PrairieFest

We had a wonderful early evening at the 3rd Annual Prairie Fest Saturday night. It went on all day, but we didn't get there until 5:30 or so. We (includes me, Jav, Aunt Sandie and Gabriel) wanted to hear Brave Combo play from 6 to 7:30. I wish we'd have gone a little earlier, though, because we didn't have time to walk all the booths before they started closing down for the day. There were lots of environmentally friendly businesses, organic gardening booths, artists, food and local brewed beer. Very cool. Me being the Earth Mama that I am, I felt very much in my element. They were conducting tours of the grassland prairie up until dark. We hiked a short distance (it probably seemed long to Gabriel's stubby legs), and saw some beautiful wildflowers and some fantastic views of Fort Worth. And OF COURSE we forgot to bring a camera. It might have been the prettiest weather we'll see all year - and was definitely perfect for polka-ing, which Gabriel and I did several times. We saw people from church, people from our neighborhood, and lots of people dancing like fools. FUN, FUN, and more FUN!!! We will definitely go back next year.

Butcher job

Our energy company contracted with the city of Fort Worth to trim trees around power lines. We got a card on our door one day that the company would be in our neighborhood on such and such day (which turned out to be the wrong day), and we needed to give them access to our backyard if they needed it to do their work. Being a good little citizen, it never occurred to me to refuse them access, and it never occurred to me that they would do a bad job. But they did. According to the energy company (Oncor), the trees were to be trimmed to 10 feet on either side of the lines. Well, maybe the picture doesn't tell how bad it is, but they took off 20 feet or more on our side. Instead of trimming the ends of branches to the required distance (which would have taken more time), they chopped off every offending limb at the tree trunk, leaving an ugly, stripped look. And leaving us with much less shade in our backyard now. Now, I'm not a tree trimming expert, but if you shave off all the big limbs on only one side of a tall tree, doesn't that make it even more prone to be off-balance and fall? We're especially worried about the neighbors' tree, which now looks like it might topple over at any minute. (The tree on the far right of the picture). I asked our Neighborhood Association President who to complain to, and he said the city Forestry Service, our city council representative, and the mayor's office. So I think I will. It's not like they can come out and stick the limbs back on, though, can they?

Mama Janie's legacy

Aunt Gena's pillowcase.

Susan's lovely handiwork.

The whole picture, with Mama Janie's purple based pattern in all of it's glory.

My great grandmother was a quilter, along with several of her friends in Merkel, Texas. I've been lucky enough to have several of her quilts handed down to me. For years I kept them in the cedar chest I also inherited from her. Then four years ago when Jav and I got married, my good friend and adopted Mom Susan made a quilt for us for a wedding gift. It's beautiful bright green shades, and just makes me think "springtime". I wanted to use it as part of our spring and summer bedding, but it wasn't quite big enough for a bedspread. Then I thought of Mama Janie's quilts. I've been rotating the two bigger ones I had and using Susan's while I watch TV or nap. It makes me feel so happy to know that I'm actually using them instead of letting them slowly deteriorate in a cedar chest. It really makes me smile to see Gabriel frolicking on them, which he does often now that his favorite place to be in the house is on top of our bed. I also switch pillowcases when Spring gets here, and use the two yellow embroidered pillowcases my Great Aunt Gena stitched for us as a wedding gift. It's all much better than any store bought bedding, and has so much more sentimental value!

Another movie review

Michael Clayton was not what I expected. I'm not sure what I expected, but my expectations about thinking I'd like it were low. Boy, was I blown away! I will try not to be a spoiler if you haven't seen it. What an opening to a movie! I knew the ramblings of Tom Wilkinson would be important later, and tried to really pay attention. But I still ended up going online to find out exactly what he said after we finished the movie. And then I thought, oh no, another movie that tells the story backwards. I thought I was tired of that concept. But they really pulled it off here. I had heard that it moved really slowly, but I completely disagree. The thing is, I like thinking movies, where there's a great deal of talking and you really have to pay attention. The dialogue drives the plot in Michael Clayton for the most part, not the action. So I loved this movie and found it really suspenseful.

I think they got the Oscar wrong, though. Tilda Swinton won for her role as the lead cutthroat attorney for the big, mean corporation in the movie. She was good, but I thought Clooney, as the downtrodden former trial lawyer was better. Clooney's face spoke even more than his words. He was able to convey a huge unspoken range of emotion. And I thought Tom Wilkinson out-acted both of them. His performance wowed me so much that I want to look up all of his movies and start watching them one by one. I also think this movie should have won for original screenplay, even though I admit that I haven't seen the winner, Juno, yet. Focusing on the law firm representing the big, mean corporation, and whether or not they are liable for doing so, was such an original idea. Or at least was done originally. I know there have been a few movies before this one along the same line, but I don't remember any of them being as smart as this one.

On a side note, one of my favorite scenes in the movie was between Clooney and his young son Henry, played by 11-year old Austin Williams. He is trying to tell his son that he will never have to worry about being like his uncle Timmy, a drug addict, because he has such a big heart. I looked over at Jav and saw that he had tears in his eyes during the scene, and so did I. It made me wonder if we would have found the scene as moving if we didn't have a child.

We're still so behind on this last year's Oscar nominees. We need to watch Juno, Atonement and There Will Be Blood to get caught up.

This doesn't make sense

Why is it that the new energy efficient lightbulbs come in non-recyclable packaging?

Our new Molly

Molly ponders the perks of being in a one-dog family.

Ever since we lost our sweet Stanley last August, we have been amazed at the changes in Molly. Apparently she was so competitive for our attention while Stanley was around that we never knew her true personality. She seems so mellow now in comparison. So much less jumping and hyperactivity, although she still doesn't understand our need for personal space and wants to be sidled right up agin' us if we're anywhere near the floor. She also has reduced her barking at every little thing, so we guess that also was a competitive thing with Stanley. She is a terrific watchdog now, and it's so comforting to know no one in their right mind would ever thinking about coming into our yard or house with that huge, growly and vicious-sounding bark.

She has trouble with other Alpha dogs. I've tried the dog park, and she is so nervous she never can loosen up to have any fun. The second trip she got aggressive with a much smaller dog. It was embarrassing, considering everyone was already watching her closely just because of her size and Rottweiler looks. I'm not sure that she'll ever enjoy it, but I'm going to get a book on trying to get her used to being around other dogs and see where that takes us.

The neatest thing about Molly is her temperament with Gabriel. I knew that it was risky to bring her home from the streets, not knowing her background at all. But who would have thought that she would end up being the perfect kid dog? He crawls all over her, tries to ride her like a horse, pulls her ears and her tail. She never minds any of it, in fact she loves the attention. The best thing is when he hugs and pets her with his head down on her back. They have become best buddies. God was watching out for me when he brought her into my life.