Lavender Chick

My smart phone has made me dumb. And old.

2012-01-28T13:45:00.001-06:00

Lavender Chick's ~~Office~~ Bath

So I think I have mentioned a time or two, like here and here that my hobby is bathing. Well, that and decorating. And eating. Oh – and driving around and getting……. Well, nevermind. I won’t mention that one. I think it might fall more in to the category of vices instead of hobbies anyway. You can fill in the blank. I mean seriously. I can’t divulge everything about myself on the world wide web thing.

Anyway, back to my top hobby of bathing. I do it daily and feel extremely cheated if I don’t have time and am forced to take an ever so boring shower. And in the not so distant past, during my typical bath I would think.

I would think about what I needed to do for the day, what I did the day before, what I didn’t do. I would think about the products I was using, as my bath time was also my research and development time.

In reality I should have been getting paid for bathing since I was trying out different products so I could figure out what I liked and didn’t like and how I could have made them soooo much better.

And I would think about all the silly things that happened to me during the previous 24 hours, and I would often crack myself up as I thought about it. AND, it was during that portion of my bath, the crack-up time - wait a minute… not literally THE crack up, the……. oh good lord, let me call it the laughing at myself time because now I'm cracking myself up! I do that often. Okay, so it was during the laughing at myself time that I would think OH! I must blog about that!

So that was then and this is now.

Now I have a smart phone. AND I finally came to the realization of something so profound I thought I must share it with you, which is why I’m telling you all this stuff to begin with. I came to the conclusion that I stopped blogging on a consistent basis right about the time I got my iphone last year. I also began to realize that now when I’m bathing, I am lounging about in hot bubbles playing Words With Friends, checking my Facebook, browsing through photos on Houzz…. Basically, I am sitting in the tub and staring into my iphone the whole time. And no, I have never dropped my iphone in the water. Why? Because I spent a fortune on the mother of all Otter cases that is waterproof in the event I ever dropped my phone into the tub. Because I bought it I haven’t dropped my phone. Had I not bought it, I would have dropped my phone about a dozen times by now. That’s just how things work in my life work. So – I cannot attest to whether or not the mother of all Otter cases is indeed waterproof.

Okay, so back to my hobby of bathing and the whole smart phone thing. Bottom line, my iphone has usurped all my creativity, my entire imagination, and is causing me to have to get botox injections due to squinting while reading the darn thing.

My smart phone has made me dumb.

And old if you consider the very deep crater it has created between my eyebrows.

So I shall attest today that I have seen the error of my ways. I am going to get back to the only moment of relaxation and meditation I have by not bathing any longer with the smart phone. I hope for this to be the cure of my writer’s block and my lack of an urge to develop a new body care product.

And to no longer have to inject botulism millimeters away from my frontal lobe.

Sunday morning view from my window

2012-01-22T13:28:00.001-06:00

We awoke this morning to Clementine the longhorn bull calf staring in our bedroom window waiting for Abe the boxer to come out and play.

Is it normal to have longhorns peeking through your bedroom windows?

Hmmm.....

Don't know if it is normal or not, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Have a great week!

Resolutions...

2012-01-10T15:42:00.000-06:00

I know it's the first of the year and everyone is talking about those resolution things.... Kind of a boring subject, not to mention one that has been completely worn out. But - due to my resolve of blogging more often AND already having writer's block, I will share one of my resolutions with you: To organize my office and of course, to resolve to keep in neat and orderly. Well... it's the 10th of January and it is still messy.

I think I would rather be the unhibited free spirit like my niece and spend my time making people laugh with a spoon on my nose....

Have a great rest of the week! I know my posts are coming slowly, but when I get my work-life balance more organized you will hear from me more often (and I do consider blogging life, not work). Who wrote the rule that resolutions have to be on January 1st anyway? I believe I will start mine on February 2nd, Ground Hog Day. On that day I will decide if I am ready for spring cleaning or will be hibernating and pondering winter a bit longer....

Out of Texas

2012-01-02T13:07:00.003-06:00

Not only did the drought dry up our lavender fields, it also dried up my thoughts for things to blog about. Darn that drought.

I'm thinking Texas might need some estrogen cream or something.... Because, you know - she's all dried up.

So while Texas spent the summer up in smoke (literally - we had history-making wildfires that were just horrendous), I spent my blogiday (a break from blogging) thinking about how much better we would be if we were "up in smoke" the Cheech & Chong way versus the Texas way… Do you know what I mean?

But alas, I’m back and more determined than ever to forge ahead with my body care business sans the lavender harvesting part.

You know, one of my all time favorite movies is Out of Africa.

Many times this summer I would gaze across our parched land and channel Karen von Blixen and think to myself (in a Danish accent of course) “I vonce had a fahm in Texas….”


Aloe Farm Rio Grande Valley of Texas

So I figure if Karen Von Blixen could forge ahead after her coffee plantation went up in smoke, I could forge ahead with my body care business after my lavender fields went up in smoke. Why should I let a stinkin’ drought get in my way?

Texas is just going through menopause, it too shall pass...

In the meantime, I have spent too many grueling hours researching cosmetic ingredients such as ethyldihrdroxypropyl p-aminobenzoate…. So maybe I barely passed Chemistry in college almost 30 years ago, but since then I sure have immersed myself in my own self-education of biochemistry. Who knew chemistry and body lotion had a connection? Or - maybe I would have known if I had ever gone to class and paid attention the three times I did go...

I’m glad to be back and am working on some really fun stuff. We live amongst all kinds of farms with all kinds of great crops that yield things that I can throw in my blender that end up becoming wonderful elixirs for your skin. In South Texas alone we have aloe and grapefruit. And in all areas of Texas we have grape seed extract, and here in my own neighborhood we have peaches… Lots of peaches! Can you say peach extract, peach kernel oil, peach stones? Oh the things I can make!


Texas Hills Vineyard, Johnson City, TX


Peach Orchard, Hill Country Texas

So – thanks for continuing to check in on what’s going on at Hummingbird Farms. We still have lots of creative products brewing out here! I hope you will stay with me as I tell my silly stories along the way…

Happy New Year!

P.S. Thanks, Leslie!

Clementine the bull calf and his No Name cousin... Please help!

2011-02-20T17:56:00.000-06:00

So up there in the center, looking right at you is Clementine, our little baby bull calf. Isn't he a doll? In front of him is his cousin, Little Lange. To his left is his best buddy and cousin.

Here is a better picture of Clementine's cousin. He's a doll, too. The only problem is we don't have a name for him. Please.... if you can think of a name for this No Name bull calf we would love to hear.

We are completely out of names....

Thank you and have a great week!

Gayle the social butterfly. I mean cow.

2011-02-13T17:35:00.001-06:00

"Gayle just hears the word GO and she's grabbing her purse" -Betty B.(my grandmother, aka "Nanny")

I believe that many of you know that three of our longhorn heifers are named after the 3 women in my extended family that rule the roost: Marsha, Gayle, and Kathy.

I was just being silly when I decided to name my cows after my mother, aunt, and cousin. BUT - what I never realized was how they would take on similar traits of their namesakes. I'm serious.

Oh - and for the record, longhorns DO have personalities. And like humans, they have unique personalities. So this is Gayle and she is very social. She will see a human from afar and will make a bee line to you to say hi. I suppose some humans might get a bit nervous if a 1200 pound longhorn comes charging towards you.... But - we know it's just Gayle. And she's just social that way.

Why Lavender Chick, how do you keep your boots standing so tall? And – didn’t Nikki Sixx always wear cowboy boots?

2011-01-15T17:02:00.001-06:00

I had a list of things to accomplish today. Remember my last post where I claimed to be all ambitious by getting my Christmas decorations put away? Well – I got a little distracted and a week later I’m deciding to tackle the project again.

BUT…..

It’s a cold and rainy day and for some reason sitting by the fire and reading sounds so much more pleasing. So – I probably won’t get much done today except for hollering for Jack when it’s time to put another log on the fire.

As I type this, I am taking a brief break from my book and Jack is now reading his book. So what are we reading?

WELL….

Jack is reading a book about George Washington because he’s just smart like that.

I’m reading a book about Nikki Sixx and Motley Crue because I’m just cool like that.

Because – you know, opposites attract and we’re just good like that.

AND….

Since I don’t want to feel like I’ve wasted an entire day reading a book about Nikki Sixx (which is REALLY good), I will share this bit of Lavender Chick wisdom:

You have just stepped inside my closet in which you see my boots standing oh so tall. How do they do that?

Well, take a look inside the boot. What is that inside of there?

No... I'm not stashing booze inside my boots. I'm recycling empty wine bottles by using them to hold up my boots.

Because this is what they do otherwise. They just flop over.

Y'all have a great day and hope you have enjoyed this helpful hint. I am getting back to my very good book. I can't seem to put it down.

I also have a feeling that Nikki Sixx probably stashed other things in his boots for other reasons....

And the holiday season ends....

2011-01-09T13:36:00.002-06:00

I have a goal every year to get our Christmas decorations put up somewhere between Elvis' birthday and Valentines Day. I have to say that last year it was closer to Valentine's Day, but by-golly this year I'm so full of energy and motivation, everything is being put away today - a day after Elvis' birthday! Just don't hold me to the taking down the tree part. I'm attached. I suppose I could be like my Aunt Gayle and leave a tree up all year. Hmmmmm. Why can't we have a Valentine's Tree? An Easter Tree? A 4th of July tree?

I love it when the house is all decorated, hence my procrastination in putting everything up. So - with that, I will say goodbye dear Christmas tree. We enjoyed your company. Please don't tell any of the secrets you might have heard during the season, as we had lots of fun and very dear friends and family around you this year. I'm sure you got an ear full (or would that be needle full?). We hope the tree we pick next year is as beautiful as you. You've been a good friend.

So - with that, it gets me thinking of all the things, in addition to our Christmas tree, that I have loved in 2010, such as my suzani that I bought during ArtWalk 2010. Love, love it! Here it is over my coffee table.

Only one problem. See that precious little kitty in the bottom-right corner? Look closely. Slider is his name.

Those crystal pillar candle holders don't exist anymore.

Only Slider and Abe knows why....

Don't know how this sweet face could be up to any mischief...

All I know is that Abe and Slider were the only ones in the room when Jack heard, CRASH!!!!!

And they made a best friend pact never to tell.

And the Christmas tree isn't saying either.

Our New Year's Eve Baby

2011-01-02T13:33:00.000-06:00

This is our newest baby at Hummingbird Farms. We are so happy! Can't believe little Punkin' is a mother...

So Lisa said we should name the baby Lang, as in Auld Lang Syne. And so it shall be.

Welcome to Hummingbird Farms, Little Lang!

HAPPY 2011!

Had to be a goat before I could be a chick...

2010-12-30T00:02:00.001-06:00

So this is the hair that I was born with.

Me in about 5th grade

My hair had always been a bit stringy, yet soft and smooth. But suddenly, in junior high, I got this wiry, kinky, coarse looking hair. It was strange. It was not good hair at all, and I come from a good hair family. It’s one of our claims to fame. Good hair. Now long legs and skinny hips, that’s some other family’s claim to fame…

So for whatever reason I found myself with this strange hair, in a family full of good heads of hair. Here is a picture I found when this phenomenon was just beginning.

It's still a bit hard to tell, as most of the kinky, wiry stuff is starting underneath my hair, in the nape of my neck. But, just a few months after this picture was taken I was raging with the wiry, kinky stuff all over my head. And fortunately for me it occurred at such a great time in my life. Junior High. Puberty. Fun.

I have another school picture, the one taken a year after this one, when I am full-blown kink. I dug through all my old pictures but couldn’t find it anywhere. If truth be known, I probably destroyed it, as well as all other pictures of my wiry hair days. For some reason it never dawned on me that I would want to get nostalgic about the effects on my hair during the BIG P.

To get an idea of my strange hair phenomenon, just look at the picture above and then envision my hair pumped up about 4 times the volume with more kink scattered about. Sort of think what one would look like if they were to stick their finger in an electrical socket....

So anyway, my hair became a bit of a joke with my family and friends. It was Tomi (my best friend’s mother who lived across the street) who first coined it my ‘goat-hair’. I can still hear her:

“My gawd, what the hell has happened to your hair? Let me feel it. Good gawd, it feels like.... like goat hair.”

And from that day forward I had goat hair.

By the time I was in my junior year of high school my goat hair was becoming a distant memory. However, if you pulled my hair up you could still see remnants of my goat hair around the nape of my neck. In fact, there lied my goat hair, at the nape of my neck, all the way into my mid- 20’s. Nothing like being reminded for years about your Big P days and the jokes of goat hair... But goat hair or no goat hair, I didn't allow my personal tragedy to interfere with my ability to do good hair… (I know, I know.... I just plagiarized Annelle's line from Steel Magnolias. But, it is such a good line...)

Perming my perm, 1980 something

It’s actually quite miraculous that my goat hair was ever at bay, being that the 80’s hit right after my full flare of goat hair in which I spent most of my leisure time perming my perm, teasing my tressels, and mousseing my gel. I was an 80’s big hair chick and wore it proudly. In fact, I was so good at big hair that I was held charge with hiding holes in all my friends’ hair. Now don’t tell me you didn’t have someone who examined your hair before going out to ensure that you didn’t have any hair holes? Any good friend would be sure and tell you if you had a hole. If I had known you, not only would I have politely told you that you had a hole, but I would have fixed it for you right then and there, as I was always equipped with my comb and a can of hairspray. Why that Dooney & Bourke saddle bag could hold most anything.... And besides, fixing hair holes was a job I took seriously.

1980's Big Hair Chick

I was gifted with a supple wrist for hiding holes, and good wrist action was key for big hair in the 80's. Before going out, many of my friends had to wait for me to stop by their house to fix their holes. (I fixed more hair holes for Sami and Edye than I could ever count….).

1980's Big Hair Chick

And so the 80’s sadly ended and so did my goat hair. Throughout all the torture on my hair in the 80’s I can’t believe I didn’t create permanent goat hair for myself. It’s amazing what our hair can endure….

And so I thought my goat hair would be forever in my past. After all, my BIG P junior high days are long, long gone and the 80's all but a distant memory... Or so I thought.

**** My goat hair is once again rearing its ugly head. ****

Apparently the BIG P and the BIG M have a lot more in common than I would have ever thought…

But just as I didn't allow my goat hair tragedy to get in the way of doing good hair way back when, I shan't let my goat hair today interfere with my ability to do good Chi. And guess what? Now I'm thinking, being that my goat hair has reared its ugly head again, perhaps I should begin looking into developing a shampoo for the goat hair challenged. After all, I developed our No. 145 Lavender Lotion due to my lizard skin, so why not now work on a shampoo for my goat hair? Hmmmmmm.

You sing it your way and I’ll sing it mine…

2010-12-21T21:25:00.002-06:00

So I guess I have always had a bit of difficulty understanding lyrics in songs. And yes, it is true that I have been known to really flub up some words. And yes, in some cases decades have gone by before it has finally been pointed out to me that I have had it ALL wrong for all those years.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has thought:

Later on, we’ll perspire
as we dream by the fire

I had the pleasure of figuring this out last week after Jack picked himself up off the floor with spewed Dr. Pepper down the front of his shirt. I couldn’t figure out why he was laughing and spewing so hard…. So what if it took me four decades and a handful of years to learn that no one was actually perspiring by the fire? I’m really relieved to know they were conspiring and not perspiring; it all makes sense now. I always loved this Christmas song and when it got to the perspiration part it just sort of ruined it for me.

While I’m on the subject I guess I will also confess another one of my little mishaps with words. Now don’t be concerned. It didn’t take me almost five decades to figure this one out. I was at least 13-years-old when I learned the proper wording of this Christmas carol. I’m just smart like that…

So this was my version for the first decade of my life:

Oh well, Oh well, Oh well, Oh well,
Born is the King of Israel

In my young mind I interpreted the song as something like this:

Oh well, so we couldn’t get checked in to one of those cozy Inns. Oh well, we don’t need a stinkin’ Inn. We can have ourselves the King of Israel right here in this mighty fine little manger. Oh well.

In the Christmas program at my church when I was little (in which I never, ever got to be Mary and probably could still use some therapy about that) we always sang Away In A Manger just prior to singing ~~Oh Well~~ Noel, Noel. So it just always seemed practical to me that the words in the song were Oh well. I mean after all, they had to settle with a manger and not an Inn. Oh well.

And plus – who knows what Noel means anyway? Jack has since informed me that it means Christmas in French. Who knew? I grew up on the Mexican border. I didn’t know anything in French.

So – in closing I won’t end by wishing you a Mary Christmas. I figured out a LONG time ago that it is Merry Christmas. Again, I’m just smart like that. But – to defend my thinking, I assumed it was Mary Christmas because, you know – it was just sort of a nice gesture to keep Mary’s name front and center since she is sort of responsible for kicking off the whole reason for the season. Oh well.

Feliz Navidad!

There are some really good people in this world!

2010-09-21T00:30:00.000-05:00

Poncho is home!!! We are so happy. Before I get into the story of Poncho’s excellent adventure, let me first apologize to everyone for being delayed in letting you know that he is okay. While most of my friends and family know that Poncho was found and is back home safe and warm at Hummingbird Farms, I realized after reading some comments (and some email messages)that I hadn’t alerted those that read the blog. I do apologize! It still amazes me that there are actually more than two people, including my mother, that reads this thing….

Baby Poncho 2004

So – back to Poncho. Just as we thought, he literally bolted during the storm. We generally would have had him in the house during a storm, but this one really caught us by surprise. I was stuck in San Antonio and Jack was in the barn dealing with about 300 other things. When it started blowing in he had no idea how severe it was going to be. It caught most of us by surprise. Anyway, before he realized it Poncho was nowhere to be found.

Those of you that know the breed know that they can track some miles in a very short time. I suppose his little instinct told him to run, and run he did. After he took off we are assuming he got disoriented in the storm and simply didn’t know where he was.

Fortunately there are very nice people in this world. A lady that happens to work at Texas Tech (Go Raiders!!) and her co-worker happened to see Poncho way out on the highway, several miles from the house. They were concerned that he was going to get hit by a car so they pulled over. As soon as they opened the car door he immediately jumped in the backseat. Poncho LOVES to go for rides. I can’t help but think that he thought if he just jumped into a car, any car, it would somehow miraculously drive him home.

Poncho with his kitty Putt-Putt, he loves all his kitties

Anyway, they took Poncho to the closest vet to see if he had a micro-chip. So – I now have to admit that I was not a good parent… Poncho did not have a chip. They left him at the vet and went on to their meeting, but with all intentions of coming back to get Poncho if they could not find his owners. A couple of days later Poncho was still at the vet and no one had claimed him. I have to say it warms my heart to know that they were going to make him a home if they couldn’t find his owners. At least I know that Poncho would have been in good hands. After a couple of days, and before picking Poncho back up at the vet, she decided to re-trace her path on the day she found him. As she drove the same path she saw our sign at our gate and thought what the heck, I’ll give them a call. Can you believe it??? We were so excited we couldn’t stand it. Jack was out the door and on the way to the vet’s office before I ever got off the phone with her. (Although we had called our regular vet, we hadn’t called this particular one.)

Oh – and just so you know, we had the vet micro-chip Poncho before we brought him back home….

I just want to say THANK YOU NICE LADY FROM TEXAS TECH!!!! We are very happy to have him home. Most of all, thank you for all the efforts you made to find us and most of all THANK YOU for wanting to keep him in case you didn’t find his owners. I know he would have been very happy with you. Again, it is assuring to know that he would have had a happy home. AND- if you happen to read this, please get in contact with me. We wrote down your name and number but in all the excitement we cannot, to save or lives, find where it is. We would like to send you a little surprise….

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Rain is good, but Hermina is a wench!

2010-09-08T20:19:00.000-05:00

So we desperately have needed rain, that is true, we just weren't expecting it to be delivered to us by Hermina. I don't know exactly how much rain we got because I never like getting my shoes muddy to go look at the rain gauge thing. I assume that makes me not a farmer being that rain gauges and the like should be on top of any good farmer's radar. Not that rain isn't top on my radar, it's just that rain gauges aren't. Now shoes, they are on my radar...

