Hootin’ Anni’s

[also in this post is Friday Fixin's & Phriday Photo Phun]

Note: Kelli will be taking a Show N Tell break next week for the Easter Holiday…see you the week after! So, while I’m here, with my show n tell, for those who only drop by on Friday’s…I’d like to wish you the best of Easter’s to those who celebrate.

- – -

This week, for Show N Tell, I am sharing three items at my home.

1] I’ve blogged about this a long time ago, but I thought I’d share this again. This wooden figure represents the Native American Sun Worshiper. In coyote form as the Natives loved to live in harmony with the animals as ‘brothers’. My hubby carved this from a section of cottonwood driftwood that he found in a riverbed. After he carved it, I painted it and ‘dressed’ him in deerskin shirt and pantaloons which I stitched by hand, then, fringed his ‘costume’. Our little figurine stands about 10-12 inches tall. He’s now on on fireplace mantel facing the Eastern Sunrise. [the pipe bowl is carved also by hubby from a red brick -clay] I’m now thinking to myself: “Anni? What OTHER kind of sunrise is there besides eastern? What a nit-wit.” That’s me alright, a goofy blond who comes up with her blogging style and tends to be so redundant it makes me laugh. LOL

2] As I grew up, I was surrounded by two parents who loved to work the land. Actually, just a garden of immense size [they had five kids and their garden was measured in acres! to share the 'crops' each season with us all] My dad, with a bad habit of chewing tobacco, was forced to do it OUTDOORS. My mom didn’t want anything to do with the slimy mess that the ‘spitting’ brought forth, so he was sent outside. Now, in all family lore, we all, all of us kids, swore up and down that his tobacco was the ‘instigator’ of having tomatoes come from the garden the size of saucers, and cucumbers growing a foot or longer in size. His talents with gardening surpassed anything I’ve ever seen before. He’d plant a cherry tree with just a twig and in two years the tree was so abundant with the fruit, producing quarts and quarts of canned cherries. But that is not the point. Well, kinda. We lived in Northern Colorado, and once took a two week vacation to Hawai’i. There, my dad became fascinated with pineapples and how they were harvested. Okay…so, the following Spring, he bought three fresh pineapples from the grocer and saved the ‘head’ of the fruit…planting them…and by golly, they took root! In Colorado!! And yes, they did eventually produce fruit, but since the growing season is so short in the wintry Rocky Mountains, the fruit was edible, but not large like when you’d get them from our tropical state, Hawai’i. That in itself is amazing. I soon became interested in the ‘background’ of the plant itself. I read more and more about them, and found out that there were plants…houseplants, of the same family as pineapples. Called Bromeliads. And I have three growing right now…and they’re getting ready to bloom [technically it's part of the stalk and scientifically known as "scape" instead of blossom/flower]!! The taller one in the background to the left is a bright red-orange, the one in front is yellow with orange centers. The one in the background, right side…the smallest one, is actually an ‘air plant’ of the same plant family but needs to be watered differently than the other two. It’s blossom, when fully opened, is a hot pink, fuschia, with purple tips!

3] And lastly, just this past week, before College lets out for Spring Break and we here in Corpus are inundated with swarms of beach parties and young mobs all over our beaches, hubby and I went to walk along the shores and enjoy the quiet solitude of the morning air and the surf, sand and seagulls. When we hop back in the car to head back to town, we try and stop by a novelty shop on the island to see what’s new. Of course, with my wind chime fetish and my love for purple, I found this shell chime…all decked out in dyed purple. It’s too fragile to hang outdoors, so I brought it home and added it to my growing chime collection hanging from the ceiling with the ones that are more or less fragile glass and are just too easily broken if left to hang outdoors with the heavy winds we get at times. [which reminds me of the one my hubby made me...a huge one; made of copper piping, sounding like church bells ringing when the wind is just right. I'll have to show that some day soon.]

*all photos can be enlarged
~…end Show N Tell
[scroll below my Friday Fixin's & Phriday Photo Phun to comment]

[can be enlarged]

Crossing the Great Divide

[also in this post is Friday Fixin's & Phriday Photo Phun]

Note: Kelli will be taking a Show N Tell break next week for the Easter Holiday…see you the week after! So, while I’m here, with my show n tell, for those who only drop by on Friday’s…I’d like to wish you the best of Easter’s to those who celebrate.

