Tied A Record

It officially got to 104 degrees today in Del Rio, Texas tying a record set in 1956.  I am so sick of this heat and look forward to fall and chilly nights especially if they involve a campfire, a full moon and Terlingua.

Have I been sleeping late?  Not with my neighbors Chihuahua’s who instead of taking their morning pee, the first thing they do when she takes them out is start their yapping!  However I have managed to sneak in a couple of naps during the day and while watching the afternoon news.

Apart from watering mother’s trees at midnight and getting even with the neighbors by waking them up when their dogs bark at me…have not done much.

Hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Why no Beer Coupons?

It is no secret to my readers or to old time bloggers whose blogs are a daily read for me that I enjoy a good bargain and if it involves clipping coupons…well I will clip those too!

For a good while now I have been wondering why I have never seen any beer coupons in all the years that I have been clipping them (which are considerable).  I do not smoke but I remember clipping coupons for my friends who do for two or three dollars off of a carton of cigarettes.

I try not to be judgmental but if I had to choose the lesser of two evils I think I would rather drink beer, but then again that is only my opinion and has no bearing on what other people do with their lives…that is not the purpose of this post or any past or future post.

What I want to know is why I have never seen any beer coupons?  Anyone have an idea?  I bring this up because as you know Labor Day weekend is right around the corner and it is the last holiday before the Chili Cook-off when typically beer goes on special and I tend to stack up specifically for this event.

These past couple of years beer prices have been through the roof and even after the barley shortage of a couple of years back, they have never gone back down in prices.  Instead they have tried to fool us by bringing out 18 and 20 can packages for what we used to pay for a 24 pack…I don’t like that!!!

I guess greedy beer companies know that us beer drinkers are going to pay for their product anyway so they make no effort to bring prices down and instead offer innovations like the mountains in a particular beer brand turning blue so the consumer knows that it is cold!  Excuse me…but has that ever been a problem that a beer drinker even a very drunk one is not going to be able to tell if their beer is cold enough?

Tip to first time Terlingua Chili Cook-off goers…buy your beer this Labor Day weekend holiday when it is on special…beer prices in the desert will sober you up real fast, it is bad enough what you will have to pay to ice it down!

Want to welcome Deb C. to the blog roll. Thank you for your readership, it is very much appreciated!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Wrapping It Up

I sure hope this is the last time I write this…“ Woke up early”…but unfortunately I did even though I went to bed around 5:00 a.m. I was wide-awake by 7:00 a.m.  Being an insomniac is not fun.

Ran last minute errands and made a list of all the things I need to take back to Del Rio with me just in case I do not have the opportunity to come back before the Chili Cook-off in Terlingua.

I really do not know how I am going to fit all the things I need in a sedan but I will have to.  I have tons of stuff sitting in the living room floor that need to hitch a ride back with me.

For those of you that are considering going to the Chili Cook-off you better start planning now because it is just around the corner.  It is always held the first weekend in November but people start arriving way before then. A gentlemen that camps close to my friends arrived a month before.

If everything goes well I hope to leave for Del Rio tomorrow after the morning rush hour.  If you do not see me post, hopefully it will be because I finally got to sleep late and rest my tired body.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

The Weather is Messing Up My Plans

The weather messed up my plans to come to Houston and now it is messing up my plans to go back to Del Rio.  It rained heavy both Friday and Saturday and once again this afternoon.

Whenever I get to Houston the first thing I do is mow the front lawn so the HOA does not send me a love letter.  The front was not so bad this time because I still have St. Augustine grass that did not die after last year’s drought but the backyard is a jungle with all the crabgrass, some funky ivy that has wrapped itself around my crape myrtle and has also taken over part of the lawn.

The only way to get rid of crabgrass is to dig it up and for that I brought a pick axe but it is heavy and it makes big holes with every blow apart from making my arms ache so have had to go back to a shovel.

Was hoping to use my electric weed eater to help me chop some of it down but that is not possible with all the rain that has fallen…do not want to electrocute myself!  Worst yet end up in the hospital since I have no health insurance coverage.

