Texas! Soup. More Painting and Sorting.

Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about folks from Texas ...

"If someone in a Lowe's store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in Texas ;
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in Texas ;
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in Texas ;
If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Dallas for the weekend, you may live in Texas ;
If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Texas ;
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in Texas ;
If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you may live in Texas ;
If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in Texas
If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph --you're going 80 and everybody's passing you, you may live in Texas ;
If you find 60 degrees 'a little chilly,' you may live in Texas ;
If you actually understand these jokes, and share them with all your Texas friends, you definitely live in Texas .. "

To embellish Jeff Foxworthy's byline a bit, "there are rednecks and other senseless people everywhere, even in campgrounds".

Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas .

1.  Beaumont to El Paso : 837 miles  (Acutally it is more from LA border to NM border).

2..Beaumont to Chicago : 770 miles

          3... El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas

4... World's first rodeo was in Pecos , July 4, 1883.

5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water. Destroyed by Hurricane Ike -2008!

6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston .

7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America

8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.

9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.

10. The worst natural disaster in U.S.... history was in 1900, caused by a hurricane, in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island .

11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20,1969, was " Houston ," but the space center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time.

12. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island ..

13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record of 43' in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979...

14. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, (known as the Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the Union ) instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as the U.S. Flag, and may divide into 5 states.

15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.

16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.

17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr Pepper..

          18. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington -on- the Brazos, Harrisburg , Galveston ,Velasco,     West Columbia and Austin ...

19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington DC (by 7 feet).

20. The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free standing monument in the world and it is taller than the Washington monument.

21. The name ' Texas ' comes from the Hasini Indian word 'tejas' meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas ..

22. The State Mascot is the Armadillo (an interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females.).

23. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston

_______________

Cowboy's Ten Commandments
(Posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie , Texas)
1) Just one God.

(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa.
(3) No telling tales or gossipin'.
(4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting.
(5) Put nothin' before God.
(6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.
(7) No killin'.
(8) Watch yer mouth.
(9) Don't take what ain't yers.
(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff.
Y'all git all that?

________________

Today:

Ray knew he was going to be tackling the trim and door in the kitchen, so I left him here, while Paco the little Chihuahua, and I went to get Jay in the Puddle Jumper.  I just use it in this big subdivision. (I use it like a golf cart, but it will haul more, and has sides for when it is raining!)

On their fenced porch, Paco played with little Maddie, their Yorkie.  If I had known, I would have taken my camera.  Very different from stand-offish Sparky, (the Long Coat Chihuahua that I took care of for two weeks).

Paco just sat still in the car, and behaved, even when we stopped at the community mailboxes to get our mail.  Sparky would have been up in the front seat and would have tried to jump out, when the doors opened.  When we got back he just got in his bed and watched Ray sand and paint.

Jay and his mother, Claudia had had enough of one of those Sam's Club pre-cooked chickens, so gave it to me.  I took the one remaining breast half off, and stored it, as that is only part I will eat.  I even had some for lunch.  Of course, I had cats and a dog at my feet, begging, while I was dismantling it, so they each got a little, too.  Spoiled bratkins!

Then I put the rest of it in my electric pressure cooker with some low sodium chicken bouillon, and let it simmer under pressure for an hour, until the bones were SOFT.  That is very important, as bones can surely hurt an animal's innards.  This will then be strained, and the broth put in something to let the fat settle to the top, solidify and be thrown away.  Or the fat might be frozen to make suet for the birds next winter, I will have to research whether birds should eat poultry fat, sounds like cannibalism to me!  
The broth should be great for making a good soup base for whatever, and the rest will make a good addition to their pet food. So nothing is wasted.

Jay and I were attacking the stuff for sale in my Hall.  It is the only place in the house where no animals live, a precaution for buyers who have allergies.  So that is where it get shoved.  We boxed up the things can be offered in a yard sale and took them up to the storeroom attic.  I don't go up and down stairs when I am on my own, so that is why the 'stuff' had built up a bit.

I am trying to make that Hall area, on top of the low bookcase, just for computers, monitors, keyboards, etc. for sale. They can't be in the non climate controlled storeroom, and I am tired of them taking up space in the bottom of closets.
We took the mini blinds down and washed them.  We lay them out on an outside table, spray them with diluted 4-1 SuperClean from WM Auto Dept., lightly brush with soft brush, then hose them down.   We stand them up against something, on the ends of their fins, to dry, so it doesn't take very long.  I had already washed the drapes the other day.

Ray had done a little touch up paint in the Hall, so we didn't vacuum the windows sills, etc, but tomorrow is another day.