No need for cable

The beautiful weather we have been experiencing came to an end today and tomorrow it should be raining and in the 60's.

Made a last minute trip into town to run errands and to stock up on necessities like milk and beer  :D  Sure glad mother is not reading this!  Lol, she thinks my blog is silly and that Google lies about the number of people that visit it.

Tomorrow is a Spurs game day and Sunday is Super Bowl.  Who knew that Mexico was into American football?  The two major Mexican networks will be carrying it live like they have done for years...take that Time Warner Cable!!!  Best of all, it is beamed FREE to the border from Mexico City.

Wondering if Terlingua residents can pick it up on their television sets since they are also close to the Mexican border?

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

81 degree winter day

It was a very pleasant 81 degree winter day.  Drove into town to run a couple of errands and had to turn on the car A/C.  I almost felt guilty after hearing about all the people that are not fairing so well with winter storm Juno.

In another blog I commented that I would not move up north even if I met a rich tall weathered cowboy.  I take that back...if he were rich, he could afford to take me to a nice tropical island for the winter...jajajaja :D

For the next two days we are going to be in the high 70's, so hopefully I can get to my ever growing To Do List.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Beautiful weather

We have had two absolutely beautiful days in the 70's.  It really feels like spring rather than winter. So much so that I think some mosquitoes must have been hibernating in the flower pots in the enclosed porch and came alive today.  Both mother and I have been viciously bitten by them :-(

John "Walter" Deere, my friendly neighborhood horse did a great job of mowing the weeds and I feel the need to keep up with the yard now that it is still under control.

Cliff - if you are still reading me do you want the mesquite wood?  I really do not think I can stand to look at those darn trees for another year...they got to go!

I never thought I would actually have something nice to say about my cheap Walmart mesh tent but you know what?  It has held up pretty good in the backyard for the past three months.  Ok, new readers to the blog, before you judge...let's get one thing out of the way...I am a procrastinator and it takes me a while to get to things.

My wonderful Kodiak Canvas tent up has been up a little longer as I saw no reason to take it down but that tent is designed to be able to take a beating both in Alaska and in Black Rock City (Burningman) so Del Rio is like a none issue.

Our menagerie of animals keeps growing.  You can read about it here or if you prefer just click on the header picture and it will take you there http://mylittlewalter.blogspot.com/

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Spurs Corner

I have been in hog heaven this week.  My Spurs have done me proud.  Of course, they love to keep their fans on the verge of a heart attack

Kawhi needing a time out to get off the court made me and a couple hundred thousand more tremble last night...thankfully he was alright!

Go Spurs Go!!!!!

Forecasters mentioned the word...SNOW!

While I do not believe a word of it...forecasters have used the word SNOW for the Del Rio and surrounding areas.  I know it snowed in El Paso and in Alpine last night but I don't really think it will reach Del Rio...we shall see.

What a difference a couple of days make. Tuesday it was 85 degrees and I had to turn on the air conditioning in my car, yesterday I had to bundle up and turn on the heater. Never fear by Sunday it will be back in the 70's and sunny....just like I like it..:D

The forecasters said it was going to be raining Thursday so among the many errands I ran on Wednesday was a trip to HEB. Billy Bob, if you are reading this...I finally got all the ingredients to make chili this weekend.  Thursday though, I made Caldo as I found some soup bones along with vegetables on sale. Not to toot my own horn but it came out pretty darn good :D

On Tuesday, January 20th gasoline prices were down six cents to $1.93 per gallon in the Del Rio area.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Spurs Corner

We got our butts beat last night by the Chicago Bulls but hopefully tonight we will prevail over those L.A. Lakers!

I have really gone and did it now :(

If you have been reading me for any length of time...you know or have become aware that I am "computer challenged"...:(

Aside from being computer challenged, I also seem to have a problem with all my ISP (Internet Service Providers) and my latest one AT&T is not the exception.  They used to be my internet providers when I lived in Houston...well actually it was Southwestern Bell or something to that effect (me and my CRS) later bought out by AT&T.