Besides, I don't have to worry about reading the rain gauge when all I have to do is see what my neighbor Dottie reported on facebook. So - I will go with what Dottie says: 13.22 inches. Can you believe it?!

I have already given far too much attention to Hermina, as she doesn't deserve the limelight on my very prestigious Lavender Chick stage. We are so over her, that Hermina. Ever since she planned her rendezvous over Hummingbird Farms, our gentle giant Poncho has been missing. Like I said, Hermina is a wench.

Poncho come home!

The Secret Garden in Fredericksburg, TX: A little behind the scenes story...

2010-09-06T21:54:00.000-05:00

This post is about a store and a couple of drug reps. So... sit back as I take you back to the very early 1990's when I was a pharmaceutical drug rep and had a co-worker named Kathy. We worked really well together and took our job very seriously. We sold drugs for breast cancer. How much more serious could that be?

Kathy and I had a wonderful working relationship and developed a great friendship. I remember the first day that Kathy was moved into my division at work and I took her around to meet her new customers. Our first stop was the oncology floor of a major hospital. As we were riding up the elevator Kathy asked me if we would actually see cancer patients on the floor. I told her that although we were simply dropping off some patient education materials, it was likely that we would see some patients. Kathy started crying before we ever got out of the elevator, cried the whole time we were in the hospital, and cried the rest of the day.

To make Kathy’s first experience of visiting the oncology floor even that more traumatic, my Aunt Gayle was coincidentally on the same floor with her very good friend since childhood, holding her hand as she lay dying of breast cancer. Aunt Gayle was the first person we saw as we got out of the elevator who sadly informed us that just minutes before her friend had died. It was a tough day. And now looking back, it was a day that would be a defining moment for both Kathy and me.

I knew immediately that I was going to love working with Kathy because she just got it (not to mention she was just a really great person); she understood that there was far more to our job than selling and representing. It was about people and their lives and we understood that our drugs would mean life or death for many women (and men, breast cancer does occur in 1% of men). We dedicated a lot of our time spreading the word about financial assistance programs and support groups. The company we worked for was always more than generous in supporting these causes.

In some ways it seems like it was so many years ago, but in other ways it seems like it was just yesterday. Although I ended up moving on with my career and moved to three different cities before settling back in Texas, Kathy stuck with it for several more years. We always stayed in touch and she always referred to my moving on as “when Debi left me to do this by myself.”

While working together, I always knew that Kathy had a dream of moving to Fredericksburg, Texas and living in a little historical farm house (what in Fredericksburg is known as a Sunday House) and having a little store on Main Street. And for those of you that have been reading my blog for a while, you are aware of my dream of living on a farm with lots of animals.

Today, with cow manure on my high heel shoes, I’m here to say that dreams do come true!

But with a few twists and turns, of course.

About ten years after our first day together on that oncology floor, Kathy ended up taking early retirement and yes – she moved to Fredericksburg, bought a Sunday House, and owns a shop on Main Street! And after a handful of relocations, I finally got to live that dream of being on a farm with lots of animals (and cow manure). And, believe it or not, I’m 20 minutes from Kathy!

But, let me explain the twists and turns that sometimes come before the living your dream part. Ironically, Kathy and I shared another similar experience, one that she and I would have never, ever imagined or predicted. About eight to nine years after that first day together in 1994, Kathy and I both became patients taking the very same breast cancer meds we used to sell. Who would have ever thought it??? We certainly didn’t.

I was diagnosed first, and then Kathy was diagnosed about a year later. I still shake my head when I think about the irony of all of this. So yeah, it was a little unexpected twist, but a turn that made us all the stronger and grateful for how our lives are today. We don’t have any regrets.

Kathy and I are both completely cancer free AND working together again!

Her shop on Main Street, The Secret Garden, is our exclusive Main Street store in Fredericksburg that carries Hummingbird Farms Aromatherapy Body Care. Yes, we once again are partners!

And it just feels so right.

So please – if you are ever visiting Fredericksburg, TX, please stop by The Secret Garden and visit with Kathy. Kathy will ship anywhere in the country! Also, check out her blog here. Below are pictures of some of the beautiful and one-of-a-kind items you can find at The Secret Garden, not to mention of course, Hummingbird Farms Aromatherapy Body Care!

And the longhorns at Hummingbird Farms all agreed.....

2010-09-04T16:08:00.004-05:00

Yes! The green grass in the yard is indeed much tastier than that dry hay out yonder.....

Happy Labor Day weekend!!

A blessing to start your day

2010-08-21T15:28:00.003-05:00

Both of these pictures were taken weeks apart, and both in the morning as I was bolting out the door for work. I love both of them because it is as if our dog Poncho, and our longhorn Gayle, were both getting their morning blessings from St. Francis.

I found it quite interesting that they both decided to lounge about in the same spot. Poncho is a Great Pyrenees and weighs about 125. He's our gentle giant. Gayle is one of our longhorns; in fact, one of our three original. She is really sweet and kind of shy and has two sisters named Marsha and Kathy. Gayle is also our gentle giant.

Or gentle giantress?? If a man is a giant does that make a woman a giantress?

Hmmmmm. While I ponder that one, y'all have a great weekend!

Because life’s too short to have five jobs and only 5 cats….

2010-08-15T16:15:00.006-05:00

Although I was stricken with guilt for about 30 seconds on 500 different occasions this summer, I did what was necessary to snap myself out of it (have a mango margarita). In spite of the guilt, I had an explicitly wonderful summer! A summer that included some girlfriend weekends (including getting to spend a weekend with a high school girlfriend I haven't seen in 25 years!), a family reunion, a few impromptu trips, a wonderful 4th of July which included Big Bend Cowboys Baseball and a day trip to Lajitas, which is one of my most favorite places on earth. Oh – and a few days with our niece Jilly Bean all to myself AND our nephew Stephen. The guilt was worth it.

So – why the guilt? Well, Jack and I had to make the decision of which direction to take Hummingbird Farms. We could either continue to keep the farm open to the public or we could declare ourselves an official body care business.

We’re a small potatoes little business trying to grow – well, let me retract that: We’re a small potatoes little business trying to figure out what in the world we are doing…. The only thing we know for sure is that something had to give. We could use all our time and energy keeping the farm manicured and open to the public, or we could use our time and energy building the body care line (and hopefully future lines), and more importantly, take time to figure out what we’re doing and where we are headed.

So no surprise, the body care business won out.

Although we made the decision not to open the farm (which is what caused the guilt), we will always be forever humbled and indebted to our beautiful blooming fields in 2007 that gave us the inspiration to just do it…. To plunge forward into our wholesale body care business! This doesn’t mean that we will never open again. But – for now, having 5 jobs plus a farm open for touring is a little hectic, we had to do a little prioritization. And - I simply didn't think I could handle another summer of missing out on life by going 24/7.

Okay – I’m exaggerating. I only have 4 jobs….

So with all that said, since we weren’t slaves to our farm all summer we were actually able to have some weekends to do what life is all about.

Breathe.

And live.

And living we did! In fact, we kept so busy doing things we loved and enjoyed that blogging kind of got put on the back burner for me. Sorry about that. Not that I don’t love blogging … I simply made the choice to spend more of my free time with my family and friends.

Oh – and one other thing! We went a whole summer with only acquiring one new animal – a record! We now have a new kitty named Slider; named so because he was found after a day of watching a whole lot of baseball. And those of you that know us also know our philosophy: If they find us, they’re ours….

The girls in the fam having fun...

Aunt Deb & Jilly Bean

Dad and his beloved Big Bend Cowboys after winning the Continental League Championship!

Jack and Stephen on the banks of the Rio Grande

I can't tell you what a great summer it has been! Since our very first lavender field was planted back in 2003, we really have not had a summer of fun. Of course we still kept busy during the week and often on weekends, but we had a little wiggle room for the first time in a long time. I gotta say - it's the way life should be....

Our Sunshine Girl

2010-07-11T15:44:00.007-05:00

Originally posted on Friday, June 22, 2007

I thought I would tell y’all the story of My Sunshine Girl, a.k.a., Lupe. Our bossy little girl that found us, and who has been ruling the roost ever since, no pun intended.

Jack was out working in the field a couple of years ago when this object came fluttering towards his face. Catching him off guard and not knowing what was coming his way, he instinctively blocked his face with his hands. Half a second later, this thing fluttered back around and landed right on his index finger. Jack looked at IT - IT looked at him and said, “chirrup”.

I was in the barn talking to Paige on the phone. Okay ya’ll, not much can pry me from the phone. Especially when it’s Paige on the phone, but when Jack walked into the barn with a bird on his finger, I got off the phone. Click.

Jack sat the bird down on the desk and she started pecking at the newspaper. She was looking for food. I had some wild birdseed at the house, so we headed back to the house, our new little friend in tow on Jack’s finger, to get her some food. Okay y’all, you have to envision this. Our barn is not that close to the house. Probably about 250 to 300 yards. We’re walking with this bird on Jack’s finger and she just sits there. She sits on his finger the entire walk just looking around like she’s checking the place out. She never even attempts to fly – she never even flapped her wings. She just sat there.

We get her in the house, I put some birdseed in a little bowl and she starts eating like there’s no tomorrow. So much for “eating like a bird”. After literally inhaling her food for about 30 or 45 seconds, she then looked up at us and started chirping a mile a minute. She had something to say and she wanted to be heard. I’m sure she wanted us to know what she had just endured.

It probably was something like this:“I just can’t tell you how exhausted I am and what this little journey entailed. I had to dodge big birds, cats, high winds, and the elements to get here. Put me to bed NOW. I’m tired and in no mood to chat. Where’s my new cage? It better be nice and roomy. I’m also noticing you have some cats around here. Be sure you get me in a safe place, but DON’T shut the door on my cage, I can’t stand that!"

Right then and there I told Jack that her name is Lupe. I don’t know why, that’s just what popped in my head. And right then and there, Lupe copped her little attitude and it hasn’t changed in 2 years. She rules our world. This is her house, we’re just visiting.

Lupe on Debi's shoulder in 2005

She tells us what’s on her mind all the time. And the DOOR. DON’T CLOSE THE DOOR on her cage. She’s fine staying in her a cage, she spends most of her time inside her cage or on top of it, but DON’T close the door. She WILL let you know how she feels about a closed door. Trust me. Lupe’s door stays open.

(Updated sidenote, 7/11/10: A while after this post, Lupe injured her wing and was no longer able to fly. After that injury she no longer minded her cage door being closed, she knew her limitations. Although unable to fly, she spent plenty of time with us outside of her cage. )

Lupe, Jack, and Abe 2010

Okay y’all. Now the strange stuff about me is going to come out. You may choose to never read another post of mine the rest of your life when I say this. You may think I’m just too weird and need some professional help, but – okay, I’m going to say it.

I think Lupe is my great grandmother. If she’s not my Granny, she was sent here by Granny. There’s a definite Granny connection. Again, don’t ask me how I know. I just know.

When I was a little girl my Granny would always tell me things that I found so amazing. Of course, when your 5 and 6 years old, many things told to you seem amazing, but Granny had some REALLY amazing stories.She would tell me things like, “I heard you got a new little dress yesterday with yellow daisies on it.” Since I was such a bright, almost genius-like child (lol), I would ask her how she knew about such things. Her response was always, “A little bird told me.”

In the summers at her house, on a daily basis she would tell me little factoids about myself – I was always amazed at her knowledge, and she would always tell me that she knew these things because a little bird told her. So of course, I would spend the rest of the day in the yard looking around everywhere for this little magical bird that could talk. I wore myself out looking for this bird.At night when it was dark and I could no longer search for the bird outside, I would ask Granny more questions about her bird. She would describe the bird in great detail and all the little things this bird would tell her. She told me that this bird would come to her bedroom window every morning to tell her things about me. She said that this bird was always watching me, and that this was how she kept up with me. I wanted to find this bird more than I wanted to ride in Santa’s sleigh.

Lupe IS this little bird y'all. She even looks just like the bird Granny always described. I would beg Granny to catch the bird and put her in a cage in the house so I could see her, but, Granny would tell me that this little bird was a special bird, far too special to be locked in a cage.Okay, call me half cracked, that’s okay - it could be true. But, I’m just here to tell you that wonderful things happen at Hummingbird Farms, including birds landing on your finger. Jack always says, “It’s magic out here”. It is. And I still have other magical stories to tell you…

We will miss you, Lupe. Thank you for the joy you brought to our home.

Bluebonnets at Hummingbird Farms

2010-04-17T22:48:00.006-05:00

It's a beautiful spring here in the Texas Hill Country. This patch of bluebonnets was quite a surprise for us. They popped up just adjacent to our barn. We've had them every year, but never like this. So of course now I'm inspired to plant a WHOLE bunch of seeds for next year! Well, let me re-phrase that. I'm inspired to get Jack to plant a whole bunch of seeds for next year....

Throughout the Hill Country there are cars parked on the sides of the roads taking snapshots, and more specifically, taking pictures of their kids and pets in the wildflowers.

Lisa sent the picture below to me. Not sure where it came from, or I'd give them credit. The only thing I know is that it was taken in Texas.

Texas and rattlesnakes - it happens. Even in the bluebonnets....

Every Soul Has A Story

2010-03-28T12:37:00.015-05:00

I’m sure I have probably mentioned to y’all before how I like to rummage around in antique store and flea markets. Whenever I come across something personal, an item with a name of the person that owned it, I can’t help but think about that person and let my mind wander. The majority of the time I will buy the item simply to honor that person’s memory and legacy. I don’t know why I do it, I just don’t like the fact that someone’s personal items are just sitting around collecting dust for a bunch of strangers to walk past and never notice. To me, it was someone's life, and no life should ever go unnoticed.

Maybe another reason it bugs me for these personal items to go unnoticed is because I don’t have children. It’s probably something kind of silly to fret about, but I don't like to think about all my beloved things getting loaded up on a truck someday for strangers to rummage through to sell, buy, or consider worthless and chunk. I realize at the end of the day it’s all just stuff, but I like my stuff. And I suppose, children or no children, everyone's stuff at some point in time gets rummaged through. But MY stuff means something to me. If you see something on my shelf or hanging on my wall it most likely has a story. I can tell you why I bought it, when, and where, or who gave it to me, why, and when. I guess I'm saying my stuff has meaning to me.

That saying about junk should be just the opposite to me: "One man's treasure, another man's junk."

So that's just me…. I don’t have a problem in the world with those that have their homes all color coordinated or theme/style coordinated; those who buy stuff because it coordinates with that for which they are trying accomplish. It’s just not for me. That’s all. But I do love all different types of style and I LOVE reading design books/blogs for great ideas on how decorate with my meaningful stuff.

So – why am I talking about all of this? Okay – here’s the story (sorry it took me so long to get to the point of this post):

Remember when I posted about these old magazine covers that I framed? I was intrigued when I found them because of the beauty of them. They were actual paintings, not photographs. I also liked them because they were from the 1930’s, a very rough time for our country, AND they had the name of the subscriber and their address stamped on the cover. If interested, you can read more about this post HERE.

This is a snippet on what I wrote about the person who received the magazine above (her name and address is on the top right hand corner of the magazine cover).

My mind can't help but wonder about these two ladies. What kind of women were they? What did they farm? What kind of homes did they keep? I can't help but feel that they must have been from farms of affluence, being that they could afford a magazine subscription during the depths of The Great Depression. Both my family and Jack's family were living on farms during the depression. However - from the stories I've been told, having a magazine subscription would have been quite an extravagance.

What's also interesting to me is that Katie Huelsebusch didn't have a title before her name. That was very unusual for the time. So - was she still single and reading 'The Farmer's Wife' in preparation of becoming the perfect farmer's wife? And then of course my mind REALLY wandered about Ms. Katie from La Grange and I thought, hey! Maybe she was Katie without a title before her name because she lived at the Chicken Ranch..... Don't tell me y'all haven't heard of the Chicken Ranch in La Grange, Texas!!?? Dolly Pardon and Burt Reynolds know all about it.....

So I wrote this post a few months ago. Being forever amazed with connections made on the world wide web, you can now slap me silly because last week I received this email from Katie Huelsebusch’s great-great niece!

hi, you don't know me but I was on the Internet and saw the comment about Katie Huelsebusch. She was actually my great-grandfathers older sister. She was born in 1892 or 93 and died in 1973. She lived in La Grange as did most of her 11 other brothers and sisters. She never got married, but she didn't work at the chicken ranch. She lived with her brother Adolf I believe. If you ever drive through La Grange Texas you will see a road on Hwy 71 called huelsebusch rd, which used to be rt. 1 if I remember correctly. Anyway, I hope this helps

Okay – so maybe Miss Katie didn’t work at the Chicken Ranch, but I did peg it that she never married. See what I mean? I love finding old things that are personalized so I can fantasize about that person’s life. I think it’s important to honor ALL life and not let their legacy die.

After all, EVERY person on this earth is someone’s daughter, someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s sister, someone’s mother, someone’s father, someone’s friend, someone’s lover.

And one last thing about Miss Katie. Had she worked at the Chicken Ranch, I wouldn't have judged her at all; not now or then. It's her life, her story.

Now I want to honor Harold Pape. I came across this old autograph book at the antique mall in Fredericksburg. As soon as I saw it I couldn’t put it down and had to bring it home with me:

After reading the signed pages in the book, it is obvious that these are schoolmates of Harold’s from probably junior high. Because the pages are dated 1938 or 1939, I assume if Harold is still alive today he is probably around 85 years old.

Each signed page is dated 1938 or 1939, with the exception of when his Aunt Lillie signed his book on December 25th, 1937. My inquiring mind tells me that Harold’s dear old Aunt Lillie bought him this book for Christmas, being that she was the first to sign. It also sounds like Harold and his Aunt Lillie had a fun and wonderful relationship. That, of course, warms my heart because I like to think that my nieces and nephews think of me as that fun-loving aunt that makes them laugh.

Dear Harold - When you get old and ugly as some folks sometimes do, remember that you have an aunt that is old and ugly too.

Your Aunt Lillie

From the pages in the book, it appears Harold had some great friends. Here are some snapshots I was able to take of the pages in the book. There were many pages, but here are a few:

Dear Harold - When the golden sun is setting and your mind of care is free, When of others you are thinking, will you sometimes think of me?

Your friend, Maurine Wahrmund

Hi Harold - First you love Viola, then you love Oline, next you love Dara Lee, and the next, don't ask me.

Good-bye, June

Uh oh - Do you think June had a bone to pick with Harold?

Dear Harold - Remember the red bird, remember the dove, remember the day you fell in love.

Your sister, Annabel

You know what else I loved about those that signed Harold's book? Their names. Good old classic names: Ruby, Lillie, Pauline, William, Annie Mae, Annabel, Walter, Mary, June and Charles.

So here’s to Harold and all his friends. I hope he continued those friendships throughout his life. And as his friend, Annie Mae, wished him on January 4th, 1938:

“May every blessing God can give bring peace around you while you live.”

My Old Pal Dave

2010-03-21T17:04:00.026-05:00

My friend David, 1970-something

Due to the magic of the Internet I was able to get reconnected with a friend I grew up with in West Texas. David and I went through elementary school, junior high, and high school together. As is often the case, we lost touch after high school and went our separate ways. He joined the army and I started plotting my plan to become the big city sophisticated girl I thought I was supposed to be.

Anyway, decades passed and then, thanks to the world wide web, we were able to get reconnected. I have a lot of memories of David back in school. I remember when a mean girl pulled out his hair in either 3rd or 4th grade – and I mean REALLY pulled it out! He had like a two inch bald spot in the back of his head as a result of that little winch! She was the female version of Eddie Haskell; grown-ups liked her, but I always knew exactly what I was dealing with. I also remember a very special talent that David had; I envied his talent and practiced it at home all the time, but much to my dismay I could never get it down….

David had the splendid and unique ability to turn his eyelids inside out!

In elementary school David would woo us with his eyelid talent during recess. He would pop those suckers inside-out and then chase us all around doing a Frankenstein/zombie-like walk. We would all scream and holler and then of course laugh until our sides hurt.

