the big abandoned house

or, "is it trespassing if there's no 'no trespassing' sign?"

while i was out galavanting around the hill country in december, i saw this huge house waaaaaaaaaaaaaay up on a hill. it was way up high & a little far away from the main road but it still looked huge so i just had to drive up -- & boy do i mean UP -- to get a closer look.

see it there right under the "star"---

this picture was taken with the zoom lens.

the roads in the hill country are a LOT different from the ones in houston!!! they go practically straight UP whereas the ones in houston are basically pretty flat!! the highest peak in houston is one of the overpasses on a freeway!!! going up the hills in wimberly, my car was stressing out!!! and i'll tell you, coming down was a little scarey!!!!!! i don't know what those people do when it snows or there's ice -- shoot! i'd have a problem driving on those hills in the rain!!!!! these pictures don't really show how steep the incline was!! i swear it was straight up & definitely straight down!!!! the speed limit was 10 mph -- i don't think i went THAT fast!!!

anyways, i drove UP to this house & BOY was it big!!!! there were no signs, so i parked the car & got out to investigate. it looked like maybe they ran out of money & had to stop building because it didn't look like they'd done anything in a long time. the plywood flooring inside the house was pretty weathered. they sure have a gorgeous view from way up there though!

and just what does a pallet-builder girl find when she's on vacation????

pallets!!!!

i was sooooo tempted to take them, but decided against it.

i didn't want to get thrown in jail for trespassing AND stealing!!!!!!

i got sam elliott for my birthday!

i was going to title this post "i slept with sam elliott for my birthday" -- but thought that might get me some dirty looks or bunches of creepy stalkers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but i really did!!!!!

the day i left for wimberley i stopped at the mailbox & grabbed the mail (which i usually only do about once a week cuz all there ever is is junk mail). there was a padded envelope package for me!!!! it was one of those cutsey envelopes & it was from a friend of mine from church. it felt like a magazine & i assumed it was a stamping or card making/crafting magazine. i tossed the mail on the front seat & headed off on my 3 hour drive to my vacation home!!! at one of the red lights along the way i opened the envelope.

it was a "cowboys & indians" magazine with sam elliott on the cover & an article about him inside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'd seen this magazine on the internet (mostly on pinterest pictures of sam!) but had never seen it in person. i had a good chuckle over the gift!!!! my friend L knows me so well!!!! she knows i'd want nothing more than to have sam elliott for my birthday!!!!!

well, that night after my friend C & i stayed up 1/2 the night talking, i read my magazine after i got in bed. i fell asleep reading it. when i woke up, i was lying on my side & there, staring me in the face, was sam elliott, lying on the pillow next to me!!!! my 1st thought was, "OH MY! i've slept with sam elliott!!!!!!"

there's no better birthday present than THAT!!!!!!!!!!! (well, i can think of one!!!)

need to work on getting caught up

in the 2.5 months that i was without a computer & internet, i wrote so many blog posts in my head!!!! i wish i would have jotted some of them down so i could remember them to post now. hopefully i'll get caught up on my posts & now that it's getting to be spring hopefully i'll have some new projects to do & share.

back at the 1st of december i spent my birthday weekend in wimberley. my best friend who used to live a block away then moved to magnolia moved there last summer. she used to be 1 minute away, then moved 30-45 minutes away & now she's 3+ hours away. i HATE that, but it's sorta nice to have a "vacation home" in a cute little hill-country town! too bad i don't get to take many vacations!!!! i spent 4 days there & we did some shopping, sight-seeing, stamping, cooking & eating--well, her husband cooked for us, we ate! -- & went out to eat a couple times too. we went christmas shopping in gruene (pronounced "green" -- i LOVE that little town!!! i wanna live there! it was "market day" & we froze our butts off, but had a lot of fun. i got to wimberley on thursday - my birthday - while she was still at work, so i read a little & took a nap.

