Another early trip to town

I got so much accomplished the other day when I drove into town early...that I decided I would do the same today. The difference was that I was sleepy this morning.

As soon as I gave mother her 7:00 a.m. medication I went to open the gate and put out the garbage can.  Once I confirmed that she had gone back to sleep I took out the big trash bag from my bedroom. Good thing I did because they decided to come early. Two of my neighbors missed the garbage truck.

Was headed to Walmart when I saw a lot of cars at Ross and decided to stop and see why. Found out they open at 8:00 a.m. and there were plenty of people taking advantage of it...mostly well-to-do Mexicans.  There were license plates from Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tlaxcala and as far away as Puebla, Mexico.

Marshalls is also located in this mall...so went to have a looksie there too. Spent a lot of time in their ladies handbag department but I was strong and did not buy a thing. Was leaving when my right leg started to give out on me.  Darn it all and my car was FAR!

I really need to go back to see the doctor but even with air conditioning it is hot and the lines to cross back to the United States from Mexico are long, as there are a lot of folks on vacation.

You can go in to Ross and Marshall's without coming inside the mall.  I therefore had not noticed they have a lot of benches. I am so glad they do, as I spent quite a while sitting there trying to regain my composure. Needless to say the trip to Walmart was canceled.  I did not even go by the P.O. Box.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Unmotivated

I do not know if it is the heat or my laziness but I am just unmotivated to do anything. Today I did not even go outside as it reached 102 degrees (39 Celsius).

I am slowly but surely making small headway re-arranging my closet.  I could really use some more space but my dad's suits take up a lot of room and my mother refuses to do anything with them even though he passed away fourteen years ago...but that is another story.

I was pulling stuff from under my bed, mostly things my uncle leaves to use when he comes to visit us as my bedroom doubles as the guest room.  Would you believe I pulled a box that had nine full beers?  My uncle does not drink and for the life of me I have no idea why I would store them under my bed or how long they have been there!

I never went to bed Sunday night so I was able to make an early morning trip to Walmart.  Bought two large plastic hampers and they have certainly helped in my quest to organize all my junk piles.

Tomorrow is trash day and I will have to get up early so my mother does not see all the stuff I am going to throw away but shhhhhhhhh...don't tell her.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

I wish I could go camping

I wish I could go camping like Gypsy did recently but with the triple digits temperatures we have been experiencing in our area...that is highly unlikely. Hopefully in three months I will get my wish.

 

Rest assured that more stuff was added to
the trunk after I took this picture.

I tend to change my header picture often as I get bored of looking at the same thing. When a reader wrote to ask that I post more pictures of my packing and camp set up, I could not remember which picture they were talking about.

Lucky for me they told me which one. When you try to cram as much stuff as I do, you have to get creative.

Don't you know Betty Boop also loves Terlingua and begged to come along :D 

We needed more space so she was placed at another angle.

You can't forget your milk jugs. Read my tips for Terlingua Chili Cook-off virgins to find out why. http://terlinguadreams.blogspot.com/2013/07/casi-chili-cook-off-questions.html?

I think I slept two hours but I had to begin setting up camp to beat the heat that is still around even in late October.

Turns out this was the picture they were talking about...

I can't believe all this fit in my car.

There are a lot of thorny plants in the desert so I use beer cartons and then a tarp to keep my tent floor from getting poked.

The hardest part is having to stake down the tent into solid rock.

I forgot what my neighbor told me it took me to set up camp...it was either five or six hours. Like my friend Jeelbare would say...I did not know I was the entertainment.

This is my one gallon sprayer and I still have water left after a shower that included washing my hair.

Unfortunately later on that week I lost my tent shower in a terrible sand storm that lasted all night. For a second there I thought I was at Burningman in the Nevada desert and not at the Chili cook-off in Terlingua.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Statins

I have been worried about the side effects of taking Statins to lower my cholesterol levels.  While I have taken them in the past and every individual is affected differently...my main concern was that I was able to notice an immediate effect on my memory or rather loss of it.

While I reported this to my doctor he did not seem to give it much importance and he was happy that my cholesterol had gone down significantly.  I remember vividly him saying "Crestor is your drug!"  While it might have been my drug it wasn't my pocketbook's drug and with no insurance and it costing over $200.00 for a 30 day supply...I simply quit taking it.