Needed to go to Sears to see if I can find a good quality pruner but I do not drive in the rain so those plans are shot too.  My neighbor chopped down his tree and now it is sprouting on my side of the fence.  The Black and Decker pruner I bought last time I was in town is a piece of doodoo…I can not even cut small size limbs!

Was going to try to go to the last day of the Harbor Freight Sidewalk sale but again the weather interfered with my plans.  I think my whole life revolves around yard work and I am not too happy with that.

This morning I woke up at 4:15 a.m. and could not go back to sleep.  Here I have the opposite problem than in Del Rio…my washing machine works but the drier does not.  Decided to wash clothes so I could go dry them as soon as the laundry mat opened. It is in front of the subdivision and is rather nice.  The machines are new and much cheaper than in Del Rio.

Had to wait until this morning to buy the Houston Chronicle since again the rains ruined my plans to go purchase one yesterday and get a head start on my shopping list.  I barely glanced through it because I kept on falling asleep so decided to take a nap (something I do not usually do).  Would you believe I took a four and a half hour nap?  Neither do I but I did.  Even heard the rain but was too sleepy to care.

Was hoping to start on that nasty five letter word…TAXES…but I have not had time, energy or motivation but I better get some as October 15^th is right around the corner and I do not want to go through what I had to endure last year.  Did I learn my lesson?  Apparently not, guess I am a procrastinator by nature and at this stage of my life guess I always will be :-(

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Lawn mower bit the dust!

I guess it should not surprise me anymore as all my life I have had a sixth sense about things.  I remember being on vacation as a teenager and telling my parents that we were soon going to be in a wreck and 30 minutes later we rolled over.  Knowing my house had been burglarized, and so many other instances to many to mention.

This morning I got up early since we had a 60 percent chance of precipitation and wanted to mow the lawn before it started to rain.  I have been busy this past week trying to dig up the crabgrass in the back but something told me to mow the front yard because the mower was going to peter out on me…and by golly it did!

I did not get to finish the side of the house or the area by the mailbox but I took out my wonderful little weed eater and finished the job.  Was getting ready to clean up when it started pouring.  I have no idea how much it rained but it was easily over an inch.  Guess tomorrow I will have to mow the backyard with the weed eater, as I have no plans to buy another electric lawn mower this late in the season.

Guess I got my money’s worth as I paid $119.00 for it and it has lasted me six summers. I am sure going to miss it!

Went to Giant Dollar the other day where everything sells for $1.09 and was pleasantly surprised that they once again carry Sara Lee bread, as you know they sell it for double that price at the regular grocery stores.  What I really went to buy me though was insect repellant even though for some reason I have yet to see a single mosquito in Houston something very odd indeed.

Can you believe the Chili Cook-off is only two months from now (my friends and I go early) I have been going through my winter clothes and camping stuff to make sure I do not forget anything.  Hopefully I can maybe squeeze another trip down here before then.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

C & D Scrap Metal

For years I have seen commercials for C & D Scrap Metal Recyclers Inc. where they will pay you in $2.00 bills.  Monday I had to run an errand around the 610 West Loop area and I decided to take my aluminum cans and cash them in.

I had never been there before so did not realize that it is more suited for commercial type of recycling not so much for someone selling a couple of bags of aluminum cans.  The wait is long and they have a policeman on premises telling you when to advance.  At first it looked pretty small for a recycler that advertises so heavily but I did not realize they had more land across the street.

Could not help but notice that there was a three story condo/townhouse complex adjacent to it and wondered if they had sold half of their land to that developer.  Who in the world would want to live next to a busy and noisy scrap metal yard?

When I was in line to get my money I notice a sign that advised you had to take your hat and sunglasses off so they can get a clear picture of you.  They also made you give them a digital thumb print.  Glad to see that they have this in place for all those lousy good for nothing copper thieves.  I asked the owner if I had to have my picture taken for “selling cans”?  He said I did not and he handed me $12.00…now I have a little more room in my shed.

