Thanks Grandpa Gary!!

Beading expo

This is the McAllen Historical Museum and happens to be very near all the little shops we were looking into.

Last week a group of us who get together and bead...mostly on Wednesday went  to Old McAllen to visit stores that carry beads. Now for you beaders these are not typical bead stores. These are places that carry very inexpensive necklaces and bracelets that can be taken apart and the beads reused. We followed this with a lunch at Fuddruckers in celebration of Peg and Char's birthdays. It was a pleasant break from our usual routines.

On the left Judy and Peg and on the right Barb and Char.

Pictures taken by Jan Foster who is not pictured above.

Happy Birthday Peggy!!

Peggy returned home from a shopping expedition to find her birthday present hanging from a tree!

The Cactus blooms AGAIN!!

The boys gave me this cactus for mothers day several years ago. It was a tiny thing in a tiny pot. It has been repotted many times. It bloomed for the first time in the spring the same year we went to Mississippi to visit Lum and Donna. That would have been 2010. It bloomed again in 2011 while we were in Jefferson. So this will be the third time for blooming. In additon to the bloom already opened there are 4 other nubs, or I guess you would say buds, getting ready to open. It has done well for a travelling cactus!!

Gary's Collage

Gary said one of the projects for his students was to make a collage of pictures of their life so he decided to do the same. Great work Gar...Your Mom gives you an A+

Kid Pictures

It always does my heart good to see pictures of the wee ones. These are compliments of their Mama's. I snipped them from facebook. Love that snipping tool!

Cowboy Ethan

Miss Elise with homemade Play dough

From my sister Theresa...in answer to Leo

Theresa Arts	9:36 AM (6 hours ago)
to me

I'd say yes.

In my reading I have learned that we are in a water recycling process.  We have the global warming to melt a lot of ice, and then we will head into a mini ice age to refreeze the ice, but in the process we recycle the water.  It's a normal process, perhaps sped up by humans, but not caused by humans.  

Also, we are having a wonderful winter, but will have consequences, probably lots of insects and a drought this summer.  You are having a cool, wet winter, but Europe is in a deep freeze.  The last I heard they had a death toll of 200.

So, My take on it is that for the recycling to happen, there will be a change in different areas to redistribute the water and change things up.

That's how I see it.

Love, Teri

Leo is asking...

Leo Brooker	8:51 AM (7 minutes ago)
to me

I want to pose a question…

We are having fabulous weather this winter…

You are having terrible weather this winter…

Do our two weather patterns have to be inverse in order for this to happen ???????????

Ask the Bloggers !!!!

Hot wet and humid

More rain...hmmmm must get past it. Woke up to a thunderstorm this morning about 4:00 AM. That was different. It wasn't scary but then perhaps that is just me. I have reached an age where not much does scare me.
I have finished about 3 bracelets this week and will start another today. These were all on my todo list as is the next one. So much for stockpiling. I still plan to stockpile a few...if it works out.
Tried a new recipe yesterday for lunch. It was good and very filling. I made half the recipe. I used almond milk instead of soy. I will make it again...for me.

Strawberry Oatmeal Breakfast Smoothie

Rated: Submitted By: ASTROPHE Photo By: CC♥'s2bake Prep Time: 5 Minutes Ready In: 5 Minutes Servings: 2

"This is a fast and filling vegan smoothie with a deep pink color and a rich, creamy texture. "

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup soy milk 1/2 cup rolled oats 1 banana, broken into chunks

14 frozen strawberries 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a blender, combine soy milk, oats, banana and strawberries. Add vanilla and sugar if desired. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve.

Aaaaah!

Beautiful day today... I broke down and played golf. I didn't play too bad for 5 holes, and then it went south as they say. Butch did well but then he usually does. Tomorrow is Senior Olympic day for golf. The weather is supposed to be decent so we hope they do well. The competition is tough. There are many very good senior golfers in the Rio Grande Valley.
So when I play golf not much else takes place. Had lunch at Subway- waded through the afternoon crowd at
 H E B purchasing groceries. Brought them home, put them away. Caught a 10 minute nap and here we are!
Tomorrow should be a bit slower pace.

More Elise videos

I had time to get this done with KC being out of school for our first snow day of the 2011-2012 school year.

 

Do you people know you can write comments and thumbs up videos on youtube like you facebook users like to do?

 

Microwave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmFFyt-5ds4
Full Name: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbDHv-sNu-Y
Toy Stroller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W7Bg0DZPu
Cleaning the Mess: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27-IfDtvpUE

Such a long time

It seems like such a long time since Grandpa Gary has sent an Elise video. But here we have it. ...With attitude!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W7Bg0DZPu4

High Hopes

We have high hopes that the weather will take a turn for the better here soon. We have not had the best of it this year. Butch did get to play golf yesterday and we had a few hours of warmth and sunshine but this weather is nothing like we are used to and hope to get used to again. They are promising a few days of 80 degrees and warm sunshine mid week but then they are saying we will be getting more of what we have now and have had for a couple of weeks. Cloudy, Cool, Damp and ICKY!!  Always one to look on the bright side...we have not had wind and dust!!
Come on March!!! March is always nice weather here...or at least it has been.
I am getting a head start on laundry today and Butch is napping and spending hours on the computer....I think a golf tourney is starting later...maybe he has forgotten...You think??
 