- – -

This week, for Show N Tell, I am sharing three items at my home.

1] I’ve blogged about this a long time ago, but I thought I’d share this again. This wooden figure represents the Native American Sun Worshiper. In coyote form as the Natives loved to live in harmony with the animals as ‘brothers’. My hubby carved this from a section of cottonwood driftwood that he found in a riverbed. After he carved it, I painted it and ‘dressed’ him in deerskin shirt and pantaloons which I stitched by hand, then, fringed his ‘costume’. Our little figurine stands about 10-12 inches tall. He’s now on on fireplace mantel facing the Eastern Sunrise. [the pipe bowl is carved also by hubby from a red brick -clay] I’m now thinking to myself: “Anni? What OTHER kind of sunrise is there besides eastern? What a nit-wit.” That’s me alright, a goofy blond who comes up with her blogging style and tends to be so redundant it makes me laugh. LOL

2] As I grew up, I was surrounded by two parents who loved to work the land. Actually, just a garden of immense size [they had five kids and their garden was measured in acres! to share the 'crops' each season with us all] My dad, with a bad habit of chewing tobacco, was forced to do it OUTDOORS. My mom didn’t want anything to do with the slimy mess that the ‘spitting’ brought forth, so he was sent outside. Now, in all family lore, we all, all of us kids, swore up and down that his tobacco was the ‘instigator’ of having tomatoes come from the garden the size of saucers, and cucumbers growing a foot or longer in size. His talents with gardening surpassed anything I’ve ever seen before. He’d plant a cherry tree with just a twig and in two years the tree was so abundant with the fruit, producing quarts and quarts of canned cherries. But that is not the point. Well, kinda. We lived in Northern Colorado, and once took a two week vacation to Hawai’i. There, my dad became fascinated with pineapples and how they were harvested. Okay…so, the following Spring, he bought three fresh pineapples from the grocer and saved the ‘head’ of the fruit…planting them…and by golly, they took root! In Colorado!! And yes, they did eventually produce fruit, but since the growing season is so short in the wintry Rocky Mountains, the fruit was edible, but not large like when you’d get them from our tropical state, Hawai’i. That in itself is amazing. I soon became interested in the ‘background’ of the plant itself. I read more and more about them, and found out that there were plants…houseplants, of the same family as pineapples. Called Bromeliads. And I have three growing right now…and they’re getting ready to bloom [technically it's part of the stalk and scientifically known as "scape" instead of blossom/flower]!! The taller one in the background to the left is a bright red-orange, the one in front is yellow with orange centers. The one in the background, right side…the smallest one, is actually an ‘air plant’ of the same plant family but needs to be watered differently than the other two. It’s blossom, when fully opened, is a hot pink, fuschia, with purple tips!

3] And lastly, just this past week, before College lets out for Spring Break and we here in Corpus are inundated with swarms of beach parties and young mobs all over our beaches, hubby and I went to walk along the shores and enjoy the quiet solitude of the morning air and the surf, sand and seagulls. When we hop back in the car to head back to town, we try and stop by a novelty shop on the island to see what’s new. Of course, with my wind chime fetish and my love for purple, I found this shell chime…all decked out in dyed purple. It’s too fragile to hang outdoors, so I brought it home and added it to my growing chime collection hanging from the ceiling with the ones that are more or less fragile glass and are just too easily broken if left to hang outdoors with the heavy winds we get at times. [which reminds me of the one my hubby made me...a huge one; made of copper piping, sounding like church bells ringing when the wind is just right. I'll have to show that some day soon.]

*all photos can be enlarged
~…end Show N Tell
[scroll below my Friday Fixin's & Phriday Photo Phun to comment]

[can be enlarged]