Earlier this year I suffered through some crippling pain in my legs. This time I went to see a doctor in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico (across the border from Del Rio, Texas).  He ordered the usual blood work and of course high cholesterol raised its ugly little head once more along with a long list of other "high levels" maladies.

There are many home remedies out in cyber space to lower cholesterol but to be honest it is easier to just swallow a pill and much cheaper if I buy said pill  in Mexico.

In my research I have come across so many studies that are down right scary but the bottom line is that Statins are not good for you and could possibly do more harm than good.

One of my readers was kind enough to send me this link which I found very interesting and informative.  For example why don't doctors tell you that if you take Statins you should also take CoQ10 supplements or if you are over 40 Ubiquinol.

This link also talks about two foods that will dramatically lower you cholesterol. Thank you C.A. Voigt :)

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/20/the-truth-about-statin-drugs-revealed.aspx


Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Val Verde County Library Expansion

My license plate sticker expires at the end of the month and I decided to not procrastinate until the last day of the grace period...Yes, I know it is out of character for me :)

In prior years we were asked at renewal what was the color of our vehicle, I assume for their database.  This year they verified your home telephone number and ask for your cell number. Told her I did not own a cell phone and she said I was the FIRST person to tell her that.  What I did not tell her is even if I had one...I would NOT give it to the State.  If they need to contact me they can do it through snail mail or call our home phone.

Drove by our local library who is finally going to get a much needed expansion project after voters approved the measure last November. This building was built in 1969 when we were still a small town.  We only had to wait 45 years...actually 47 because it wont be ready until the Spring of 2016.

I am glad they did not tear down many of the trees in the adjoining properties that the city purchased years ago for this much anticipated new library.

Oh my gosh, I did not notice this picture until now...it better not be the kind of tree I think it is...grrrrr!!!

I have always liked this old mansion which will now be across the street from the new library.  Isn't it pretty?  On a side note and before my CRS fully takes over...back in the early 70's they had a garage sale, my mother fell in love with an old bed and bought it from them...we still have it.

Beautiful manicure trees by the entrance gate and really all around.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Statins and Parkinson's disease

I hate it when I have time on my hands because I will undoubtedly spend it watching YouTube videos or reading health related articles and then going into a panic. Such was the case today as I read about people who take cholesterol lowering medication, also known as statins, then stopped and developed Parkinson's disease.  Just last year I read where the opposite was the case...who to believe?

Why do I bring this up?  I firmly believe statins caused my CRS or contributed greatly to it...that is why I quit taking them a couple of years back.  As you will recall my trip to the doctor in Mexico did not bring me good news and once again I had to get back on them. Been considering not taking them anymore as soon as my stash runs out...guess more research is in my foreseeable future.

It has been awfully hot, as I type this it is still 89 degrees at 1:05 a.m.  I have been hiding out and only going outside for very short periods of time.  We reached a high of 100 degrees / 38 Celsius.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Darn that grass cutting fairy!

Another sleepless night, all I could think about was those weeds that need to be mowed...darn that grass cutting fairy...never shows up when you need her :(

Went to bed at 4:15 a.m. and since I could not sleep, got up at 7:00 a.m. and headed on over to HEB to beat the crowds.  On the way back, I saw that there were two cars at the laundromat...decided I would rather do laundry than tackle the weeds.

When I got there, there were a lot of cars!  Almost came back home but knew I did not like the alternative...so for the next two hours I did laundry :-(

This afternoon we reached 100 degrees so I was glad I decided to tackle this tedious chore early.  As an added bonus I did not have to deal with any screaming kids.

The weeds?  Like Scarlett O'Hara used to say "tomorrow is another day"...

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Good to have options

Heard from two of my dearest friends today. Of course the subject of conversation was Terlingua 2014. To think it is only three months and 5 days away :)

Houston Chicks Camp 2012

We compared notes of all the things we hope to incorporate into our camp. Even got to meet my friend's new boyfriend who is all psyched at being a Terlingua virgin this year.

Sarita by the screen house that was
torn to shreds in heavy winds.

They are going to rent a trailer and see how they like it before purchasing one of their own.  So this year I do not have to rough it, if I do not want to...I have been invited to stay with them. While I prefer my privacy it is always good to have options.

I already have three friends going down to the chili cook-off from Houston.  Is anybody else out there in the blogosphere planning to attend?

The day after the wild Halloween party we hosted.

Even the props partied too much :D

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Unsolicited job offer

I do not know why every time we have an appointment or we have to go out of town or just have to be at a particular place at a given time...I can not sleep the night before.