Nancy and Jerry Armstrong

Donn and Peggy had company this week from Panora Iowa. Nancy, Donn's sister, and her husband Jerry came in hopes of seeing the typical South Texas sunshine. It didn't work as we have had a very cool and rainy week. I sure hope they come again to see the best of the Rio Grande Valley. Yesterday we went to Thompson's orchard so they could load up on citrus before taking off this morning for Iowa. After the trip to the orchard we had a tasty lunch at Fat Daddy's followed by a potluck supper at Allen Hall. The weather may have been a disappointment but they were certainly well fed.

#*&$ weather

It really isn't too much of a bother to me. I have plenty of sit down inside things to keep me busy but it sure starts to wear on many people and make them a tad crabby . We have had a longer than normal stretch of cold and rainy weather. Now the locals are tickled pink as this rain has been a long time coming and is sorely needed. So we need to sit back and be happy for them. BUT the folks who have come to the valley for the first time are not getting the best of it.
Butch's sister Marlene and her husband Bernard have come to the valley for many, many years but they said if they had went by the weather the first year they were here they would have never come back. We who have come many times know we have plenty of sunny skies in our future.
Butch was supposed to play golf in the Senior Olympics today but for the first time ever they have postponed it till next Wednesday. The weather for that day is supposed to be 80 degrees and sunny.

Things you could do today:
Play cards with friends
Check out the pool hall and play a game or two
Go to a matinee
Cribbage in the little hall at 1:00 PM
Potluck in Allen Hall at 5:00 PM
Watch the mixed league players in the blue hall at 6:30 PM.
Also the South Texas Whiskey band will be practicing in Allen Hall after potluck and they welcome listeners.

Weather Break

So the weather turned yesterday from one where the air conditioner feels pleasant to where the furnace and warm clothing both feel good. It rained pretty steady throughout the night slowing down around sunrise. It gives us the kind of day we would call a snow day in the north. Coats and jackets are needed if you venture outdoors but it is much nicer to stay inside and  veg out. I have finished one bracelet and plan to start another here soon. Playing some pretty steady Words with Friends. And Butch and I are listening to the book "Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett.  Add to this Butch watching a golf tourney on the limited television we have here. We thought we would try to get by without satellite TV this winter and see how it goes. We are usually too busy to watch much of it and there isn't much that interests me even with the satellite. So the final answer is we do miss some things but not much and it really isn't hurting us much doing without it. Many times Butch will come home and it will not be turned on. I guess what I am saying is that if he didn't turn it on I doubt that I would.

Calico Beans

Calico Beans

Rated: Submitted By: Kathy Photo By: FROGHOPPER Servings: 9

"This hearty melange of beans works just as well at the Thanksgiving feast as it does at a summer barbeque. Using canned beans makes it practical to incorporate the variety of legumes required for the calico effect, and simplifies the preparation."

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup bacon, chopped 1 pound lean ground beef 1 (15 ounce) can pork and beans 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained 1 (15 ounce) can butter beans 1 (15 ounce) can lima beans, drained

1/2 cup ketchup 1 cup packed brown sugar 1 cup chopped onion 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar 1 teaspoon mustard powder 1/2 cup chopped celery

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).
2.	Place bacon and ground beef in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain and set aside.
3.	In a four quart casserole dish, mix together the bacon, ground beef, pork and beans, kidney beans, butter beans, lima beans, ketchup, onion, vinegar, dry mustard and celery.
4.	Cover and bake for 1 hour.

Brooker & Company, Inc. - Home

Great looking website. Check it out! Way to go Leo!

Brooker & Company, Inc. - Home

Beef Brisket

Recipe:   Beef Brisket        2/2/2012
Category: Meat
Author:   Leslie Cleaveland

4-5 lb fresh beef brisket
1 pkg dry onion soup mix
1 med. onion, sliced and separated into rings
2 med. stalks of celery, chopped
1 12 oz bottle of chili sauce
1 12 oz bottle of water
1 12 oz can beer (NOT light beer)

Sprinkle soup over meat. Put onions and celery on top. Combine chili sauce, water
and beer. Pour over meat . Bake covered in 350 degree oven one hour for each
pound of meat. Cool in refrigerator overnight. Remove grease that rises to the top.
Slice meat across grain. Heat slices in the cooking liquid. Pour some over slices to
serve. Freezes well.

Dick Cleavelands Birthday

We, the Brookers, Cooklins, Gordons,and Stilsons helped Dick celebrate his 70th birthday. In this picture he is reading a card from the Cooklins and is about to find a new package of "chew". Tootsie Rolls are his chew of choice!

And here Dick is trying to convince the flies to leave the goodies alone.

Bill and Donn brought their own glasses to be filled with Margaritas. " I am telling you officer I only had one drink!!"

Leslie and Norma prepared a wonderful meal of Brisket, beans and potato salad.. It was mighty tasty. The brisket was the best I have ever tasted and if Leslie shares the recipe with me I will post it here.

Looking Forward...

We always feel like we are on vacation when we pull out of the Magnolia driveway in the spring. January, February and early March are the prime times here. So we are busy now. Hmmm I think I have said that before. Today me and two of my buds, Kay and Peggy will be serving treats for crafts. They take it easy on me and let me do the drinks. I appreciate that. They were also a big help to me last Thursday, Friday and Saturday as I prepared for Omelets in a Bag on Saturday morning. We made 87 omelets. I had a couple left over and I have microwaved them for my breakfast and it works quite well to do so. I had previously told them I would only do it once but I have now rescinded and will prepare them again in February.
My guilty little secret is that much of my spare time, the little that I have, is spent playing Words with Friends on Facebook. It is an online form of Scrabble. I always look forward to getting to it. I try to get my other work done first but often I slip and go to Words with Friends first. Don't tell anyone, okay? Bye!!