Why call Pollito when I have Caballito...

It was 35 degrees this morning that is considered COLD for these parts.  The kitchen is the only room that has windows facing north, east and south...lately rather than taking my solar lights outside to charge I have been charging them from the kitchen.

When I opened the blinds I noticed Ramón (not his real name) who used to be Walter's owner throwing things at his horse. I was surprised and upset that he would do that. He then looked towards the house and saw me looking at him from the window and stopped.

I went to grab my phone and the boys food and went outside by then Ramón was no longer there I supposed he had left for work. Then I saw that the horse had crossed the street so I walked to the corner that is when I noticed that his horse was in the corral and that this was a different horse. That is when it dawned on me that he must have been eating his horse's hay so he ran him off.

When the horse saw me he crossed the street and came into our yard.  That is when the girl horse started to neigh loudly and he went to her side and was there for a long time.

I had to drive into town to run errands so I let them be. As I went by HEB I noticed that gasoline had gone up to $2.299 an increase of .12 cents.  When I passed Walmart I was delighted to see that their parking lot was almost empty so stopped to pick up a couple of groceries.

While I would only save .01 cent per gallon decided to fill-up here as well.

When I arrived back home the horse was still here but this time he was grazing...who needs Pollito when I have Caballito (an endearing term for a horse).

It was getting warm especially in the sun so I rewarded him for his hard work by bringing him some water.

I recalled a couple of years ago that a Sheriff's Deputy came to knock at the door to tell us that there were two horses on our property who had been reported missing and that their owner would soon be by to pick them up so to please not run them off...we had no idea they were even here.

I, therefore, felt obliged to call the Sheriff's department to let them know I had a lost horse in our property.  He took down my name, telephone, and address and said he would send a squad car.  I told him the horse was not bothering me and I did not mind that he was here.

Grabbed a chair, my cell and the cordless phone in case they called. Sat outside with the boys in the warm sunshine.  No one came by or called so I went in at 5:00 p.m. to watch the news.

Both cats soon fell asleep but I only got a pic of Nico.

I went back outside at 6:00 p.m. and Romeo (decided to name him that) was still with Juliet and more than likely will spend the night here.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Saying of the Day

Darn Pop-up Ads / Strong Wind Gusts

I have had an Ad Blocker for a couple of months now and have loved not having all these advertisements popping up constantly. The one downside is that many websites will not allow me to read them unless I unblock them. I needed some information so I unblocked ONE site but I guess I did it wrong and now I am being bombarded with ads and I do not know how to block them again...oh, well :-(

One of the worst is the Weather Channel...my uncle is going on vacation and asked me to look up the weather for him...gee whiz what a disaster!  The only ad I actually wanted to see was for an RV rental place and I automatically closed it and it has not popped up again when I really want it to...grrrrrrr!

I do not know what is wrong with me...I am cold all the time and I have to wear two pairs of socks to keep my feet warm.  Remember my $5.00 blue jean jacket and blue jean coat I bought for my trip to Terlingua?  I wear one or both inside the house even though I have the heater set at 72 degrees sometimes I splurge and raise it to 74.

We had terrible wind gusts this morning and afternoon that forced me to go outside to retrieve the five-gallon buckets that I washed yesterday and that went flying all over the place.  I know my Canadian readers and those readers in cold climates will chuckle...but I about froze to death.  I do NOT like coffee but I had to come in and drink some...instant decaf...to warm me up.  You have no idea how I wrestled with adding the little bit of Kahlua I have left...of course I can't as I am taking medications :-(

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Saying of the Day

A scary high pitch sound in the middle of the night

Yesterday we had a gray, foggy and humid day.  If you were looking out the window you would have thought that it was also cold outside but that was not the case.

It was so foggy you could not see the horses in Walter's corral. Both yesterday and today our high for the day was in the 70-degree range.  Not complaining though as the weather in other parts of the nation was downright frigid.  I still can not believe all the snow California received.

Last night I fell asleep watching television in the living room.  For once I was not upset that the cable box turned itself off because at 2:53 a.m. I heard this horrible high pitch sound and something rubbing itself against the outside wall.  Immediately all the neighborhood dogs began to bark but with a different kind of bark...like they were afraid.

