Dial-up Devil

Oh I could just sing the dial-up blues...is there a song like that? There should be! Living in the sticks has wonderful benefits but the big downfall (aside from malls being 50 miles away...which could be a benefit) is dial-up! Oh you can get the satellite feed, tack that baby onto your directv bill and you are looking at $200 a month! Not for me, oh no, I just suffer and complain and listen to my freinds tell me something is wrong with my phone because my line just rings and rings therefore I have resorted to short bursts of internet activity just in case someone other than a telemarketer might call. My short bursts of activity do allow me to get some housecleaning done! Say for instance I want to click on a link to a site, well I can do a sink full of dishes by the time that page comes up fully loaded or run to the barn and feed the horse, hang out a line of clothes AND load the washing machine. Seems I should limit my short bursts of interent activity!
I do dream about those web pages turning so fast they are a mere blur on my screen while I bid within the last 5 seconds of an eBay auction and win...ahh wake me up...I have to start my bidding within the last 10 minutes if I want to have a chance of being the high bidder.
OK I will face it, having dial-up really is saving me money, I cant navigate to a checkout without the website timing out or the whole computer freezing, isnt that a positive thing? But buying online and paying small shipping charges to have things delivered to my doorstep versus spending minimum $50 roundtrip to the mall, plus lunch (of course), and that stuff we need because its on sale or those things we should get since we are out, that all adds up! I think if I calculate this vs. that Directv or Hughesnet as they call could be the bigger bargain!
Let me see...hughesnet.com...coming up in 15 minutes and timing out...

Life in the Raw

I know this title isnt very pleasant sounding but then not all that happens in life is pleasant. When you hear people say "I never thought it could happen to me", well, it did, does and just might, the possibility is always there though we dont like to think about it. OK, that said herein lies the explaination to the title and what follows, to an extent.

I found out this weekend about an award given to firefighters in my hometown for bravery beyond the call. Just so happened I went in for a visit with my family and ran into the wife of one of the guys I worked with at the department for 20 years. She said he had been awarded the Willie Ryman Medal of Honor two weeks earlier and I, wondering why no one knew about it, found that not a thing was in the paper, on the TV stations...nada...just a quiet ceremony for city employees given their yearly awards...who drove the garbage truck without an accident, etc., etc., etc.. Hmmm this award is pretty darn important, this guy, Pat Beagle suffered severe burns to his hands while trying to rescue an elderly woman. This award wasnt about who did the most paper work or won grants or made it every day to work on time and with a smile...this was about life in the raw. Anyone who has spent any time around a firefighter knows there are stories, be it funny, sad, usually unbelievable as real life is, it is what I think of as life in the raw, life in the trenches...no facade, no makeup...the real thing. Pat Beagle would be one who took hold of the situation and just did what he had to do, like most firefighters, not just a job but a way of life.

The Willie Ryman Medal of Honor...the highest award given for bravery...above and beyond...the ultimate.

Now for the rest of the story...Willie Ryman was a firefighter and he was my brother and the award was named after him...for sacrificing the ultimate, acting above and beyond the call of duty, for giving his life to save others...my daughter's lives. Even in the face of death he went a step beyond without regard to his own safety. Thats how it is for some people, alot of everyday people whose heroic hearts overcome fear to save another from danger from that rawness that life can be.

God Bless those with the heart of a Hero.

God Bless you, Billy, I Love You

Goodnight.

Here Again

Here I am again with a life that is somewhat back in order. Whew, is school finally out? Really, it feels like summer has hardly gotten under way and it's where...almost over? I have to make a few more dates with my porch rocker and a cup of coffee in the mornings instead of starting with HOUSEWORK as soon as my feet hit the floor. Do you feel like you have it all under control when you slip under the covers at night but when you wake in the morning...hello...there is more to be done?!

I have been trying to go "green", I have, it's alot of work! I hang my clothes on the line and to be more efficient I wash the clothes at night (using cold water) and they are ready in the morning to be hung and dried in the hot sun, of course 4 or more loads follow. I have bought and used the Seventh Generation products and am hooked. I wonder if our grandmothers knew they were hip and "green" 70 years ago? Anyone remember wringer washers, I'm dating myself but I did help granny use one IN HER YARD!!! Then we hung the clothes on the line, my line is made just like my granny's with a stick to hold the line up in the middle. I have also stopped running the AC during the day, up with the windows and let the outside in, its not so bad even in the Texas heat! However, when company comes I have a good excuse to turn on the cold...hehe!

My weekends revolve around my job in Round Top, it's great! I have made some wonderful friends and found that the world is indeed small, alot of people walk through this small town.

