Texas style photography and words
This Hawk landed on our flag pole in the pasture.
I was taking pictures through the French doors and slightly over exposed the pictures. I always get in a hurry and just start shooting without checking my settings first.
The pictures took on the look of a painting and I really like the look.
Natures beauty is all around us if you watch closely you might get to capture it on camera.
I wanted to wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.
If you are having a family celebration remember smaller is better.
Hopefully by next Thanksgiving things will be back to normal and the larger celebrations can come back again.
Wash your hands and wear your mask when possible. Stay home when you can and shopping online Black Friday Sales is safer than those in person Black Friday sales.
Our big headed Cricket has been quite busy.
For her 9 month adventure she ate a 3 year old crepe myrtle tree and a remote control for the tv. No worries the batteries were still in the remote.
You have to be on your toes all the time with this young lady.
It was not like she did not have large balls, small balls, toys, full size tires, large sticks, ropes and a place to dig along with a water tank, swimming pool and large rocks she moves all around the yard to chew on.
Just when you think you have enough chew things in the yard for her she decides to find something new.
Cane Corso puppies are a great deal of fun but they need constant entertainment if not boredom catches up to them and they ruin something you wanted to keep. My knockout roses are in a large raised square bed that had large wooden round orbs on each corner. She ate the orbs that were bigger than her mouth.
Everything they eat when they are bored tends to be something that is not intended for dogs.
I will be so glad when this puppy stage is over for the big headed Cricket.
Shady Acres Rosharon should be having puppies in mid December from Raven and Zelda both Cane Corso’s Females are bred. There has been a list of people waiting for months for the next batch of puppies that have already put down deposits.
Mako bred both the females this was the first time for him to be the stud since he was 19 months old. He is the Formentino (dark beige color) male she got as a puppy that has the best personality.
Today has been one year since my moms death.
Our lives have been forever changed due to selfishness and greed but I am firm believer in our justice system.
About 25 years ago my mom started sharing her mementos from the past. Sometimes it was little things with the family history that went with them other times it was bigger things.
At Christmas time my mom would fix my sister and I a special package from the past with a note about the item.
One year it was special quilts from our great grandmothers collection. My mom never put names on the packages we had to pick a package with no tag that way she was not picking who got what. That year I ended up with the wedding ring quilt that I had always thought was so beautiful with its tiny hand quilted pieces.
Later on there were a few more quilts one my great grandmother Tumlin made for me when I was a child and my sister was given the one she made her as a child.
There was another year it was glassware and I ended up with the square hobnail milk glass pedestal candy dish. Then there was the first set of silverware of my grandparents, embroidered napkins my great aunt Bonnie made for my grandmother. The Battenburg lace table runner still starched and ironed I am sure by Mama Dot.
My mom thought since I loved the color blue I should have my grandmothers (Mama Dot’s) Pfalttzgraff Yorktowne Stoneware Dishes they were the Blue Cornflower.
Normally that seems okay but there is a box that is 4 foot high x 3ft wide full of serving dishes, soup terrains, pie plates, gravy boats etc. that I have never even used. I will never use them so there they sit in a box. The only thing I can think of to do is make some of them planters I hate letting them sit there another 20 years.
There was handmade lace & tatting from my great great grandmother and her siblings. The work that went into this type stuff back then is truly amazing.
I was given one of the large wooden boxes from Shanghai Japan my grandfather bought while on leave while in the service. This was from 1946/47 he was aboard the USS Los Angeles in the china sea. I am assuming this was when he was in the Navy but he was also in the Marines.
Another year it was very very old pictures of my great grandmother, great grandfather and grandfather when he was younger. Then there was my grandmother when she was a infant sitting on her moms lap. Each picture was in an envelope with a description of who was in the picture and the approximate time and place it was taken. I have a picture of my mom when she was three years old. My mom took the pictures she had and made us copies of them at Walgreens.
I remember asking my mom at the time” why are you giving us these things now”. Her reply was “I want to make sure you both have some special things from the past. If I give it to you now I know you got it and the history that goes with it. Then someday you can pass it on to another generation”. This made me cry and then before you know it we were both crying.
After my mom died last year it dawned on me that she knew if she did not give those things to us when she did we would never get them. It was her way of making sure we got what she wanted us to have and she was able to see us enjoy getting these things.
