BUTTERFLY RELEASE

 Baby Brother Ross

gets his college diploma

are you like Ross?

life got in the way of reaching your goals?

ups and downs and ins and outs

life happenings that put things on hold that don't seem important when life is happening

and then

there is a time and a place

and suddenly and easily

(NOT)

the goal is met

and so like at every normal graduation there is a celebration

where you have 

a Choctaw mother, a Navajo drummer and a bossy big sister

to bring it all to the real side

your celebration includes

Indian fry bread, a prayer drumming and a monarch butterfly release

whisper a wish, release the butterfly and know

that quirkiness in a family

is worth celebrating!

yay Rossie....you are what it is all about today...my butterfly wish?

for all your dreams to come true!!!

VENUS FLY TRAP

Lawdy!  

Mr. PV told me he got me a "surprise" the other day

clearly....this "surprise" was for HIM!

but for the record....I do that to him all the time...get "surprises" for him that are

clearly for me!

I have to laugh when I see his beaker of distilled water and his Granky's tweezers

he's like a mad boy scientist

catching bugs to feed it

VENUS FLY TRAP

Maybe you'd like to get a surprise like this too?

This is NOT my video..I found it on youtube...but it could be....sadly...it could be.

THE ART OF CATCHING A SWARM

Since setting up the beehive, we have spent the entire late spring through summer

trying to lure a swarm of bees.

We are prepared!

even Miss Betty is ready to get in on the honey action

at the end of June....I gave up the lure and started trying to order a 

BEE PACKAGE

there were NONE to be found....

I just realized that bees have a season...

this is so they have time to ready a hive to feed the queen through the winter

If you want to order a bee package...name on a list in December for the next spring!!

I don't know how you feel about Facebook (I just do it for my HPO business)

but in this case it saved my day!

A friend who lives in the country posted she had this swarm located near a tank

 and needed it removed

most of the comments were about how to KILL IT!!!

NO! NO! NO!

can you believe Mr. PV canceled his golf game to help me catch it?

He gave me this antique bee smoker for my birthday last year

it still works!

It's really a one man job in a place so tight...

so I offered to document

the bees were so docile and busy building a hive they barely paid him any attention

really all he had to do was cut the very small beginnings of the comb and drop it in a box

making sure to capture the queen, the bees will stay with her...they only have interest in her

we wrap up the box, put it in the car and take it to town!

where our cute hive has been waiting patiently all summer

I added a bit of honey that I had saved from the wild hive at 822 when we first moved here

and Mr. PV...puts the bees in our hive

within a few short minutes...this jar of honey is gone!

(actually sugar water is recommended but this seemed to work)

I think they will like living here...

we do!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

if you come across bees....please don't kill them...you will be so surprised how many keepers there are around you to come get them and take them away....we need bees!

FUN AUSTIN TEXAS BEE STORY

CITY ISSUES

AMARILLO, TEXAS -- More than 200 people waited for three hours for the Amarillo City Council to return from executive session and deliver one message that ended all discussion regarding the city manager.  If you care to know more about the summer politics in Amarillo Texas, you can click on the links provided below.

CITY ISSUES I


CITY ISSUES II

The point is this....ALL cities have issues and often they are not easy or pleasant.  In our area, and I suppose in most areas, the city council, the school board, the hospital board, the zoning board...all those boards are made up of VOLUNTEERS.  And in my opinion, this saves them from all the hullabaloo that might be thrown their way by grumpy and disgruntled folks who have issues with things that can't always be fixed.

So....in light of this fact....I would like to tell you a story that happened in our town yesterday...

I have a first hand account and can verify this to be true...because this is about Mr. PV.

Yesterday there was a knock at the door and as I opened it, 
someone stood on the front porch asking to speak with the mayor.

He went to the door, closing it as he stepped outside--and didn’t come back for a long time….when he did return, he seemed out of breath.

The City of Spearman has issues.  We have an interim city manager and positions to staff, we have housing challenges, we have a police department and EMS.  Parks to mow, a pool to tend to and infrastructure to worry about.

The budget is frugal and money must be spent diligently.  

Water, sewage, airport, housing, gaining and losing businesses and families…these are all serious and important things a city deals with no matter how large or small it is.

The knock on the door came from 3 little boys down the street, one was pulling a wagon from the back of his bicycle.  

They wanted to speak to the mayor.

When he walked back in after quite a few minutes and I asked him where he'd been….he said…

“They wanted to know if I’d come out and play guns with them….”

And he did.

Mayor PV (6)

PORTLAND

This summer has flown by!  

Since my last post I have been to 

HS graduation in Alvord Texas

tasting the grapes in Portland Oregon 

visiting peeps in Midland Texas

birthday celebration in Santa Fe New Mexico

Portland was a little harder to get to but if you haven't been...

GO!

Mr. PV likes Pinot

I think I must too

every time I go somewhere 

Grace says I say it's the most beautiful place I've ever been

Midland?  

NOT! 

Portland

YES!!!

anywhere with the Mister is pretty beautiful!

next up?

swim meet in Garden City Kansas?  

2nd birthday in Amarillo? 

August...a yearly vacation with Miss Betty...a tour of New Mexico! Hopefully including this future 3 year old next year!

squeezed into the mix....a few happy summer days with the sea creatures