Long Weekend and A Shopping Day

Good News! The TrailBoss (aka, Carol) has agreed to write another post. I hope to get her on a weekly schedule in the future.

Hello Blog Friends,

We are on our last day of our 4 day off schedule. Friday, 2/6 we went out for breakfast at the Calico County restaurant. The food and service were OK, but nothing to brag about. Jerry wrote a review on TripAdvisor. After breakfast, we went home and made our menu for the next several days then went shopping for groceries. Jerry took the car to be washed and I put most everything away. After that we sat back and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Saturday was my day out. I had my nails and toes done, got a haircut (back to my really short style), then went to JoAnn’s Fabrics and then to the mall. Now, I was looking for a specific item at the mall. After Christmas, the only other time that I have been to the mall here, I went into a store named Fully Fabulous. They have a great selection of larger size clothes and accessories. The sign outside the store said that they had handbags for gun carrying ladies so I went in to see what they had. I was disappointed as they only had 2 left from Christmas and I didn’t like either of them. So I went back to see if they had received any since then. The answer was “no”. As I was walking back through the mall to get to the car, I saw a Kiosk in the center that had a selection of purses and wallets. I stopped to look and found 2 that were equipped with a back pocket for a gun, one blue and the other black. Well, I bought the blue one.

Now you may be curious about why I would buy a purse with a gun pocket in it. My 38 Special Pink Lady fits perfectly in that back pocket. I do know how to use it and would not hesitate if I feel the need.

We both have a Concealed Handgun License (CHL). We spent February 2014 at Hidden Valley RV in San  Antonio, TX.  One evening, we were driving into town and Jerry was stopped for speeding. He showed the policy officer his Texas Drivers License and his CHL. The officer asked him if he was carrying his weapon. Jerry said no; the officer asked why not. If you have a CHL in Texas, there is no reason why you should not carry.

I made another purchase while I was wandering the mall, a ring with a 1 carat White Sapphire in a dancing setting. I had been saving some money that I got for Christmas so decided to buy this ring (it was on sale for 65% off retail.) The setting is very unique and I really like it. It fits perfectly on the middle finger of my left hand. What do you think??

That night I crocheted a warm cap for Jerry while we watched Harry Potter in TV.

Yesterday was a Jesse Stone Marathon on Hallmark Movies and Mystery Channel. Love that man, Tom Selleck.

We are going to have a late lunch with some friends at The Plaza Tex-Mex restaurant. Tomorrow is back to work. The thread containers I ordered last week should be delivered on Wednesday. I am looking forward to taming my thread collection.

Happy crafting, Carol

Thank you Carol, for giving me a break. And thank you for that knitted cap.  The next time it gets cold around here, I can keep my ears warm.

Texas Wrap Up

We pulled up stakes on Monday 2/18 and began our journey to our next adventure at Clear Creek Recreation Area in Bankhead National Forrest about 30 miles north of Jasper, AL. Before writing about that, I thought I would recap our Texas adventure. We ended up on Carl Wendler’s cattle ranch in Ledbetter, TX October 31st after a very disappointing experience in Pipe Creek, TX.

During our short stay in Texas, we traded our 5th wheel for a motor home and purchased a car.

We also acquired a new fur baby Mei Ling. We gave our standard poodle, Qianna, to our daughter and grandson.

We enjoyed being with our family for Christmas in San Antonio and enjoyed both daughters and grandsons visiting us on the ranch.

Carol and I made the decision to purchase handguns for protection and qualified for our concealed handgun license. No, we are not turning into a modern-day Bonny and Clyde team.

We also received word on Jan 31st that a tornado touched down on Windy Valley Llama Farms where we worked before coming to Texas. Fortunately, no one and no animals were hurt. The tornado blew down over a dozen trees and tore down the fences that separated the pastures. One tree next the big house fell onto the roof of the house causing some damage. For additional photos, click the Windy Valley Llama Farms link above.

As expected, we made friends with some new folks in Ledbetter and had a chance to catch up with family. Plus I learned a few more skills that will help with future workamping work.

That’s a wrap! Thanks for stopping by. Y’all come back now.

Our Weekend

This weekend, Carol drove to San Antonio to spend some sister time and to participate in a sewing class at Grome’s with her sister Donna. While she was gone, I tended shop on the ranch.

My Friday morning chores included feeding the cows and burning trash. Tree trimming will come later in the day. First item on my list today is feed the cows.

Hay rounds, weighing about 1,000 lbs. each, are stored in the barn in stacks of two. First step is to get the round on it’s side. This is done by raising the tractor’s bucket above the round, and then move tractor forward so the bucket is centered above the round.  Rotate the bucket so the blade points downward, then lower the bucket into the mid-point on top of the round until the blade is pressed a couple of inches into the round. Slowly move tractor back until round tips over. Notice the chain in the third photo? It is hanging from the top edge of the bucket. Next step is to rotate the bucket so the blade is pointing straight down. Move tractor forward until the chain is on the far side of the round. Lower the bucket until the blade is just touching the top of the round – the chain should now be hanging behind the round. Move tractor backward until the blade clears the near end of the round. Next, lower the bucket until the blade is below the center point of the round. Rotate the bucket upward. This will remove the slack from the chain and lift the round. Last photo on the right shows success.

The girls were waiting for me. A nylon mesh that is tightly wrapped around the hay has to be removed before the hay can be set into the feeder. While round is suspended, the mesh is cut loose. The mesh is then tied to the end of the chain so when the round is placed in the feeder, raising the bucket should pull the mesh off the round (photo 2). The girls were happy and are feasting.

We recycle plastic bottles, glass, steel and aluminum. Food scrap that did came from the ground is recycled in the pasture. The rest of household trash is burned. While I’m watching the burning trash, the girls are still feasting.

Carol made it to San Antonio after stopping in Giddings for an oil change. That only took two hours. Where is a Quick Lube when you need them. She and Donna spend Friday afternoon shopping for jeans to recycle for class. After a girl dinner, they crashed since they needed their rest for the class on Saturday.

Diane Lamb gave them an introduction on recycling sweatshirts. The idea is to start with a standard boring sweatshirt. Then embellish it by adding recycled jeans or any other discarded clothing item to it. Here are some examples of what the class produced.

When Carol finishes her sweatshirt, I’ll have her model it for the blog. Meanwhile feel free to leave a comment if you want Carol to contact you about this project.

After 4 hours of cutting, sewing and doing with sewers do when they get together, class was over and it was time for Carol to head back to the ranch. Other than a missed turn just outside of San Marcos, Carol’s trip was uneventful.

While Carol was sewing with her sister, I decided to do a little target practice. Knowing Carol and I are going to test for our CHL in February, practicing makes sense. My targets are a bit crude but they serve the purpose. The target on the left was 10 yards away and the target on the right was just shy of 20 yards away. Five single shots into each target (16″ x 20″). Looks like I did OK.

That’s it for our weekend on the Carl Wendler Ranch.

Thanks for stopping by. Y’all come back now.