I tried to get up but did so very fast that it made my head spin and I had to sit back down because I became dizzy. The first thing that came to mind was that it was that darn raccoon trying to eat one of my boys (cats).  But I did not hear any cat sounds or any other familiar sound.

I then recalled a blogger from Terlingua that once told me that during the night she would lock up her dogs to protect them from coyotes.  She heard a terrible sound late one evening but did not go outside until morning when she found that a rattlesnake had bitten and killed one of her dogs.

Needless to say, I could not go back to sleep. As soon as daylight broke I went outside to check on the boys and both Paquito and Katie were in their cuchas but I could not find Nico. That is not surprising because he goes off somewhere at night...still have not figured out where. Walked around the property calling out his name as well as looking to see if I found a victim.  Lucky for me he came over the fence from Walter's corral and was safe and sound.

Right now we are having pretty strong winds hopefully the Internet does not go out before I finish this post.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

It started out cold (45 degrees) but slowly warmed up to a high of 77 this afternoon. It was warmer outside than inside the house. I needed to run several errands so headed on out. I have been carrying my laundry in the trunk of my car waiting for a lull in the crowds at the laundromat but today was not that day.

HEB was packed as it was closing at 8:00 p.m. and not reopening until December 26th at 6:00 a.m.  Their gas pumps were all full as drivers heading to México made their last gasoline fill-up in the States.  A gallon of unleaded gasoline was going for $2.159.

As I drove down Veterans Memorial I decided to stop at the place that sells homemade tamales. This time the lady that makes them was there along with more family members. The girl in the green sweater was a client that bought seven dozen tamales...that is 84 tamales!  Forgot to mention they also sell buñuelos, sopapillas and other Mexican pastries. You can click on the following picture to enlarge it and see the variety of items they sell.

This time they had a large selection of tamales. I wanted to buy the bean with cheese and jalapeños but they had run out so I chose just beans and jalapeños. I suppose it was fate as people with high cholesterol levels such as myself should not eat cheese.

I spotted chicken with green chili and decided to buy them as well. I asked the lady if I could take a picture of her tamale stand and she gave me permission and then decided she would put it on her Facebook page as well. I asked her what the name of her business was and she said she did not have one she was posting to her personal account. She told me her name but with my CRS I do not recall what it was...:-(

HEB is on Gibbs Street and if you keep on heading south you will reach the International Bridge to cross into México. As I was taking pictures across the street from the HEB gas pumps I saw an RV heading fast towards the bridge but thought nothing of it. I too headed towards the bridge just to see how long the lines to cross into Mexico were as I had been watching the live feed on my computer and yesterday they were quite long.

This live feed is from the toll booths going to Mexico. The cars on the top right corner have just cleared Customs and are returning to the USA.

https://g1.ipcamlive.com/player/player.php?alias=5da4899f1d893&fbclid=IwAR1IhiAyv7IAIUV8Cov4KdUHpllqo8dQMezH4jKWM0Fmh2zmt8Cu-gQVUYI

I suppose he realized at the last minute that he was headed into México and not Stripes where they have gasoline pumps for 18 wheelers and large RV's as this is the only truck stop in Del Rio and made a U-turn.

I caught up to him at the light and noticed he had Alaskan license plates and was a younger guy (no wonder he was driving fast).  Since I too was headed to Stripes but in my case, for some unsweetened tea, to go with my tamales... I noticed he pulled in for gasoline.

The lady that makes the tamales told me that since they have been so successful this past year they have decided to sell them on weekends as well this coming 2020...that is great news!  In case you are wondering I ate in moderation and froze the rest.

I want to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying

Pleasant temperatures / Grandma's Saying

These past three days have been a carbon copy of each other. Lows in the lower 30's and highs in the low to mid 70's. Today we had a high of 76 degrees. I have been cracking open the windows in the afternoon to air out the house but closing them before the sun goes down as the temperatures drop quickly after that.

Saturday around 10:30 a.m. Pollito's sidekick saw me outside taking pictures and stopped to let me know that he had gone by the house of the man that is fixing his lawnmower but he wasn't there. He asked if I wanted him to bag my leaves but I told him that what I really wanted was for the baby mesquites to be cut down on the southern lot and for him to mow along the street side of the fence. He didn't seem to like that idea and told me he would be back after Christmas if he had a chance.

