Sweet Pine Nuts....Get Ready to Meet a Rascal!

Well, I think I am finished with my first novel. Yipee!
Now, I need to get my business cap on and write query letters to agents to see if anyone is interested in it.

In the meantime, I will share bits and pieces with my blog friends just because I would love to start getting feedback now, not years from now when the book is finally in bookstores.

Here's the opening paragraphs...







A large grey squirrel stared at a pile of sparkling rings and earrings, unsure of which one to choose. The squirrel was sitting on the surface of a honey-gold desk, piled with books, papers, a couple of pens and a treasure trove of jewelry. While it’s tail jerked back and forth every few seconds, it edged closer to the jewels, until it was close enough to stretch out its front paw to move one of the rings. Finally, it grabbed a magnificent emerald cut diamond ring encrusted with deep blue sapphires and stuffed it in its pouch. In a flash, it jumped off the desk and ran out of the room.

     Theodore Lancaster III grinned as he clicked the button on his stop-watch. SQ-22, or Barney, as Reginald had named him, had beaten his previous training time of three minutes and twenty-nine seconds by almost a whole minute. It wouldn’t be long before Barney was ready for the big time. Theo followed the squirrel, which was trained to return to the special shed that had been built adjacent to the garage. 

     Reginald, his long-time butler, personal assistant, and chief squirrel technician, met him as he entered the darkened shed. “He won’t give me the jewels, sir.” Reginald rolled his eyes and cocked his head toward the squirrel sitting on top the opened cage. 

     “For goodness sake, Reggie, just open his mouth, reach in and take it.” Theo grinned. He knew how much Reginald loathed the squirrels. Reginald was a very proper British butler, from a long line of butlers, and he would have left Theodore long ago, but he was almost eighty years old, and Theo paid him very well. And, he admitted when asked, he enjoyed life with his boss.            

     Without waiting for a reply, Theodore put on a pair of heavy work gloves and picked up the squirrel. Pinching the squirrel’s nostrils shut forced the animal to open his mouth just wide enough for Theo to stick a finger in. Once that was done, it was easy to retrieve the ring. He gave his butler a look that seemed to say, “See how easy that was?”

    Reginald muttered a few choice words as he grabbed the now empty squirrel. The little varmit wasn’t going to get any extra treats for this job. Not if he had anything to say about it. That’ll teach him, Reginald thought with a grunt of satisfaction. He shoved SQ-22 back into the cage, secured the opening, and wiped his hands on his white lab apron.

(By the way...this is copyrighted, no reprinting or copying without my permission, okay?)

Meet the European Starling Family

 I love to watch the birds that fly into my yard. If they stop long enough, I get out my camera and start taking pictures....I noticed that this guy loves to perch on the dead pecan tree which I can see when I look out my large kitchen window. Isn't he gorgeous? He's a European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), a type of songbird that was introduced to North America in the nineteenth century.

It dawned on me that he was making a lot of trips to the tree, then disappearing on the other side. So, I went outside to see what was on the other side of the tree. This is what I found.  A hole....Ahhhhh....there must be a nest!

So, I started watching closer, and sure enough, the starling came back with baby food.

However, he was NOT happy that I was standing so close to his nest. See how ruffled his feathers are? None the less, he went inside and fed his babies.

When he came back out, which was just a matter of seconds after he went into the hole in the tree, he was really peeved. I mean, mad. Can you tell???

In fact, I was kind of concerned that he might dive-bomb me or something violent like that. He made such a ruckus, hissing at me and posturing, but thankfully, he didn't actually attack. He and his mate made many, many trips to the tree, fussing at me each time I stood by the tree, yet they continued to feed their babies. I finally went back into the house. 

Later on, I went back out, and this is what I spotted....

 It won't be long, and baby is going to want to fly...I hope I get to see that happen!

Schulenburg Bluebonnets on a Farm

If you have lived in Texas for very long, you are probably like me...you love the wildflower show in the spring and look forward to it every year. Unfortunately, we are in the middle of a terrible drought, so the flowers have been kind of sparse, this year. So, I have looked through some of the photos I took last spring, when the wildflowers were incredible.

This shot was taken between Schulenburg and Gonzales. It doesn't get any more Texas than cattle and bluebonnets....

1963 Caddy Bits and Pieces

I am drawn to older cars, built before all the safety regulations softened all the sharp edges and clean lines. In 1963, cars were heavy. No fiberglass shell for this beauty! And they were so long from the tip of the hood to the point of the fin.

This particular car was sitting on the side of the street in front of a garage sale. It was Friday, around 11 or 12 o'clock, so the sale rush had long since happened, and the driveway filled with odds and ends was deserted except for the lady "minding the store" and a couple of guys, who were obviously just hanging around, maybe her husband and brother, I am not sure.  Anyway, they had this caddy sitting on the street next to the driveway with a box on top of it as a garage sale sign. I asked if I could take a few pictures of the car, and, as almost always happens, they readily and graciously agreed. They even opened the doors for me so I could take some interior photos.