David is a housewife and, like some housewives do, he reads my blog occasionally. Yeah, I said it… I called David a housewife. Give me a break! He calls himself a housewife because, well – he is! He stays home, his wife works outside the home, he cooks, he collects various house wares, and he sews. And I mean big time sews! I guess the proper term I should be using for David is that he is a dressmaker. He can make his own patterns and he even teaches sewing classes!

And if anyone has an issue with a guy that likes to make a house a home and designs cocktail dresses, well – this is David today and you can take it up with him!

Among the many talents of David – eyelid turner-outer, dressmaker, and inventor of jalapeno cheez bread, he is also a collector of green glass. He just likes green glass….

So when I posted a picture a while back of my new morning room, he immediately zoned in on the two green canisters sitting on the shelf above my coffee pot. Those green canisters actually belonged to my grandmother. As long as I can remember she had those green canisters in her kitchen. After she died I brought them home, but somehow in all the packing up of her things I only got home with two of them.

This is the picture I posted when Dave spotted my two green canisters:

Fortunately for me, my old friend Dave noticed that I only had two canisters on my shelf. He immediately e-mailed me and said, being a collector of green glass, that he had the 3rd canister of that set if I wanted it. Of course I was filled with glee and took him up on his very kind offer. Plus – he said he had more green glass than Quaker has oats and needed to start moving some out.

So here’s the box that arrived at my house a few days later. I thought the box was kind of big and heavy for one small canister, and to my surprise when I opened it, he had sent me an entire set!

Aren't they fantastic! Oh - and since I'm bragging about my talented friend, David, I might as well also tell you about that platter that is sitting behind the canisters in the picture above and ANOTHER talented friend of mine from elementary school.

Lisa, my friend since 3rd grade, made me the platter above! Isn't is fabulous, too? It is a platter made of stained glass - and it's green glass!!! No - she didn't make this for me in 3rd grade, she made it for me about ten years ago. She's one of my many very talented friends; she's a photographer, a painter, a stained glasser'r (??), and she's even done mosaic floors for entire rooms! I'll have to show you some pictures of her mosaics someday.

What is it with me and my talented friends from elementary school? The only talent I have is the ability to shoot the bird with my toes....

Okay, so back to David. The picture above is how my morning room looks today with my display of Dave’s three green canisters that sit next to my grandmother’s two canisters. I love seeing them up there and they always make me smile.

And although I was never able to pick up Dave’s talent of eyelid turner-outer, I have been able to pick up his hobby of green glass collector!

Lord help me…. I’m lovin’ the stuff now and trying to brace myself each time I pass by a flea market or garage sale. Gee thanks, Dave! I would have been far better off if I could have just picked up the eyelid thing….

Thanks for the canisters, Dave!!! I love them! And I think you're pretty great, too!

And - just so y'all know, David has a blog, Life Through Greyeyes, and you can click HERE to check it out!

Bless those little baby horn nublets!

2010-03-13T14:42:00.015-06:00

Look y'all! Little baby Belle is growing horns! Next thing you know Belle will be going off to cow college...

Different, but not less: Temple Grandin, you’re my hero!

2010-02-27T17:33:00.012-06:00

Temple Grandin and Claire Danes (in costume as Temple Grandin) on the set of HBO's "Temple Grandin" biopic.

The HBO movie Temple Grandin is a must see! I’m sitting here watching it for a third time and am sure I’ll catch it a couple of more times while it airs on HBO throughout the month of March. Dr. Temple Grandin is a real life person, and what a life she has had!

As I watched the movie, I kept reflecting back on our own cows and how each one has its own unique personality. I have spent hours just watching our longhorns, it is relaxing to me, almost like meditating. I wonder to myself what they are thinking, and as I sit with them longer I'm able to understand more about their behavior and the pecking order they have created amongst them. It's really amazing to watch how they communicate with one another.

Jack feeding the cows; eating "cake" as we call it....

Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is known as the most accomplished and well known adult with autism in the world. She is a prominent author and speaker on the subject of autism, but her autism is not what defines her. She is a recognized leader in her field of animal science. She has written over 100 papers on technical and scientific livestock handling AND is a top designer of livestock-handling equipment to help reduce the stress of livestock during handling. I spent my morning watching her lectures via You Tube and learned so much about her mission in life for the well-being of livestock. The movie about her life actually resonated more strongly with me the second time I watched. There is a line in the movie which more or less sums up what it is she has aimed to create. Her character, played by Claire Danes, says regarding cattle:

“Of course they’re going to get slaughtered. Do you think we would have cattle if people didn’t eat them everyday? They would just be funny looking animals in zoos . We raise them for us, that means we owe them some respect. Nature is cruel, but we don’t have to be. I wouldn’t want to have my guts ripped out by a lion, I would much rather die in a slaughter house if it was done right. We can easily design a way where they don’t feel pain and they don’t get scared.”

I get that.

The first longhorn bull calf born at Hummingbird Farms. What a beauty!

When you live on a farm or ranch you understand the cruelty of nature: the coyote that ate the baby fawn; the raccoon that ate the chicken; the opossum that ate the robin’s eggs… I’ve also seen the epitome of cruelty in nature, which was in 2001 when Jack and I spent a month in the bush in Africa. Nothing will ever ring more true about nature until you have witnessed the cruelty that exists in the wild.

Our standard poodles, only 4 months old, meet the longhorns for the first time....

It was assuring for me to learn more about Dr. Temple Grandin and what she has accomplished. The fact that she is autistic is only secondary to all her other contributions to science and the humane treatment of cattle.

Just a day old; this longhorn was named Gran, after our sweet neighbor....

Temple Grandin has been quoted as saying, “most people don’t get that a slaughter house is much gentler than nature. Unfortunately, most people never observe the natural cycle of birth and death. They do not realize for one living thing to live, another living thing must die.”

Cows are curious, and they like to play.....

As an animal lover, I have battled with the idea of beef my entire life… Eat? Don’t eat? Is it good for you? Is it bad for you? Is it humane?

One thing that Dr. Temple Grandin has helped me understand loud and clear is that it is inevitable that cattle will be slaughtered and the sole reason they were bred and are here in the first place is for us to eat.

Except for MY cattle… My longhorns are my pets and are here for pure joy. Even when my herd gets too big and we have to sell, they are only sold to suckers just like me…. Someone who will hand-feed them and love them and let them simply be the fun-loving wonderful creatures that they are. Our longhorns are raised for what we call “ornamental” purposes. Believe it or not, there are people that have longhorn cattle for their majestic appearance as they roam the range. I guess you could say that we raise beauty queens…. And every fine ranch needs its own beauty queen, or ten.

The movie Temple Grandin is so well done and I’m glad I stumbled across it. If anyone believes that an autistic child can't prosper, they need to see this movie! If you don’t have HBO you can come over to my house and watch it with me for a fourth time because I recorded it. Long live the DVR!

And long live the humanity of all the fine creatures that feed this great earth!

Holy Moly! Snow!

2010-02-24T06:05:00.001-06:00

Some of you reading this from up north might be thinking, snow? Big deal? Who cares? You are probably even really sick of snow by now. But snow in the Hill Country is a rare occurrence and a BIG deal.

So while I was in San Antonio sloshing around in the rain mixed with occasional sleet, Jack was frolicking with his poodles at Hummingbird Farms enjoying the beautiful snow.

To add to my misery, he kept sending me these pictures on my blackberry....

Our calves, Bell and Buddy Holly got to see their first snow and I missed it! I'll have to be sure and include this picture in their baby books.....

My zit needs its own bra….

2010-02-20T18:52:00.005-06:00

So I think I mentioned a while back that I went on a spur of the moment road trip with my two girlfriends, Lisa and Sami (if you want to hear more about this trip, you can go HERE to Sami's blog; it was one of those short trips that made my innards feel good). Technically there were three of us on the trip, but it felt like four…

The fourth being the big honking zit on my cheek.

It was so huge it had its own heartbeat. I kept waiting on the thing to start growing hair and nails. Although it never did, it did decide that it needed brothers and sisters and, well – the rest is history….

Why am I going through puberty again? I’ve always had problems with my skin, but believe it or not, I didn’t really have issues when I was a teenager when it would have been kind of normal. My little friends decided to wait until my early 20’s to rear their ugly heads. Literally. So at 20-something I went to my family’s doctor who had been taking care of all of us for years; in fact, my mother was his nurse. He was one of those old time doctors that did everything from delivering babies, to taking out gall bladders, to treating toe fungus. He practiced medicine until he was so old that the hospital said he couldn’t have privileges any longer. I guess when you’re 80 something they get a little wigged out about liability. He didn’t care. He just did more procedures right there in his office and I think practiced medicine for another decade. When I went to see him about my skin, I remember him telling me that it was stress related. Being the matter of fact doctor that he was, he literally said, “Until you learn how to calm your ass down you’re going to keep getting these things.”

He obviously knew what he was talking about.

Like clockwork, anytime I’m stressed out, you can see it in my face. Anyway - I finally called an ivory tower dermatologist the other day and begged to be seen on the same day. I couldn’t stand to look at myself in the mirror one more time with one of these alien creatures staring back at me. Since a plane had just flown into the IRS building 70 miles up the road, and due to the desperation in my voice, I think the nice lady that was in charge of scheduling decided she should take me seriously and work me in.

She asked me what my problem was and I told her I either needed Valium or Accutane.

Anyway, I’m hoping that I’m back on track and will soon have these babies reigned in. We’ll see. In the meantime, I have no other news to report because my free time has been spent on my latest addiction. I’m ashamed and can’t believe I have picked up this horrible habit.

Reality TV.

I am so insanely addicted to The Housewives of Orange County that I actually got on the BRAVO TV website and read some of their blogs. I can’t believe I have stooped to this level.

I’m so ashamed.

Do y’all watch that show? Jack keeps saying he can’t believe I’m watching these women. I agree, but I just can’t help myself. I think it’s because I’m shocked that women like this actually exist. They are the most immature grown women I’ve ever witnessed… They are vicious and cunning. Is it for real, or is there actually some acting and sensationalism involved because – well, you know, it’s TV?

What do y’all think?

One thing’s for sure. They might have bigger boobs and diamonds than me, but they don’t have bigger zits!

Y’all have a great weekend!

It's Cheaper Than Gas

2010-02-02T19:03:00.003-06:00

I have a couple of options on which road to take on my daily commute into San Antonio. One way is the scenic route and the other way is the boring highway route. Mileage wise, they are both about the same, however the scenic route usually takes longer because it's a two-lane winding road through the hill country. Although longer, I actually prefer that route because it soothes my soul a bit before entering the corporate drain.

It is typical for me to have to brake for wildlife on my commute. Slowing down for deer is pretty much everyday, and it's perfectly normal to have to stop while a raccoon, armadillo, and once a mama duck and her 5 ducklings cross the road. But today was the first day that I had to drive behind this:

Only in Texas.....

Lavender Chick’s 25 Things She Didn’t Realize Until Her Mid-40’s

2010-01-31T16:53:00.004-06:00

Since I've been having a bit of a blogger's brain freeze, I'm making it easy on myself and stealing something from BooMama. Kinda. She did a post on 25 things that make her very happy - AND, I'm proud to say that Hummingbird Farms Lavender Lotion was mentioned on that list!!!! Anytime I can make someone happy, it makes me happy!

In terms of my blogging plagiarism of BooMama, I'm stealing her idea of 25 things, but not on what makes me happy. I have instead chosen to create a list of 25 things that have taken me 40+ years to figure out. I went on a girls road trip last weekend with Lisa and Sami because it was Lisa's birthday. It was really a spur of the moment trip which always makes the best ones. Hey - I didn't put that on my list, so make number 26 be that sometimes spur of the moment turns out better than anything well planned out. That's been my experience anyway.

Okay - so since my girlfriends and I have been in our 40's for several years now, and since this year we will be entering the hump year of being 40, we've had a number of conversations on things we know now that we should have known then....

So here it goes, my list of 25 things that took me almost 45 years to figure out:

1. Trying to be like everyone else is exhausting and boring.
2. Wealth is defined by personal fulfillment, not by how much money I have.
3. Most people aren’t all that smarter than me. That's scary.
4. My family is my family....
5. Being with friends at home is more fun than going somewhere out with friends.
6. Home cooked food is better than restaurant food.
7. Homemade birthday cakes are better and more special than store bought cakes.
8. Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day were all created to make me feel guilty and for economic stimulus.
9. Cloth napkins are much better than paper napkins.
10. Too much Botox looks really ridiculous.
11. I just really don't like steak.
12. A house just isn’t a home without a big fat cat.
13. Nothing should be saved for that special day.
14. Buying some great lip gloss or a really good candle can be more thrilling than buying something really expensive.
15. It’s no big deal if I don’t make my bed every day.
16. Having time alone is a WONDERFUL thing.
17. For the most part, celebrities are weirdoes.
18. Only insecure people keep up with the Joneses.
19. Over-accessorizing is kind of trashy.
20. Everyone is not looking at me!
21. I'm not that easily impressed anymore.
22. Wine doesn’t have to be expensive to be good.
23. Fresh flowers are a good thing.
24. Having one really nice thing is better than five mediocre things.
25. When traveling with friends or visiting friends/family out of town, I can get my own hotel room if I want my own space. I don’t have to be crammed in with someone else if I don’t want. After all, I'm over 40....

Twitter Dee Twitter Dum

2010-01-15T23:59:00.003-06:00

I have received some messages from folks asking if I am Lavender Deb on Twitter. The short answer is No. I’m not a Twitter-er. Or a tweeter-er. See – I don’t even know the proper terminology. Is it, I don’t tweet? Or perhaps, I don’t twit? Do you twit on twitter or tweet on twitter? And just what is that you do if you are a Twitter-er?

It’s an entire world I know nothing about.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is that there is apparently a Twitter chick that goes by the name Lavender Deb. So this is the deal - Ms. Lavender Deb Twitter chick has caused confusion because, as most of you know, my name is Deb. To add to the confusion, Lavender Deb Twitter chick is also into aromatherapy and natural cleaners just like me, Lavender Chick, or Lavender Deb, which I’ve also been called, and which is also my email address.

Are you confused yet?

Bottom line, please don’t confuse Lavender Deb the Twitter chick and Lavender Chick the blogging Deb.

Okay. I’ve just worn myself out with this. I have to go to bed…

But thanks alot for stopping by!!!

Lavender Blue Monday

2010-01-11T18:05:00.003-06:00

Well how about that! We were the feature today of Blue Monday on Dixie's blog... Dixie from French Lique, Texas. Let's just say that Dixie is the voice of French Lique!

Thanks, Dixie! We appreciate the shout out and also VERY happy to hear that you enjoy our No. 145 Lavender Body Lotion. If you haven't ever stopped by Dixie's to visit, you can do it right now by going HERE.

Jingle, Belle, & Holly

2010-01-10T13:54:00.016-06:00

Christmas week cousin Travis came running into the house and told me to get into the gator because he needed me out in the pasture. I hustled my buns out of the house because I had a pretty good idea what was going on. The week before Jingle had been born, our first Christmas baby longhorn, and I knew we had some more babies on the way.

So this is what it looked like when we got out to the field. They're all staring at us as if they're telling us to HUUURRRRY! And of course Gayle is front center waiting on us. No surprise, being that she was also the one that ran up to the house to get me the first time her sister and best friend, Kathy, gave birth 2 years earlier.

So do you see Jack over in the right hand corner? Look real close....

This is what was going on over in the corner. Kathy has just had her baby, Belle! I'm a grandmother!!

A little bit of a nudge to see if she is going to be able to stand up.

No.... not quite ready to stand up yet. Had to lay back down for a little rest. Right at about this time, Jingle decided to come sit right next to her new cousin for a little moral support.

Jingle is telling Belle, "Okay, put your head forward like this and really concentrate; you can do it, you can! I was in your same hooves last week!"

Now she's all cleaned up and doing what she does best.

Then, not even 2 hours later, Holly was born! I unfortunately missed the whole show on this one, but needless to say, Jingle, Belle, and Holly are all getting along just fine.

Jingle wants everyone to know that although she doesn't have spots like Belle and Holly, she has VERY long eyelashes....

Jingle and Belle have become the best of friends and spend most of their day playing and frolicking about Hummingbird Farms. They love playing with Holly, too.

This is Belle asking Holly to come over and play.....

Here's little Holly. Isn't she precious?

Ooooops! Gonna have to change the name to Hollis.... Looks like Holly is a bull calf!

2010-01-08T22:29:00.012-06:00

I’m sitting here watching this show about Elvis. It is actual live clips of him in preparation for his live opening act in Las Vegas in 1970. I am so enamored by this man. I’m laughing right now because they’re showing a bunch of male back up singers and they each have a bit of Elvis flair. Funny how they are all trying to mimic his look; sideburns, sunglasses, the whole enchilada.

I love his sweet little shaking leg, that big, wide smile. Heck, I even love those jumpsuits and pinky rings! Oh - and that gimpy lip!

My great grandfather had a gimpy lip and my dad said he could spit watermelon seeds out of that gimpy part and keep on chewing. Love that!

So back to Elvis… He would be 75 if he were still alive today. I have no doubt I would still think he’s sexy. Skinny, fat, I don’t care. He was cool.

Now let’s talk about Priscilla. Bless her heart.

So yeah, Elvis was her senior, a little robbing the cradle action going on, but still, even though a young little whippersnapper compared to Elvis, she’s still almost 65 years old today.

Imagine how beautiful she would be if she would simply let herself be her age?

What’s up with that manufactured hair color? And all that Botox and that teenager hairdo? Scary! She’s Priscilla Presley for goodness sake! How can she be so insecure to the point that she thinks she needs all those injections, dyes, and plastic? She was beautiful before that first nip and long before that last tuck….

Lord please help me embrace my twilight years and not defy it. I’m getting to where I see so much beauty in older women that are just that – older and beautiful without all the yaya. Please let me keep it that way!

And Lord, please don't let this post be the cause of me never getting to meet Priscilla, becoming her BFF and getting all the great inside scoop on Elvis. I'm just sayin'.....

A sidenote to my sappy previous post...

2010-01-03T18:57:00.004-06:00

As midnight approached on New Year’s Eve, Lisa shared with us a great tradition of writing on a piece of paper what you want to leave behind and what you hope for in the New Year, and then throwing it into the fire. We all cheered and thought it was just the perfect tradition, one that we should begin doing every year. And of course we also thought it was a great thing to do since we had a roaring fire in the fireplace that Lisa had built. You know – I’ve known her for 35+ years and never knew she was such a great fire builder. How did I miss that? And she even dropped out of Girl Scouts…

Anyway, I scrambled around the house for some paper and pens so everyone could write down their bad memories and invent their good memories for 2010.

But I got a little stuck on the task. I actually said, “But I don’t want to leave anything behind…” And then I realized that was just silly. So, I wrote down that I wanted to let go of dogfights for 2009 (having 6 dogs it happens from time to time), and I wanted to bring in new landscaping for 2010.

Then I realized all the other girls were writing down really deep, well thought out and profound statements. Even things in which they used words like “whilst.”

And then I pondered.

And I pondered some more while trying to think of fancy words and deep thoughts….

Then I thought, Yeah, dog fights and landscaping. Sounds good to me. And threw it in the fire.

Then I put on the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack and danced the ‘bump’ with Bonnie.

Is something wrong with me?

New Year's Eve At Hummingbird Bar

2010-01-03T15:45:00.017-06:00

If the type of year you're going to have is reflective of how you ring in the new year, I should have a REALLY good 2010! In fact, I had such a great week leading up to New Year's Eve that it might even mean I'm going to have a great decade!

I still can't believe that we're in a new decade! It seems like just yesterday that we were all hunkered down for Y2K...

Pictured above is Twane, Kimberly, and Bonnie

Jack spent New Year's Eve with my dad out in west Texas, and I spent New Year's Eve having a slumber party! In fact, there was something fun going on out here the whole week leading up to New Year's Eve.

Those black-eyed-peas, they tasted alright to me.....

