate to tell you this

Post # 85  This morning my daughter, Casey, said Mom I hate to tell you this... (all mom's love to hear that followed by a pause, don't we?) .....  but your favorite greenhouse has every plant half price. She hated to tell me because money is not all that plentiful around here ... but see that Chinese quote on post # 81 ? I thoroughly live like that.   I said let me find my shoes.  I live on the far north edge of town and the greenhouse is wayyyy out of the city limits south going towards Palo Duro Canyon.  Between my house and the greenhouse there were garage sale signs at every intersection.  I love going to garage sales and it sure was hard not to stop .... I'm trying to de-clutter my house so bringing in stuff won't help. But bedding plants, I have room for bedding plants!  Did I mention that it was 109 DEGREES here yesterday?  But the greenhouse was full of shoppers ..... some of us just have to plant something, pour water on it, and hope to see a bloom or two. Besides, the weather man says we are going to have a cool front on Mon....this from our local  news station Saturday Evening
"Welcome to the weekend everyone! It's been another toasty day with temperatures in lower 100s in the southern Texas Panhandle though because of a surface cold front across the Oklahoma Panhandle highs were in the 90s. Tonight, winds will stay pretty calm with clear skies then we will wake up to a low of 71 in Amarillo. That front will start moving back to the north tomorrow as our winds blow from the southwest but they will be calmer than 25 miles per hour most of the day so the wildfire danger should stay lower than recently. The Texas Panhandle will see temperatures that threaten record highs Sunday afternoon so make sure to drink plenty of water and limit your time outdoors during the middle of the day. Monday, a cold front will come through and try to start some storms in the southern Texas Panhandle but the chances are remaining pretty low. High pressure in the upper levels will continue strong through this next week which means the heat is on and wildfire danger will be critical. Have a great weekend and try to stay cool!

Where you live does upper 90's indicate a "cold front"? really, that is what it says.   I want a cold front in the mid 70's and a 3 day drizzle.  Meanwhile, this is what I will be planting tonight after the sun goes down....a crape myrtle, knock out rose, verbenas, pentas, salvia, moss rose, geranium, a bell pepper, peppermint, clownflower, moneywort, vinca

Zoe and Gracie checking out what I brought home.
Doesn't green just look cooler than brown?

 


This is what the front yard looks like.  It is absolutely crawling with red ants so I tried to take a picture of them.  They don't stop and pose.

 

They're Backkkkkkk

Post # 84 Last fall i discovered that my yard is occupied by someone other than me and the dogs.  I had these holes in the grass.  Yes, I DO have some grass, on approximately 1/16th of my lot and I don't let the dogs out there because of whoever these critters are, so back to my story.  Suddenly last fall we had these holes in the front yard.  First thing I thought of was rattlesnakes or prairie dogs ... they are common in the TX panhandle.  Never saw a critter so I would try filling the holes up ..... usually with dirt, but I also tried with the poop I had picked up after the 5 dogs (my 3 and 2 grand dogs that visit) then topped with dirt, that would make me want to move.  Oh, don't say "gross" -- if you have a dog you have to pick up poop too.  By the way, one of the best things I have ever spent money on is a long handled pooper scooper set from PetSmart. Now back to our story, the only thing that did was cause another hole to show up somewhere else in the yard.  Last count we had 7.  Once I stuck the water hose down in one of the holes, turned it on full blast for like 15 minutes and nothing popped up but boy the holes must be deep because water never ran back out of the hole.  My sister told me to go turn that water off because my trailer house was going to up-end like a sinking boat.  No, it wouldn't....it is securely anchored to concrete pillars in the ground which cost a fortune but I am glad FHA requires them (but after I laughed myself silly over a mental picture of my 15' x 75' house with one end stuck up in the air that picture in my mind made me run turn the water off). That makes me think ... I have never seen The Apprentice because Donald Trump makes my stomach roll but the winner this season was a man originally from Amarillo ... where I live .... John Rich ... and was quoted as saying something like ... "Donald Trump doesn't scare me, I grew up in a trailer house in Tornado Alley". To live here in a "mobile home" where a good strong wind is 70 mph and sometimes gusts up to 100 and blows over 18 wheeler trucks going down I-40 (yes, really) toughens you up that way. And "single wide trailer houses" and "mobile homes" are neither, we take the wheels off and anchor them, never to move again unless a tornado whips by.  They are super cheap houses for poor folks who would rather not have to live in their car.  Would I like a brick house with a basement, well duh! Social Security and my retirement ck don't stretch that far.  I forgot to take my medicine today, can you tell? I am having a hard time staying on track, but i AM going to finish this post...so between the dirt, poop and water I thought I had run off whatever it is in those holes.  Yesterday I watered early in the morning, yard looked normal.  Late that night I watered again and saw this....oh rats! (no, not rats living there, that is just an expression like darn it!)


a pile of dirt appeared out of no where
(that black thing is Gracie's nose)  



and a few feet over, this hole.  Why isn't the
dirt next to this hole I wonder.  Gracie is a little schnauzer
and can stick her entire head in this hole...
the reason why I normally don't let the
 dogs in the front yard.....don't want them
to get snake bit, or catch rabies or something
.