Crossing the Great Divide

- – - -

I kinda have an eclectic theme going for Show N Tell this week. St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and a special cookbook I bought in the museum/old ranch hand house while touring the world famous King Ranch here in Texas; just about an hour’s drive from our home. The top photo is a small crystal St. Patrick’s Day angel. I have it hanging from my car’s windshield mirror. It’s so pretty. And it was only $1.77 at Hobby Lobby the other day when they had their St. Patrick’s Day items 1/2 off! Then, the next two photos below my angel are of a small egg-shaped basket I also found at Hobby Lobby. I filled it with Easter grass that I had left over from making my plastic bowl Easter Egg, and then placed a small custard cup inside, hidden, and filled with fruit flavored jelly beans [grape, strawberry, orange citrus, green apple, and blueberry]. And the last two photos are of the King Ranch Cookbook I have in my possession. The cattle brand that you see on the cover is famous world-wide also…it’s dubbed the “Running ‘W’” I have only tried a very few recipes from here. It’s just the idea of having such a cookbook that has a history all in its own right…from the historical King Ranch The two pages shown are on the left, a recipe for Red Snapper –credit goes to “The King Ranch Main House” and on the right is a history of the Nilgai, an asian antelope that was introduced to the ranch in 1940. According to the page, it does not have a taste of wild venison as expected, but a flavor of beef but lacks the fatty marbling that beef has. All the recipes are from either the descendants of the King family, the vaqueros, the Kineños culture, neighboring counties and large ranch families throughout Texas’s history. The following page, if I continued on, shows a recipe for ….

“Savory Nilgai Stroganov“!!! from the Santa Gertrudis Ranch also in Texas

[I lost all my King Ranch Tour Photos I had --well, they're 'kinda' lost --they're on the old computer still on the hard drive].

~…end Show N Tell
[scroll below awards for comment link]

For Windows Vista Users
[can be enlarged]

This phavorite photo is taken 1 day after Hurricane Emily passed south of us into the Mexican shores near Monterey, Mexico. Look closely, there is a lone seagull near the right bottom. I love the darkened sky and the sparkle and almost iridescent glow, almost serenity after the storm. On a ‘normal’ day the beach sign on the post is a lot more visible…the sands and the tide were up way higher than on any other given day. Hurricane Emily…category 5 – summer of 2005

Betty surprised me with this gorgeous stamp of approval for my blog!! Isn’t it pretty?! I love it. It’s people like you Betty, that keep me blogging. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The next awards were given to me by two blogging friends. Karen and Mary. Thanks you two. I luvya both lots and lots. And it IS friendship that keeps us blogging. And the recognition is truly appreciated from my side of the computer. I love ‘em.

- – - -

I kinda have an eclectic theme going for Show N Tell this week. St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and a special cookbook I bought in the museum/old ranch hand house while touring the world famous King Ranch here in Texas; just about an hour’s drive from our home. The top photo is a small crystal St. Patrick’s Day angel. I have it hanging from my car’s windshield mirror. It’s so pretty. And it was only $1.77 at Hobby Lobby the other day when they had their St. Patrick’s Day items 1/2 off! Then, the next two photos below my angel are of a small egg-shaped basket I also found at Hobby Lobby. I filled it with Easter grass that I had left over from making my plastic bowl Easter Egg, and then placed a small custard cup inside, hidden, and filled with fruit flavored jelly beans [grape, strawberry, orange citrus, green apple, and blueberry]. And the last two photos are of the King Ranch Cookbook I have in my possession. The cattle brand that you see on the cover is famous world-wide also…it’s dubbed the “Running ‘W’” I have only tried a very few recipes from here. It’s just the idea of having such a cookbook that has a history all in its own right…from the historical King Ranch The two pages shown are on the left, a recipe for Red Snapper –credit goes to “The King Ranch Main House” and on the right is a history of the Nilgai, an asian antelope that was introduced to the ranch in 1940. According to the page, it does not have a taste of wild venison as expected, but a flavor of beef but lacks the fatty marbling that beef has. All the recipes are from either the descendants of the King family, the vaqueros, the Kineños culture, neighboring counties and large ranch families throughout Texas’s history. The following page, if I continued on, shows a recipe for ….

“Savory Nilgai Stroganov“!!! from the Santa Gertrudis Ranch also in Texas

[I lost all my King Ranch Tour Photos I had --well, they're 'kinda' lost --they're on the old computer still on the hard drive].

~…end Show N Tell
[scroll below awards for comment link]

For Windows Vista Users
[can be enlarged]

This phavorite photo is taken 1 day after Hurricane Emily passed south of us into the Mexican shores near Monterey, Mexico. Look closely, there is a lone seagull near the right bottom. I love the darkened sky and the sparkle and almost iridescent glow, almost serenity after the storm. On a ‘normal’ day the beach sign on the post is a lot more visible…the sands and the tide were up way higher than on any other given day. Hurricane Emily…category 5 – summer of 2005

Betty surprised me with this gorgeous stamp of approval for my blog!! Isn’t it pretty?! I love it. It’s people like you Betty, that keep me blogging. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The next awards were given to me by two blogging friends. Karen and Mary. Thanks you two. I luvya both lots and lots. And it IS friendship that keeps us blogging. And the recognition is truly appreciated from my side of the computer. I love ‘em.