The treasures of the past are part of many past generations and part of my moms life and memories and now they are mine to share.
Thank you mom I will always cherish my things from the past and I am grateful you gave them to us ahead of time because that makes them treasures from the heart.
MEMORIES ARE GREAT BECAUSE NOONE CAN STEAL THEM!
Life is good!
One of Crickets favorite things to do is watch the airplanes fly over our house.
We are about 16 miles from one of Houston’s major airports William P. Hobby.
They change the flight patterns a few different ways every so often the planes fly low over the house. I mean low enough to read what plane it is.
Cricket watches the planes in the sky like she is amazed. I visualize her saying “Da Plane Da Plane” like on the show Love Boat many years ago.
It brings me joy watching our dogs reactions to different things. Life is good!
The affordable care act is honestly the biggest joke there has ever been for insurance.
I do not qualify for medicare because I am to young I know I am not the only one stuck in this gap for health insurance.
The paperwork on ACA will let you know if you qualify for $400 – $800.00 a month in assistance for health insurance.
First of all has anyone ever paid $800 a month for insurance?
That’s not your part this is the part the government will pay towards your part. You will have to pay another $250.00 – $300.00 depending on the coverage you pick and if you want to use this discount you can ONLY pick a silver plan which are more expensive.
The plan I am currently looking at will cost us $275.00 a month.
Your insurance could be costing $1050.00 a month with your part and the governments part. REALLY!
Think about it long and hard before you retire from your job with good health insurance.
This year I was forced to do cash pay for a lot of my testing and even doing that it was less than one months insurance premium under the ACA.
Work related insurance can not discriminate against you for preexisting conditions. ACA plans can not hold preexisting conditions against you.
All private insurance can and will not pay for preexisting conditions but I bet its cheaper monthly than ACA plans.
This is not something people 60 and over should have to worry about. Maybe we need to lower the age of Medicare to 60.
Someone find a solution to our healthcare crisis and do not let them discriminate about pre-existing conditions. Most people take a medication for something.
Here are two movie suggestions.
The Secret: Dare to Dream
Its a 2021 movie staring Katie Holmes, Josh Lucas, Celia West. It is a sweet love story.
I found this one on Amazon Prime for free it was just released on Friday.
Miranda Wells is a hardworking young widow who’s struggling to raise three children on her own. A powerful storm soon brings a devastating challenge and a mysterious man, Bray Johnson, into her life. In just a few short days, Bray’s presence reignites the family’s spirit — but he carries a secret that could change everything.
Angel has fallen
This one is on Netflix.
It is action packed and lots of shooting and violence. Its a 2019 movie staring Morgan Freeman, Gerard Butler and Nick Nolte. All you guys will like this one.
See if you can figure out who Nick Nolte is.
What is sort of funny is the Presidents name is Trumbull and a secret service guy name Mike Banning. They mention the Russian election interference.
Authorities take Secret Service agent Mike Banning into custody for the failed assassination attempt of U.S. President Allan Trumbull. After escaping from his captors, Banning must evade the FBI and his own agency to find the real threat to the president. Desperate to uncover the truth, he soon turns to unlikely allies to help clear his name and save the country from imminent danger.
Cricket turned 9 months on November 2 she has finally started jumping and lets just say I feel her power when the ground shakes beneath me.
Our daughter Jeanelle thinks she is about 135#s I am thinking 120#s. Either way this is one big girl. Hopefully this week we can get a weight on her.
She had a training session at the park with people playing basketball, kids playing soccer, Tennis lessons going on and lots of people walking and running and nothing seemed to bother her. That was a lot of distractions and the trainer and I were both surprised she did so well.
Hopefully I can get some new pics this week.
Our wedding anniversary is today and its been 42 years. We have lived in the same house for almost 42 years its crazy when I think about it.
This week we got to put a new upstairs unit in for our central ac and heat that was $4500.00. I am very grateful we had the cash to pay for this. We did not have to replace the outside unit thank goodness that would have been another $5000.00.
I guess this was our anniversary present to each other.
There is 24 acres behind us and the far 12 acres is for sale and is pending sale for $660,000.00.
A cousins house down the road is for sale for $465,000.00 it is on 4.65 acres.
This area is very hot in the real estate market right now which is a good thing if we decide to sell.
Life is GOOD we are very blessed and thankful.
Sonya Lira Photography 