Bonnie actually confirmed the "power of the peas" after being stopped on New Year's Day driving back to Nashville and only getting a warning. But the good part about that is that she also got stopped the day before and only got a warning.... And she had 3 different violations! So what would the odds have been if she had not eaten those peas???

(Just in case you're not from our neck of the woods, eating black-eyed-peas on New Year's Day is a tradition, it brings you good luck for the rest of the year. I've always eaten them because it's just what you're supposed to do...)

And of course it wouldn't have been a holiday around here without planning a party for the dogs, too. Even animals deserve to celebrate the holidays!

Can you count how many animals are in this picture??? This picture was actually taken on New Year's Eve, eve, eve. Like I said, it was a week of great fun! And I haven't even shown you pictures of the new baby longhorns yet!

See - another dog... They're everywhere!

Tracy, Bonnie, Lisa, Twane, Me (and dog, Tahoe, on far right)

The 2009 Holiday Season was a great one that will be talked about for a long time. We had lots of good laughs, a few good dogfights, and one BIG memorable season!

By the way, if you want to hear some of Bonnie's great music, go here. There was also a great write up today in the Houston Chronicle about her latest album, you can check it out here.

Here's to 2010!!!

Five years of construction and we're finally closing in....

2009-12-25T18:44:00.022-06:00

Many of you who know me or have been following me for a while know that we've been living in a construction zone for quite some time. Let's see... "quite some time" would equate to about 5 years.

I can't believe that I'm actually able to say that we are just about done with scaffolding, ladders, primer, sheet cloths, and all the other stuff that goes along with living inside your own construction zone. This year we actually got to enjoy our first Christmas in our new great room.

We're still getting settled and I'm still decorating and trying to figure out where to hang this, what to do with this corner, and what table I have that would fit here, BUT - it's livable, and more importantly, it's organized! Organization being the key word here. I can't tell you just how disorganized our life has been for five years. I will be tweaking for quite some time, but just so darn glad to have the big chunks out of the way. And besides, is anyone ever done tweaking when it comes to decorating?

This is what the other side of the room looks like. Yeah - it's a bar there in the corner.

We like to entertain. We live too far from any decent bars, so we just built our own. Y'all can come here and have a cocktail anytime you like!

This is a better shot of the ceiling and the stained glass window we had made. Regarding the ceiling, it is tongue and groove. When we figured out how much wood we had to buy for all of our tongue and groove ceilings in the new construction areas, we figured out that we have 2 1/2 miles of the stuff!

The stained glass window was made by Mr. Cavallini in San Antonio. I know I don't have a good shot of it, but it is actually a lavender field with some hummingbirds hovering over a lavender plant with a hayfield and live oak trees in the background. Which, for those of you that have ever been out here, know that those things are what symbolize Hummingbird Farms.

So I'm going to miss the Christmas tree, but will always remember our first Christmas in this room. Oh - and the fact that Jack and I listened to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack on Christmas Eve.... That's another story.

Oh yeah - the BEST story of all about this Christmas is that we have three new baby longhorns and more on the way! So - in my next post I will introduce you to the newest members of Hummingbird Farms: Jingle, Bell, and Holly! They are so adorable and about the same size as our standard poodles. Just precious!

Merry Christmas!

Percolating Memories from Hummingbird Farms

2009-12-06T08:12:00.017-06:00

I am sitting here having my first cup of percolated coffee from our brand new Presto percolator! I have to tell you that it is one fine cup of coffee. Seeing my new percolator sitting in my hundred year old farmhouse makes me feel all nostalgic. It just seems to fit so much better than a drip coffee maker. In fact, I think I'm going to go put on a skirt and an apron and sit here until this entire pot is gone. It feels like the appropriate thing to do. Our drip coffee maker went out the other day so I snagged the drip coffee maker from our guest house and brought it into the main house, only to have it go out on us a few days later. After that, Jack and I both agreed that we were done with drip coffee makers. For some reason it seems like we've been having to buy a new coffee maker every couple of years (or less).

We have a big Bertha percolator that we get out when we have company. It always makes the best coffee and everyone always comments on how much better percolated coffee tastes compared to drip coffee. Every now and then we will get down Big Bertha just for ourselves to enjoy some great coffee for the weekend, even when we don't have company. The great thing about big Bertha is that you can make it early in the morning and literally drink it all day without it ever getting bitter, unlike a drip coffee maker. So - when both of our K*ups coffee makers went out on us, we decided we were done with drips....

I grew up on percolated coffee. I can still remember when my parents got their in vogue Mr. Coffee. Everyone except our neighbor, that is, seemed to be throwing out their percolators for their new drip system coffee maker. Our neighbor and my Mom's best friend, Tomi, had a green percolator (it matched her linoleum) and she flat refused to get rid of it. Far be it from Tomi to do what everyone else was doing. She has always been her own trend-setter and has always had a unique beat to her very own special drum. I often realize how many of her philosophies I live by to this day; she had such an influence in my life. I also realize how fortunate I was to have grown up with a house across the street that was as much like mine as my own house. Our families were very close. Tomi's younger daughter and I were inseparable and her older daughter watched out for me and treated me as much like her little sister as her own. Her husband would load up all the kids and take us all camping and fishing and instilled in me my love and appreciation of Big Bend National Park, and Tomi and my mother were - well, let's just say partners in crime... There was no defined line between our families. Our very existence was a 'mi casa, su casa' concept. If I was ever missing it was just assumed I was across the street. I was a part of their family and they were a part of mine.

Okay - back to Tomi's green percolator (which looked like the one here, but was green). I can remember it all the way back to elementary school because her older daughter was always responsible for cleaning it out and getting it ready for the next morning. She taught me how to put it together and clean it out. I also remember coming home from college and fixing myself a cup of coffee from that same green percolator. I recall once being home for a visit (I had to have been in my late 20's if not 30) and laughing at that antiquated percolator and asking Tomi why she didn't get a new coffee maker. She looked at me like I was totally whacked and said, "Why would I get a new coffee maker when this one still works?" She was also insistent that percolated coffee had a better flavor than drip coffee.

So today, decades later, I'm sitting here drinking a fine cup of percolated coffee and finding myself, yet again, living by one of Tomi's philosophies in life that has proven once again to be so very right.

I'm back from my blogiday!

2009-11-30T15:07:00.016-06:00

According to urbandictionary.com, a blogiday is when you get fed up and take a holiday from your weblog. Of course it's possible you didn't even know I was taking a blogiday, but I did... It wasn't planned or anything, I simply checked out of cyberspace for a bit. So - what have I been doing? Well, nursing my knee for one. And a whole lot of other stuff, too. But because I haven't checked in for a while, let me give you the run down on the whole knee debacle.

So this is where it all started, the 'Window' in Big Bend National Park. It was Labor Day weekend and Jack and I planned a hiking trip to the 'Window'. The weekend was actually going to be chockful of other wonderful things - which, I'll get to later. But first, the hike which was first on our list for the long weekend...

So as you can see from the picture above (which I took, by the way, and am pretty darn proud of being that I'm generally not a good photographer) it was a beautiful day and perfect weather for a nice hike through the window. It was mid to high 70's, perfect temperature, and had rained earlier so the air was light and fresh. Just a perfect day!

So this is me all chipper and happy and proud of myself because I am yards away from reaching the premier viewing spot inside the window. At this point we are about 2 1/2 miles in.

Jack got to the window before me. I snapped this picture, jumped off a boulder and KERPLUNK!! For a brief moment in time I forgot that I was 40-something and no longer 20-something. It's amazing how often I forget my age.... I hopscotched my way off that boulder in my eagerness to see the view at the end of the trail.

However, what happened was I hopped but my knee didn't scotch. You gotta have a scotch with the hop or you end up in a heap of a mess.

So a severed ACL and crushed meniscus later, I'm hear to tell you that I did manage to get my dang picture taken in the window! I wasn't going to hike all that way and not have proof of it. I literally crawled up as far as I could go and got this British couple who was just ahead of us to snap our picture:

Check out my hair! Does it look like I had the fall of my life just moments earlier? You can tell that I'm standing with all my weight on one leg and Jack has a look of shock on his face; he's probably wondering, "how the hell am I gonna get this chick out of here?" I knew a few hours later that I had really messed up my knee, but I think when this picture was snapped I was still thinking that maybe it was just sort of twisted or something and I was going to shake out of it or something.

Well - I didn't shake out of it. I had to have a cadaver ligament put in to replace my severed one (it can really gross me out if I think long enough about it) and spent six weeks non-weight bearing and on crutches. Needless to say, I have the poundage to prove it...

So one of the other wonderful things that occurred that weekend while I hobbled around with my blown out knee was my precious nephew's 2nd birthday. Yeah - I made it to the party but will spare pictures of myself being that by that point in time I had realized that my knee was messed up and I was really hurting, although for some stupid reason I kept telling everyone, "Nah, it really doesn't hurt that much...." Who was I kidding? And what in the world was I trying to prove???

My little nephew, Henry, is just so darn cute! He's actually as sweet as he is cute, too. This is happy Henry after eating lots of cake and ice cream.

This is really, really happy Henry after even more birthday cake! Or maybe it's "brain freeze" Henry after lots and lots of ice cream....

I also missed out on taking a hot air balloon ride.... That was going to happen on the last day of our trip (that's my dad in the red hat), but - well, with a blown out knee it's kind of hard to have a potential rough landing when you can only stand on one leg. I wasn't in the mood for two blownout knees....

But Jack got to have a grand ride over the valley in Alpine and I got to hear all about it on the six hour drive home.

Oh yeah - there's one more thing that happened on this trip. We picked up a stray dog on the side of road. Why? Because we really needed a sixth dog. More on that story later....

In the meantime, I will be checking in with all my blogging buddies to see what's been going on in your world while I was basking in my blogiday sun. Be patient with me, as it will take me while to get around to everyone.....

A Festival, A Feast, & A Blown-out Knee...

2009-09-20T15:19:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone! Wanted to let ya'll know that we will have the farm open on Saturday, October 3rd! We may not have lavender in our fields, but we'll sure have pumpkins! Our neighbor, Wild Boar Farms on Luckenbach Road, will be hauling over a truckload of fresh grown hill country pumpkins. Stop by and pick up your Jack-O-Lanterns for the season AND hang out and visit with us for a while; we'll let you know all about growing lavender in the Hill Country, AND - well, what we're still trying to figure out about farming lavender in the hill country ...

Jack will be happy to talk about farming, and I'll be chatting with anyone who will listen about my inspiration of Hummingbird Farms Aromatherapy Body Care.

It will be a busy weekend in Johnson City! Five other area lavender farms will be opening their gates, AND the locals will be preparing for a feast complete with live & silent auctions and entertainment at the 10th Annual Wild Game Dinner held at the Blanco County Fairgrounds in Johnson City.

If you can make it out this way, please go to www.johnsoncitytexaschamber.com or call 830-868-7684 for more information and to check out the other farms that will be open.

So - when it rains, it pours! Literally. We haven't had rain ALL summer and FINALLY after months of waiting for Mother Nature to give us a drink of her cloud juice, she decided to bless us with a bucket or two of the stuff. AND - in addition to that......

Get ready for this one.....

Jack and I went hiking in Big Bend National Park over Labor Day weekend and I blew out my knee. For real. I severed my ACL and tore my meniscus. But - this is a whole 'nother story.... I'll share more details later. In the meantime, I am scheduled for surgery on Thursday, 9/24. So - it looks like I'll be wobbling around out here at our place on the 3rd, and will probably just find a cozy place to sit with my leg propped up...... But anyhow - we sure hope to see you!

La La La Labor Day!!!

2009-09-02T19:29:00.003-05:00

We're going to be labor-free for a few days at Hummingbird Farms. This means we're taking some much needed R&R!

This is our dog Lefty. Believe it or not, this picture is a result of a couple of 4-year-olds that were playing with their mama's camera. I thought they did a good job staging this photo! Thanks Catherine & Caroline- I love the picture and love you, too!!!!!!

Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend and I'll be back in touch next week all happy and energetic.... Who knows, maybe I won't even moan for a few days! Well, doubt that. It's simply not my nature....

Have a wonderful rest of the week and long weekend. Get some rest and take a couple of nice bubble baths or five!

Live! From the Moaning Room!

2009-08-30T10:53:00.008-05:00

The other day when I posted my first pictures of my morning room, I made a typo in the title in which it read ‘Moning’ room. I left out the ‘r’. Anyway, I didn’t realize it until Kat at Just a BeachKat brought it to my attention. She laughed because she first read ‘moning’ as in ‘moaning’ room; we both agreed that having a ‘moaning room’ might not be a bad idea….

In fact, if you were to ask Jack, he would probably say that my morning room is indeed my moaning room. The truth is I have never been a good morning person. I’m grumpy when I first get up and have to wake up slowly. The good thing is that my morning room allows me a place to sit and sip on coffee as I grump about my day. So yeah – I’m honest, I like to grump. And moan. I think we all deserve to moan every now and then…..

Yes, I love my life, I’m grateful for what I have, I’m healthy, my marriage is strong, yadda, yadda, yadda…. BUT – I still enjoy moaning. It’s just life. AND I generally only moan in the morning so that's okay. AND I’m generally over it by my second cup of coffee, so that's okay, too. The key word there is “generally.”

For your reading pleasure, I thought I would list a few things I moaned about this week while sitting in my Morning Moaning Room:

1. I moaned about a conversation I had earlier in the week that really bugged me. It was a conversation with a doctor who happened to take a certain medication in which he developed a side effect – hot flashes. This said drug is known to cause this side effect. When he had his first hot flash he literally freaked out and thought he needed to get himself to the emergency room because he was certain he was having a possible cardiac event. I’m serious y’all. This guy (doctor) is telling me this and going into great detail how his hot flash started from the inside, way down in his gut and he could feel it rise up into his chest and into his head. He’s giving me a complete description of a hot flash and how scared he was because you know – I’m a woman and couldn’t possibly understand the horrors of a hot flash…. (It just so happens that not too long ago I was having a couple of those suckers an hour for several months! Now I’m down to only 2 or 3 good hot flashes a day…) Anyway, he soon figured out that the new medication had caused this famous (or infamous) hot flash that no one else in the free-world has ever had to endure. He hesitantly stayed on the medication thinking that perhaps this side effect was isolated and would subside (because I’m sure he has told every patient he has put on this medication the same thing). He then had a second hot flash and immediately took himself off the medication because it was just "too frightening, not to mention inconvenient.” It took every bit of my energy and tongue-biting not to kick him in the knee. And then the other knee. I won’t go into the same diatribe I made Jack endure about women, not so long ago, being sent off to institutions by doctors and labeled with “hysteria" due to menopause, but just so you know…. I could have moaned about this for hours!

2. It’s hot. It’s just too darn hot and I think we’re going on something like 63 triple digit days so far this year. So I had to moan about how triple digits and hot flashes don’t go together. I’m ready for fall! I also had to moan about commuting into town almost every day of the week and how tired I am of schlepping around in this heat! I generally dread the end of summer, but this year I want it OVER!

3. Okay – I can’t end my moaning on a negative note. AND the truth is my morning moaning today ended quite quickly when I flipped on the TV to QVC. Within 45 seconds of tuning in, I was on the phone placing my first order. I’ve gone back to wearing my 1980’s Knots Landing hair. Why? I don’t know. Because the 80’s look is supposedly back in vogue (far be it from me to not be in vogue) and because when I wear Knots Landing hair that means I don’t do anything to it. I just let it dry naturally and plaster a bunch of product in it. QVC has once again saved the day for me by having the newest miracle hair product on the market. So not only did I place an order, but I got on the auto shipment plan because they are so confident that I will love my new miracle hair product, they want to save me money by automatically shipping it to me every 60 days. Bless their hearts.

DISCLAIMER: I am not man bashing nor am I doctor bashing; I'm simply moaning Live! From the Moaning Room.....

The Farmer's Wife

2009-08-26T22:59:00.014-05:00

Thanks so much for all the comments about my Morning Room (aka Moaning Room) and your ideas on jazzing it up a bit. You all gave me some things to think about AND I ran with it!

This is what it looked like before. I love the clock, but it just never felt right to me where I had it. So - I changed to this:

But - the exciting thing I want to talk about is the pictures. I LOVE THEM! I bought them probably five years ago at a flea market. I've had them sitting in a drawer all this time just waiting for the perfect spot for them. After getting your comments and thinking about what I had that would go in that space I remembered these 80-year-old magazine covers that I've been wanting to do something with. I bought frames today at Michael's (50% off, woohoo!!) and smiled real pretty at Jack so that he would hang them for me. Since I knew I wanted them to be hung close together, I needed a guy's expertise with their tape measure, level, etc... When I hang stuff I just stick a nail in the wall and see how it looks. If it needs to be moved an inch or two, I just take it off the wall, pull out the nail, and try again. And again. And again. Eventually it looks right.

They're fantastic y'all! I want you to take a closer look. They are magazine covers from 'The Farmer's Wife'. Look at the date, October 1932.

This one is dated June 1932. I can't help but think what this picture is supposed to represent. This was during The Great Depression. Was this supposed to be this woman's son/husband - going off to make a living playing his saxophone? As a result his room was being rented? Who knows....

This one is from June 1935. What a pretty painting of this Farmer's Wife. If you look at the top corner of these 3 magazine covers you will see a delivery stamp on them. I can actually read who these magazines were sent to all those years ago.

One of them is addressed to:

Mrs. Wm E Meyer

Rutersville, Texas

Two of them are addressed to:

Katie Huelsebusch

Rt. 1

La Grange, Texas

My mind can't help but wonder about these two ladies. What kind of women were they? What did they farm? What kind of homes did they keep? I can't help but feel that they must have been from farms of affluence, being that they could afford a magazine subscription during the depths of The Great Depression. Both my family and Jack's family were living on farms during the depression. However - from the stories I've been told, having a magazine subscription would have been quite an extravagance.

What's also interesting to me is that Katie Huelsebusch didn't have a title before her name. That was very unusual for the time. So - was she still single and reading 'The Farmer's Wife' in preparation of becoming the perfect farmer's wife? And then of course my mind REALLY wandered about Ms. Katie from La Grange and I thought, hey! Maybe she was Katie without a title before her name because she lived at the Chicken Ranch..... Don't tell me y'all haven't heard of the Chicken Ranch in La Grange, Texas!!?? Dolly Pardon and Burt Reynolds know all about it.....

Mrs. Meyer was obviously married to Mr. Meyer. It's not surprising that they didn't even have a street address, just the name of the town. I'm sure everyone in Rutersville new exactly where to find the Meyer Farm. How I would love to know their story..... Were they happy? What kind of struggles did they have during this trying time in our country? Do they still have family living on that farm?

The forth picture I framed is a bit newer - 1948. By this time farming had become, well - more progressive. So - here you have the cover of 'Progressive Farmer'. This magazine is still in existence today.

As I was framing one of the 'Farmer's Wife' magazine covers, this ad from Bon Ami was on the back. Had it not been on the back of the cover, I would have framed it, too! I loved reading the advertisement. In the text it said: "....a splendid thing with which to scour off dirt and grease." I might steal that line for advertising my No. 152 Lavender Body Wash: "A splendid thing with which to scour off dirt and grease." What do you think?

I couldn't help but fall in love with Mrs. Bon Ami's yellow farm sink! Love it! Check out those red checked curtains. They're fantastic! Oh - and that aloe vera plant in the window. Y'all know how I love my aloe! And look at those fabulous casement windows. I love this kitchen.... This 1930's kitchen is what I want today!

Okay - so I'm going to go to bed now to ponder more on the lives of Katie Huelsbusch and Mrs. Wm E Meyer. I hope their lives were full and their crops bountiful.

And lastly, just in case you're wondering what I did with the clock that was where the magazine covers now hang, I moved it to here:

Night, night!!

The Morning Room At Night

2009-08-22T23:53:00.027-05:00

Five years of construction and we finally have one room finished..... Yeah I know - the progress has been slow. But hey, it's progress still the same. When Jack and I took on the task of building a house with neither of us having any experience in this area, we didn't quite realize the job we had taken on. The good news is we're still married.