[also on this blog entry, I've shared my "Friday Fixin's "weekly hint, and my "Phriday Phavorite Photo Phun"]

- – - -

This is my antique commode and antique wash stand. The bars to the left and right of the commode are towel holders. There is a shelf on the underside. And above the commode is a mirrored unit with candle holders on each side for lighting in the olden days. I got this at an estate sale auction. I recall the whole unit was less than $10 cost to me. [this was long before antiques came into 'vogue', and becoming costly purchases.]

When I went to pick it up after bidding on it, and load it in the truck, I noticed inside the pitcher was an unwrapped bar of soap. After I got home with my ‘find’, I fell in love with the soap, actually, ’cause I had never seen anything like it. Shaped like a cameo. It’s darkened with age, and the fragrance has long gone. But I vowed never to use it. And *knock wood* it’s not been chipped or broken all these years.

~…end Show N Tell
[below my Phavorite Photo Phun entry - leave a comment if you wish]

[can be enlarged]

Sure God created man before woman. But then you always make a rough draft before the final masterpiece.
~Author Unknown

[also on this blog entry, I've shared my "Friday Fixin's "weekly hint, and my "Phriday Phavorite Photo Phun"]

- – - -

This is my antique commode and antique wash stand. The bars to the left and right of the commode are towel holders. There is a shelf on the underside. And above the commode is a mirrored unit with candle holders on each side for lighting in the olden days. I got this at an estate sale auction. I recall the whole unit was less than $10 cost to me. [this was long before antiques came into 'vogue', and becoming costly purchases.]

When I went to pick it up after bidding on it, and load it in the truck, I noticed inside the pitcher was an unwrapped bar of soap. After I got home with my ‘find’, I fell in love with the soap, actually, ’cause I had never seen anything like it. Shaped like a cameo. It’s darkened with age, and the fragrance has long gone. But I vowed never to use it. And *knock wood* it’s not been chipped or broken all these years.

~…end Show N Tell
[below my Phavorite Photo Phun entry - leave a comment if you wish]

[can be enlarged]

Sure God created man before woman. But then you always make a rough draft before the final masterpiece.
~Author Unknown

More holiday crafts…

I bought some artificial fern fronds and a couple of miniature resin leprechauns along with white carnations and a green foil spray–a foam “Saint Patrick’s Day” banner plus a grapevine wreath….

….designed it and came up with this finished project:

Then, since Easter is in March this year also, I wanted to try my hand at creating a ‘broken egg’. Of course, the use of imagination really comes in handy. I went to the Dollar Zone here in town and bought:

2 identical plastic mixing bowls with a scalloped edge [2 @ $1.00]
3 boxed yellow chicks [$1.00]
1 carton of sparkle dusted eggs [6 in a pkg. - #1.00]
4 pink spring like flower stems [4 @ $1.00]
1 package of curling ribbon in pastel colors [$1.00]
Green Easter Grass [$.50]
Total cost: $5.50 [plus tax]
Cuteness? Priceless ::snort::

I guess it looks like an egg. ::shrug:: It didn’t turn out like I had envisioned. But, it’s something for Easter. I wanted to try something a bit different other than a wreath, and I’m thinking I’ll do a wreath next year. LOL

Finished project…after wiring the two bowls at the back rim and gluing on the ribbon——-

show n tell images can be enlarged.

~end Show N Tell
[scroll down to end of Friday's post for commenting]

- – -

This week, my phavorite photo is of a bird. A whippoorwill to be exact. I was so elated to find this perched in a pine tree years ago on one of our mountain hikes in Colorado. Whippoorwills are mainly a nocturnal bird, and to see one in the daylight was fantastic. Luckily, Bud had his camera with him in his backpack this time. The muted plumage is a very good camouflage in the wild.