I had DSLwith them and it was a reliable and affordable service.  I currently have a very expensive plan with AT&T that borrowing a much used but relevant phrase by fellow blogger Billy Bob...it sucks!!!

Got an e-mail warning a couple days ago that I was almost at 75% of my monthly 6 GB limit and if I went over not to worry as they would bill me $15.00 for each 1 GB I go over until then...grrrrrrrrrr!!!

There is a reason why I do not like contracts, in particular two year commitments and now I am stuck for 22 more months in a bad marriage...darn it all!

Last night not wanting to use up anymore of the 6 GB I have left for this month, I decided not to go online but to try to sort out my pictures.  Have no idea what in the dickens I did but I seem to have wiped out all my pictures from 2013 to the present. Good thing I never erased my memory cards!

So if you do not see me for the next couple of days or you see a very old header picture...you know why.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Finally...gasoline under $2.00 a gallon!

While many cities in Texas have been enjoying gasoline prices of under $2.00 a gallon, it has taken a while to reach our little town. Uvalde, Texas 70 miles east of Del Rio was enjoying these prices last week.

Today I decided to feature different gasoline stations rather than keep on boring you with Stripes and HEB.

I had so many errands to run today.  Some I got to...others will have to wait a little longer.  I have been hauling my recyclables in the trunk for a week now.  Finally made it to the recycling center.

Got rid of my plastics, steel cans, glass containers, newspapers, cardboard and junk mail.

Billy Bob, if you are reading this I also went to pick up the ingredients to make the chili recipe you recommended.  While I am aware that chili does not have beans...I plan to follow your recipe to the letter. I had no idea there were so many kinds of Bush beans but I never found the ones you told me. Since I was working from memory (we all know about my CRS)  I forgot all about the yellow onion. Looks like it might be a few days before this chili gets cooked :D

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Lousy service

While I have not particularly had a problem with the colder temperatures we have experienced so far this year...my mom has been freezing to death. I noticed that even though I had the central heater cranked up in the 80's it did not feel like it was that temperature. Called the company I usually do business with but they were short handed due to illness and would not be able to get here until tomorrow.

I can not take a chance on mother getting ill, so called another outfit.  The culprit turned out to be the control panel.  Another one was installed in short order and he left.  However, after almost an hour of the temperature not moving from 72 to the 78 degrees I asked to have it set for...I called them back.

Two hours later he returned.  Turns out he had hooked the wires up wrong!!!  The white wire did not belong where he hooked it up to,  Why are technicians in such a rush?  I know they have other customers but if they took the time to do it right in the first place they would not have to make return calls. He spent more time trying to sell me a service plan and bad mouthing the company I do business with...than in installing the control panel.

I so wish I had my electric heaters but they are in Houston :-(

I needed to go into town but this disrupted my plans. Hopefully tomorrow I can get a lot more things done. Among them removing this horse crippler from our property.  I thought I had tackled them all but now that Walter was grazing here, he exposed a lot of things I thought were no longer around.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Spurs at the White House

It is an honor and a privilege to be invited to the White House.  My San Antonio Spurs were in Washington D.C. yesterday as the 2014 NBA World Champions.

 President Obama has an excellent sense of humor and referred to Tim Duncan as "old".

He also joked with coach Pops about his one liner answers.

Pictures courtesy of San Antonio Spurs http://www.nba.com/spurs/?tmd=1

Becky Homecky

My recent brush with "near tragedy" has turned me into a Becky Homecky...who would have thought it?

I have been cleaning and cooking up a storm.  Ok...I might be exaggerating a tad when I say "cooking up a storm".  There was an online survey by a San Antonio television station asking what people liked to cook during cold weather.