I do find time to work on my necklaces at night, thats the time I feel the most creative though I usually regret the late hours I keep the next morning. Thought I would post of few pics...

I also did a few bottles..my kids say creepy-cool...

I Love, I Love, I Love My Calendar Girlz!!!

These are some of the great Women of Round Top who bared

their souls and more to benefit the La Grange Animal Shelter!

This particular image featuresmy Art "Salon" friends. Since I was new

to the group I volunteered to take the picture (whew).

If you have been on the square in Round Top

then you have probably seen the Tijuana Taxi

Mary Lou, the owner, jokes about having a nickel

for every picture taken of the car...maybe

I will glue a coffee can to the hood for all those nickels!

The calendar features

many notable, noble women including Grande Dame Emma Lee...

she is such a wonderful woman...to see the rest of the calendar

you will have to make a donation and get one of your own,

email Deb at http://womenofroundtop@yahoo.com/ for

more information!

I think Nancy was really surprised!

Lenore and Carol enjoy celebrity status!

After alot of hard work, Mary Lou counts the rewards...

job well done girls...aarrff aarrff, meow meow (thats thanks from the animals)

Deb, Nancy and Deb cant stop smiling and strike a clothed pose!

I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and email Deb Taylor to order

your very own 2009 Women of Round Top calendar!

The guys are thinking of doing one for 2010 but they want

to call it The Guts of Round Top...is Brad Pitt still in town????

How Time Flies

I was thinking about how fast time does fly by. Last week I enjoyed antique week with my cousin, Chickie, from Missouri. We had been planning this since January and it was sure taking a long time to get here but now it has come and gone...I feel kind of lost. I know we all feel that way now and then, work up to the big moment and then its over. Next year we are planning another trip and adding another friend to the adventure...wow, planning a year ahead...I am starting now...it begins again!!!
I met so many wonderful people at Round Top this spring...I hope many return for the October show!
The blog party arranged by Heather Bullard was wonderful! So many inspiring, talented women, it was hard to believe I was meeting them in person! Thank you for the precious gifts girls...the soap from Raised in Cotton...unbelievable fabulous!

We made many venues over 2 weeks with an early start, which seems to get earlier each season, however its really the only way to see it all. By the time Chickie flew in I had mapped out the choicest spots (haha, they all are) and we were on a whirlwind tour ending up almost every night for a little party at Lizzie Lu's in Round Top...the hippiest, most happinin place around! Speaking of...I will be posting pics of the Women of Round Top calendar soon...be on the lookout for some beautiful souls!! Until then...Bless yall!!!

Texas Tease

Antique week is ALMOST in full swing...lots of people buying, selling, shopping, having a great time AND its only Friday!!

The past two days at Lizzie Lu's, on the square in Round Top, has been buzzin' and alot has to do with the new Women of Round Top calendar for 2009! Remember the movie Calendar Girls? Well, the real women of Round Top have come out with their own fab version and it's HOT, right off the truck as of 5:30 this evening! The profits benefit the LaGrange Animal Shelter, you will be surprised by who has bared (tastefully) their lovely skin so run down and grab a great calendar before they are all gone!

This is Lizzie Lu's, owned by Mary Lou Marks and Elizabeth Supple...

Come by and check out all the neat merchandise inside and out. The shop is open late so if you are waiting for an open table at Royers cafe, which is next door, come on in and join the locals for a bit of chit chat peppered with that Texas twang...be warned...it does get a little wild now and then. Hope to see you soon!

Big Texas Welcome

OK, yall...it's on...the time we have been waiting for is here!

Went out to Excess Monday to check things out...ooooo...it's good!
Lots of nature; birds, nests, bugs, animals, branches...bringing the indoors out!
This is a pic of La Petite Ferme...wonderful, beautiful, inspirational...stop in and see!

Of course we couldnt resist taking to the fields, some vendors were selling while setting up and we were getting first pick of treasures as they were unloaded, now that was fun! One field after another and we ended up far from the car but that was ok we just found more friends and more things we couldnt live without on the way back.

Sweet Peas had their booth gussied up with lots of greenery and ribbons and of course overflowing with lucious bedding and pillows and all sorts of linens to make your palace even more welcoming...

My friends, Mary Lou and Elizabeth have opened a great new shop in Round Top in the old Post Office next to Royers...Lizzie Lu's...I will be helping out over there this Thursday. There is alot of great, unusual stuff...love linen? I confess, I am a linen freak and Elizabeth has a great collection of "cool" clothing for the coming hot Texas days. You can even find some of my jewelry "boxes", each with a different collage surprise inside...including my daughter's favorite "creepy" dollhead pieces!

I will post pics of the shop later tonight...dial-up is not cooperating with uploads...until then...

gityer boots ready...