So this is the morning room (with curtains open), adjacent to my little galley kitchen. And that's Abe sleeping in the chair. I didn't have the heart to disturb him simply to take a picture. Seeing him here also explains to you the reason why I had the slips made for the chairs to begin with. I have dogs. Hairy dogs and dirty dogs. Slip covers are a must for humans like us that live with dogs. At our house, the dogs don't live with us, we live with the dogs.....

I have washed the slips several times now. When I bought the fabric I washed it all first to ensure I wouldn't have shrinkage after having them made. Wouldn't be too good of a deal if you had slip covers made, washed them, and couldn't fit them back onto your chairs.

The main reason for this post is two-fold. First because I'm really grateful to Ann over at Hill Country House that got me on the straight and narrow on who was best in the area in making slip covers and curtains. Both were made by Debbie Phillips at Simply Slips in Fredericksburg. The fabric came from Threads, also in Fredericksburg.

Lord how I wish I could sew! Of course if I could sew, I guess the only time I could it do would be between midnight and 4:00 a.m., being that this is my only free time right now....

The second reason for this post is because I'm just so darn happy to have a room without construction going on in it AND because I need some help. I still have lots of stuff boxed up in storage so I know the decorating will continue to evolve. But - I know I need some pizzazz. Some ooomph. Some pixie dust.

Take this picture for example. See the area above and around the TV? I need something there, just don't know what. It looks kind of plain and boring to me. And yes, that is a picnic basket next to the chair. I actually use it to store magazines, just forgot to close it up for the picture. And in case you're wondering, the floor is brick from an old 1890's Chicago fire house.

That wine cooler was supposed to go in the bar, which is still being built. (Has been for two years now....) Anyway, we realized this sub-zero cooler wasn't going to fit in the space we had intended. So, we had to reconfigure. We've done a lot of reconfiguring in the last 5 years. We simply slapped some paint on it and moved it into the morning room. I needed a little coffee/beverage station and the two refrigerator draws underneath the wine cooler are kind of nice to have for juice, etc. So - the "make-do" actually ended up working out just fine.

Here' s a close-up. I still need to rearrange the shelves a bit and you know - add some pizzazz. The cabinetry in the morning room matches that in the kitchen. Since my kitchen is galley and small, I wanted the morning room to serve as an extention of the kitchen with the same flow.

This is a breakfast bar we had built. It needs some pizzazz on the wall above, too. My pizzazz gene is not working well right now. Having this bar in the morning room is also nice because guests sit around here while I'm in the kitchen cooking and we can still have converstation. Kind of keeps the crowd out of my small cooking area. I guess I should post some pics of the kitchen next time.....

I do like that I had open shelves put in below the bar. Nice place to store all the squash out of the garden. I obviously need to cook some squash.....

Thanks for visiting my new morning room. It's actually my favorite room right now and I do love sipping on my coffee and watching the news early in the morning. But, please.... If you have any suggestions on jazzing up the place, please let me know!

It feels like home...

2009-08-06T14:53:00.020-05:00

As a child, teenager, college student, and young adult, I went on too many road trips to count to Lajitas (pronounced LA-he-tus) in far West Texas; although for the last few years I've rarely been and have missed it tremendously. This is where I grew up and what I still consider home. To me, home is that place that gives you that feeling you get of calmness and peace. I guess I’m really fortunate because I get that feeling when I’m home at Hummingbird Farms, but also when I’m home in West Texas. Come to think of it, I also get it when I’m near the sea and breathing that salty air….

Lavender Chick’s definition of home: On familiar ground in which you feel in harmony with your surroundings; a feeling or a place of peace, comfort, and security.

Perhaps I’m ambidextrous in the home department being that I can get that home feeling in more than one place... One thing’s for sure – home would never be a place to me that I couldn’t have my animals. It just wouldn’t be right. Some of you may still be looking for home, but most of you, I hope, have found it and are living it. My mother has moved to a new house and I was asking her last week while visiting if it felt like home. For some reason, it's so important for me to know that you always feel "at home."

Sami (one of my special friends that I grew up with that can finish my sentences for me) and her 14-year-old daughter and I decided we needed some soul cleansing, and of course the only place we know we can always achieve this without fail is to drive way out west.

Oh – on a completely other note, I have also discovered that taking a road trip with a 14-year-old is kind of nice because we can borrow each others zit medicine. It’s that much less to pack…

Okay, so the three of us headed west and had a wonderful, wonderful time. Now that I have shown you some pictures of this trip, I have to show you a couple of pictures of my last trip to Lajitas with Jack, which was actually almost 9 years ago.

This is Jack at DOM, holding a box of DOM. Those of you that have seen the movie ‘Fandango’ will know what I’m talking about. I won’t go into detail here because this is the subject of a whole other post. But – anyone that has graduated from the University of Texas has most likely seen this movie, being that it is quite the UT cult movie and kind of a rule that you must see it in order to be a true UT alum.

This is a picture of me just before we approached DOM. I have to say that this is THE MOST favorite picture I have of myself because it makes me feel like home. Why? Well, let me see how I can put this into words (or type). First of all, this place in which I’m standing is a spiritual place for me because it makes me feel small. Does that make sense? I guess to me, it is such a beautiful place and it makes me feel that, in the grand scheme of things, I’m just little ole me in a great big gigantic world that was created by something much bigger and grander.

But, another reason I like this picture and why it makes me feel like home is because it is the last picture I have of myself that actually portrays what my old boobs used to look like. As some of you know that have been reading my blog, I lost those two boobs to cancer a few years ago. Ironically, I have a lot of pictures of myself, but none that really provide any detail of my old boobs. I find it quite appropriate that the last and only picture I can find of my old boobs is at this place that I love so much and that means so much to me.

I miss those boobs. They felt like home.

A BuhLOG Giveaway from Texas' Provence!

2009-08-01T13:49:00.006-05:00

When I was a freshman in high school, Kay Z. decided she would be my friend. I was so thrilled because she was just a real cool chick. The kind of chick that also had all the guys wagging their tongues as she walked by.... I was honored to be her friend - although I'm not real sure how honored her mother was to have to put up with us. She used to say that individually we were little angels but together we were devils. She was a wise one, that Mrs. Z.

Well today I got the same great feeling of recognition by association of someone really cool - Joni at Cote de Texas. There are some people (I would be 'some people') that have a blog; then there are other people that have a BuhLOG. Cote de Texas is a BuhLOG! I have long coveted Joni's buhlog and have literally spent hours perusing her fabulous photos of beautiful homes and decor. My mother even told me this morning, "I spent 3 hours on that blog the other day.... I couldn't stop looking at all the gorgeous pictures."

So today I am just so excited to say that Joni, the coolest chick in blogland, has mentioned ME and my lotions and potions! As ya'll know, I am completely obsessed with creating my glamour green line of aromatherapy body care. I can't tell you how great it feels when someone you respect actually notices the work that has gone into developing something you are truly passionate about. I'm obsessed with my product line and creating what will appeal to everyone; it's what I think about all day and dream about all night.

So go check out Cote de Texas and her giveaway that she is hosting for the Lavender Market in Fredericksburg. I can't say anything more until I also say thanks to Darlene and Stacey at the Lavender Market. Darlene's Villa Texas Lavender Farm is one of Texas' finest, and her store, the Lavender Market is a perfect portrayal of her passion. The Lavender Market is the only place on Main Street in Fredericksburg that you will find Hummingbird Farms' Aromatherapy Body Care. Thank you Darlene and Stacey for being so good to us and for promoting our products with such love and enthusiasm! You're the best!

Lavender French Toast Bake

2009-07-19T11:42:00.007-05:00

Since my derriere is expanding and I know I need to do something about it, I'm doing what I always do before making the plunge into the 'D' word.... I'm eating all my favorite things.

Why do I do that? Am I the only person that does that?

The more I realize I need to do something about the poundage, the more I fantasize about my favorite things. This then leads me to having to lose the weight I gained while preparing to go on a diet. Therefore, I just pretty much stay at my baseline weight....

Last night while powdering my robust butt and thighs after taking a luxurious lavender bubble bath, I thought of something else I like to powder: French Toast with a powdering of powdered sugar....

At that very moment I just knew I would wake up with a hankering for my lavender french toast bake. I mean - why not? It would be Sunday.... Who diets on Sunday? So - I went to the kitchen in my robe with my powdered buns wiggling while I walked and prepared for my breakfast feast:

Lavender French Toast Bake:

1 stick of butter

1-1/4 cups of packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons of maple syrup (or any other pancake syrup)

1 large loaf of bread with crusts removed (I have found that denser, nuttier breads are best)

1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender buds

1-1/2 cups half-and-half

5 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

Pour half-and-half and lavender in a small saucepan and warm gently over low to moderate heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside and let cool.

In a small saucepan, melt butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup over moderate heat, stirring until smooth and sugar dissolved. Pour into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish. Arrange bread slices in one layer over the sugar mixture. Fitting the bread slices tightly is best.

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Pour half-and-half through a strainer to remove lavender buds. Add the lavender infused half-and-half to egg mixture. Whisk into egg mixture and pour over the bread slices. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

When you awake the next morning from a blissful night of lavender dreams, go into the kitchen and take the casserole out of the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature while pre-heating the oven to 350. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Serve hot with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and a light drizzle of maple syrup. I like to serve it with fresh fruit. Jack likes it with bacon.

This is a great dish for Easter or Mother's Day breakfast/brunch. Or in my case, great for the before the diet diet. I have also enjoyed making it for breakfast or brunch for brides on the morning of the big day. I gain great joy in tempting the emaciated bride with french toast.... Am I evil?

Enjoy!

P.S. Be sure you use culinary grade dried lavender buds. If you are using fresh lavender, double the amount to 2 teaspoons. Let me know if you're unsure about how to confirm you are using culinary grade lavender. Maybe I need to post about culinary lavender?

Blogging has made my butt blow up

2009-07-17T21:02:00.002-05:00

Which is why you haven't heard from me lately. It's big.

Real big.

18-Wheels & Two New Roommates

2009-07-09T22:08:00.005-05:00

Remember the cowboy that moved in a few months ago? For a recap, Jack met a cowboy in the checkout line at Walmart back in February who was in a bit of a quandary and needed a place to bunk for a while. Because Jack is Jack, he invited the cowboy to stay with us. Anyway – after a few months of living here, the cowboy pulled himself up by his boot straps and rode away. We still talk to him and he stops by every now and then, but for now he’s out ridin’ new fences…

Because there’s always something going on at Hummingbird Farms, let me tell you what happened today. A big semi-truck was making a delivery out here. Now what the semi-truck was delivering is a whole other story… So, for purposes of not dragging this out I’ll just skip to the truck part.

A bit of a mishap occurred while the truck was pulling into the gate which led to the truck breaking down and now the truck needs a new part; and until then, it’s not going anywhere. So - someone from San Antonio was supposed to bring them a part so they could get truckin’ down the highway. Well, that just never happened. As dinner time rolled around Jack went to check on the two drivers still waiting for the part to arrive and realized they were pretty hungry. And hot. It was only 102 degrees here today. Being that we had no groceries in the house because I’ve been gone for the last 2 weeks (this is my first night home), Jack took to the two starving truck drivers to our local diner for a meal.

It’s now after 9:00 at night and Jack has just informed me that the part coming from San Antonio isn’t going to arrive until tomorrow. So take a great big guess what Jack did….

He invited them to just spend the night here with us.

Let’s just hope that part shows up tomorrow…..

Do you consider this a mean girl?

2009-07-01T23:42:00.009-05:00

Caring for Aging Relative Pits Husband Against Wife - ABC News

I don't know how to upload videos.... Just can't figure it out. I think if you click on that stuff above it will link to the video. As hard as I tried to post the video, the best I could do was the link up above. I'm clueless in this techno world.... Anyway - not sure how many of ya'll may have caught ABC Primetime last night (Tuesday) about a family struggling with Alzheimer's. It was a very sad story.

You want to know something else sad? The daughter-in-law in this story chased me on my bicycle when I was 8-years-old, causing me to crash and burn and having to get stitches in my chin.

I still have the lovely scar.

And the childhood trauma of being chased by a girl that was about 4 years older than me and riding a 10-speed. I was on my cute little purple (lavender) bike with the banana seat and little white basket.

That's all I have to say about that....

My First Farrah-do

2009-06-26T12:36:00.004-05:00

I think this was taken in 1977 or 1978, can't remember. But - I do know two things:

1. It got bigger and longer over the years AND,

2. Jo Vick at the Lady Bug Salon is who gave me my first Farrah-do in Alpine, Texas. Jo was the coolest chick in Alpine at the time because she did good hair, had great parties, and got to go to New York all the time.

My dad had a store in Corpus Christi (where Farrah grew up) and my little sister and I would frequently take trips with him in the summer to check on the store. It was always a lot of fun because we got to stay in a hotel and he would let my little sister and I hang out at the beach while he was working. While I had my Farrah-do, my little sister had the Dorothy Hamil-do... Gotta love those 70's!!!

During those 70's summers in Corpus I would fantasize that Farrah would see me and decide I should be her little sister and take me to Hollywood to live happily ever after....

Just wanted to say thanks to Farrah for the inspiration that she gave to all of us Texas Chicks and other chicks from across the country. She was one of a kind.....

Can you remember your first Farrah-do? Would love to see pictures!

When the sun shines....

2009-06-24T21:26:00.015-05:00

Make Hay!

That's what we did today.

And of course, we took some time to play.....

And when our work was finally done.....

We couldn't help but smile some....

Because it was kind of fun!

And as the sun was beginning to set...

We realized we needed a little rest.

But most of all, just how much we are blessed!

Jack's talking and I'm bathing... Some things never change.

2009-06-09T06:58:00.009-05:00

So Jack and I went to my hometown for a weekend visit. I'll fill you in on more reasons for our visit later. It was fun. Anyway - I'm from this really cool small town in far West Texas, known as the Big Bend Region. Also known as the center of the earth or God's Country, whichever you prefer.

Here is what it looks like:

And south of town is the majestic Big Bend; it looks like this:

How lucky am I to be from the two most beautiful places on earth? The Texas Hill Country and the Big Bend.

So it's Saturday morning and Jack tells me he's going to run to the saddle shop. He always makes a point to go by there when in town. I thought about going with him, but decided I had something better to do. Off he went as he said he would be back in about 30 minutes.

Two hours later he showed back up. Why had he been gone so long?

He ran into this guy and shot the bull for over an hour! Yes - Lyle Lovett! He just happened to be in town. Why? Because you just never know who you will run into in the center of the earth.

Lyle Lovett is my guy. I'm the one that loves him and listens to him almost every day. His song, "Cowboy Man" was the theme song at our rehearsal dinner. I love him.

So where was I while Jack was shooting the bull with my man, Lyle Lovett?

I was soaking in the bathtub.

Story of my life.......

My horse's tee tee is better than your horse's tee tee

2009-06-05T18:43:00.011-05:00

I know I've been gone for a bit. Time just seems to really fly by these days. Anyway, I've been busy doing my regular stuff during the day (the real job) which keeps me quite occupied. In the evenings when I'm home I've been a little preoccupied with a couple of new residents here at Hummingbird Farms.

No! It's not another cowboy, but a couple of new horses.

In fact, Abe (the dog) and Festus (the cat) have been standing watch over them ever since they got here. They just kind of hang out on the old John Deere and sit and stare. Not sure if they're trying to let them know who's boss, or if they think they're guarding us from them.

So here they are! Our 2 new adolescent Thoroughbreds... Yes, they are your typical long and lanky pre-teenagers (would that be a tween?) that haven't grown into themselves yet. They're going to be big! They are only yearlings and will continue to grow until they're 5 or 6.

Here's the story: They came to us via Canada. Have you ever heard of the Premarin horses? Sorry if I gross any of you out, but facts are facts. Premarin is a very common hormone replacement therapy. I don't have a problem at all with Premarin. Believe me - I have my fair share of hot flashes and completely understand why anyone would want to take something to phase those suckers out. I simply can't take hormone replacement therapy due to my health history.

Anyway, Premarin is made from horse urine; pregnant horse urine. I know, I know, it sounds disgusting. But at one time during my hot flash laden years, I would have sucked horse urine from a straw if it would have helped!

Premarin: PREgnant MARe urINe.

Nowadays they primarily use a synthetic in Premarin which has eliminated almost all farms that used to house these pregnant mares for urine collection (thank goodness!). However, once they shut down most of these farms the horses had nowhere to go. And - the babies from these pregnant mares were in abundance. They didn't have anywhere to go either.

So our two new horses are babies from stock of what used to be Premarin horses. Come to find out, these Premarin horses are from really good blood lines. Apparently, urine from royalty is better than just plain ole urine. Who knew?

One of our babies is a grandson of Seattle Slew and the other one is a grandson of Mr. Prospector!

Regardless of their bloodlines and their royal pee, we're just happy to have them here. The poodles think they're pretty cool and have decided drinking from their water trough if pretty cool, too! I think they must be thinking if they drink from the water trough they will grow up to be big just like them....

Have a great weekend, and I'll try to be a better blogger.... Here lately there's just been too much to do and see outside versus being inside and on the computer. All is well at Hummingbird Farms!

What's a festival without some rain? Or a 10-year anniversary without mustard greens?

2009-05-24T10:28:00.016-05:00

So the rain was a little fierce on the first day of the Becker Lavender Festival.... For whatever reason the rain never comes when it's convenient, but we'll still take it when we can get it.

I took this picture from our booth. This was before the rain started collecting by the gallon on top of our tent.... And before part of tent got severely weighed down with water and decided to give just as I was below it. This led to being drenched with 3 gallons of water being poured right over my head. I was literally soaked! There was nothing dry on my body! Fortunately we're only a hop, skip, and jump from Becker Vineyards so I was able to run home (although I could have used a boat) and change into something dry.

But by Sunday the sun came out and more people decided to come hang out on the beautiful grounds of Becker Vineyards.

And for some reason, everyone that brought their dog seemed to have little white fluffy dogs. I kind of wanted to grab one and run!

We had a good time in spite of the rain that led to a slow day on Saturday. But - we were okay with it because it just gave the vendors time to shop with each other. Oh - and participate in wine tastings!

Some of my wonderful findings were:

Miller Creek's Lavender Margarita Mix. It's a great gift item and also a lot of fun to have for parties, specifically bridal showers and parties! But just so you know, I've not come across a man yet that hasn't said, "hey, this is good!"

Wimberley Lavender Farm soy travel candles. I love soy candles and these are some of the best ones I've come across. They actually use real lavender oil for fragrance, not a synthetic scent. I love how Karen has put them in a small travel tin. Since I travel a lot I love to keep one in my suitcase for my hotel room. Nothing like a little relaxation while travelling. Especially when staying in a hotel room with that recycled, musty hotel room air....

Becker Vineyards "Iconoclast" Cabernet Sauvginon. It has a light and subtle spicey kick to it with full fruit flavors. It's medium-dry with surprisingly light tannins. It's a great buy for $10. So good, we bought a case!

We had an enjoyable weekend, although a little on the exhausting side. Oh - and get this. It was also a weekend that included both our 10-year anniversary and my birthday.... When it rains, it pours. Literally.

So what did we do for our 10-year anniversary?

We had all intentions of at least going out for a nice dinner. But - by the time we both got home around 7:30 we were exhausted. We talked about freshening up and just going out; after all, it was our anniversary. The more we thought about it the more we realized that it wasn't such a great idea. By the time we would have freshened up and driven to town, it would have been close to 9:00. Then we decided to just run to the grocery store to pick something up to cook at home. Well, that would have required some energy and ambition - none of which we had at the moment. So - what did we do? I rummaged through the pantry and found a can of mustard greens. Yes, mustard greens. We also had all the ingredients needed for some homemade macaroni and cheese.

Our 10-year anniversary was memorable with a dinner of mustard greens, mac & cheese, and a bottle of Becker Vineyards Iconoclast! mmmm-good!!!!! Oh - and a lot of good laughs over our romantic meal. We did manage to light some candles around the table for ambiance. Mustard greends by candlelight. So romantic!