With my newly acquired twelve dollars in my purse I went to Staples to get me the buy of the week.  Remember I have mentioned on prior posts how I started writing my diary at age nine?  Then as an adult I graduated to spiral notebooks?  Well this bargain involves said spiral notebooks that were on sale for .01 cent…yes, you heard right one US penney, limit 6 when you bought $5.00 or more.  I needed printing paper which was on sale and with easy Staples rebate it ended costing $2.00.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Desert Rose

For the past couple of days I have been trying to fill up my tank in gas stations where the price is under $3.50 per gallon, however that has been a challenge as the lines were long and my patience was short.  Yes, I know that must come as a shock to some of you but patience is not one of my virtues :D

Yesterday (Saturday) I got up early and made the trip to Kroger’s where if you use your Kroger Plus Card you get .03 off per gallon, so I ended up paying $3.46 a gallon.  So if the price of gasoline goes up overnight I can make it back to Del Rio without having to fill up if need be.

Did not know there was a 35 gallon limit

This Kroger is not the closest one to my house but it is the closest one to me that has a gas station.  It is located by Popeye’s and Taco Cabana eating establishments that I do frequent and the other day I thought I saw a street named Desert Rose.  Yesterday being early in the morning and with no traffic to speak of, I confirmed that I in fact had seen the correct street name.

This morning I once again woke up early (darn when will I ever wake up late) so went to buy the Sunday paper as I was unable to do so yesterday (they sell the Sunday paper on Saturday in Houston) as it rained from 3:14 p.m. until this morning and I do not drive in the rain.

Walgreen’s was not opened yet, so went to buy me breakfast at Jack in the Box and then decided to see if the newspaper boy was outside Food Town, which he was.  That is when I spotted a beauty shop named Desert Rose Salon. What a coincidence!  I don’t think Denese knows I have a blog but I thought it was rather odd that I would run into her Blogger nick two days in a row.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Tax Free Weekend

Woke up early and debated whether to go have breakfast or finish up the backyard.  Decided I did not want to do either one of those things.  Call me crazy but decided to go check out the back to school specials at Wal-Mart of all places and then hit Target.

For those of you who do not live in Texas, every year before school starts the State declares a “Tax Free Weekend” that begins today and ends Sunday.  Parents have the opportunity to buy certain school supplies, shoes and clothing that do not cost more than $99.00 and they save by not having to pay state taxes. Depending on the county you can save as much as $8.00 for every $100.00 you spend.

Would you believe that there were hardly any people at the Wal-Mart closes to me?  Then again I have three Wal-Marts within a 10-mile radius of my house…I certainly would not try this in Del Rio! 

Went to Target and it was equally empty, I was so fortunate!  There I picked up three items that I needed but that were not tax free…not a problem as they were bargains to begin with.

I regretted my decision to not eat breakfast, as I felt faint so stopped at Whataburger for lunch.  It was packed!  The fries were not done and the hamburger was not up to par but learned my lesson…never come during the lunch rush!

Came home unloaded my stash and hit Fallas, Ross and Academy.  Was hoping to purchase some hiking boots but was a little shocked at the price…guess it had been a while since I had priced them…decided I did not need them.

I usually treat myself to Taco Cabana when I finish my To Do List but since tomorrow people will more than likely be out in full force, plus we also have the probability of rain in the forecast, decided today was good enough.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

I’m Tired

The trip, the heat, the yard work, and all the running around have really gotten the best of me.  I have been getting up early and starting the yard work before the heat of the day sets in.

With all the rain we had in July and with the current West Nile virus in Texas, I am surprised that I have not seen a single mosquito in my yard.  This is very odd…we always have mosquitoes in Houston!

I have been bit, but by ants that have made huge mounds in the trees I had cut down after hurricane Ike.  The backyard has been hard to cut because the crabgrass is so thick.  I have lost about 60 percent of my St. Augustine grass after the drought last year and weeds and other grasses have taken over.

I have been bagging so many grass clippings and thinking how much Walter would enjoy nibbling on them.  This is when I wish I had a truck!  Unfortunately I cannot afford the valuable cargo space they would require, so they will have to go in the trash.