Such was the case last night.  I knew we had an appointment with the podiatrist today but I failed to write down the time and the clinic did not call to remind us which made me think that perhaps I had written the wrong date down.

Called first thing in the morning and confirmed we had said appointment. We arrived an hour early as is our custom, only to be told that the doctor was in surgery...he had four patients ahead of us and would we like to re-schedule? Would it have killed them to have called us before we came to the clinic?

Heck NO...I did not want to re-schedule...we would just wait!  I do not like this clinic and I do not like this doctor but he is the only game in town as my mother decided she no longer wants to go see the lady podiatrist in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico that she has been seeing for years.

This clinic is very busy not just with patients but with people coming in to get their prescriptions filled. This very well dressed senior citizen came and sat next to me and immediately struck a conversation. Very nice lady, very chatty, kind of like an aunt figure.

She asked me how long I had been a provider for the lady I was with.  I replied that I was not a provider and that the lady was not my client but my mother.  I told her that I am often confused for a provider since I like to wear scrubs as I feel comfortable wearing them.

She looked all around and then asked me if I spoke English...I replied that I did. She proceeded in English and in a very low voice to give me the low down on the doctors, the clinic and the prior podiatrists that just upped and left town.  Lol, I got all the scoop and then some...who needs to buy the local newspaper!  If that was not enough I even came away with a job offer which I had to politely decline but she made me take her name and telephone number anyway.

We had a three hour wait...but at least we were in Del Rio. We rushed home as it looked like we were going to be hit by a storm but by mom's house we only got a very fine misting.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Stage 1 water restrictions

The temperatures have been way too hot lately and are expected to continue to be in the high 90's to the 100's.  I know it is summer and I live in the West Texas desert but it has been a little unbearable and I have basically been staying inside.

We got the water bill and due to the leak we had last month it came in at $91.00 . It does not happen often but we are under Stage 1 water restrictions. We are used to hearing about water restrictions because all our local programming comes from San Antonio, Texas a city 144 miles east of us.  They rely on the Edwards Aquifer for their water and have restrictions in place almost year around.

Fortunately we have our own source of local water...San Felipe Springs. You can tell from recent pictures I have taken that it is not flowing as plentiful as it has in the past.  At least we don't have to rely on the Rio Grande as does our border sister city Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila, Mexico.

A lot of people think that the Chili Cook-off in Terlingua is just one big party and it is...but it has also taught me many valuable lessons. One of those being how important water and water conservation are.

I never thought I could take a shower including washing my hair with less than a gallon (3.785 liters) but it can be done.  We that live in the city also waste a lot of water flushing our toilets when we could use compost also known as humanure toilet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3ioycfDNJA

Now I am not advocating you go this route but it is nice to know that there are alternatives especially in case of an emergency or in bad weather such as hurricanes when they shut the water.

You will find that many people living in Terlingua use this method and it truly does not stink, it does not require water and in a year's time you can use it on your vegetable garden if you so choose.

I have been waiting around for the grass cutting fairy to show up but I think she is like Santa Claus...avoids me wherever I happen to live :-(

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Cordless telephone mailing mystery

We had an overcast, windy and should I say rainy (?) day...well perhaps not rainy...but officially we received .02 of an inch.  It only reached 86 degrees / 30 Celsius and that in and of itself is unheard of during July...at least for this part of the state.

I really need help organizing all my stuff.  To that end I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos but so far have not taken any action.

If you are an NBA fan, like I happen to be, the big news today was that Lebron James is headed back to Cleveland.  Must say that I did not expect that but one can't blame the man for wanting to go back home to try to bring a championship title to his home state.

I tried to order two cordless telephones from Target and when I got ready to check-out a message appeared that Texas does not allow phones to be sent in the mail...WTH?  Has this ever happened to anyone else?

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Trip to Home Depot / Leslie H.

Have been working on several projects...NO, don't go thinking I am building stuff like Billy Bob (I wish)...perhaps I should say I am experimenting with a couple of things for my upcoming trip to the Chili Cook-off in Terlingua. Lest you forget, it is three and a half months away :)

This morning I was rudely awaken by the sounds of a mower and a weed eater. Unfortunately, it was NOT my tall weathered cowboy coming to my rescue but a man and his son mowing the corner lot. Since the weeds aren't going to mow themselves decided to get up and head on over to check out a more powerful weed eater than the one I currently have.