they built their house on land they owned right on cypress creek. it's a gorgeous house (or at least it will be when it's all done; they've got a few more things to finish up.) that tree behind the house is actually growing out of the middle of the back porch!!!!! it's a gigantic 100+ year old pecan tree that they just couldn't bear to cut down, so they built the porch around it!

they intend to someday have a bed & breakfast -- maybe i can be the maid!!!!!! the guest room has a shower big enough for 3 or 4 people!!!!!

friday she had to work, so i slept in, laid in bed reading til noon, then got ready & went sight-seeing.

i drove to dripping springs & along the way found "my truck"! i've wanted my artist friend to paint me a picture of a rusty old truck, but i didn't want any old truck off the internet....i wanted my own truck! i found it!!!! i also found a neat old rusty tractor. so i pretended i was some journalist photographer who knew what she was doing in the freezing rain & wind & took bunches of pictures at all different angles!! i couldn't feel my fingers or nose & my lens would steam up if i got it close to my body, but i got some great pictures!!

these aren't the angles the paintings will be. i'll show them to you after doris paints them!

along with my sight-seeing & photographing, i also did some trespassing!!!!! i'll tell you about that in another post!!!!

i will NEVER buy store-bought bbq sauce ever again

...because i can make MY OWN!!!!!

my friend laurie gave me a jar of her homemade bbq sauce a few months ago. i swear, it was THE BEST bbq sauce i've ever tasted!!! i used it at thanksgiving (we had bbq'd chicken because my oven wasn't working) & again at christmas on steak. and then the little teeny tiny jar was gone!

i told her i needed more & she said we'd get together one day & she'd teach me how to make it. well, today was that day!

it's sooooooo easy & sooooooooo good!!!! you can "personalize" it by making it hotter, spicier, smokey-er -- whatever you choose. (ya gotta remember to use white vinegar & not apple cider vinegar though!!!!!! still comes out good, but you have to compensate with more pepper sauce!)

here are pictures of the process --

the lids all "popped"!! my very 1st attempt at canning!!! (my mom used to can everything when we were growing up. i wish she had taught me.....)
i made cute little labels -- with barbed wire embossing on them!!!! the little "1" is for "1st batch". this batch made 6 & 3/4 half pints.

they look so cute in my cupboard. i wanted to be able to see them, not hide them behind a cupboard door!

laurie had to leave as soon as we were done. i cooked a couple hamburgers (1 for lunch tomorrow!) and topped them with the sauce. OMG!!!! it's soooo good!!!!! it has just the right "zing" -- leaves your lips tingling!!! it's even good just eaten with a spoon!!!!

y'all come on over & we'll grill something!!!

back online!!!!

well, here i am, 3 months later. i've got a computer & the internet again. i've missed everyone, but i honestly HAVEN'T missed facebook or the internet!! it was a nice break - God taught me a lot about patience & spending time with Him instead of a little electronic idol. and briefly scanning over comments & posts on FB, i didn't miss a thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there were quite a few times that i wanted to make a particular card or recipe or project i had pinned on pinterest & couldn't because i had no access to pinterest during those 3 months either, but i managed to get by without it/them! it was nice having people CALL me on the PHONE because they couldn't "talk" to me on FB. (Stacey Z: i'm so sorry for not returning your call. i PROMISE i will call you this weekend!) so yes, i'm "back" but i have vowed that technology won't be my idol. i won't be on FB very much (have to change my pinterest/spotify/etc settings to sign in separately rather than through FB so i don't have to sign in there & be tempted to sit for hours! many people have told me they miss my blog posts. well, i plan to continue them! THAT'S where i'll be spending most of my online time, so be sure to visit me here! i just need to take some time & re-learn how to do everything & find everything & learn windows 8!!!! (it's different!!) plus there's the whole brand new computer to get used to & learn! need to learn how to uppload photos & do all that needs to be done to them to get them on the blog. hopefully all this won't take too long to learn! i'll also have to go back & try to remember all the posts i wrote in my head that i couldn't post during my hiatus!!

but i'm back & i'm glad i'm back. (& you can see i haven't forgotten where the exclamation key is!!!!!!)

love y'all!!