Would you believe me if I told you that I went to bed at 6:13 p.m. yesterday?  Well I did, I laid down in my zero gravity chair to watch the news and fell asleep until the phone rang but since I do not pick up the phone unless I can hear who is on the other end and no one left a message…I went right back to sleep. Of course I woke up at 4:45 a.m. but I certainly was refreshed!  However after putting in four hours and 35 minutes this morning I’m tired again : (

This weekend it is supposed to rain so tomorrow is the last opportunity I have to finish up the backyard.  I am not to worried though, as the front yard is done and I am not in danger of getting a love letter from my HOA.

Just in case I fall asleep before my bedtime I have decided to make my post early.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

One-Year Anniversary

I cannot believe a year has already gone by, it seems like it was just yesterday that I decided to begin this blog.

Now 25476 hits, 34 followers and 197 posts later, I am glad I took the plunge.

My first follower was Billy Bob and my second Nick aka OGT, GridNadaMas and a host of other nicks.  To this day I have no idea how they found me, as I did not tell a soul that I was going to begin my blog.

Thank you to all the bloggers that have since joined my followers list and for giving me of your valuable time by reading this cyber journal.

I would also like to thank all those anonymous bloggers that even though are not part of the “official audience” drop by every day to read me and/or send me nice e-mails.

I am well aware that there are literally millions of blogs and I feel very privileged that you would find mine to be of interest and worthy of your readership.  Thank you kindly!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Camper Envy

I really enjoyed my trip back home.  There were all kinds of campers and RV’s on the road.  Some were perhaps coming back from vacation while others were barely embarking on theirs.

Many were pulling trailers with their four wheelers, bikes, coolers and all kinds of camping stuff…made me a little envious (sad face).  I, on the other hand was heading home to do even more yard work!

The good thing is that I was mentally prepared for the jungle I would find and what a jungle it was specially my backyard!  The house was an oven and it took hours to cool down.  Like Scarlett O’Hara would say, “tomorrow is another day” … I will deal with the yard work then.

Yesterday I was trying to reply to comments but the modem kept on going into “dormant” stage.  It did it again a little while ago, the good thing is that there are lots of Cricket stores within a five-mile radius of my house and unlike Del Rio, they don’t have a waiting line.

I left at 7:20 a.m. and got hungry when I saw a billboard advertising Wendy’s breakfast so decided to stop in Uvalde, Texas.  I usually bypass drive-thru windows and like to go inside even if it is to go.  Ordered a breakfast platter and I swear it took like ten minutes to get served and I was the only one there.  Turns out they did not have a lid for it and it took them forever to find some foil paper.  By the time they found some my food was already cold.

Decided to go ahead and eat there as I had already wasted valuable traveling time, no wonder they did not have a lid as bad as it tasted doubt anyone would order it.  Their mocha coffee was a disappointment as well…not bloody likely I will ever eat breakfast at a Wendy’s again.

The only fast food place that has never messed up my order is Jack in the Box and I think I will stick with them or wait until I get to Nora’s Tacos in Sabinal.

The cheapest gas between Del Rio and Houston was found in San Antonio, Texas at $3.39 for a gallon of Unleaded gasoline.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

105 Degrees

It reached 105 degrees at 1:36 p.m. something that does not usually happen until four or five o’clock in the afternoon and I was crazy enough to be out at this particular time.

There is no way I will ever repeat my trip to downtown Houston just to go to the bank, so made sure I took care of that chore before I left. 

The water bill has not arrived yet so had to go to the City of Del Rio Water department to leave a deposit equal to last months bill.  It would be a bummer to come home in this sweltering heat after a long drive from Houston to find the water had been disconnected.

Trouble was asking about Walter.  Had not seen him since the day he bolted out the downed back fence.  Spoke to the kids last week and they told me they had gone to a party that day and came home late at night to find my note.  They found him grazing in the empty lots behind the church.

The following day their father took him to their cousin’s house and that is where he was until yesterday afternoon that I once again saw him in his corral.  Today when I was getting ready to go into town I saw him out on the street where two cars almost hit him…he had gotten out again!

I ran to get my keys so I could go tell the kids but by this time they were both running after him trying to catch him and that made Walter run even more.  They were finally successful and I watched them take him back to his corral.  I do not know what has gotten into that horse :-(

With gas prices going up decided to fill up.  Regular gasoline was going for $3.45 a gallon today.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Mesquite Pods

Hi guys!  Had not been able to post since I have been busy raking and picking up the hundreds and hundreds of mesquite pods in Mom’s yard.  Seems that as soon as I think I am done…more fall and I have to start all over.