That reminded me of a saying my grandmother liked to use "Buscan trabajo y ruegan a Dios no encontrarlo"...which literally translates to..."They look for work but pray to God not to find any". While I barely knew my grandmother and never heard her say anything both my mother and uncle always give her credit for that saying. I must admit it applies perfectly to those two.

This whole weekend I have spent looking for a document to no avail. Found other things I had given up on ever locating including my original social security card that was actually filled out using a typewriter...that makes me feel old...:-(

I came across a lot of coins but have no idea what their worth might be as they are Mexican coins and I do not know if they lose their value like their paper currency. Glad our coins and paper currency do the opposite.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Saying of the Day

Tasty Tamales / Sunny Day

After my bad lab report, I have been behaving and not even indulging in my once a week treat of eating anything I like.  It has not been easy as I love to eat breakfast but since I do not how to cook I have had to fight off the urge to go to the weekend breakfast buffet at Golden Corral.

Today as I was driving down the main drag in Del Rio...Veterans Memorial Blvd...I spotted a car parked by a pop-up tent canopy with a fold-up table and two large coolers on top.  I must confess that I have been on the lookout for it since there is a lady who makes delicious tamales and sells them during the holidays.

I quickly turned on the next street and headed back. I bought a dozen chicken and a dozen pork tamales. They were nice and warm and had recently been made. Her son was selling them this morning at $10.00 a dozen. They are not like the ones they sell at Stripes or HEB...but big ones like one would make at home for their family if they knew how.

I ate one of each and then froze the rest so I would not be tempted to overindulge...:-(

We were expecting a gray and rainy morning but it did not materialize. We had a pleasant and sunny day. The low was 37 with a high of 70 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Saying of the Day

Old Man Winter is paying us a visit

It was bound to happen and it did...Old Man Winter is paying us a visit.  For the past two days, it has been freezing. The only good thing about that is that cold weather makes me sleepy.  I went to bed at 8:30 p.m. last night and even though I was wide awake by 4:00 a.m.  I managed to doze off for a couple more hours.

With so many porch pirates at this time of the year, I was pleasantly surprised that Amazon has a Hub Counter at Beall's department store in Del Rio where you can pick up your packages. Too bad my stupid phone did not want to work inside the mall so I had to go to the library to take a picture of the barcode so they could scan it and give me my package.

We had a low of 28 and a high of 59 degrees.  My boys' water dish was frozen this morning.  We are expecting a cold night this evening in the '20s.  Bundle up, guys!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

I am beginning to sound repetitive...

I woke up early after only three and a half hours of sleep. I have been good since I came back from Terlingua so I considered treating myself to the breakfast buffet at Golden Corral but talked myself out of it and went back to sleep instead.

The leaves keep on falling so have not been able to keep up and there are still more on the trees that after the strong winds we are expecting tomorrow should add more to my To Do List.

I went to take the boys their lunch only to find a bunch of leaves on the front porch and had no choice but to rake them.  I decided to bag as many as I possibly could since it was so nice and warm outside. 

Bagged four large bags from the front yard but only raked a few in the back.

Like the blog post title states...I am beginning to sound repetitive...we set another record high for this day. We broke a record set in 1950 of 84 degrees by reaching a high of 88 degrees per AccuWeather though KSAT-12 in San Antonio reported we reached 89 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

I kid you not...we took down a record from 1908!

It was cold this morning at 49 degrees when I heard a vehicle honking and then a knock on the door. It was Pollito's sidekick whom I had called two weeks ago and who was supposed to come cut the weeds last Saturday.  I waited for him until 9:30 a.m. and figured either he had to work on the weekend, he was hungover, or he has picked up Pollito's bad habit of not showing up without letting the customer know.

He claims he came by but only Paquito and another cat greeted him.  I told him I had left the gate open for him as I had gone to the laundromat to beat the crowds since we had already discussed what I wanted to be done.  I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

Hideous Mesquite trees

He went to work on the northern lot.  After a while, I no longer heard the sound of the lawnmower.  I went outside to take him water but he and his truck were gone.  He came back later and told me his lawnmower stopped working so he took it to the guy on the next block but he could not fix it until next week so he cleared the lot using his weed eater.

He charged me $50.00 but I gave him $60.00 it is a lot of hard work just using a weed eater.

He also cut the weeds in the back of the house that he did not get to the last time.  The price did not include raking leaves and I am fine with that all I care is the darn weeds.