Went to several places but the one I need for the job will probably wind up killing my back from the weight.  Maybe I can kidnap Walter during the evening so he can help me by eating them up...then take him back before they wake up?

While at Home Depot decided to check other departments and came upon something I have been needing...a workshop power strip for all the electrical cables in the living room. It has room for 12 outlets and they are spaced just right.

I finally found the EasyKlip that I have heard so much about on YouTube videos. I am hoping to be able to set up some kind of shade structure with it but in reality it has hundreds of other uses. I bought out their inventory...well, actually they only had four left.

Gasoline prices seem to be holding steady.  I really really hate having to buy gift cards just to get .11 cents off per gallon.  However, in my book I'd much rather pay $3.28 versus $3.39 per gallon any day...so I guess I will keep on buying them :-(

I still do not know why we lost power for five hours the other day.  On my way back home I saw three trucks by the pole they replaced and was hoping the power had not gone out again.  We have only experienced a few spikes since then.  They can be annoying since I have to re-set the electrical clocks and answering machine.

Wanted to give a warm welcome to a new blog follower Leslie H. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and sign up.  Please feel free to comment any time you wish.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

July 2014 trip to Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila, Mexico

It seems like it has been ages since I have been to Ciudad Acuna.  My last trip was in March to see the doctor. Mother has been wanting me to take her to the beauty shop but between doctors appointments and out-of-town trips, it had not been possible until today.

We took off around 11:00 a.m. and while there was not a line going into Mexico...there was already a long line to cross to the United States.

Surprisingly we did not have to wait long at the beauty shop either. She was just finishing up with a client and had another who was having highlights done and was sitting waiting for it to develop? Have no idea if that is the proper term.

If you are a gentlemen and prefer to go to a barber shop they have those too.  For $35.00 pesos the equivalent of (35.00 divided by 12.52)...$2.80 US dollars you can get a haircut.

Most groceries stores have what has come to be called "Martes de Frutas y Verduras"  which translates to Tuesday of Fruits and Vegetables...we decided to go to Gutierrez and check out their specials.

With my CRS, I completely forgot that I did not have enough Mexican Pesos on me after paying the stylist.  The last time I was here, I used most of the Mexican currency I had buying my medications. Noticed that another Exchange House had joined the ranks. The window indicates that they buy your dollar for $12.52 and sell you dollars for $12.68 Mexican Pesos.

I guess I could of paid with US dollars but I do not like to do that.  Therefore we only bought a few items such as:  tomatoes, lettuce, onions, serranos, nopalitos (cactus), carrots, bananas, bolillos and sweet bread.

This man's little stand caught my attention or rather his shade set-up.  I would like to buy a canopy for my trip to Terlingua but I am not sure I would have room for it in my already cramped vehicle. Provided there was no wind, I could probably get by with this.

We had a twenty-five minute wait to cross back home and even in an air conditioned car it was pretty hot today.

That is why I felt sorry for these two dogs in the back of this pick-up.  Their owner had the air on but as soon as she got close to the inspection booth she cut it off and opened her windows.

I was under the impression that dogs or for that matter any animal...had to be restrained but apparently not as she crossed with no problems.

We came home, ate and I went and took a three hour nap.  I am still sleepy and hopefully can get a good night's rest.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

A weekend in review

The 4th of July and New Year's Eve are probably the worst holidays for me. I do not like fireworks, have never cared for them especially when it is the drunken neighbor doing the popping. Geeze...why don't you just take your kids and grand kids to the local park where fireworks are done by professionals?

The neighbors stopped shooting them off by 1:30 a.m. but further down the street some idiot kept on popping them until 3:45 a.m.  The recent rains have made everything green so I did not have to worry about the weeds catching on fire but I had the hose handy just the same.

I knew we would be in for some rowdy times by the neighbor's step-son. He started early Saturday afternoon...what I did not know is that the neighbor in front of mom's house was also going to throw a party of his own as well as the neighbor down the street.

Had three different types of music at full blast...talk about going crazy!  If that wasn't enough I noticed there was a white truck that had been parked for some time by mother's down fence as well as one in front of the house.  I could only see the tops.

Wondered how many people had come to the respective parties?  Decided to go outside and check...nope just two trucks.  It was close to 10:00 p.m when I remembered I had left my t-shirt on the clothesline...headed to the back of the house. Just then two men came out of nowhere and shone their flashlights on my face!

