No Bull

Just before Easter, Wild Bill and I were driving in a mall area when I spied a large bull. Whhhaaattt??? Whoa the horses!

Of course I had to get closer...

The grounds were done in a very organic way using prairie grasses and natural stone from the area, so of course I had to stop and admire it. But, where was that bull?

"Oh, well done!' I thought. Since it was just turning to spring weather, the brown vegetation was turning a lovely green.

Anyone know what this little creeping plant is called? I'd love to make a topiary of my own out of this stuff.

This is a Texas Longhorn. During the early days of Texas, they drove them up through towns in Texas on cattle drives to towns "up north" to provide beef for the nation. Things you hear about in the old western movies, like Chisholm Trail, Goodnight Trail and stockyards, are a local mainstay 'round here.

But, even so, I'm not use to running into a longhorn in the local mall...even if he is "green", which is the direction the world is heading these days, now isn't it?

Well, we had to bid Mr. Longhorn goodbye because the "ole bull" I was with wanted to get home and read his newspaper. Guess nothing surprises a Texan. You get the picture?

Ya Gotta Love Her

More than a few times I 've written about Dee. She belongs to my middle daughter and her husband, or should I say they belong to her? Recently they all came down to visit and bring their 1-year-old son Ben to meet the rest of the Texas branch of the family.

Dee was a pound puppy, about 2 years old, when Jaysa and Mike adopted her. Dee loves two things with great gusto: Her baby boy Ben (who, at 14 months, is fast out-growing Dee) and EATING.

Dee especially loves human food, and is never far from anyone who has a plate they might share. Subtlety is not Dee's strong suit. She's a more "get in your face" kind of girl!

When Dee thinks it's time to be fed, she picks up her dog bowl and carries it around.

I had to crack up at the chewed up edges of her bowl. Dee is none too patient with her humans and gets pretty insistent with the bowl.

As you can see, she had an entire obstacle course of Ben's toys to get through. She pranced around with the bowl in her mouth until finally her dad gave up and got her some dog food.

Snackin' Cake

Remember 'Snackin' Cake'? When my oldest daughter Jenny was little in the picture above, it was popular. I wish you could see this picture close up...there's cake running down her chin. I think someone took some licks from the empty bowl while I was out of the room. Anyway, back to the cake: I think you just added a few items and mixed it and cooked it in a single layer pan. At the time, it might've seemed easy, but really it wasn't much easier than making a cake mix.

There is a recipe floating around the blogisphere that is the easiest and best 'snackin cake' type recipe ever, and healthy to boot. I made it for my in laws recently and my mother in law thought it was the best chocolate cake ever.

Take any flavor of cake mix, put it in a bowl. Add a small can of pumpkin and mix it up. That's it! Now, I like to fool with everything, so I added a single serving size cup of organic-no-sugar-added-applesauce. You know the kind you put in kid's lunches? It made it so moist and sinful. I baked the mixture in little loaf pans (like cupcake pans, but loafs) and baked them at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or so. Check them after 20 mins.

I've made them with a chocolate cake mix, and the second time with a carrot cake mix. Both were delish! I threw some chocolate chips in the chocolate mixture and some cranberries in the carrot cake. Be inspired. I promise, it's so easy... and healthier than regular cake.

Here's my little sweetheart all grown up... She's a great cook and mother. I sure miss the cake mix running down her chin. Time flies.

Yes, But...

I usually shop at Wally World for my staples and at Sam's Club for meat and stocking up. On occasion I do shop at Albertsons or Kroger (they're within a block of each other) for quick pick up items. When I was at Kroger about 3 months ago, I was talked into one of their "favored shopper" cards...you know the ones that some stores make you carry to get a "discount" on products.

Well, I put the Kroger card in a drawer and promptly forgot it, and on several trips I was asked for it and couldn't produce it. When I found it in a drawer the other day, I put it on my key chain so I wouldn't forget it. Today I went to the store to pick up a few things and while in line I remembered the discount card. When it was my turn, the first thing I did was proudly hand the key chain to the checker. I was so happy to have remembered without being asked for it! I even told the checker "...I usually forget my Kroger card, so I'm giving it to you right away so I won't forget!" With a sympathetic smile on her face she said "yes, but, this isn't Kroger."

If I Had Tall Windows Like Jaysa

I've been emailing back and forth with "the girls" (my own 3 grown daughters and a few of their friends who I'd love to claim as my daughters too) and the subject turned to painted white trim as opposed to wood trim. Of course ALL us girls voted for the painted trim...seems only men like the "real wood" shitty stuff!

Middle daughter Jaysa has tall windows, much like these in this picture from the {Just Beachy} blog. I was encouraging Jaysa to bite the bullet and paint the trim, so I thought I'd share this picture to show her husband that painting the wood white is an improvement. A picture is worth a thousand words. If you want to see more of {Just Beachy}'s fabulous trim, here's her blogsite. http://chriskauffman.blogspot.com