Lastly, I know I said a couple of posts ago that I would be sharing with you some of my horrible blind dates that led up to my last wonderful blind date. Well - that was before I got bogged down with lavender stuff. What seemed like a great idea at the time ended up giving me panic attacks when I would think back to all those awful dates. But - if you're still interested, you can read about my last-ever blind date (the one that led to being united with my Miracle Man) that I wrote 2 years ago here.

Jack & Debi, May 1999, honeymoon-bound to the Four Seasons at Nevis, West Indies. I think Jack still has a look of shock on his face....

Have a wonderful Memorial Day!!!

Hummingbird Farms At Becker Vineyards

2009-05-14T22:13:00.004-05:00

I wanted to let everyone know that Jack and I will be at Becker Vineyards all weekend for their 11th Annual Lavender Festival. You can read more about it here.

If you happen to be in the area please stop by. In addition to some of the best wine in the Hill Country, there will also be cooking demonstrations, gardening tips, and lavender products, all on the beautiful grounds of Becker Vineyards. It's a gorgeous place!

Please stop by the Hummingbird Farms booth and say hello. Jack will also be a guest speaker this year and will be talking about growing lavender in the Hill Country on Saturday at 1:30 and Sunday at 2:30.

Hope to see you!

Bad Blind Date # 245

2009-05-09T10:56:00.010-05:00

I can’t believe it, but my 10-year wedding anniversary is approaching. In some ways it seems like we’ve been together forever, and in many other ways it seems like we were just saying our vows the other day. Time really flies.

Hill Country House Girl left a comment the other day that got me really thinking about my husband and how fortunate I am. You know – even when we know we have a good marriage and that the man you’re married to is a really good person, it’s still nice to be reminded by someone else every now and then that you’ve got a pretty good gig going.

Anyway, Hill Country House Girl left me a message because she referred me to a lady in Fredericksburg that is hands down the best slip cover and curtain maker in the land. This is what Hill Country House Girl said:

…..D. Phillips thanked me for referring you to her, and she said that YOUR husband is one of the nicest men she has ever met! She is single and when we parted she said "Surely there are just a few more like him somewhere in the world...."I am sure you know you are blessed but thought you'd like to hear that!

I really did appreciate hearing that and it got me thinking about our anniversary approaching and all those years of bad blind dates that led up to the one great blind date that landed us in holy matrimony. It was worth waiting 34-years.

So – with that said, I thought I would entertain you with a few posts for the next few days on some of my really bad blind dates, which led up to my final wonderful blind date. I’ve been known to say that I’ve been on 465 bad blind dates. Well – maybe it wasn’t really that many, but it felt like it!

Here you go – the story of Bad Blind Date # 245:

Okay, this wasn’t exactly a blind date because I met the guy earlier in the week very briefly; but, being that we knew nothing about each other until our horrible date, I kind of consider it a blind date. I was at the Ford dealership getting my company car serviced when all of a sudden this Conan-the-Barbarian-looking used car salesman walked by. Yes, he was a hottie indeed and had the body of a Greek god.

As I sat waiting in the service area lounge for my car, he managed to walk by several times so that we could exchange smirky little looks at each other. After about the 4th walk-by he finally broke the ice by asking if I needed any help…. As if the car salesman could help me in the service department. I mean, who knows – maybe I was just lost and really was car shopping and somehow ended up in the lounge area of the service department. I never was the sharpest bulb in the chandelier when it came to car stuff…

Okay, so this little conversation led to us agreeing to meet for dinner on Friday night. Not knowing a thing about him, I didn’t want to give him my address and have him pick me up. Come on – I may not know much about car stuff, but I was a pretty bright bulb in the chandelier when it came to dating stuff, being that I was almost 30 and still single. We agreed to meet at a seafood restaurant, which at the time was one of the nicest restaurants in San Antonio.

When Friday arrived, I bought a new guy-gettin’ sweater and took off to the swanky restaurant for blind date # 245 with Conan the Barbarian.

As I pulled into the parking lot I noticed a parking space almost right in front of the restaurant. This was a busy place, so I was already beginning to feel a little lucky for finding such a great spot. Maybe this was a sign of a great night to come…. I pulled into the parking spot which was right next to a median thing with a small tree. Something like this:

But the tree was more like this with prickly little leaves and thorny things on the branches:

As soon as I opened the car door I knew why no one was parking there. That little small tree became the mutant ninja shrub trying to invade me and the inside of my car. I could barely crack my door open because I parked so close to the median. When I did slightly open the door, the tree/shrub alien force literally poked inside the car with me. There I was trying to squeeze through a slightly ajar door with the tree completely invading my space. And it hurt! This tree had thorny things that were poking me. Okay – any normal person would have sat back down in the car and shut the door and go find a new parking space. The key word there is 'normal person'.... It was obvious that this parking space belonged to the tree, not a car; it was also obvious that all the other guests at the restaurant had figured that out, leaving the parking space for me.

I said earlier that I had bought a special guy-gettin’ sweater just for Conan the Barbarian. It was a cute little knitted thing with little golden threads going through it. That tree ate my sweater! I was literally wedged between the car door and the tree. There I was standing inside my 5-inch cracked-opened car door with this tree trying to get inside my car.

I was stuck y’all. Stuck in a tree at the swankiest restaurant in town.

This tree took me and my my sweater over; I was completely snagged up inside all the little thorny branches. I was hanging from this tree. Short of taking off my sweater in public in an effort to remove myself from the tangled up branches, there was no other way to escape without someone helping me. (Kind of like the time when I was 7-years-old and fell head first into our Christmas tree while trying to put a star on top. As I was stuck inside the Christmas tree head-first with pine needles poking out my eye balls, my mother and aunt had to stand there and laugh for 10 minutes before helping me out…. )

All of a sudden I hear Conan. Debi, is that you?

Uhhh, yeah – it’s me. Looks like they have some real landscaping issues in this parking lot.

Conan had to pick off each thorny branch out of my guy-gettin’ sweater which soon became a snagged-up looking garage sale reject. I was humiliated.

My inner-nerd was raging.

To say the least.

So after ten minutes of freeing me, my sweater, and my hair out of the tree, we walked inside the restaurant to eat. Oh – and did I say I still had pretty big hair back then? My hair was long and all moussed-up. After the tree got a piece of it, I looked like a grunge girl with a ripped up sweater in some kind of head-banger MTV video. It was just awful.

Okay – so we walk into the restaurant and of course I felt like everyone had been watching the fiasco take place in the parking lot. I could sense people laughing at me. I swear that Conan was walking ten feet in front of me. I was cramping his style and he didn't want to be associated with me. But - to be honest with you, as humiliated as I was, what had happened was just darn funny! I really wanted to laugh about it - I mean, what else could you do? But, Conan-the-Barbarian was just pretty quiet and weird about the whole thing. He was obviously embarrassed by me.

So – bad blind date # 245 ended with the waiter bringing the check for our dinner and Mr. Conan suddenly realizing he had forgotten his wallet! I’m sure he knew he would never be seeing me again, so why should he spend any money on me…..

I paid for our meal and then we departed. As I very carefully got back into my car (entering from the passenger side), I said a little prayer to help me swear off all men of the Conan variety…. And of the no-sense-of-humor variety.

(I'll have more bad blind-date stories to come....)

It’s a horse race… You never know who’s gonna win, but someone should have been minding that bird!

2009-05-03T13:27:00.020-05:00

Okay – so my pick for the Kentucky Derby wasn’t the winner - but if my pick, General Quarters, was to lose, I couldn't be happier for who won. I was rooting for General Quarters because I love the story and I always love the underdog.

Or underhorse.

General Quarters is owned and trained by Thomas McCarthy, a retired teacher and high school principal who has spent his entire life dreaming of having a horse in the Kentucky Derby. His passion has always been horses, so to keep it alive he’s always had a horse or two on the side during his 30+ year career in education. At 75 his life-long dream was finally realized…. It's just a great story!

What I also find heart-warming is that General Quarters is not a million dollar horse owned by one of the million dollar stables. General Quarters is owned AND trained by the same 75-year old retired high school principal – a rarity in today’s big money racing circles. Rarely do you see today the horse owner also being the trainer. And rarely do you see an owner /trainer that is the owner of only one horse. Mr. McCarthy poured his entire heart into his one horse, General Quarters.

As sad as I am for General Quarters' loss (but very happy that he and all the other horses are safe), I have to say that Mine That Bird, the winner of this year’s race is another great story. To be honest, I keep up with the horses every year and usually have my pick a good two weeks or more before the race. But – Mine That Bird was simply not on my radar and I feel completely rotten for over -looking him and his amazing story. It’s a good one!

Like General Quarters, Mine That Bird is not your typical big business story, or your typical million dollar race horse. In fact, he sold for $9,500 and was trained by a cowboy in New Mexico, Bennie “Chip” Woolley, Jr. Mine That Bird was a true Derby upset with 50-1 odds of winning; now being considered one of the biggest upsets in Derby history. I love it! The story gets even better…. Mine That Bird (the only gelding in the race), was hauled to Kentucky from New Mexico by his trainer in a pickup truck and trailer. A far cry from the typical air conditioned fancy tractor-trailer getups in which most thoroughbreds of Derby quality travel. Chip Woolley, a former rodeo cowboy and quarter horse trainer, hauled Mine That Bird himself on the 21 hour trek to the Derby. Oh – and get this, he is in crutches after breaking something like 21 bones in his foot from a motorcycle accident! But that didn’t stop him from driving with one foot across the country with his $9,500 horse in-tow.

While in the winner’s circle with cameras all around and traditional roses draped over Mine That Bird, the NBC interviewer said something to him like, you were the un-known trainer coming into this race, very few know who you are. Chip Woolley responded, “They’ll know me now.”

You just gotta love it! Okay – the other reason I can’t believe I didn’t do better homework on Mine That Bird is because of his jockey, Calvin Borel. Calvin is one of my favorite jockeys; I adore his smile and his thick Cajun accent, and of course his successful career. Calvin won the Derby in 2007, and also won the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, the day before the Derby. I love Calvin because he is always so visibly emotional and sweet after winning a race. You regularly see him kiss his horse before a race and affectionately love on them after a race (whether they win or not). After winning the Derby yesterday he said in a very broken, emotionally filled voice about his deceased parents, “Thank you Mom and Daddy, I wish you were here to see all that I have accomplished.” Calvin Borel makes me weep… He’s just that sweet, loving kind of person that you want to take home….

Take home and feed.

During Friday’s Kentucky Oaks, there was footage of him carrying a little girl wearing a surgical mask as she pat his winning horse, Rachel Alexandra, before the race. At the winner’s circle after the race, he was also seen carrying the same little girl. I learned that this little girl’s name coincidentally is also Rachel, and that she has a passionate love for horses. How did this little girl named Rachel land the opportunity to get up close and personal with the race horse, Rachel Alexander, and be a part of history in the winner’s circle?

It was her wish in the Make A Wish Foundation.

It was a good weekend of Kentucky history for Calvin Borel winning both the Oaks and the Derby; for all the running horses that ended both races completely safe and sound; for a broken down cowboy with a winning horse; and for little girl named Rachel who got her last wish….

And The Winners Are.....

2009-05-01T18:14:00.014-05:00

Okay y'all, we have some clear winners in my first ever Bloggy Giveaway! So I had to figure out how the names would be drawn in order to be completely fair to everyone that entered the contest. By the way - THANK YOU to everyone that took the time to leave a comment!

So first I printed out all the comments and sat and stared at them at my breakfast table.

Then I cut each comment into strips to be placed in something.... I still couldn't figure out what to place them into, but I was thinking about it.

And while I was thinking what that something was going to be to place all the strips into, Lupe started pulling strips out of my pile and, well - eating them.

Just so y'all know, Lupe sits with me every morning and has coffee with me.

So anyway - as I sat there trying to find something clever to place all the strips in, Lupe ended up pulling three out of the pile. If you look really closely below, you will see three different strips with her signature on them.

So I figured, "hey!" Those are my first three winners! The three that Lupe picked! Congratulations to:

1. Theresa from My World and Welcome To It!

2. Dixie from French Lique, Texas

3. Penny from Always Something by Penny

Then I tried to get Lupe to pick 7 more, but all she wanted to do was eat Theresa, Dixie, and Penny.

So...... I did something real boring and stuck all the rest in a hat. (Yes - it really was one of Jack's cowboy hats). I would have had Jack draw the names, but I couldn't find him, which meant the only other options were to get my animals to draw from the hat or me. Lupe was already starting to gag from eating too much paper and the dogs and cats just couldn't figure out what I was trying to get them to do. So - that left me to do the drawing....

AND the remaining 7 winners are:

4. Patriot from Made in the USA

5. Ginny (please send me your address)

6. Laura from White Spray Paint

7. Cheryl from Cottage Farm Villa

8. Mrs. B. Silly from My Silly Blog

9. Liz G. from Where Should We Go Tonight?

10. Justine from Tiney's Froggy Bloggy

I hope y'all enjoy your lotion! I'll have my secretary - I mean, Jack, get it right out to you! I really do look forward to hearing what you think about it. Oh - and give yourself a few days of using it so you can notice the change in your hands!

Have a great weekend AND....

GO GENERAL QUARTERS!!!!

My pick for the 2009 Kentucky Derby. I'm now off to have a mint julep!

General Quarters, with jockey Eibar Coa in the saddle and trainer Tom McCarthy in the winner's circle at the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., April 11, 2009. Photo by Ed Reinke/AP Photo

The Queen of Make Do & A Giveaway, Too!!!

2009-04-25T14:09:00.024-05:00

Hi ya'll! I'm back from a business trip and lots of other great little things that I've been up to. The most exciting thing is that we finally have - by customer demand - our No. 145 Lavender Body Lotion available in a tube! Yeehaw! (or Oh No! Depending on how you look at it... Which will make more sense as you read on....)

It took forever to get these tubes to market AND I'm glad to tell you, my best blogging buddies, that you are the first to see it! It's our same great No. 145 lotion, no changes there, but now also available in a tube so you can carry it around in your purse, car, etc.. Oh - and the good news is that it's 3 ounces and airline safe! You don't have to worry about getting your lotion hijacked at the security line anymore...

Now, 3 ounces is still a good size, which is why I'm showing you a picture of the tube next to the 8 ounce bottle. But - the tube is easier for mobility and there is no waste. You can squeeze out every last drop onto your whole entire dried up scaly body...

Now - ya'll know there's always a story behind every photo, so I have to share this one with you. The pictures you are seeing were made by me, the biggest non-photographer in the world. But - I am the Queen of Make Do, and well - I'm broke after having to buy 10,000 tubes, so I'm making do..... You see, when I happened to develop the best lotion in the universe, I had no idea that even I, a farm chick, would have to buy tubes in the same volume as Mr. Proctor & Mrs. Gamble.

Don't they know who I am?

I'm simply trying to heal everyone's dry skin without a bunch of cheap chemicals.... Heck - I'm not Mr. Colgate and I've never even met Mrs. Palmolive. Come on Mr. Tube Man - give me a break!

So now I'm forced to take my own pictures while I pay the Tube Man my life savings...

Okay - so back to the story behind the photos... As I said, I'm not a photographer. My first attempt was indoors with a black background.

The glare was bad and I couldn't get it right. That's when Jack walked in and shook his head at what I was doing. He said, "Why don't you just go outside and then you won't have to worry about the glare or the flash." And of course I said, "well, I just wanted to make it harder on myself." He then said as he pulled away the black background, "Honey, this isn't going to work - just try it outside."

He then got a big, BIG laugh out of my props.... hence, my "make do." You see, I was using my black pashmina draped over a lamp and a bottle of port in the kitchen. Hey - like I said, I'm the Queen of Make Do.

Look real close at this picture and you can see the lamp behind my scarf. Oh - and speaking of my scarf, if you don't have a pashmina, please get one. They serve so many purposes.

Okay - so as I looked at the pictures, I figured Jack was right. Every single picture was blurry and glare-y. So - what the heck, I'll go try it outside.

And to be honest with you, for a non-photographer, I don't think they're THAT bad...

So what is the tube and lotion bottle propped up on outside?

It's the old well in front of the original farmhouse.

The old red pump on the other side of the well still works! It's what we use to water the grounds.

Okay - so enough about the story behind the photography... Let's talk about my BLOGGY GIVEAWAY!!!!!

Since I have more tubes than S. E. Johnson has wax, I'm giving away TEN! Yep - that's right. Ten tubes to 10 random people that comment on this post. Here are the rules:

1. Comment that you would like a free tube of Hummingbird Farms Lavender Body Lotion No. 145.

2. I will compile all your names and let Jack randomly pull ten names out of a bag... or something.

3. I will notify you if you are a winner and your tube of the creamiest lotion ever will be on its way.

Oh - and one last thing. If you happen to be a winner and like the product, I would be very happy if you would send me an email on what you think about our lotion. Heck, even if you don't like the lotion let me know what you think. If you're okay with it, I would like to put your testimonial on our new website that should be up and running in about 5 to 6 more days. I'm going to have a testimonial page, and I will even include a link to your blog under your testimonial on our website... Again, this is only if you are okay with it.

AND - one last thing before this post ends up being the longest post in history. Let me tell you just a bit about the lotion:

1. It is aloe-based, not water based. We have added NO water, so only a little dab'll do ya'. Seriously, you won't need but about a pea-size for your hands.

2. Please start looking at your favorite lotion. I promise that you will find that 90% of the time, the first ingredient is water. At Hummingbird Farms, all our products are aloe-based.

3. There is no synthetic fragrance in our products. The scent comes from the natural essential oils that are used (specifically lavender) and will subside after a while. So that means you can wear No. 145 Lavender Body Lotion and not worry about it interfering with your No. 5 Chanel Perfume.

4. We use vitamins for preservatives, no parabens.

And - that's all I have to say.... Good Luck & have a wonderful week!

Cheaper by the dozen...

2009-04-14T20:20:00.003-05:00

Okay - just so that we can all be friends again, I have posted a picture of the cute little juice glasses that I picked up at Tuesday Morning. They are Noritake full lead crystal, and a complete steal at $5.99 each (original price $12 each). The cutest thing about these little juice glasses is that they're only about 3 inches tall. It's hard to tell from the picture just how petite they are. They're precious. They remind me of the old soda fountain glasses - except that these are crystal! Woohoo!

Okay - I posted a picture.... Can we now just all get along???

Oh yeah - I also think these precious little petite juice glasses will be cute for desserts. In fact, the lady at Tuesday Morning who told me about the 'always buy in 12' rule, was also full of other tidbits of information. I should consult with her more often... She told me a dessert that she thought would be perfect for these little glasses. Now I've not tried this dessert yet ya'll; in fact, it sounds a little weird to me - BUT, I truly believe the Tuesday Morning cashier to be very wise... She did, after all, save me from breaking the law of 12... So here is her recipe. I will call it the 'Tuesday Treat':

1. Green Grapes
2. Sour Cream
3. Brown sugar

This is exactly what the Tuesday Morning lady said: "Blend brown sugar into sour cream until it is a very light brown, more like beige. (These are her words, ya'll). Then mix the grapes into this mixture and place into your cute little glasses. Chill and serve. It's light and refreshing, and so, so good! Just trust me, it's good."

Sounds a little weird, huh? Has anyone ever had a dessert like this before? I'll let you know when I give it a try. Oh - she also said it has to be green grapes - not any other color. Again, she's a smart woman so I'm taking her word for it!

Next up, I want to introduce you to Abe. Abe is a boxer.

All right, so we have four dogs.... What does one more matter? Yep, we now have 5 dogs.

Because we really needed another dog.

Abe actually found us. I think news has traveled far and wide that the folks out at Hummingbird Farms are huge suckers and will take in anybody. Even humans. (yes, the cowboy is still living with us!)

Abe has taken to life at Hummingbird Farms quite nicely. As you can see from the picture and my super suede sofa, he has nestled right in and you would never know that he hasn't been a part of the family forever. We're actually quite smitten by Abe and are honored to have him in our home.

What's one more dog? Right?

Thank goodness dogs don't come in twelves. Do they???

Oh Happy Day!

2009-04-12T09:51:00.005-05:00

HAPPY EASTER!

Lavender Chick (left) and Big Sis. Easter 1968.