Got a funny e-mail from Ariana? Sorry if I messed up your name I am working from memory and you all know how bad mine is.  She was wondering if I was honeymooning with Charlie, jajajajajaja :D

I have been getting up at 6:30 a.m. to beat the heat and wacking weeds right and left.  I made the mistake of trimming two pecan trees and killed them in the process.  Who knew pecan trees should not be pruned in August?  I felt bad so I have been giving them plenty of water hoping they come back.

With that experience under my hat but knowing fully well it would not work on those horrible mesquite trees, I took to the task of pruning them as well hoping they would die!  Have I mentioned how much I detest mesquite trees? 

Did you know mesquite trees ooze reddish brown sap when you prune them?  They made my pruners sticky and NO they have not died off (sad face).

When the water meter sprung a leak it made the weeds on the street side of the fence grow so with weed eater in hand I decided to rectify that.  I did such a good job, I decided to do the whole fence.  Hopefully with the lack of rain and the temperature in the 100’s it wont soon grow back.



Before

AFTER

Mother has lots of trees spread over three lots and it takes me about an hour and a half to water them all.  I have been going out after the evening news when most of the neighbors are in bed or at least inside their house and watering her trees and plants.  By the time I come in, I take a shower and go to bed…too tired to go online.

I have been leaving for Houston since this past Monday but something always comes up.  As a matter of fact I was supposed to be on my way today, hopefully I will be able to leave soon.  I can only imagine the jungle I am going to find when I get there :-(

Moments of Tension at the Laundromat

I have been meaning to call the washing machine repairman for how long now…maybe four or five months?  Something always comes up and to date I have not done so.  Like it or not had to make a trip to the Laundromat.

It got to 105 degrees in Del Rio today and I am driving in a non-air conditioned car to the Laundromat…am I nuts?  Don’t answer that!

Actually it turned out to be a good decision as I was the only person there and I got to use five out of the six high load washers.  It wasn’t until after the last washer was done that more people arrived.  Struck up a conversation with a gentleman who was taking care of his 95 year old mother and all the difficulties he has because she fires all the help his sister and him hire.

A lady in her late 20’s arrived with two kids and I knew that was the end of my peaceful time.  However I was wrong, the little girl about 5 and the little boy about 3 years old were very well mannered.  She was laughing at some of the comments the gentleman was making to me.  He stepped outside to smoke and I kept on folding clothes when she comes running to me with her little girl in her arms and tells me to please call 911.

At first I thought she was kidding but quickly realized she wasn’t.  I told her I did not have a cell phone, so we both ran to the adjacent store for help.  The two lady workers were as much in shock as we were, one of them quickly called only to get a busy signal! WTH?  This is not Houston, it is Del Rio how can it be busy?

This poor mother with her child in her arms spotted a lady with her back toward us pouring herself a soda and talking on her phone.  She was dressed in scrubs and fortunately was a nurse (I say that because sometimes I dress in scrubs too).  Talk about someone being at the right place at the right time.  By now the little girl was foaming at the mouth and her little body was going into convulsions.

I remembered her little boy was by himself at the Laundromat so I went to look after him and to calm him down since not having medical training there was nothing I could do for his sister.  It seemed like ages but the fire truck arrived in about 4 minutes followed by an ambulance.

Her husband arrived a short time later to remove the clothes from the washers and to take their son home.  He seemed so familiar to me and I asked him if he worked at the Toyota dealership and he smiled and said, “I thought I remembered you ”.  Would you believe with my bad memory and all that I actually remembered his last name?  Well neither do I, but I did!  He had taken me for a test drive maybe two years ago?

I asked him if his little girl was epileptic, he said she had not been diagnosed as such and that this was the second time this happened to her.  I must say he was calmed and composed like one should be.  Never saw his wife again, I think she went in the ambulance with her daughter.

Want to give a warm welcome to Elizabeth who has joined our blog audience.  Thank you for your readership.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.