This is the kind of car that should be driven on a Saturday night, all cleaned and polished, the windows rolled down, and golden oldies playing loudly on the AM only radio. Don't you just love it?

Rose in Black and White

Hallelujah, Our Savior Lives!

The Empty Cross

Saturday dawned, and the three crosses were silhouetted against the morning sky. They were empty, for the two thieves and the radical preacher were dead already, and the bodies had been taken down the night before.

The preacher's followers were in hiding, fearful of the Romans, fearful of the Jewish leaders, heart broken because their Master had been killed. It had been a long night.

What would they do? James and John might return to their father and ask to be allowed back into the family business as fishermen. Peter had a family to consider. He had his own boat, so returning to the sea was also something that went through his mind.

But that was not what any of the followers wanted....they wanted their Lord back. How could this tragedy have happened? Wasn't He the Messiah? But he was dead!

The sun rose in the sky while the disciples were huddled in a room in the city, their shock and grief too raw for them to do anything for the moment.

Alone in the Garden

¹ After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

   “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 

² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. Now they know they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

   ¹³ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴ I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.¹⁷ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

 ²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

   ²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

   ²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

John 17: 1-26

Why Did God Make Roses?

Have you ever wondered why God made roses? You know, we learn about bugs and bees pollinating flowers and making honey and we take it for granted that they are drawn to the more colorful or more sweet-smelling blooms. But why did God make such a wide variety of beautiful blooms? Why roses???

I don't have any answer to this question, but I suspect that God just went all out when He created the plants, giving us an abundance of beauty as well as practicality. That's the kind of God He is.

He has the same desire to pour out blessings on the lives of His children. He doesn't have to bless us, but He loves us with a love the size of the universe. So, He gives us roses. And I am thankful.

Pray With Me

The finals days of Jesus ministry here on earth were drawing to a close as Passover approached.

As the cross drew nearer, Jesus spent time in prayer, agonizing over the burden he would bear, over the separation from his Father, to the point where he sweat drops of blood. He had his closest friends near, and all he asked of them was that they pray with him.

Peter, James and John, mere faulty, imperfect, frail men, could not even stay awake while Jesus prayed. And they had walked with Jesus for three years. They had seen five thousand fed with just a handful a fish and bread. They had seen Lazarus walk out of the tomb. They had seen demons flee in his presence. Yet, they did not really see, at all. And so, Jesus was alone in the garden, alone with His Father. He spent His last minutes before his arrest praying.

As we approach Passover, let us fall on our knees and spend time in prayer. May we not be like the men in the garden, too weak and too unconcerned when asked by their Lord to pray. May we find strength and power in the Lord, may our hearts be filled with a desire to do whatever is asked. May we stay awake.

He's the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star

Hosanna to the Son of David....Resurrection Week Begins with Praise

 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to Daughter Zion,  ‘See, your king comes to you, 

gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

   “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

   “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

   “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Matthew 21: 1-9

Resting In Peace

Just a country cemetery off the beaten path....markers date back to the mid 1800s. I know our bodies are just empty shells when we die, and it shouldn't matter what we do with them, however, if I had a choice, this is the kind of place I would like to put my "shell". 

Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound

This cross is the top piece to the entrance to Amazing Grace Baptist Church, located just south of Seguin on Hwy 123.

Bandera Windmill

Driving down Highway 16, I spotted this windmill and Richard pulled through a entrance way to some sort of church retreat and conference center. We could see a hugh parking lot to the right, and another entrance which passed two beautiful shallow ponds, winding up the road to the windmill, then to a picnic area, then up a hill to a stone house. I was really looking forward to taking some pictures, but as we drove up to the windmill, it was beginning to look like a private property, even though the entrance gate to the main area proclaimed the area a public space. So, we drove up the winding road to the top of the hill where the house was located (can you see the roof in the upper left of the frame?) we decided to turn around so we could leave the premises.

We turned around at the top of the hill, probably in someone's driveway, drove past the picnic area, past the windmill, past the two ponds, (did I mention they had the cutest realistic looking fake swans floating in the ponds, two black swans in one pool and two white swans in the other?) and I so wanted to stop, but I had Richard pull back onto the public right of way. I got out and walked outside the fence to take some shots of the windmill.

I hadn't taken three or four shots before a lady driving a Mercedes came tearing down the hill to stop and roll down her window and holler out across the field at me. Actually, she was very polite, asking me if she could help me, you know, like wanting to know what I was doing. I smiled, and told her that I originally thought the windmill was on public property, but as soon as we pulled in, we could tell it was private, and I apologized. She was very gracious, but I can tell you, I was so glad I had resisted the temptation to take a few shots of the ponds, for then I would have really been in trouble....

So now, you have a pretty good idea of how far I will go to get a shot. Just about as far as I can, without really breaking any rules.

It sure is a beautiful windmill.

Sebastopol Early Morning Light

Sebastapol is located just a few blocks from downtown Seguin, kind of off the beaten path, and very quiet, for the most part.