All that was missing was my Easter Bonnet! I am quite sure we both had white gloves for church, though.... It was a happy day. It was a happy time.

Tuesday Morning & My Spanx

2009-04-08T23:16:00.005-05:00

On my last post I answered questions from one of those memes, one of which was asking what you can’t live without. I answered that I can’t live without my Spanx and my animals. It’s true, I can’t imagine life without those things – but, gosh… There are so many things I couldn’t live without. Maybe I need to have an entire link to my blog on things I can’t live without…

Anyway, I was in Tuesday Morning the day after my post when I mentioned not being able to live without my Spanx. I am a Tuesday Morning junkie and it’s another one of those things I can’t live without. As I was in the checkout line buying the most adorable crystal footed juice glasses, I struck up a conversation with the young lady behind me. I felt like I had to because I was being one of those people in the checkout line that drives those behind you absolutely nuts.

Something happens to me when I’m at Tuesday Morning. The prices are so good that I feel like I need one of everything because, who knows – you just might need it one day. And what if you needed it one day and didn’t have it and found yourself being forced to buy it somewhere else and paying FULL RETAIL? The horror!

I’ve told ya’ll before that I’m also a QVC and HSN nut, which I wrote about here. I’m realizing now that my addiction to Tuesday Morning is for the same reason… I get this “gotta buy now” buzz in my head because it’s on sale and available RIGHT NOW. It might not be available again if you wait…

Anyway, I’m in line purchasing my cute little 8 juice glasses and holding up the line because I need each one individually wrapped since I have an hour drive home. Then my heart started beating rapidly – just like when the HSN host announces, “We only have 600 left and they’re going fast…” So – I told the cashier just as she was wrapping the last glass, “TIMES! I gotta have more… Will you wait for me? I’m going to pick up two more just in case I happen to break one someday.” I turned around to the young lady waiting in line behind me and tell her I’m sorry and that it won’t take two seconds for me to go get a couple more. She was very nice and said no problem. So I rushed to the crystal aisle and picked up two more glasses.

I get back to the register huffing and puffing and hand her two more glasses. As the cashier is wrapping them up she says, “You know, I was always raised to buy everything in twelve’s; that’s just the way you’re supposed to do it.”

Oh Lord help me… Nobody ever told me this rule. I’m the queen of rules and I didn’t know this one. I mean, heck – I don’t wear linen before Easter or velvet after Valentine’s Day, or double-dip my chips, or tee-tee on the toilet seat… I don’t break rules.

So as my palpitations kicked back in I had to tell the nice lady behind me one more time – “Do you mind? I really have to go get two more glasses now. I had no idea I was supposed to buy 12.” She waved me on and off I went to abide by the rule that I never knew about. And of course I’m so glad to know this rule now and will be certain to never break it again…

When I got back to the checkout line with my last two of 12 glasses, I felt it my obligation to use my gift of gab with the young lady standing behind me because I knew I was irritating the heck out of her.

Nothing like being in the checkout line behind a blonde that can’t make up her mind. It just rubs people the wrong way….

So I start chatting with her and telling her how much I love Tuesday Morning and what great deals they have and if she shops here much. You know - the kill ‘em with kindness rule.

The young lady tells me that she’s recently married and never knew much about Tuesday Morning until recently. She said the she and her husband were still in an apartment, but hopes to shop at Tuesday Morning a lot more when they buy their house and have more room. So I tell her that it’s the best place to stock up on items for your house and that it can become an all out addiction. Then I said (because my post was still in my mind from the day before), that “I just couldn’t live without Tuesday Morning or my Spanx."

And then on my drive home I started thinking about all the other things I can’t live without…. And that’s a whole lot to think about.

For whatever reason I simply felt compelled to share with you today that I needed to add Tuesday Morning to my list of things I can’t live without…

I just couldn’t live without telling you that I can’t live without Tuesday Morning.

And yes, If I were a better blogger I would have taken pictures of my cute little juice glasses to share with you, but that would have meant getting out the camera, taking the picture, and uploading, all of which takes time… Until it becomes a blogger rule that I have to have a picture with every post, I’m going to refrain for now.

Ya’ll have a great week!

A Good Year

2009-04-05T12:18:00.024-05:00

I mentioned to ya'll a while back that our website crashed... Technology can be a real pain in the rear sometimes. Anyway, as we're in the rebuilding phase, our new web designer asked me to send her some pictures of the farm. As I went through old pictures I started realizing, WOW! We can grow lavender! Not only can we grow the stuff, but we can do something with the stuff! So - I wanted to share some of the pictures with you.

The beauty of a good farm year. This was taken two harvest years ago early in the morning. How we hope for one more good year...

A close up of Lavendula Angustifolia, also know as "true lavender." Most of the lavender grown in the hill country is Intermedia, or a lavender cross/hybrid. All lavender has its place (we also grow Intermedia), but "true lavender" is the best of the best in terms of quality oil and what we primarily grow at Hummingbird Farms. It is the same oil you would find in very fine perfumes. It is also the oil that goes into our body care products. Look at those fine little fuzzy buds, filled full of sweet lavender oil.

You can see in the back of the field a little pointy copper thing sticking up. That is our steam distiller (the 'still'); it's how we distill the lavender for its oil. This picture also shows how the many different varieties bloom at different times. The first few rows you see are just beginning to bloom, and is our Provence variety which is an intermedia. We use it mainly for dried buds for making sachets and other crafts. The rows just in front of the still are actually in bloom and ready for distillation. Now look behind the still and to the right. That's another field of angustifolia for distillation; it's in full bloom.

Another picture of blooming fields early in the morning, and BEFORE the drought...

This is a close up of the still. It's also a good picture that shows all the different varieties and their varying blooming time.

This variety is about to pop and ready for the still!

A half a row of harvested lavender ready for the drying barn.

Another row of harvested lavender.... How we hope for another good bloom year. We have lost a number of plants due to the drought. It makes me so sad. But - hey, that's the life of a farmer, right? Good years and not so good years... We will have to do quite a bit of over-hauling of the fields this year due to the plants we've lost. It makes me sad...

Okay - on another note, and so that I can switch my thoughts away from the devastation of the drought, I want to send a big THANK YOU to The Pampered World, who tagged me a while back. Better late than never, I'm going to play along. You can play along, too, if you like....

The numbering was off when I got tagged. I suppose it's because so many people have been tagged it got all scrambled up over the various times it was forwarded. It doesn't even start with number one, but number two. And, then there were several numbers that just skipped. Is it because someone decided they didn't like the question so passed on it??? Who knows... I took the liberty of making up my own question for number one.

1. I could never live without (fill in the blank): My Spanx and my animals.

2. Where is your significant other? Outside visiting with his aunt and cousin. I'm being very un-sociable right now and should be out there with them....

3. Your hair color? Blonde. Although I have to help it out with highlights to cover the gray and keep me from looking all washed out, I am a natural blonde.... Be quiet! Yes, I am!

6. Your favorite thing? Gosh, how can I possibly list one favorite thing? I have MANY favorite things. Right now my favorite thing is my hummingbird feeder(s). The hummers are back for the summer and I get much, much pleasure from watching them.

7. Your dream last night? I am known to have some pretty wild dreams, but for some reason I cannot remember my dream last night....

8. Your goal? To continue to grow our body care business and develop more great products.

11. Your fear? Being locked up in a small space. AND not having enough Tabasco for my bloody mary.

12. Where do you want to be in six years? Living right here at Hummingbird Farms and watching our lavender grow....

13. Where were you last night? Home with Jack, his Aunt Evelyn, cousin David, and Denise and Brian. We had a wonderful dinner and GREAT bottle of Bordeaux. It was fabulous. Great family visit!

14. What you are not? Closed-minded.

15. What’s on your wish list? Well, my ten year anniversary is coming up. A gold Rolex would be nice....

16. Where you grew up? In the Big Bend of Texas and proud of it! I grew up in Alpine, Texas; a beautiful spot in Texas in the lovely Davis Mountains. It will ALWAYS be home to me.

18. What you are wearing? Pajamas... Yes, it's after lunch. Is that so wrong???

19. Your computer? Laptop, Gateway. Red.

22. Your mood? Relaxed and happy.

26. Favorite story? A story my mother-in-law told me about Jack when he was in 1st grade.

27. Your Summer? Hopefully harvesting lavender... Did you hear that Mother Nature????

28. Love someone? Okay - is this a real question? Would anyone ever answer that they don't love someone? Yes. I love someone - I love lots of someone's... The Lord, my husband, my family, my relatives, my friends...

29. Your favorite color? Yellow. It makes me smile.

30. When was the last time you laughed? Just a little bit ago. I was on Justine's blog over at Tiney's Froggy Bloggy. I laughed out loud. Real loud! She always makes me laugh out loud. Good thing I wasn't drinking coffee at the time. I would have spewed....

Why don’t we all just do what our 8-year-old selves told us to do?

2009-03-26T10:26:00.037-05:00

My friend Sami called me yesterday and asked me when I was going to blog again because, as she said, “I’m sick of looking at those little chickens.” Then I got an email from Lisa (my friend since 3rd grade) saying that my idea about blogging more often must have gone south on me. So – since I have a day off work I decided I better get back to my blogging obligations….

So I mentioned the last time I blogged that I wanted to share with you something about Lisa. I’m just so darn proud of her and it makes my heart so big! Lisa, Sami, and I have been friends forever. Lisa and I sat next to each other in 3rd grade and have been connected at the hip ever since, and Sami moved back to our hometown in 6th grade, which is when she got connected to my other hip. Ever since I can remember, Lisa has had a camera dangling from her wrist. I remember thinking she was so cool because her mother let her use a grown-up camera, even in elementary school. This is what it looked like.

This is what my camera looked like in the 3rd or 4th grade. Any thoughts on which one of us was more serious about photography in 1970's something???

By the time we entered junior high, Lisa had advanced to the pocket instamatic. My Mickey Mouse camera ended up in a garage sale.

Point being, Lisa has hundreds of pictures of us growing up. All of those pictures are true treasures -although a few should be burned and if anyone is to ask me about some of them I will plead the fifth!

Anyway – if we all would think back to those things we felt a connection to as a child we would probably all be better off as adults had we stuck to our intuitiveness of what made our little 3rd grade selves so happy.

As kids, Lisa always loved to take pictures and Sami loved to write and be creative with her thoughts and imagination. As for me, I wanted to be a farmer. Lisa reminded me the other day how I always wanted to be a farmer – and that even in elementary school I would tell people I was going to be a farmer. Well, that and a twirler… I used to say I wanted to twirl until I was 50 and then work at the Dairy Queen. I suppose I could have done that and be a farmer… Anyway, Lisa said that it always struck her as funny that I wanted to be a farmer because it wasn’t that I wanted to live on a farm or be married to a farmer, but BE a farmer. Then I remembered how I took a shoebox full of my grandfather’s cotton from his farm to show & tell in 3rd grade, telling all the students how it starts out as seed and ends up as blue jeans. I also remembered how I used to love to grow stuff in our backyard – I even grew cotton one year! If I dig around somewhere I can find pictures of me proudly posing with all the watermelons I have grown throughout my childhood years.

Okay – so where am I going with all of this? With how Lisa, Sami and I ended up straying from what made our little souls smile as kids. As we became adults, Lisa ended up getting into politics as a consultant and PAC director, Sami ended up in the mortgage industry, and I ended up in corporate America. BUT, now that we’re in our 40’s we are finding ourselves doing what our 3rd grade selves told us we needed to do to begin with…

My oh my, how life comes full circle!

After 20 years of straying from what she really wanted to do, Sami is now reinventing old pieces of furniture and boring walls and writing about it here. As you already know, my husband and I bought a farm after we both spent 20 years doing corporate business stuff, and Lisa – well, Lisa has finally plunged full force into her photography after a 30 year hiatus!

So what has Lisa been photographing? Well – let me tell you! In typical Lisa fashion, when she decided to photograph – she REALLY decided to photograph! And just guess what her first commercial piece of photography is????

An album AND magazine cover!

photo by Lisa Pollard

Yep, that’s right. She’s been following Willie Nelson & Ray Benson with Asleep At the Wheel in cool places like Luck, Texas, and documenting their lives as they record their collaboration of classic western swing – finally! It’s only 30 years overdue… For both, Lisa and her photography AND Willie & The Wheel!!!

Wouldn't we all have just been better off had we had listened to our gut in 3rd grade? Who knows?

Or - is it possible that we have to stray in order to get back to what is really important to us?

Something tells me that Willie Nelson and Ray Benson probably stuck with what their 3rd-grade selves told them to do.... One thing I know for sure is that I'm grateful for the 20-year ride that took me another direction. Without it, maybe I wouldn't appreciate what I have today....

Congratulations, Lisa! I’m glad you went for the gusto, and if Willie Nelson and Ray Benson aren’t the gusto – who is???

"One of the finest albums ever recorded." - Austin Music City

Photo by Lisa Pollard

"Asleep at the Wheel's take on Western swing should be especially interesting to fans of early 20th-century American popular music. Their fidelity to the source material means that traces of jazz swing, ragtime and Dixieland are preserved as if in amber, sounding much as they did in the '30s and '40s." - Washington Times

photo by Lisa Pollard

"The set is so authentic that one almost feels guilty listening to it on modern speakers instead of seated around the old Victrola." – Billboard

"Bright, playful and exploding with verve, 'Willie and the Wheel' is one of the first great albums of 2009." - The Washington Post

I'm curious - did you stray before you realized what your 3rd-grade self told you to do???

Lavender Chicks in a Silver Barn!

2009-03-14T15:34:00.017-05:00

You have to check out these cute lavender chicks (or hens, which are more like it) I bought last month at Silver Barn Antiques in Columbus, Texas. I LOVE Silver Barn Antiques for several reasons. First of all, they have some very unique finds for your home, and lots of great choices for that special gift for the person who has everything. Most importantly they carry top of the line body care – and because they have SUCH distinguished taste, their body care line includes Hummingbird Farms Aromatherapy Body Care. Of course!

Now take a closer look and you will see that these hens are actually made of lavender buds. Check it out!

Isn’t that great! This is going to be my next project. Well – let me restate that. This will be my mother’s next project. Between the two of us, I think we can figure out how she can make these cute little lavender hens.

They’re basically made out of styrofoam and loose lavender buds. Now Lord knows I have bushels and bushels of lavender buds! So – Mom, if you’re reading this, go buy styrofoam and let’s get started!

The tail looks like pieces of shaved bark.

The wings are made of the same shaved bark, which I’m sure you can find at any craft store.

The red stuff is crepe paper. Not sure yet what the little beak is. Who knows, maybe Michael’s sells little chicken beaks. Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions on how to make these lavender hens I’m all ears. I think it would be a great project.

In the meantime, if you would rather just buy them (which is what I did), contact Silver Barn Antiques and I’m sure they will fix you right up!

Because I'm trying to blog more often I'm posting meaningless stuff... But it's good stuff!

2009-03-10T21:46:00.010-05:00

Okay y'all - I'm really trying to be more consistent with all my blogging stuff. My whole blogging love affair seems to be peaks and valleys. I'm either on the peak and blogging my brains out or I'm in the depths of the valley and totally lost out there in the desert somewhere...

So - with that said, I'm going to start posting stuff. Just any kind of stuff. And speaking of stuff, I have a lot of stuff. As many of you know, we've been under construction for a long, long time. So long in fact that I can't even remember the stuff I have. Most of it has been in storage since 2003. But - today I want to show you something new:

It's my new Hundi Lamp that we just placed above my coveted tub. I had a smaller, little dinky chandelier thing up there before, but it just didn't fit. I'm really proud of how the hundi lamp fits the space.

So - my hundi lamp is is something new, but moving forward I'm going to begin showing you my old things. I'm making a concerted effort to stop buying stuff. I have enough stuff and I want to fall in love again with the stuff I already have. Over the next few weeks as I uncover, unpack, and dust off my old stuff, I will snap a picture and tell you the story behind it. I think I've mentioned to you before that I would rather have one really nice thing than a whole bunch of meaningless things. And boy - do I have a lot of special things AND a lot of stories about those things.... So - stay tuned for stories about my stuff, and of course other good things that might come up in between. In fact, I know I'm going to have an in between story about my friend since 3rd grade. It's good stuff! (I'm just so proud!)

P.S. If you look really closely out the windows, you will see some of my cows. How lucky am I to be able to bathe in my coveted tub with a herd of longhorns outside my windows??? To me, that is living well. As George Strait says, "There's a difference in living and living well." At Hummingbird Farms, I'm living well...

Lavender Chick is too busy gloating about her new bull to blog...

2009-03-07T16:10:00.013-06:00

Hi! I'm the newest member out at Hummingbird Farms. I'm a Longhorn Bull Calf and I'm one-week old.

Mmmmmm! Milk is good!

This is my cousin Gran. She's big. I'm little. Gran is my best friend.

I love living here at Hummingbird Farms.

Okay - I'm tired now and have to take a nap. Lavender Chick will be blogging soon. Right now she's busy tackling this:

It's her new home office that is finally finished after 4 years!! She has to start putting all this stuff up. She has a lot of junk that needs a home....

Hi! Do ya’ll remember me?

2009-02-20T22:40:00.013-06:00

I’m that girl that is living on a lavender farm trying to build my body care empire while also spending 60 hours a week at my real job to pay for my body care empire dreams; the girl that has been living in a house under construction for 3 years who is trying to have that dream home she’s been dreaming about for 40 years; the girl that never knows if she’s coming or going because she has bitten off way more than she could possibly ever chew; the girl that is working on some new packaging design of her lavender products; the one who has a crashed website because she’s been too busy to meet with a web design/host person to get back up and running; the girl that talked her husband into planting several acres of lavender of which we’re still trying to figure what in the world we’re doing; that person that has longhorn cows that are treated more like very large pet dogs that are eating her out of house and home; the girl with 4 dogs, one of which has just had knee surgery (the second one in 15 months), who is going to go broke paying for vet bills…

Okay, enough of that – I’m wearing myself out…

Anyway, I’m back to blogging for a bit before I get off on another project that will take me way off course again. In the meantime, I wanted to tell ya’ll about my wonderful long weekend in Houston. I talked my sister into going on a date with her husband so I could babysit my nieces and nephew. My nephew is 17 months old now and my sister and her husband have not had one night away without kids in – well let’s see…. Ever. They simply don’t do things without the kids so I talked them into renting a hotel room in Houston for Valentines weekend to do – well, you know…. Anyway, they took me up on the offer and my nieces couldn’t shove their parents out the door fast enough. We waved goodbye and then started jumping up and down yelling Par-tay!!!! And then we broke out the junk food.

Let me introduce you to my nieces again:

The oldest one is Jilly Bean and the little one is Miss High Falutin’. I call her Miss High Falutin’ because….

She’s just high falutin'. What can I say?

Jilly Bean is the athlete. And quite the comedian.

And this is the baby…

How cute is that? I made sure to take on the responsibility of teaching him NOW that bubble baths can cure any ailment or any bad moods… He’s taking to it nicely.

I had a great time with the kids and of course was very responsible in my caretaking . I didn’t want the little darlings to get sick on too much Valentine candy, so I rummaged through their goody bags from their school Valentines Day parties and stuffed 49 tootsie rolls in my mouth over a 10 hour period whenever they weren’t looking. I mean, you know – it was what was best for them. I also limited their enriched flour intake by hiding Valentines Day frosted sugar cookies in my suitcase from them. I’m very concerned about any gluten allergies they could possibly have… I would never consider this as stealing food from my nieces. I was simply demonstrating leadership in child-rearing. I'm just still wondering why they kept getting so upset with me when I would lock myself up in the closet with their goody bags…

In all seriousness, I have to applaud once again all you moms out there. Kids are great! But SO exhausting. It’s A LOT of work. I mean, I work hard – you all know my crazy schedule. But keeping kids is a different kind of hard work. When my sister got home on Sunday I had to take a nap before I could venture out on my drive home. I was completely worn out. In a good way, of course… But, I have to tell ya’, I’m not smart enough, wise enough, or athletic enough to raise kids. In fact, the only thing I think I can raise right now is my glass of cabernet to all you moms out there… Cheers!