Number 1 answer >>>>  Chili

Number 2 answer >>>>>Caldo

My culinary skills do not stretch far enough to make chili unless it is of the canned variety. However, Caldo though not the best you will ever taste...is doable.

I think I mentioned making Caldo de Res last week and I differentiated from Caldo de Pollo (chicken soup) but if you live in Texas...you know that when you mention Caldo...nine out of ten times it means Caldo de Res or beef soup.

We had just come back from Uvalde and our "highway incident" and I did not feel like shopping for vegetables so I went ahead and bought the complete package.  While I had bought it before, it never has included seasoning...decided to give it a try.

I think I will do without the seasoning next time...it was awful :(

Since then I have made Caldo de Pollo (chicken soup), white rice, lentils, potato salad and jello.  I know that might not be like a big deal to some of you whom cooking comes natural...but to me it was a great accomplishment!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


P.S.  In case you are wondering, that is why I changed my avatar to "Chef Betty Boop Belinda" a few days ago. To those who wrote asking if I could make them one...I am sorry but again my talents do not stretch that far. It was a gift from the very talented girls at the Univision Betty Boop forum.

Morbid thoughts

I recall being in elementary school probably around ten or eleven years of age and learning that in the State of Texas, a handwritten will was valid and would hold up in a court of law.  I remember being impacted by this piece of information and promptly wrote out my own.

I also recall my parents in particular my father thinking I either had suicidal thoughts or had simply lost my mind.  He sat me down and asked me why I had drawn up a will.  I told him that if I died I wanted to make sure my things went to whomever I wanted and not to whom the State decided they should go to.  After I told him I had learned it in class...it seemed to ease his mind.

So what does a ten or eleven year old own that would require a will?  Not much...just my clothes, some jewelry and probably telling my age now...my bubble gum card collection of the Monkeys (the musical group not actual monkeys).  By the way, all my stuff was to be inherited by my cousin who at the time was living with us.

I finally made it official when I turned 24 years old.  My ex-boss had a store bought Will form and shared it with us.  He and another co-worker served as my witnesses and our secretary notarized it and made it legal.  Cost to me....free...I like free!

My parents and I would make a trip to South America a few years later and I loved taunting my father on the flight over. I reminded him that if we crashed and died his step-brothers would inherit what little he had but that MY stuff would go to my uncle because I had a will and he didn't. Needless to say as soon as we got back home...he drew up his will...and also decided that we would NEVER fly together as a family, jajajaja!

You are probably wondering where I am going with these morbid thoughts...don't worry...I am getting to that.

Thursday - January 8, 2015 we were on our way to Uvalde, Texas for mother's monthly doctor's appointment. I was going the speed limit, 70 mph around 1:00 p.m.  The road has been under construction and little pieces of gravel were being kicked up by an eighteen wheeler in front of me. Not wanting more dings in my car or worst yet a cracked windshield...I passed him up at my first opportunity.

As soon as I did, he decided to tailgate me which pissed me off!  I therefore kept a close eye on him. About three minutes later, in the distance I see a figure by the side of the road and I remark to mother...what in the world is that?  Before I even got that out of my mouth, it was clear that it was a deer with antlers trying to make up his mind if he was going to cross the highway or not.

I immediately looked in the rear view mirror and saw that 18 wheeler was still on my ass. I knew I could not brake, so I let go of  the gas pedal and analyzed my options.  No one close enough in incoming traffic that I could, if needed swerve into the incoming lane or I could go off the road to my right to avoid hitting the deer. At 70 or 60 mph by now, that might mean a roll over.

Just then the deer crossed the road and before I could even breath a sigh of relieve the darn deer turned back and just stopped in the middle of the road!!!

I again looked in the rear view mirror and this time I saw that the 18 wheeler had slowed down significantly but neither him nor I were prepared for this next scenario.  Do I swerve right or left to avoid hitting him?  What would the 18 wheeler do?  Hitting an object such as a deer in  a cheaply built Corolla is not an option, nor is getting rear-ended by an 18-wheeler.