Now to get back to this blog post title.  I kid you not, here it is mid-December and we keep on setting records. We took down a record from 1908 of 88 degrees and replaced it with a high today of 91 degrees! 

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Spurs Corner

I just finished watching the Spurs versus Phoenix Suns from Mexico City.  I was very surprised at just how many Spurs fans there are in Mexico. I can not believe once again we played our fourth overtime game in a row!

So glad we pulled a WIN after the disaster of what was the last game with the Cleveland Cavaliers.




Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Another record setting day

While it was cold this morning...48 degrees...I know my Canadian readers, as well as those that live in colder places, are probably laughing at the thought :D

The sun came out and it warmed up nicely to 86 degrees breaking another record set back in 2016 of 79 degrees.

Drove into town and as I passed HEB there were long lines at the gasoline pumps then remembered it was Friday and payday.  I will fill-up tomorrow if I decide to venture out but at the small store by the house who is selling gas at the same $2.179 price as in town.

After picking up the mail at the P.O. Box drove to little HEB and was pleasantly surprised that there were few people there. I picked up the items I needed and was quickly out the door.

This weekend should be nice with temperatures in the 80's so that means I will be raking more leaves :-(

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Who knew cheap night vision glasses worked?

Last Friday- December 6th I stopped by Dollar Tree and to my surprise found some Chinese knock off yellow night vision glasses. I have seen them on "As seen on TV" but not at a price I would want to pay.

They had a large selection so I bought two pairs. By the time I got through shopping, it was dark so I was able to put them to the test. To my surprise, I could see!

Thinking it was a fluke I put them to the test again the other night and was pleasantly surprised that they worked. Who knew dollar glasses would solve my night vision problems!

Today I finally got confirmation that the TV I ordered during Black Friday was ready for me to pick up.

While at Walmart decided to stop at the "As Seen on TV" aisle and saw the original night vision glasses for $14.88.

As well as the two pair HD polarized version for $19.88.

Had I known these glasses actually worked I would have bought them a long time ago!  Stopped at Dollar Tree to purchase another pair but they were all gone...glad I bought two pairs on my last visit.

The last time I was in town gasoline was selling for $2.129 per gallon but it has gone up a nickel since then. This evening it was going for $2.179 at Walmart.

Same price at HEB...

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Beautiful sunny day / New C.P.A.

It was a beautiful sunny day that started out cold (for me) at 47 degrees but warmed up nicely to 88 degrees this afternoon.  Set a new record high for today beating out the 2004 record of 80 degrees.

Too bad all this is set to come to an end as we are expecting a cold front and rain in the early morning hours.  My rain catchment ran out of water yesterday so I am ready for the showers and their beneficial rain.

I have been meaning to set up an appointment with a local CPA firm as I have several questions that I need professional advice on. What was my surprise when I called and was told they are no longer taking any new clients. It sounds like a lot of doctors in Del Rio that have a close practice and are not seeing new patients or if they are you have to fill out a form and be approved.

Lucky for me I was a former client of her late father's and she agreed to take me on as her client but not before several telephone calls between her receptionist and myself.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Another bad lab report / Managed to piss off my Nurse Practitioner

One good thing about getting my labs done in Mexico is that besides being cheaper I have access to them right away and know how good but mostly how bad the numbers are.  This year I also had labs performed by Lifeline Screening.

The last time I saw my nurse practitioner she was worried about my high cholesterol levels and it was ME who asked her to put me back on Statins.  Since it was my idea did not think it would be a big deal when I decided to go OFF them without consulting her.

You would have thought I committed a CRIME she was fit to be tied even though I told her that I had gone back on them after I saw my results.  She was not happy with my A1C numbers either so I now have to take another medication to lower my levels.

I do not know if I am still recuperating from Terlingua, I'm coming down with something or the medication is making me sleepy but some days I can not even make it to the end of the 10:00 p.m. evening news...that is so unlike me!

I apologize to the blogs I follow as I tend to do most of my reading in the late night/early morning hours and have not gotten around to doing that in the past couple of days.