Last but not least, I have to update you on our new roommate. Remember me telling you that Jack met a cowboy at WalMart and the next thing I knew he was moving in? You just never know who you’ll bump into at WalMart. Anyway, this is who he is:

His name is Damon Rogers and he’s a real bull-fighter. I’m still cracking myself up over the fact that my husband dragged him home. You know – we have 13 animals in total which I think is PLENTY. I warned Jack a while back that he couldn’t bring home anymore stray animals…. BUT, I didn’t clarify that that included stray humans...

Seriously, we are enjoying Damon and are glad to know him. He’s in a transitional phase right now so bunking here for a bit. He’s been our evening entertainment and we will both miss him when he’s gone…. Oh - And he's a darn good horse trainer and farrier. So - if you happen to be in the Hill Country and need shoes for your horse(s) give Damon a call!

Okay – I’m done and going to bed. I’m truly exhausted and the truth is feeling a little puny. I missed a great party in Austin tonight because of it… And you know, far be it from me to miss a good party! Seems I’m paying a price for 49 tootsie rolls and 10 pounds of sugar cookies. Oh – and hanging out with kids with runny noses and coughs. Like I said, I’m just not tough enough to raise kids….

Hummingbird Farms is the place to be!

2009-02-07T15:42:00.027-06:00

Jack and I had a great visit in California and can't wait to go back! We did what we always do as soon as we got off the plane at LAX. We first drove through In-N-Out Burger for Jack, and then straight to Wahoo's for fish tacos for me! I proceeded to eat fish tacos everyday for lunch for four days, and Jack proceeded to eat an In-N-Out burger everyday for four days. When people ask me what I miss most about living in LA, it's always - Fish Tacos!

Of course I had to squeeze in a burger, too, because you know - it's just not American to go to L.A. and not eat an In-N-Out burger! When Jack and I were dating and he was living in Dallas and I was in L.A., he wanted me to check into Fed Ex'ing an overnight In-N-Out burger to him. We decided it could be done, but the buns would probably get way too soggy, hence ruining his love for In-N-Out. It simply wouldn't be worth compromising such a work of art.

So anyway, we get off the plane and I get that immediate giddy, high-energy feeling I always get when I visit my Manhattan's - that would be Manhattan as in Manhattan Beach, south of Los Angeles, and Manhattan as in New York City. I love me some Manhattan! I just love me some city!

So my head is spinning with pure excitement and joy to be in Los Angeles again. I'm thinking to my self, I AM a city-girl, really I am - this is where I'm supposed to be....

We enjoy our entire time there. Of course we had some really good food - we did manage to break away from Wahoo's and In-N-Out for some other fine fare. Notice I said, "other fine fare." Wahoo's IS fine fare! We also enjoyed just hanging out and soaking up the California scene and all the pretty people. All the skinny people that is...

Good Lord! Some of those girls were just WAY too skinny. I felt sorry for them! In fact, when one girl walked by I told Jack that someone needed to give that poor thing a piece of pie. Bless her heart!

The weather couldn't have been better. It was absolutely perfect, in fact. And so we had a wonderful time in sunny Southern California.

But then it came time to go home. Of course I was missing my animals, but life in the city was sure good for a change. I kind of felt like me again...

And then we landed back in Austin. As I got off the plane there was a Bob Wills song playing on the intercom and that familiar I'm home feeling actually felt quite nice. As we left the airport and got deeper into the Hill Country, I felt myself relax. My heart rate sort of slowed down a few beats. I noticed how the sky opened up and I was surrounded by miles and miles of Texas; it made me feel small. It made me smile on the inside.

Then we drove into the gate to Hummingbird Farms and the cows greeted us from the pasture. As I walked into the house, Birdie was so excited to see me she sprinkled all over herself, me, and the floor. Oh well - a little tee-tee never hurt anybody! And Big just kept jumping up and down, up and down; all the while, my kitty Festus was walking figure eight's between my ankles, wrapping his tail across my calves. Lupe was chirping a mile a minute, saying, "I'm over here in my cage, come get me, come get me!"

And then I saw a huge pile of cow manure just outside the dining room window where Bob had spent the last 4 days staring in wondering where we all were.

And that's when I said to myself, this is where I'm supposed to be.... Hummingbird Farms is the place to be!

On the road again....

2009-02-02T22:43:00.004-06:00

Hi ya’ll! I am VERY behind on blogging and want you all to know how much I thank you for stopping by. I only have a few more days to go and I’ll be back home with a weekend upon me so I can get caught up with all of you. I’m in week two of traveling - some for fun, but mostly for business. Here are just a few things that have happened since the last time I checked in:

1. Our web site crashed! Oh yes it did… What luck! And just before Valentines Day. Arrrgh! Our web host was able to put up a temporary page in the meantime….
2. My cousin Travis graduated from the Marines!
3. My nephew turned 16 today… I can’t believe my little groundhog is 16!
4. Some progress has been made on our 224 construction projects… One down, 223 more to go!
5. I’ve been to Los Angeles, San Diego, back home, and now in Dallas for the week.
6. Last, but not least, my husband met a cowboy in the checkout line at WalMart the other day who is in between rodeos and kind of in a transition phase. The next thing I knew he was moving in! Yep, we have us a new roommate. More about this later….

I’ll be checking in soon – Again, I’m sorry for being MIA, but look forward to getting caught up with everyone over the weekend. I’m ready for a day of being couchy and bloggy – my two favorite hobbies right now. Well, next to bubble baths! Too bad I can’t blog from the tub…

Look ya'll! Two awards!

2009-01-23T23:16:00.008-06:00

During my little absence I have been honored with 2 wonderful awards:

The Polka Dotted Owl over at The Magic Risotto Diaries awarded this to me. This is what is said about this fine award:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to three bloggers who must choose three more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Thank you, Polka Dotted Owl Girl! I love her because she keeps me young and has great music on her blog that takes me back to my hey day... She always has some kind of great 80's stuff playing.

And for the record, I had to look up the defintion of "self-aggrandizement" to be sure that I'm not that.... Is that a college word or what? The definition of self-aggrandizement is 'the act or practice of enhancing or exaggerating one's own importance, power, or reputation. I'm glad to know I'm not that. I mean, I can't be that since I was given this award and everything....

This is how behind I am in blogging ya'll. Not only was Polka Dotted Owl girl so sweet to honor me with this award, but she also honored me with one more:

The Honest Scrap Award, which was also given to me by Paige at Paige's Petals. Thanks, girls! I really enjoy both of your blogs and am honored that you thought about me! Okay, with the Honest Scrap Award comes some rules:

First, choose a minimum of seven blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Secondly, show the seven winners' names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Scrap". Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. Lastly, list at least ten honest things about yourself.

BecauseI have difficulty following the rules, I'm awarding four and combining the two awards together (I'm actually only doing 4 awards because a lot of you have already been awarded):

1. Painted Groove
2. The Pampered World
3. Silver*Moon*Studio
4. Am I Crazy, Really?

Ten Honest Things About Me:

I'm a bather, not a shower-er (does this make sense ya'll?)

I wore braces when I was 36 year old. I now know why braces were meant for 12-year-olds...

I'm quite competitive when it comes to business. Go figure. Although I love being home and lounging about the farm, I will always be involved in running or owning my own business. It just gets my juices flowing for some reason....

I'm eerily claustrophobic.

I hate going to the grocery store.

I consider myself open-minded.

I would rather have one really nice thing than a bunch of trendy/fun things (clothes, jewelry, art, furniture, etc.)

I'm a procrastinator. Give me a deadline and I REALLY procrastinate.

I don't like to read directions. This drives Jack crazy, so he's the direction reader in the family. If I can't figure it out on my own, it must be broken or wrong....

I have feet issues: (a). I don't want anybody's feet touching my feet. Please keep your feet to yourself. I don't want to see them or touch them. (b). I never walk around in bare feet, even in my own house. Walking around in bare feet could easily take me over the edge. (c). The last thing I do every night is put lotion on my feet. My feet can't go under the covers until they're all lotioned up. I sit on the edge of the bed, with my feet never touching the floor, and lotion up... (with Hummingbird No. 145 of course!) Ooops! Was that self-aggrandizement???

So see ya’ll… Not only do I have a ghost, but I’m neurotic to boot! I'm just weird. I might even be a passive aggrandizer...

I Wanna Be A Cowboy...

2009-01-19T11:42:00.006-06:00

Hi! My name is Big and I'm a cowboy. Some people might think I'm a Standard Poodle, but I'm not.

I'm a cowboy. I don't like to take baths, get groomed, or wear collars and leashes.

When I was little my mom wanted to dress me up and put me on a leash and take me around town. That's for poodles, not cowboys.

I like the open range, chasing cows, and herding cats. That's what I do. I'm a cowboy.

She has a name and a story to tell…

2009-01-17T22:38:00.004-06:00

My sister and I were sitting in the living room visiting. She had just arrived from west Texas for a quick visit. She hadn’t been in but about ten minutes when Jack walked into the door. He had been gone most of the day with Glenn, a local farmer and long-time resident of the area. As Jack sits down with us and joins in on the conversation, my sister says, “Hey, Deb, by the way – have you seen anymore ghosts lately?” Jack has a perplexed look on his face and asks what we’re talking about. I said, “oh, honey it’s really nothing. I never said anything to you because it was just some strange something that happened; I don’t know if I saw a ghost, but something strange happened.”

He looked at me with curiosity, saying “well, what happened?” I said, “The day you left to go fishing last month I was sitting on the bed upstairs and saw something in my peripheral vision. It all happened very suddenly, in a split second, but I saw this woman hanging from a noose in the bathroom. As soon as I turned my head to look she was gone, but it was so real. Although it all happened in a flash, it was vivid enough for me to know that it was a woman. It was just really strange. I never told you because by the time you got home from your fishing trip several days later I had pretty much convinced myself that I must have been dozing off and it was a dream or something.”

Jack then said, “You’re not going to believe this – let me tell you what Glenn told me today.” Jack went on to say that Glenn’s father (who was in his 90’s) told him a story about coming out to our place over 50 years ago after a woman had committed suicide by hanging herself out here.

Of course my sister and I are both sitting there with our jaws dropped. We couldn’t believe someone had actually died from a hanging out here. When Jack and I bought this farm no one had ever mentioned anything like this before.

Several weeks went by and I never had any other strange sightings or sounds. Then one day a very nice lady I will call Mrs. L stopped by and introduced herself. She is in her 70’s and had just moved across the highway from us to what she called “her family homestead.” She said that she had grown up out here and that at one time her family had owned all the land on both sides of the highway, including our place. She was very friendly and wanted us to know who she was and that she was now our neighbor. After she left I told Jack that we should ask her sometime if she knows anything about a hanging out here.

Then, shortly after meeting Mrs. L, a REALLY strange thing happened. This is very odd ya’ll and makes seeing ghosts hanging from nooses sound normal. Okay – let me set this up for you. Please stay with me on this one:

I’m back upstairs alone, reading in bed late at night. All of a sudden a woman with long brunette hair comes and sits on the foot of my bed and talks to me. I know, I know, it’s very weird. But she speaks to me ya’ll… It was such an odd moment. It sort of felt like a dream, but I knew I wasn’t dreaming. I wasn’t even reading anything intense or mind jolting that could have caused my brain to play tricks on me. I was reading People Magazine for God’s sake! I don’t know how else to explain what happened other than it felt like a dream but I was wide awake. She said to me that she understood what I was going through. That she, too, was my age when she had breast cancer but no one knew what was wrong with her; that her cancer had spread to her bones and she was in excruciating pain and simply couldn’t bear it any longer. She said, “I had to end the pain, but you’re going to be okay.” (For the record, I had just had my final reconstructive surgery from breast cancer about a month earlier).

Another couple of weeks went by and Jack ran into Mrs. L once again. As they visited for a bit, Jack asked her if she knew anything about someone hanging themselves out here. She said, “Yes, that was my aunt.” She went on to say that her aunt was 41 or 42 and had two children that were around 11 and 13 when she committed suicide. Jack said, “I don’t know how to say this, but I think my wife saw her spirit.”

Several days later Mrs. L came back over. She wanted me to describe to her what I saw; she asked me what color hair this spirit had. I responded that it was dark. She then asked me if her hair was long or short. I said that when I saw her hanging from the noose I thought her hair was short, but the woman that sat on my bed had long flowing brunette hair. Mrs. L confirmed that her aunt had long brunette hair, but always wore it up with a braid across her head. I went on to say that she was wearing a dress that looked more like a long apron. Mrs. L said she had on a long apron that went over her head when she killed herself. Mrs. L then showed me an old black and white family photograph. It was a photo of a very large family, probably a picture from a family reunion. There were at least 15 men and women in the photograph. As she showed it to me she said, “Does anyone in this picture look familiar?” I pointed right to her saying “this is her,” and Mrs. L shakes her head, “yes, that was my aunt.”

I told Mrs. L that her aunt had spoken to me and told me she had cancer that had spread to her bones and was in horrible pain, which is why she had to end her life. Mrs. L responded with a very blank look on her face, “My goodness, we all thought she was a hypochondriac and just wanted to get out of doing all her chores. She always said she was sick but no one ever believed her.”

You see ya’ll, life in the Hill Country sixty years ago was rough. Water was scarce and even electricity was not introduced in this area until the 1940’s. It was a very rugged way of life. Everyone had to pull their weight and do their fair share; I’m sure it was non-stop work from sun-up until sundown.

So now let me throw one more twist into this story: Her children are still living. Her daughter is in a nursing home, but her son is living about 40 minutes north of here. He actually came out to visit and brought more family pictures. Although he seemed happy and content while he was here, Mrs. L (his cousin) told us that he really got choked up about the whole ordeal after he got back home.

After all these years her son was able to put closure to why his mother took her life. He had spent his entire life wondering why….

Since she sat on the foot of my bed I have never heard another thing from her. I believe her story has finally been told, and she is finally resting in peace.

Bulls & Ghosts - They both go bump in the night...

2009-01-16T18:45:00.009-06:00

Check out this big bull! He's huge....

He decided to visit Hummingbird Farms, un-invited, and attempt to court my girls.... Can you believe it? What a bully! He must have been raised in a barn to just come right on over without an invitation. In my day, the boys would at least call first before bulldozing their way in.... You know, the decency of a booty-call.

And this is the damage he created to get over here. See the sign in the top right corner? It says 'no trespassing'. How rude! He didn't even read the sign! I guess we'll know next September if we have more Bob's.... We REALLY wanted more longhorns. But, what do you do? You just have to love all your grand baby's, whatever they might be....

Okay, let's change topics and talk about my ghost. I AM going to tell you the story. It is quite bizarre and believe me - if anyone else ever told me the story I'm going to tell you I would think they had had one too many Coors Lights. Or need to increase the dose of their anti-psychotic medication. But, this really happened. My delay in telling y'all the story right here in Blogland is because at one time my ghost was a real person that once lived here. She deserves her dignity. She also has living survivors... Before she entered into this new dimension, she was someone's mother, sister, and aunt. She has a name AND has a story to tell. For what ever reason, she chose me to tell it. I simply want to honor her and the family she has left behind....

So - as soon as I can reach the proper people for their blessing, I must refrain from gabbing.... And for those of you that know me, I have a very difficult time not gabbing. But - I will do it for her....

I’m too tired to sleep because I have insomnia. And a ghost…

2009-01-10T12:38:00.004-06:00

I have no idea what has caused this current bout of insomnia. I generally sleep like a baby, but I do have an episode about once a year when I can’t sleep. Unfortunately, it’s that time of year. One of my problems that yields my inability to go to sleep is the darn ritual I have to go through in order to go to bed….

My friend Sami and I always talk about how we’re too tired to go to bed. Do you understand what we’re talking about? This whole week I was dead-dog tired; simply too tired to go to sleep. You see, by the time I drag my aching bones to bed I have to detour into the bathroom for the face washing ritual. For some reason, the older I get the longer this ritual is taking. I suppose it’s because every year I have to add another step or layer for my face….

Anyway, by the time I do all this, which includes 5 minutes of splashing water all over my face, I’m wide awake. So I lie in bed, wide awake AND exhausted, and stare… How is it possible to be wide awake, but exhausted???

I finally decided that perhaps my insomnia was due to the fact that my ghost was missing me and needed me in my old bedroom. YES – I said it y’all…. MY GHOST! I have this sweet little lady that lives in our old farmhouse. I really don’t like to refer to her as a ghost, but as a spirit. Many of y’all know that we’ve been involved in some construction for quite some time while adding on to the old farmhouse. We’ve moved into our newly constructed bedroom which is actually quite pleasant. My little ghost, however, doesn’t go into the new part of the house; she’s just not into change. So – because I was so tired of being tired, and had read everything there was to read on my bedside table, I grabbed my pillow and headed upstairs to my old bedroom and slept like a baby.

She was calling me home…

Oaky – so I’ve said it… I’ve admitted to having a ghost. She’s actually very friendly and has spoken to me. YES – I said that, too: SHE SPOKE TO ME. So now that you all think I’m nuts (and you could be right) I’m going to end here. I do have an interesting story about her… but, trying to put it on paper is all so very complicated. Also, out of respect to her family (which some are still living and I have met), I don’t want to say too much until they’ve given me their blessing. I will say this – she’s friendly and sweet and I’m not the least bit scared.

She gives me peace...

And she has rockin’ long brunette hair!

A Farmer & His Poodle...

2009-01-02T11:59:00.006-06:00

There's nothing better than a confidant man with his poodle!

I know my feet are muddy, but can I please come in?????

Want to cat around?

Hummingbird Farms' Newest Baby...

2008-12-27T14:20:00.005-06:00

This is one proud Mama!

And this is one sweet baby! We're calling her "Gran."

This picture was taken the day after she was born. Guess what? She was born right in the middle of the lavender field! Just before taking this picture, her Mama brought her up to our dining room windows to show her off. I wish I had my camera then.... Anyway, it was so obvious that she was proud and wanted us to see her new baby!

YEEHAW!!!! Santa Did Good!

2008-12-26T14:10:00.004-06:00

This is my precious newphew. I don't think there's anything else I can say except - Is he not the cutest little thing???? My cup runneth over....

Bob knows taxes...

2008-12-24T08:50:00.006-06:00

This is the chaos on my dining room table as we prepare for that glorious time of year known as tax time. Anyway, as I sat here for an entire day last Saturday, I had a visitor the entire time.

It was Bob, our not so longhorn. If you haven't heard the story of Bob, I'll give you a quick update. Bob is the product of an Angus Bull that jumped the fence to Hummingbird Farms.... We apparently have the most beautiful longhorn girls in the county, as all bulls come from far and wide in an attempt to court one of our girls. Bob doesn't have a clue that he's not a longhorn... And of course we're raising him as a longhorn. Bob is also VERY curious and comes up to the house everyday to check out what we're doing.

This is why I can't keep my dining room window clean. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep cow snot off your windows???

Bob hung out with me all day; in fact, he spent so much time watching me work he could probably use a calculator by now.... I'm sure he could at least make file folders. Needless to say, Bob got a thorough tutorial on tax filing. I wonder if Bob is tax deductible?

My laptop is all hosed up....

2008-12-18T22:34:00.002-06:00

So, I really haven't fallen off the face of the earth y'all, I'm simply having technical difficulties. I should be back up and running by Monday or Tuesday with new pics to show you as well as some stories about what's been going on around here for the last week or so.

Here are just a few things that happened in a week:

Went to a beautiful wedding - I mean GORGEOUS; had a ball!
Went to a funeral
Birthed a new baby longhorn!!!
Went to another funeral

So - as you can see, it's been quite a week... A roller-coaster week of emotions, that's for sure. Can you believe a wedding and two funerals in one week???

More about all that later - we're all a little exhausted right now. We're as happy as we can be for our friends that got married; but, our hearts are sure breaking for two special friends that have lost a parent.

I will be back real soon.... I miss checking in with all of you. I'm very behind in leaving comments and getting caught up, but hopefully some downtime will come available this weekend so I can see what all my blogging buddies have been up to.

I'm off to take a bubble bath....