AUSTIN, TX OCT. 2009

We went to Austin on Fri., Sat., and Sun. to see Jamey. She was in that area for 10 days from NYC for a wedding. We stayed at Kay and Jim Wray's. Our friend C.J. was in town on business from Dallas so she came out there and visited too. It rained alot but they still need more. The Texas hill country is GREEN again after about a year.
1. Valerie and many labradors....2 are hers and her husband Mitch's. Kay and Jim have five.
2. Jim teaches Gene to play Wii games on TV.
3. This is Kay's pig Nadine.

THERE'S A DAMN CHICKEN ON OUR FRONT PORCH!

I guess this dumb chicken WANTS to be eaten!
No wonder our house won't sell!
This chicken belongs 3 doors down...they are usually running up and down the alley out back.
The dogs go berserk and Harold the cat is afraid of them. Missy cat wants them but is too old to get them.
Stupid chickens.
Harold likes to camp out on the stairs when he is scared....he's scared alot.
Now that the evenings are cooler the cats like to get in these flower pots...I guess the sun warms up the dirt in them during the day. We have 2 pots and 2 cats but they both want in this same one.
Stupid cats.
The hummingbirds are all gone now.
I've seen a few monarch butterflies passing thru the yard.
Fall is here in Pecos.

IT'S OUR HOUSE CIRCA 1920's!!

I was thrilled to find this on the internet today....click on the picture to make it big.
T.B. Pruett who built and owned the home is on the porch on the far right....the white haired man in the bow tie.
His wife Mayme is standing in the yard at the left...behind the bench...she looks like Ma Kettle!
Everybody else are his daughters and son-in-laws, son, grandchildren and nieces and nephews.

It's fun to see what is different about the house now and what remains the same.
I noticed that the foundation was open and now it's enclosed.
The windows on either side of the front door (and the 3 little ones above) are exactly the same....I always wondered if they were original...so, yes they are!
You can't see it very well, but there was a porch swing. We often have looked up on the porch ceiling and talked about the two BIG swing hooks up there. And wondered what the swing looked like and who sat in it.
The spindles that make up part of the porch railing are the exact same ones. They aren't in very good shape these days.
The floor of the porch and the front steps appear to be wood....now they are concrete and aren't in very good shape either.
And of course the siding was wood then and now we have ugly 30 year old siding (not wood) that is brittle and in terrible disrepair.
The windows that have the "X" pattern are still here too. Now they have a better weather proof layer of glass over them.
I'm dying to see what the back of our house looked like then. I know that my art room was a screened in porch.

I love this photo and sometimes wish we could keep this house and pour about $100,000. into it.
It's history and worth fixing up.

RAIN IN AUSTIN, TX LAST WEEK!

48 Hours in Weed, New Mexico.

1. George's dog, Comet likes to drive.

2. A pee break in Lincoln National Forest.

3. A wicked thistle plant with burned out trees in the background.

4. Lots and lots of BIG trees! The Forest Dept. leases land out to ranchers to run their cattle. How do they ever find them when it's time for round up? We saw lots of beautiful cows with babies...they have nice babbling streams and lots of green grass.

5.Bennie is "King of this Rock" on George's property.

6. A view 7 miles outside of Cloudcroft. The elevation drops 1900 ft. in that 7 mile drive. In fact I was kinda PUKEY alot...the roads are all so up and down and this-a-way and that. See that little thin white line way out on the horizon? It's not clouds....it's the White Sands National Park. It's the world's largest gypsum dune field....275 square miles of glistening white sand dunes. I'd like to go there....they have WHITE lizards!

7. Downtown Cloudcroft. Good shopping. Elevation 8600 ft. Population 762. This little village is about 22 miles from George's place...it's a very pretty 45 minute drive. I could live there.

