A Little Of This And A Little Of That…

I have been trying since I’ve been here to get a picture of the guineas.  These three are called “The Survivors”.  They are the only ones out of fourteen that survived an attack by dogs that were running in the area.  They are pretty shy of anything and anybody which is probably why they are the Survivors. This morning as I was leaving to go help Bro get his place cleaned up so we can start moving things from storage, the guineas were marchin’… see how they are all in step? The left foot on the ground and all three have the right foot steppin’ out across the drive.

They have a little route that they follow every day.  They peck around the back yard then they go around to the front, then across the road to the neighbors and wander around there for a bit then make their way back to the home place.

      They are never very far from each other as they trek around.  And after their day is done I think they roost in the hay barn just a couple of hundred feet south of the house.  They are fascinating to watch because they are flat intent on their mission unless interrupted by people or dogs that get too close… then they are off and going until they feel safe then it’s back to work.

Today has been just one of those gray, misty rainy days that you get tired of in the winter.  The temperature has been mild this last couple of days, in the mid forties, but there is just enough moisture in the air to make you want to stay inside.  Unless you are like me and something catches your eye and out you go into it in a tee shirt and jeans without a coat.  I thought these would be interesting pictures to share with you all on this gray day…

  Quiet reflections on the pond just northeast of the house…

This one there was just the slightest breeze to soften the sharpness around the edges a bit.

This was what I spotted that made me grab my camera in the first place.  This mimosa tree is just about ten feet from the back deck.  I loved the textures and the colors and on a gray misty day they seem to be so much brighter.

So this is the entertainment in my world.  And I love it.  Makes me want to get my paints out again and I haven’t wanted to do that in a long time.

On another note I would like to ask all of you for prayers for my sister and her husband.  Bill has been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and he has elected to buy a little more time to be with his family by taking chemo.  They switched to a new chemo this week because the tumors had grown even while taking the first rounds of chemo.  Anyway, they have been married for 48 years and he and Sue have four boys that live close enough to help out but it looks like it’s going to be a hard fight.  Sue is a nurse practitioner so she totally understands what’s going on, but your husband is different from your patients.  You can’t separate your emotions from your husband as you must do with your patients. So I just thought I’d ask you to keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Enjoy your weekend and be sure to tell someone you love that you do love them.  You never know how long you will have them around. 

In A Remembering Mood...

I guess with all that's gone on in the past week, I'm somewhat in a looking back mood. These three woman, these sisters were the major influence of my life.

My mom, Mary Lou, is on the right,who raised me and my five brothers and sisters.

Aunt Mack (Maxine), mom to my cousins Nancy Gale, Ray and Carol, who just lost her husband.

Aunt Pauline, mom of my cousins Michael and Bonnie.

These three were so different in so many ways and yet, so alike in so many ways.

This photo is the only one that I know of that has all of us cousins together. On the back row (l-r)is Nancy Gale, my oldest brother Bill, and my oldest sister Lou Ann. The next row (l-r) is my middle brother Walter, Ray Lynn and Michael. The two taller girls are my middle sister Sue and Carol. Then Bonnie with the gorgeous curls, my baby brother Bennett and yours truly.

I interrupted my story with this photo just because I had been talking to my cousins Carol and Nancy after the funeral and said something about it and since Carol reads my blog, she and Nancy can see the photo and print it off so they will have a copy.

But I digress... or is it regress?? Back to the sisters.


In their growing up, they were raised out in Canadian Texas, along with their brother Tom. It was not, I'm sure, the easiest time, but I never heard any of them tell anything but fun stories about growing up. Any other stories that were told were just like, well, that was life and you dealt with it.

I think all of the sisters, and Uncle Tom, too, really, really to this little girl, enjoyed each others company. Aunt Paul lived in California after she married and every time she was able to come home, to Okla. City, it was all about the girls.


She always brought Bonnie with her and whether she was at our home, or at Aunt Mack's or we were all together at either home, all us girls loved being together. And we all saw the love and the trust between our moms. We never, back then, thought about that part of the relationship, but looking back now that I'm getting older, it is one of those things you carry with you.

They each had their burdens they carried, but they each dealt with them in their quiet steady way. But the one thing I know is how much love they had... for each other and for their children.

The last photo is one that was taken on an Easter Sunday, about sixty years ago. On the left is Aunt Mack is behind Carol, Nancy is behind me, Mom is behind Sue and Lou Ann is next to mom. This one, too, is for my cousins. Because I love them and have so enjoyed the time we had this week to talk and remember...

I love being with my family... they are who makes me feel complete.