Little did I know that I had missed out on another Black Friday item. Thursday, December 5th after my doctor's appointment went to Home Depot as they had a special on AA and AAA batteries. As soon as you walk in they have their items that are on sale.  Saw two 26 qt high-performance cooler with a lockable lid but it did not have a price. No employees in sight so went about my shopping. When I got to the check-out counter this guy in front of me had one of those said coolers and I was shocked to learn that they were on sale for $39.88...they regularly sell for $78.97. Of course, he took off running to grab the last remaining one...these were leftover from their Black Friday sale.

I went online when I got home but it said that Home Depot does not deliver to P.O. Boxes and did not even give me the option to pick it up at their store.  I got help online but my credit card declined it because my billing address and my home address did not match.  I guess I really did not need that cooler!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Black Friday / Cyber Monday

How many of you participated in Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year?  While I did not dare venture into an actual brick and sticks store I did do some web surfing.  I wanted a cheap TV under a hundred dollars that I could watch in the kitchen where it seems I spend most of my time.

The prior television that I had there died a couple of months ago and I put my small 19-inch TV that with my failing eyesight I can barely see so I needed an upgrade.  Found two 32-inch ones while surfing one was $85.00 and the other $89.00.

I did not pull the trigger till the last minute Sunday night but I was still not convinced since I felt I could get a better deal on Cyber Monday but what if I couldn't?  I should learn to trust my inner voice. The television set I bought was $5.00 cheaper today and they had a better buy on a Smart Roku but it was too late...oh well!

The weather is back to normal for this time of the year.  We had a low of 43 with a high of 69 degrees. Even though I had the heater set on 75...I was cold!  I hope I am not coming down with something!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Del Rio sets another record high for this day

I was online and had the TV on as I listened to the six o'clock news.  I actually thought the station had made a mistake when the weather report came on.  I clearly heard the weather guy say that a record was broken today in Del Rio but when he said it reached 103 degrees I had my doubts.

I checked with AccuWeather https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/del-rio-tx/78840/daily-weather-forecast/331111?day=1  and was shocked that it said we had a high of 109 degrees breaking a record set back in 1991 of 83 degrees for this day.  The low temperature this morning was 49 degrees that is a 60-degree swing in temperatures.

With conflicting highs for today, I do not know which site is correct will have to wait for the ten o'clock news.  Either way, it is way too high for the last day of November. 

Confirmed by KENS-5 in San Antonio...Del Rio had a high of 109 degrees today.

Inside of the house, it certainly did not feel like it was that high outside perhaps because it was still cold from last night.  Either way, after the incident with those three creatures two nights ago I do not even want to go outside.

What creatures you might ask?  You will have to read my other blog as not everyone likes to read about my cats.  http://mylittlewalter.blogspot.com/   and I can't say that I blame them that is why they have their own blog.

I went to a website that mutes videos but you can still partially hear me.  The important thing is the horrible beasts I encountered that left me traumatized.  I do not know if I will ever be able to go outside at night.

I have been raking a lot of leaves lately and I recently found another use for my pool noodles as I had a leftover piece after I wrapped the pipes.

This is to protect my boys from accidentally injuring themselves as I already have a one-eyed cat.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Old bookshelves / Betty Boop Care Package

Wednesdays are trash day and yesterday I noticed I only had one small trash bag and as much as we pay for this service forced myself to rake leaves until I filled it up.  Yesterday was a hot day we had a high of 88 degrees.

The other day I almost bought a shoe rack when I remembered that we have three bookshelves from our Austin, Texas days.  I may be dating myself but back in the '60s HEB would issue double gold stamps on Wednesday that you posted to a small booklet and then saved enough to buy stuff at their specialty store that sold a variety of household articles. Anyone remember that?

I took it outside and cleaned it up saving myself a couple of dollars and in the process located three of my high school yearbooks.  Not particular pretty but will work for my intended purpose and will save my back and knees from having to dig under the bed for my shoes.

Here is a picture of the shoe rack I was going to buy when recalled that I had a similar one in the form of a bookshelf at home.

On a prior post, I mentioned that Ms. D (my best friend) eldest daughter Amanda had sent me a Betty Boop care package.  At the time of this picture, I was wearing one of the t-shirts she gifted me so it does not appear here.

Though the AARP bag I think came from Ms. D.  In my youth I would have killed for a BB Diary!
I started writing a diary when I was nine years old. 

The cold front arrived this morning but it hasn't been that bad. We had a low of 50 with a high of 65 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.