And this hole...

I've never seen what is doing the digging, but it isn't the dogs, they can't get to the front yard unless I let them.     So what do you think it is and how do I get them to move on?  There are at least 3 or 4 acres of nothing around me but no, they are in my yard.  My grand-dog Andy is a beagle and that nose just goes crazy smelling around these holes. The occupants could be cute little bunnies rather than snakes, right?

Where Did They Go?

Post #83
My niece just emailed me that she has been leaving me comments but that they have never shown up as posts. ---I'm glad to hear she has left comments---I would love to hear from anybody, but as to why they aren't posted ... that would be because they haven't shown up on my end, so I am very sorry, I would love to have received them.  I have checked my comments box, spam, comments to be moderated, don't see anything. We have to figure this out guys, so help me out please.  Everybody send me a comment whether it just says "I was here" or whatever so I can see what I need to do to see them.  Since I went back to posting to this blog June 7th I have received only 2 comments and one of those was from my daughter just today.  This blog is therapy for me, it doesn't bother me that no one wants to "follow" me or that apparently very few people read it (i know, i see that number 1540 or whatever but I just figured that is how many times I have gone to my blog :) because why down at the bottom I have a gadget that shows somebody was here and this is where they were from and it is never very many people a day) but re: comments----I tell ya, sometimes at 2 in the morning when I check my email and my blog and I haven't heard from anybody it makes we wonder if the Rapture occurred and I am the only one left behind!!  :)  And to those of you who read my blog, thank you, and come back any time.  Because of my depression and anxiety, and I am somewhat agoraphobic (somewhat??) this blog and email are basically the only ways I socialize so I would love comments, it would be like having a friend say "hey" (in Texas "hey" means "hi, how ya doing, good to see ya" in one little word...I don't know why.  It is like when we want to include several people we say "y'all" (rhymes with haul)---like if you are talking to 2 or 3 friends you would say "y'all want to go get a coke with me?" and if we are including everybody -- if your entire family were at your house you would say "all of y'all" like "there is strawberry shortcake in the fridge, so all of y'all go get some."   We are kinda general like that.  We don't call carbonated beverages soda or pop.....no matter what it is we call it "coke" like Coca-Cola, but everybody knows THE drink in Texas is Dr Pepper.  We talk alot like Dr Phil.  You know he is just a good ole boy from Texas.   TEXAS, It is a different place, so I hear, but I don't know, I have always lived in Texas or New Mexico.  One more thing, having always lived in the south, for true southerners it takes us alot of words to say somethin' so that explains why I don't tweet!

Taylor Jade

Post 82 Part I 

Taylor would tell us...Casey has seen me lay in momma's arms like a baby and take a bottle but I just do that for my momma. When Casey and Grandma come over to play, uh, no. I'm not gonna be held like a baby and let them put me down for a nap, no matter how much I yawn and rub my baby eyes. And let them rock me with a bottle!?!



Or a bottle like this,
but only if you are walking




 maybe sitting up like this...
for a few minutes...

 

but if they want me to drink that bottle
I say only if I can do it like this.

Taylor will be 7 months on the 26th

Post # 82 part II

blowing raspberries at my grandma



Casey thinks I want to rock and go to
sleep but I am not through playing~



I have some serious toy playing to do.



  

You thought I was going to let you rock
 me to sleep? Yeah, that is pretty funny!




All I have to do is smile like this and I
have them wrapped around my finger!

 

Am I a cute little cabbage patch baby or what?!

Maybe I will lay down, just so I have lots
of energy for when Daddy gets home

                                                                            

feeding my soul......blooms in my flower beds

 Post # 81


don't have a lily
but I do have petunias

 

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.
Chinese Proverb 

Bellflowers - one of my favorite bedding plants

dainty little snapdragons




4 o'clocks at 8 p.m.

 

I love color as much as God does. 

spindly little verbena

 I think the only reason my flowerbeds are doing so well in this heat and drought ---besides water from the hose---is the Miracle Grow Moisture Control Potting Mix since my morning glories planted in the ground get as much water and are barely alive.  And those Miracle Grow people don't know who I am, not a paid advertisement, but a darn good product.

a huge pot, with a huge mandavilla, with
vinca and a hens & chicks plant





and in the middle of a flowerbox up popped about 8 tomato plants in a tight little cluster.
  I will be moving them to self watering buckets as soon as I can make some more.
 I have no idea where how they got here...could the seeds from a rotten tomato
 have survived the heat of the compost bin?