8. Comet loves weeds in Weed.

9. Geno's campfire. There was lizard in the warm ashes from the previous night. See foreground....he found a horseshoe. George's sister, Nancy, takes her horses there from where they live in central Texas when she spends the summer or winter holidays there. She and her husband just finished a cute little temporary cabin. I forgot to take a picture of it. Eventually she and her husband will build a bigger house into the side of their little mountain...or big hill...or whatever ya call it.

10. This is George's trailer. The Faust property is 10 acres. George wants to build his house way up on the top of the afore mentioned mountain/hill. He said sometimes they get a foot or two or snow. While we were there it was in the 70's during the day and 40's at night....loved it!!

We saw deer, cattle, goats, hawks, wild turkeys and horses (one of whom chased George for his ice cream bar! The horses are loose in downtown Weed...population 20....there are cattle guards to keep them sorta rounded up. Weed has a few houses, church and a cafe where we had dinner one night. There were also lots of Weeping Willow, Aspen trees and apple orchards. It's funny to see signs that say "Watch for Snowplows".

It was a four and a half hour drive to Weed. I like Carlsbad and Artesia, New Mexico...I could live there. It was amazing to see the acres and acres and acres of pecan groves.
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I drove 50 miles to the dentist in Kermit today. Then 25 miles over to Monahans to get my glasses fixed and then 40 miles back to Pecos....sigh.

Our dogs found a TURTLE in the yard this morning.

The dogs were freaking out with their heads in and out of my Jack Bean vines.
I was afraid it was a SNAKE!
I looked in there twice and all I saw was a few rocks.
One of those rocks turned out to be this cute turtle.
Where did he come from? Are there others?
Will he stay?
His name is Howard.
My friend Lucy has quite a few turtles in her yard.
Is it a Pecos thing?

San Marcos TX & other tiny news.

Photo 1. We have a Rufous hummingbird in our yard! This picture isn't actually him....I pulled this off the internet. They are so beautiful. I'd never seen one before. They are the feistiest hummingbirds and will tirelessly chase other hummers away.
Photo 2. Willie and Harold. Willie is not happy when Harold uses him as a pillow.
Photo 3. Gene, Toby, Bobbie and Dan enjoying dinner in Kyle.

Monday- Drove to San Marcos....took cantaloupes for everyone. Stayed at a run down Howard Johnson's for 2 nights. But it was inexpensive and the staff was nice. Took Toby out for Mexican food while Gene did his endoscopy/colonoscopy prep.

Tuesday- Got up early and were in and out of the hospital facility in 2 hours. Gene's doctor is pleased that we continue to come so far for his procedures. His colon looks fine yet very scarred. His esophagus is the same....Barrett's cell from top to bottom and once you get that it is irreparable but is controlled with anti reflux medicine for the rest of your life. If not taken care of, it turns into cancer. Multiple biopsies were taken but the doctor expects all to be well. Gene doesn't have to have a colon check for 5 years (YAY!) and an esophagus check in 2 years. Anyone reading this should have a colon check at the age of 50.... or if colon cancer runs in your family....at the age of 40. This is just smart, simple, preventative health care. It makes me mad that most doctors don't urge their patients to do this as a matter of course. In 2000 Gene was diagnosed with colon cancer (he had NO symptoms) and would not be here today if his doctor had not told him to get a colonoscopy. Do it....do it NOW folks!
Gene, Toby and I went out to dinner.
Visited with my friend Patty.

Wednesday- Had lunch in Kyle with 5 friends who were Gene's co-workers at the Kyle prison. It was fun to see them.
Went to Dan and Bobbie Guerra's and had a nice long visit and got to spend the night in their 5th wheeler. Bobbie and I went to the movies (Julia & Julie-great show) while Gene and Dan went to Austin to putter around in Dan's shop at the School for the Deaf where he and Bobbie teach. Toby came over for dinner. We were happy to see so much of Toby.

Thursday- Headed home and went through a driving rainstorm near Ozona. We had to pull over and put our suitcase in a trash bag. It was in the back of the pick up ya know.
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We continue to get some rain in Pecos. A couple of tenths of an inch here and there. The lightening is beautiful.


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Love, mary