MyBluebonnetCottage.com

Meet my ‘Little Friend’!  His name is Bandie.  He was brought to our ranch a few weeks ago by a friend of our son Brandon, to be ‘released into the wild’…yeah RIGHT!   As you can see, Bandie has other ideas about what and where the ‘wild’ is, and about where he belongs.

Currently he is living out at the barn and doing a fine job of housekeeping by keeping bugs and stuff picked up.  He is most curious with a capital C!  He literally never stops moving unless he is asleep.

Here he is discovering one of the trees in the backyard near our pool.  I think he might have been investigating the tree top for bird nests since the humming birds were diving at him something fierce until he came back down from his little jaunt.

He is about 4 months old right now (he was three when he came) and I suspect will be entering puberty sometime this fall…we’ll see if he hangs around until then.

He is really very sweet to play with, he loves sucking your skin, doesn’t matter if it’s a finger, forearm, or leg, just skin.  (Not sure what that’s about!)

(This is the first of some posts I’ve set up for you to enjoy while I’m at SU Convention, I hope you enjoy it!)

Ah yes, there’s nothing quite like summertime in good ‘ol TEXAS! And around here you’re most apt to find my guys haulin hay!
You see, about three years ago when I convinced my sweet hubby to disperse our Angus herd (that would be black cattle for you city folks who don’t get out much) he informed me that we needed to do something ‘productive’ with our acreage, roughly a total of about 300 AC in one 215 AC tract and another 90+ AC tract where our home sits. You can’t just do nothing with it he informed me, so I reminded him that many years ago, (and that would be roughly 12-14 years ago) we started out with Coastal Bermuda Hay, that’s how we got to have such lovely pastures.

Now mind you, we don’t have to worry about cows jumping fences or helping with calving, or broken water lines when it does manage to dip below freezing, BUT doing HAY means we do have to work in the H-E-A-T!

Everybody has a hand in it too. Our son Brandon cut, raked and baled it, then the rest of us, Dad, Jack, Addison & Colin got to move it and re-stack it, of course while I was keeping an ever watchful eye out for snakes and such, and oh yes, photo-ops! What’s a day with the boys if not a photo-op?

(Look at that grin on Jack (right)…he can’t believe he drove 16 hours to do this of course)

Addison & Dad took turns with the tractor and it wasn’t long before it was all moved under an old long open barn. Like it’s going to rain?

Larry was off the farm and finishing up his Oral Surgery residency when we met in St. Louis and something just told me that we might find ourselves out in the country…and I wasn’t wrong either. You really can’t take the country out of the boy!

Have a great week!

As some of you may know and as news to others, my family lives in the Midwest (where I was born and lived the first 30 years of my life) while I reside in the wonderful state of TEXAS!! Yet my family is with me, ever present in mementos around my home.  So that, while we are parted by years and miles, I think of different family members almost on a daily basis.  The placement of  small items that bring different people to mind, whether friends or family, is a wonderful way to keep them in mind and to offer those unspoken prayers of protection and blessing on them throughout the day, week or whenever.

One such treasure that I have was a gift from my sister more years ago than I can even remember.  She had a Homespun Christmas that year and made all of the Christmas ornaments for her tree and sent me several extras for my tree.  That way we could think of each other on Christmas even though we couldn’t spend the holiday together.

There are several others packed away with Christmas decorations but I have kept this lovely single heart on my linen closet knob in our master bathroom. Every day, every time I am either at my vanity or in the shower or reaching for a clean towel, or just passing by,  I think of my sister Jennie and say a teeny prayer of thanks for the wonderful thoughtful person that she is.

It has been too many years since I have been back to the Midwest for a visit and I guess there’s a bit of homesickness setting in.  Life with growing teenagers and young adult men is hectic for sure and investing myself in their lives is what is top priority at this time.  But, it brings a smile to my heart to know that she’s thinking of me too!

Summer is quickly going by and I hope you spend time with your family and loved ones while the sun is high in the sky and the days are long.

Blessings on your week!

Katherine

I was twelve years old when my grandmother took me to Washington DC as I was preparing to start my 8th grade year of grade school.  It was a trip I had looked forward to for several years; since she had made the same trip the previous two summers with my older brothers.  Only this time, disappointing as it was, my mom insisted on coming and bringing along my younger sister.  UGHH!  What was supposed to be MY special trip turned out to be a three ring circus, or so I thought.   (Blistering heat in August and unwanted company dosen’t make for a great time.)  Not to mention it was 1963 and the preferred mode of transportation was the Greyhound Bus from St. Louis MO to Seabrook MD, where my uncle lived just outside of DC.

I also visited our nation’s capitol with my sweet hubby when we were first married in the early 1980′s for one of his national meetings but it was late in the fall and the weather was quite dreary and miserable.

This trip however, was a wish come true!  Everything I could have hoped for and more.

Every year I hear the advertisement for American Family Radio’s ‘Spiritual Heritage Tour’ ,and every year I wish I could go…this year I made it.  Travelling with Colin and I was our good friend Alexa and her two son’s Michael & Ben as we joined a group of about 140 people, from all over the U.S. on a guided, whirlwind, packed-to-the-gills informative tour of our nation’s spiritual history.  We were treated to history lessons by not only Tim Wildmon (son of AFA founder Don Wildmon) but by Stephen McDowell, well known author and noted historian. http://www.providencefoundation.com/tours.php

We got a peek at the founding father’s and what motivated them that not many get to experience.  We also came away with a fresh appreciation for how precious our liberties are and why we should protect them fervrently.

We left on Wednesday (6/17) and returned late Sunday (6/21) and had a full three and  days of touring.  Starting at the crack of dawn and not stopping until dinner at about 6:30, but it was worth it, boy was it worth it!

Now I’m looking forward to going back…I just hope it’s not too long in between trips!  Hope you find a worthwhile trip to take this summer that will enrich your lives as much as this one has!

Thanks! Katherine

What do boys, a.k.a. young men, do with themselves on a brief break between university studies and working for the summer? Why, create things that they can shoot or blow up of course! If you’ve ever been around a Boy Scout Troop for very long, you will no doubt have become acquainted with those boys who have a leaning for all things pyro. It’s just something that SOME children come into this world with. It’s not that they’ve been exposed to it and have been affected by that exposure. It goes beyond that. I have to admit that all four of our boys have a propensity to this, and I guess when I think about it, I’d have to admit that their father has shown evidence of these same tendencies. Go figure!

I remember the time he was so bent on roasting marshmallows one fall evening when the boys were all just sprouts…he was burning some brush piles and he literally dragged us all out to watch the fire and observe him while he toasted graham crackers. You see, we had no marshmallows. But that didn’t stop him from roasting SOMETHING on that bonfire! (We were sure he needed a break from his busy and hectic schedule, so we watched and displayed appropriate awe at this marvelous feat!)

Anyway, in the photo above you have from left to right our dear friend Kinsey V., with our Colin (center) and Addison (far right) getting ready to launch a projectile from their Potato Gun. It’s really more like a BAZOOKA!! It surely has quite a BOOM and an impressive kick if you get just the right seal on the projectile. It all of about 45 minutes to cut the pipe, insert the gas grill ignitor, and allow the PVC cement to cure over night, to prevent it’s blowing apart.

This afternoon was a perfect day to christen the contraption and they’ve had a wonderful time with it. Nothing like CHEAP hairspray for lots of propellant! (I don’t know what’s in that stuff but I wouldn’t stand too close to a fire if I was using it on my locks that’s for sure!)

Projectile:

The object being launched is actually a shaped wad of Neon Duct Tape.

Reconnaissance: