Recently one of my kids called to me in the other room - "Mom, the horse is in the yard!"  And I looked outside to find this:

This is Dakota, my new horse....I had a whole post in here about him when he first arrived, but in doing some blog housekeeping, I deleted it into oblivion....*d'oh!*  Anyway, he's an 8-yr old Polish Arabian gelding.  These pics were taken not too long before his dinnertime.....think he was trying to tell me something?!...lol!  He's got a taste for Black Oil Sunflower seeds, though, so I've to keep an eye on the yard when he's out roaming around! 

Some folks have to guard their feeders against bears or raccoons....Me?....Iv'e got to fend off a horse!

That's how to spend a chilly Texas day!  A fresh pot of coffee, brownies baking in the oven, and a favorite Christmas music CD playing in the background.  It's quiet in the house, surprisingly, and I'm enjoying the time to write and reflect.

My in-laws left today and I can say I enjoyed my time with them immensely.  We've always enjoyed our get-togethers, but the distance now makes those few and far between, so this was one was extra special.  We are hoping they'll get back down here in the spring (when it's WARM again!!).  I don't honestly know when we'll get back to NH. 

It's still funny.....a week ago I was decorating our Christmas tree with the windows open.  Today it's snowing.

So here I am, sitting in east/central Texas, and I'm suddenly confronted with the news that we have a "winter weather event" watch for Friday.  Which means it's going to be cold.  And there's a strong possibility that it will snow.

Are you KIDDING me??!!  It's not supposed to snow here!!!!!  I moved AWAY from that in NH!!!!!....lol!  No, seriously, I'm not that worried.  I don't expect it to amount to anything other than having some flakes fall from the sky, and even if it did stick, I don't have to go out anyplace anyway.  But I just find it humorous that there's even a chance of snow here, our first year in TX!! 

Go figure....

Christmas in our house starts Thanksgiving night.  We traditionally watch the Albert Finney version of "Scrooge" to kick off the holidays.  Then the next day we go out and get our tree.  So I've been a busy bee this past weekend!  The tree is up and the house is decorated and it looks oh so festive around here!!...lol!

So, to help all my readers get in the Christmas spirit, here are a few pictures of our cozy little Texas home!

Here is our tree and living room (can I just say that how weird it was to be trimming our tree with the windows open?!!....can't do that in NH!!)

Here is my "entry way", such as it is.  The angel has a gazillion lights which is why she looks like she's glowing!

My favorite!!...<3.....my lighted Mickey wreath on the front door....

And finally, the outside front of the house..... 

Hope you enjoyed my little photo tour!  Thanks for stopping by!

We recently went to a local butcher shop and stocked up on some meat, thanks to the generosity of a friend who gave us a gift card for such.  I haven't bought meat that way in forever (if ever??) so I was looking forward to trying it and seeing the difference from the grocery-store offerings.

SO different!!!  Oh. My.  We had a sirloin steak that I broiled the other night that was TO. DIE. FOR.  Now granted, I managed to marinate it and not mess up the cooking (!), but what a tasty, tender cut of meat.  The night before I used some ground beef in my lasagna, and we tasted some prior to mixing it up with the sauce......  I have never, ever tasted ground beef that was that good!

All the meat from this butcher shop is fresh, local, and natural.  What a difference in taste, I'm telling you.  If you don't butcher your own meat, and normally buy from the grocery store, I would like to encourage you to find a butcher shop and TRY IT!  I guarantee you'll not only notice the difference, but prefer it as well.  And besides, it's definitely healthier!

Hmm.....anyone else ever done blog maintenance and deleted an entire post without meaning to?

*Grrrr......*

Val!...I did read your comment before sending it off into oblivion!..lol!  Great to hear from you and yes, things are going very well here!

I'm not sure who all is following this from "back home," but none the less I'm way overdue for an update!  It's busy at camp.  Our weekends remain mostly full, and during the week there is always a project that needs doing.  Hubby continues to split his time between working on the new dining hall and trying to keep up with regular grounds & building maintenance.  I'm doing the cleaning these days so that fills a few evenings a week.

The weather has turned GORGEOUS!  The air has dried out and the temps are mostly in the 70s.  I've been hearing a Phoebe in the mornings!  I still love sitting on the front porch swing with my coffee to start the day.

The house painting is nearly finished and I'm very happy with the results.  The shade of tan is exactly what I was looking for.  Sometimes the color on those little sample squares isn't quite the same as what ends up on your house!  We had another work crew here this past weekend, and G put them to work clearing out dead trees and brush around the barn.  We saw a picture recently on an old camp brochure of what it used to look like around here.....WOW.  What a difference 10 years of neglect makes!!  But I have real vision now! 

I've been busy this week cleaning up our place inside - decluttering and such - as well as the yard and the nearby apartment.  Dad arrives this week for his first visit out here!  You know what it's like when you have family coming to stay....Suddenly you realize how messy and dirty everything is!! lol!  The apartment needs the most work, as it isn't used on a regular basis.  We've got it organized and I just need to go in now and do a thorough cleaning.

Finally, I've been working on the old machine shed, cleaning it out and fixing the adjoining fence...getting it ready for occupancy.  (....stayed tuned!)

And in between all that I'm home schooling the boys!!!  Woo hoo!  Yep, life is pretty crazy some days.  Actually, it's not going so badly.  We're in a period of what is known as "de-schooling."  Coming down off that public school expectation of having all information spoon-fed to you and re-learning how to learn!  Just last week DS7 wanted to know some stuff about the Titanic.  We spent a whole week studying that and it was fascinating!  He knows all about that ship now, it's story and ill-fated voyage.  He learned about the difference between "First Class" and "3rd Class" passengers and thought that was really sad.  We studied Proverbs 16:18 which says "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."  ....which fit our study because the head of the company that built the Titanic was quoted as saying that "even God can't sink this ship!"  Pretty heavy words, don't you think?! 

Anyway, there's a brief look into our lives to date!  I promise to try to update more frequently.  There's always something to talk about, after all...