I was very fortunate to do an internship at this wonderful historical mansion in my senior year in college, since I was majoring in history, and specializing in the history of Guadalupe county.

 I learned about the families that lived here, and the children that grew up in this house. Under the house, as I recall, there is a bricked in room that has bars over the windows, but there is no access to the room.

Folks have speculated about it's use, since it is in the middle of the crawl/basement space. Very strange, but then, all old houses should have some stories and mysteries that remain through the years.

A Venetian Birthing Chair Made it's Way to Texas!

I spotted this chair when I was at the Frontier Times Museum in Bandera, Texas. The museum is filled with items used by the pioneers and settlers of central Texas. As Richard and I drove down the winding roads, up and down the hills, through the brushy pasture land, we envisioned the settlers arriving in their covered wagons, or on the trains that later criss-crossed the country, and realized that each household item had to be carted from the east at great cost or hauled in their wagon, where space was at a premium. It's a wonder that folks brought such things as pianos or other huge and heavy pieces of furniture. Someone valued this birthing chair enough to give it space in their wagon, or to pay for it to be shipped by rail. I do not know if it was still  being used as a birthing chair when it sat in some Texas woman's home. Who knows how many women gave birth while sitting in this chair...

The Three Amigos...three old trucks hidden off the beaten path

I always wonder what we will find when my husband and I go on a photography road trip. Richard, my husband, best friend, and chauffeur, drove me through some wonderful back roads, last week, and I gave him a list of things to look for. The list went something like this...windmills, donkeys, old run-down buildings, wild flowers, donkeys, and of course, old cars sitting in fields. 

He spotted these three beauties just outside Blanco. I missed them because they were almost completely hidden behind some brush. We turned around and pulled off the road and had to drive down a narrow path for about 100 feet or so to get a good shot. There was no fence or gate, so I didn't feel like I could get into too much trouble, but once I got out of the truck, some dogs started barking  further down the path. 

I am not real crazy about barking dogs. Especially when I am probably on someone else's property, so I took three or four QUICK shots and jumped back into the truck. How I wish I could have stayed there and set up my shots, checking the light, etc. Oh well, maybe another time.

Rosy Trio

Sunburst over WalMart

You never know how a sunset will look, even from one minute to the next, so if you really want to make a career of taking sunset or sunrise photos, you ought to get into place early, then plan on staying late. The colors and clouds change, and as the sun rises or descends, incredible things can happen....however, the beauty changes or disappears in the matter of a couple minutes. My husband and I were going to the local pizza place on Friday  night when we saw the myriad of rays breaking through the clouds. There was no time to drive to a better spot, so WalMart became my silhouette. I wanted a shot of just the sky, but was not in position. That must mean that I am not a career-oriented photographer, sheesh.

Frontier Times Museum

Richard and I recently took a road trip and visited the beautiful city of Bandera. We spotted the Frontier Times Museum and took a few minutes to explore their artifacts and relics from days gone by. The lady at the front desk was so helpful and friendly. We highly recommend this charming museum to anyone who passes through Bandera and has the time to stop. By the way, I only got in trouble once, and that was for trying out the keys on a very, very old piano! I had asked the desk lady what it sounded like, which to my mind, was a implied request for permission to touch it. You know I have a hard time passing by a piano without wanting to play it. A couple of ladies sitting at a table going over museum business stopped what they were doing to exclaim, "PLEASE DON'T PLAY THE PIANO!"  Needless to say, I did stop.

The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

 This quaint church, located in Gillespie county, was built in the 1870's and originally named the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. It fell into disrepair and was not being used until the 1970's, when it was repaired by youth of many different denominations. It was renamed the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

Faith of Our Fathers

No matter what others say, our heritage is a one of Christian faith. We worship the true and living God, Amen.

There's Just Something Special About Roses and A White Picket Fence

There is nothing that says home is a wonderful place like a white picket fence covered with masses and masses of roses. In my opinion, this fence and the roses are enough for a beautiful photo. It doesn't need a cute toddler or a golden retriever or a dreamy-eyed young women, though all those would have been acceptable for this photographer. The fence and the roses are enough. 

Neighborhood Classics....1966 Chevy Impala and Cute Cottages

My neighbor bought this 1966 Chevy Impala for his 13 year old son after the 1998 flood. They restored it and now his son is old enough to drive it. However, it was dad who was out washing and vacuuming it, Saturday. Way to go, dad!!!

Old Baptist Church Sitting on a Hill

This is for Ed....he asked me if I had any pictures of churches, so I dug around my old archives. After really photoshopping it and adding a water color effect, I decided it would do. Time to start looking for more old churches. After all, that is my Christian heritage. I hope it is yours, too.

Butterfly Fun

 Butterflies have the most erratic flight pattern so they are v-e-r-y hard to photograph in flight in sharp focus. However, they will sometimes perch on a sweet blossom long enough for a patient photographer to snap a few shots. Here are three from last spring. Now it is time to get out and find this year's crop!