List Friday

Top 10 Characteristics of An Ideal Roadtrip Companion

1.  Is willing to stop for pictures ANYWHERE

2.  Is adventurous and can be spontaneous

3.  Plans enough to have things to look forward to on the trip.......

4.  .....but leaves enough empty time to find random oddities and activities.

5.  Has somewhat decent bladder-holding abilities.

6.  Can roll with things that come up and not freak out.

7.  Is easily amused

8.  Will let me stop in weird stores to bum around.

9.  Likes history and old stuff

10. Can appreciate silence as much as conversation.

Thankful Thursday

 

 This week I'm thankful for awesome antique/junk/oddities/random stores in obscure towns, out in the middle of nowhere.  You find the coolest stuff and meet the most unique, interesting people!

A couple weeks ago, I went to Waxahachie, TX (just 20 miles south of DFW) and found this cool metal basket thing (meant to hold planters) and made a book 'basket'/'shelf'/'holder' out of it.  It was only $15.00 and it is definitely old, but it's wrought iron, sturdy, cute and I absolutely LOVE it!

I think I like these outings out in the country and in little towns so relaxing because I COMPLETELY escape stress, reality, my job, house projects, the rat race, all of my routines, lists, tasks, obligations, etc.  I just am totally in the moment, enjoying a slower pace.  It's worth more than hours and hours on a shrink's couch!

 

Windmills Gone Wrong?

I got an email recently (from my Mom) with the following pictures of windmills.......but they weren't the happy 'clean power-producing' images that we usually see......they are disturbing, amazing and bizarre all at the same time.

 Here are some photos of what happens when transmission failures occur in windmills.

 To date no gear oil has been invented to withstand the pressures produced within these transmissions.

 Most recently, the government gave Dow-Corning a big grant to work on it.

 

 Previously, many others had tried and failed. As they age there will be many bearing failures.

 

 Just insane - and scary!

 

 

 Wow - I hope no one was in this truck when this happened!!

List Friday

Top 10 Reasons To Love Sunday

1.  Church - I love my pastor, my church friends and re-charging my spiritual battery.

2.  Naps in the afternoon

3.  Spending time with Maggie & Owen

4.  Getting stuff done!

5.  No traffic on the roads - YES!

6.  The "Front Porch" radio show in the evening - red dirt Texas country music

7.  Catching up on phone calls, talking to friends that are far away.

8.  I get to get up much later than on weekdays, even when I'm volunteering at church.

9.  Going to the dog park and playing with all the pups.

10. Spending time around the house, enjoying the environment I work hard to maintain and decorate.

Horses Galore

I am most definitely a city girl and I don't think I'm in any way cut out for country life, but since moving to Texas, I have had a fascination with horses and ranch life.  Horses are majestic, graceful, strong and hard-working.....qualities I would love to possess, but usually fall short of my lofty goals. 

Here are some sweet, beautiful pictures of kids/babies and horses - enjoy!

Amazing that a parent felt comfortable enough to put their little girl on such a powerful creature......

 Itty bitty mule!

 Now THAT'S a HUG!

 I love her little riding boots.  I wish I would've been that comfortable with animals at such a young age.  I was scared of my own shadow then......

 OMG - so so so cute!

 In perfect proportion for each other.....

 True love......

 I've got a surprise for you.....

 I aspire to live life like this horse/boy - full speed and loving it!

 A perfect triangle?

 Clydesdales are absolutely stunning.  Big meets little.

 Story time with a horse??  So sweet.

 Horsey kisses.....

 Pool time with a mini horse?!

 Very official-looking!

 What an adorable bond!

 Sleeping babies......

 Little horses have even littler babies!

Glen

I received these pictures in an email from a friend and I just had to post it.  Cuter than the pictures is the fact that somebody named a squirrel "Glen"!  :)

Debby Cantlon, who plans to release Glen, the young squirrel, back into the wild, bottle-fed the infant squirrel after it was brought to her house.

When Cantlon took in the tiny creature and began caring for him, she found herself with an unlikely nurse's aide: her pregnant Papillion, Mademoiselle Giselle.

Glen was resting in a nest in a cage just days before Giselle was due to deliver her puppies. Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog dragged the squirrel's cage twice to her own bedside before she gave birth.

Cantlon was concerned, yet ultimately decided to allow the squirrel out and the inter-species bonding began.

 

 

Glen rides a puppy mosh pit of sorts, burrowing in for warmth after feeding, eventually working his way beneath his new litter mates.

Two days after giving birth, mama dog Giselle allowed Glen to nurse; family photos and a videotape show her encouraging him to suckle alongside her litter of five pups. Now, Glen mostly uses a bottle, but still snuggles with his 'siblings' in a mosh pit of puppies, rolling atop their bodies, and sinking in deeply for a nap.

 Glen and his new litter mates, five Papillion puppies, get along together as if they were meant to.

Glen naps after feeding.

Glen makes himself at home with his new litter mates, nuzzling nose-to-nose for a nap after feeding.

Spinning the Clay

On SuperBowl Sunday, I took an "Intro to the Pottery Wheel" class with April and Kelly in Fort Worth.  What fun we had!

Here is the store - full of clay, pots, supplies and everything in between.  There was dust and crap everywhere, but it had everything we needed.

Here were our stations - we each had our own wheel and tools (they look like toilets!).

Here is a clean wheel - before we mucked them up with our clay and water.

 

And here's me with my dirty wheel - in between pot #1 and pot #2.

Here is the board where they explained the steps in making a clump of clay into a bowl.  We used the steps in the second row.

And here's the results from all of our first 2 pots!  Don't they look cute??  My first one was tiny (in the back of the picture) - like a koozie.  Then my second one got a little bigger.  Practice makes perfect!

We all started with the exact same amount of clay for each one.  So interesting that they all end up different shapes and sizes, depending on how we work our hands and the wheel!

Here we are in front of our masterpieces.......

The one in this picture is my 3rd and final bowl.  I was pretty proud of myself for getting that 'lip' on the top of the bowl.  It's harder than it looks!

This is my messy pottery wheel when I was done with three bowls.  We had to hose all of our tools off outside in the bushes in the dark - too funny.

Here's Kelly and April, working their magic.  Kelly was a natural and her pots looked the best.

This is the table that we pounded and kneaded the clay before putting it on the wheel.  It's made of plaster, I think?  Or something very porous, so the moisture gets sucked out of the clay while we are kneading it.

Here's another girl in the class - molding her bowl the way she wants it.....

And here's April fake-crying because her third pot was a disaster and got smushed.  hahaha!