I was startled...then I realized they were Border Patrol agents...they asked me if I lived there and I said I did  They said they had received a call of some men running and jumping the fence into our yard when another neighbor questioned them about being on their property.

They asked permission to check out the yard and I gave it to them...it's not like they need it...they can come into your property anytime, just like they had done so.  I was not too worried, between the parties and the neighborhood dogs barking the people they were chasing were not going to stick around.

For some reason I just could not go to sleep on Saturday night or should I say Sunday morning? I finally fell asleep around 6:00 a.m.

This afternoon at 2:45 p.m. out of the blue the electricity went out   During the summer this happens quite a lot, was surprised it had not occurred recently.  By 5:00 p.m. it was getting rather warm in the house so I asked my mom if she wanted to go to the store with me but she declined.

On the way to town the firemen were blocking the main road into the sub-division and detouring traffic.  I could see the power company was working on something. The pole looked to be bent but I have no idea if it was from an accident or if they were changing it out.  Five hours later power was restored.

On a side note I thought landlines especially when used with a corded non-electric telephone were supposed to work during power outages.  They have for me in the past both here and in Houston. For some reason our telephone also went out...odd :(

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

July 2014 trip to Uvalde and Hondo, Texas

I called the propane guy yesterday but he had out-of-town deliveries and could not make it until today. Told him we were going to Uvalde so to please schedule us for next week.

Early this morning got a call from him asking if he came by would he still catch us at home...told him sure, as we were not leaving until around 10:00 a.m.  At least that is one less thing off my to do list.

The winds did a number on the Esperanza.

Was hoping to get some more pictures of the purple sage, this time heading down highway 90 East, but the few pretty patches that I found, I would have needed to get closer and the grass next to the shoulder was high.  Now you all know what lurks in that high grass don't you? Yep...snakes...yikes!

This tree has long been dead but with the recent rains
we got a new baby tree growing in its place.

I really like mom's Uvalde doctor, he is a peach...very kind, knowledgeable, considerate and courteous.  Told him about her worthless San Angelo neurosurgeon...he told us not to worry...he would find a good doctor to take care of her back pain.

We had to run an errand in Hondo, Texas 44 miles east of Uvalde.  There I saw that regular gasoline was $3.33 five cents less than Del Rio and with the .11 cents HEB discount card saved .16 cents per gallon...the equivalent of paying $3.17 per gallon.

I was so tempted to drive the additional 42 miles to San Antonio.  I so miss shopping at Target, Academy, Harbor Freight and Anna's Linens :-(   If it had not been the day before a long holiday weekend and that late in the afternoon...I think I would have done so.

As we drove into the driveway noticed that my neighbor's step-son had come home for the weekend.  Oh boy...we sure are in for some rowdy times.  Late this evening I heard the sound of a lawn mower and saw his step-dad mowing the area outside of mother's fence.  Nice guy will thank him tomorrow.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Purple sage almost in bloom

Went to open the gate and noticed that almost overnight the purple sage had started to bloom. Unfortunately there was a strong wind blowing out of the ESE at 19 mph gusting to 28 mph and their pretty flowers were being shed fast.

 

Decided to drive to Lake Amistad where the sage puts on a spectacular show but was disappointed that either they had not bloomed yet or the winds which typically are more intense in that area had zapped them.

There was a strong breeze

Not too many people at my favorite campground Governors Landing, as a matter of fact only one couple in their VW bus was camped there.

Sure hope more people come down for the 4th of July weekend.  The lake has risen some with the recent rains and it was a very pretty green color.

For my friend...and you know who you are...decided to take these two pictures just for you :)

Stopped at Church's on the way back to try out their super spicy chicken that they have been advertising lately. My goodness it was NOT spicy at all...and it was dry...will not be wasting my money on that again!

It got to 98 degrees today 36.6 Celsius so waited until almost 7:00 p.m. to go to Walmart to pick up the things I need to make the homemade mosquito repellent.  I was going up and down the aisles looking for lavender oil and finally found a salesperson to help me.  She told me she had had a lot of inquiries lately about said oil but that Walmart does not carry it.  Asked me what I was going to use it for and told her.  Just then another lady asked for it too, lol.

Someone was kind enough to leave some
firewood for the next camper.

I will check out Walgreens in Uvalde the next time I am there. I would really like to make the mosquito repellent now as the mosquitoes have been quite unrelenting.

Had not reached 98 degrees yet when we were out and about.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.