Just then the deer decided to bolt off the middle of the road.  I have never been so happy in my life! You have got to realize that all this happened in a split second and not a moment too soon. That darn 18-wheeler kept his distance after that. As a matter of fact others passed him and I soon lost track of him.

When you arrive at the doctor's office, you have to go get your vitals taken by the nurse. My mother's blood pressure was 190/78.  The nurse asked her why her blood pressure was so high and mother replied that she did not know.  I recalled after all this happened, looking over to her but she seemed unfazed and I had no idea if she even noticed it, as it all happened so fast.  One thing I know for sure is she had no idea how close that 18-wheeler was during the ordeal

We might have had a fighting chance if we hit the deer but we would have had NO chance if the 18-wheeler hit us from behind or the side or wherever. Thinking best case scenario we would be in intensive care in a San Antonio hospital.  Worst case...we would be at the local mortuary.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Welcome 3Catahoulas

Welcome 3Catahoulas for being the latest brave soul to become a follower of this blog.

Your participation and comments are always welcome and appreciated.  Thank you for signing on.

Our little town is growing

Today I had to take my mother to the hospital for the usual blood work.  It seems like no matter what time we go...morning, noon or afternoon there are massive amounts of people there.  You have to wait an eternity just to register and then an even longer wait for the blood draw.

I believe there is a State mandated test they have to perform on newborns within a short time after birth and every time we go there are so many babies waiting with their families to have it done. When did we have this population explosion?

No wheelchairs available either so mother had no choice but to use her walker.  She has a wheelchair but there is no way I can lift it in and out of the trunk.

Another sign our town is growing is that a CVS is being built.  This is our first national chain pharmacy.  Would have liked for it to have been a Walgreens but now that we go to Uvalde once a month, I can always shop there.

Another first, even though this bar-b-q chain has been here for a while, I just had never taken the time to check it out.  I finally made it to Rudy's, they are a friendly bunch of people.  They offered me a sample of the brisket and chicken.  Even though the chicken tasted delicious we are pretty tired of eating it and settled on the brisket.  Their potato salad was delicious as well.

Quit procrastinating...I am now officially enrolled to receive E-statements from my banking institution.  If all goes well, I may also decide to do the same with my utilities. I am drowning in paper and my stack of boxes keeps on growing :(

If memory serves me right, HEB was selling regular gasoline for $2.13 a gallon this afternoon which was much cheaper than Stripes who is our low price leader.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Welcome Steven Clark

I would like to welcome Steven Clark as a new reader to the blog.  Thank you for your readership and feel free to comment to your hearts desire.

Steven has a blog called What Ticks You Off?   http://whatticksyouoff.blogspot.com/  however, I do not think it is active as of this writing.  If I am wrong please let me know and I will correct it.

It has been Saturday all week

I swear all this week it has felt like it was Saturday and by golly it finally is!

Would like to say I have done something productive but the truth is that I have hardly done anything at all.  I will take that back, I have been cooking!!!  You don't believe me?  Sucks. Shucks (what a difference one word makes...sorry about that) I wonder why?

Last year after watching a million YouTube videos I made a typical Mexican as well as Spaniard Christmas plate called Bacalao or codfish in English.  This year with my limited 6 GB...I only watched a few videos and was able to jog my poor memory.  I must say it came out pretty good.

Today I cooked Caldo de Res and even my mother who is not a meat eater had some and liked it!

It has been cold and wet outside but tomorrow we expect to see the sun.  I am so glad I went to HEB earlier this week because I would hate to have had to go out in this weather.  As you can tell I do not have much to say :D

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Happy and Healthy New Year 2015!

I want to wish everyone out there in the blogosphere a Happy, Prosperous  but above all a very Healthy New Year!

You can have all the riches and happiness in the world but if you are not healthy enough to enjoy it...it is all for not.

May health be abundant in everyone's life.