Our city has had an influx of democratic appearances. Last week, if you recall my Saturday photo, we stood in line to see Hillary Clinton [former first lady] during her rally for the Democratic Party. Two days ago, Senator Edward Kennedy was here at the college, backing Obama with a definitive speech. TODAY!!—Senator Obama will be here taking on thousands of people at the A B Center Arena [I'm gonna be in line for this too, I belong to the Obama's 08 campaign group for reasons that I can get the information about him 'first hand' ---I knew he was going to arrive here long before the press did with rumors handed out through the Obama's headquarters' emails. And yesterday, I got the 'formal' invitation delivered to me]. Then, Saturday Bill Clinton will be here speaking on behalf of his wife, Hillary. Our Presidential Primary for the state of Texas is March 4th.

While our company is asleep still, I thought I’d get into my blog and submit my Friday’s entries. My niece and her friend, they own a business together in western Colorado, and they’re traveling to perhaps find a new location across the U.S. for their store [or try to find, I guess, from what they told us - it depends on quite a lot of things that just may keep them where they are because of tax, property, loans , etc.]. They’ve narrowed it down to three areas [Upper Midwest, Texas, or California]. They’ll be in San Antonio today working with some people with of what I know nothing. We’re opting to stay here in town and will be here when the two return late this evening.

Right now, I’m going to try and visit some blogger friends….yesterday, I didn’t find time to get back online at all. )

More holiday crafts…

I bought some artificial fern fronds and a couple of miniature resin leprechauns along with white carnations and a green foil spray–a foam “Saint Patrick’s Day” banner plus a grapevine wreath….

….designed it and came up with this finished project:

Then, since Easter is in March this year also, I wanted to try my hand at creating a ‘broken egg’. Of course, the use of imagination really comes in handy. I went to the Dollar Zone here in town and bought:

2 identical plastic mixing bowls with a scalloped edge [2 @ $1.00]
3 boxed yellow chicks [$1.00]
1 carton of sparkle dusted eggs [6 in a pkg. - #1.00]
4 pink spring like flower stems [4 @ $1.00]
1 package of curling ribbon in pastel colors [$1.00]
Green Easter Grass [$.50]
Total cost: $5.50 [plus tax]
Cuteness? Priceless ::snort::

I guess it looks like an egg. ::shrug:: It didn’t turn out like I had envisioned. But, it’s something for Easter. I wanted to try something a bit different other than a wreath, and I’m thinking I’ll do a wreath next year. LOL

Finished project…after wiring the two bowls at the back rim and gluing on the ribbon——-

show n tell images can be enlarged.

~end Show N Tell
[scroll down to end of Friday's post for commenting]

- – -

This week, my phavorite photo is of a bird. A whippoorwill to be exact. I was so elated to find this perched in a pine tree years ago on one of our mountain hikes in Colorado. Whippoorwills are mainly a nocturnal bird, and to see one in the daylight was fantastic. Luckily, Bud had his camera with him in his backpack this time. The muted plumage is a very good camouflage in the wild.

Our city has had an influx of democratic appearances. Last week, if you recall my Saturday photo, we stood in line to see Hillary Clinton [former first lady] during her rally for the Democratic Party. Two days ago, Senator Edward Kennedy was here at the college, backing Obama with a definitive speech. TODAY!!—Senator Obama will be here taking on thousands of people at the A B Center Arena [I'm gonna be in line for this too, I belong to the Obama's 08 campaign group for reasons that I can get the information about him 'first hand' ---I knew he was going to arrive here long before the press did with rumors handed out through the Obama's headquarters' emails. And yesterday, I got the 'formal' invitation delivered to me]. Then, Saturday Bill Clinton will be here speaking on behalf of his wife, Hillary. Our Presidential Primary for the state of Texas is March 4th.

While our company is asleep still, I thought I’d get into my blog and submit my Friday’s entries. My niece and her friend, they own a business together in western Colorado, and they’re traveling to perhaps find a new location across the U.S. for their store [or try to find, I guess, from what they told us - it depends on quite a lot of things that just may keep them where they are because of tax, property, loans , etc.]. They’ve narrowed it down to three areas [Upper Midwest, Texas, or California]. They’ll be in San Antonio today working with some people with of what I know nothing. We’re opting to stay here in town and will be here when the two return late this evening.

Right now, I’m going to try and visit some blogger friends….yesterday, I didn’t find time to get back online at all. )