“Cows!” vs. The cattle on 1000 hills

Do you remember as a child playing “What does the ____ say?”  Perhaps you have even played this learning-game with your children and grandchildren.  “What does a pig say”  …  “oink-oink”.  “What does a duck say”  … “quack-quack”.  and of course, ” What does a cow say?”  … “moo”, right? From this common situation shouldn’t you be able to say that anything that says, “MOO!!” is a COW? Apparently, not.

What’s he looking for? It’s just dirt!

I was not raised on a farm. I had the opportunity to visit my uncle Xen’s farm and milk cows with cousins the summer between 7th and 8th grade. I have enjoyed seeing many types of cattle out in their fields as we travel all over the country. It’s especially sweet if I see a big red barn, a big white farmhouse, a tire-swing in the yard, and lots of big green tractors in the distance, too.

My husband’s sister’s family has a feedlot and a huge farm in northern Illinois. We love to visit the family. It seems produce many smiles and much laughter each visit showing me how much I do NOT know about cattle. I enjoy reading their 4-H reports about the various kinds of cattle; I confess I do not remember much of the information. I see all the awards and ribbons they have earned from raising, caring for, training and showing these creatures at the local and distant fairs. When we visit the farm and tour the lots, all of the beasts are on the other side of the fence.

I have even read informative articles about how to tell the difference between “cows”, heifer, bulls, etc. It was interesting to know that both males and females can have those huge horns. This article not only has relevant definitions, it also has paint-by-the-number pictures with anatomical and physiological differences. It contains information about common myths regarding horns and coloring, such as, “As a matter of fact, bulls and cows (not to mention steers, calves and heifers) can be any colour except pink, purple, green and blue.”

Yesterday was rainy and cool. Consequently, I was not out in the yard much. Just before sunset, as the shift-change, exit-rush of workers was about to begin this was the scene!

cows by the gate

At first glance these animals looked scary to me. Please note that the animals are on the same side of the fence as me! Actually, I am standing in the doorway of my RV wondering how I am supposed to OPEN the gate, take two photos of each exiting vehicle, let the workers out  . .  while the yard is full of huge bovine creatures!

Look at those horns!

These animals have plenty of grass to eat for miles and miles. Can anyone tell me why they want the grass and weeds that are by the road and by the gate? Why do they especially love to walk back and forth in front of the motion detector? Can they hear the beeping? One actually loves to rub her nose on the sensor and the lights. Maybe she likes it because it is warm? The article advises, “Don’t get excited, tense or fearful, around them, and if they come up to you, don’t be alarmed as they are naturally curious animals.”

I did not have to worry long, by the time the first vehicle came they had slowly moo-o-o-oved on down the road to the next patch of dry,brown grass.

mooooo-ving along little doggies

Lastly, I was remembering this childhood song based on a phrase from Psalm 50:10. “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.”: (sing it with me if you know it)

He owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
The wealth in every mine;
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills,
The sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches, more than tongue can tell –
He is my Father so they’re mine as well;
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills –
I know that He will care for me.

You can download, or listen on Youtube sung by children or in a medley by Gaither trio.

even read a few other blogs about this song . .

1. the examiner e-zine says, ” Sometimes we need to be reminded that God, who is our Father and our Provider, owns everything. “
2. the gammons fam says, “As my friend was writing about a struggle that he is walking through and his desire to trust God with all of his needs, this song came to mind.  It is an old one from the very beginning of the “chorus movement”.  I love it’s simple message straight from the scriptures.”
3. Geneva Psalter says, “Although it expresses a valid sentiment, namely, that God cares for us, this is not the point of the psalm, whose main theme is that Almighty God stands in judgement on those who offer the prescribed sacrifices while remaining content to follow their sinful ways.”
4. Pastor Nathan Ruble says, “The context of this statement was not about God’s ability to provide for us but instead something equally if not more important. … What makes our lives acceptable to the Lord is that we live to honor him. “
5. (my favorite 🙂 ) Full Measure of Joy blog says, “It’s not that God owns all of His Creation. It’s that He has shared it with me! I am His heir and therefore all that He owns belongs to me as well. …But the earthly portion of it isn’t even the best part. Oh we have some beauty in our world to see, but my future home is far greater and more wonderful than anything this world has to offer. …”

God provides ..

• excitement on a dull rainy day,
• beef for hamburgers,
• something to research on our S-l-o-w internet,
• something to laugh about each day,
• memories of fun times with friends and relatives,
• and always a song to sing!!!

New Adventure – “Gate Guarding” in TX

First of all, “Gate Guarding” implies there is something to guard. Traffic monitoring would really be a better name. We had heard about this job several years ago. I had read several helpful blogs. Talked to people who had done it in prior years. Did research online and joined forums. Now, are finally experiencing it for ourselves.

Our company is Guard1 Services.

We had already taken the class and obtained our security licenses before I applied with them. I faxed my application and information to them on a Monday and by Thursday we were on our way to a job.

this is our site:

We are about 30 steps from our front door to the gate. The gate is about 10 steps from Highway 1916, a dusty gravel road. We are about 7 miles from the nearest small town.  There are two motion detectors to tell us of traffic in/out. We can be inside the RV or sitting outside in the nice weather. When a vehicle arrives, we jump to work. We take the iPad provided by our company, take a photo of the license plate and a photo of the “payload”. Then we type in the plate number, company name, driver’s name and number of passengers. When a vehicle is ready to leave, we find their information in the ipad, take another picture of the license plate and another photo of the “payload”. Open and close the gate. Wait for the next customer. The iPad makes our work easier in some ways — there are no papers to fly away in a big gust of wind, or to get wet in the rain. But, on the other hand, the screen is very difficult to read a few hours of the day in the bright sunlight.

It was good that we were incredibly busy first two weeks we were here. They were fracing (pronounced “fracking”). Hundreds of vehicles per day. Many brought loads of sand. Others loads of water and chemicals (acid?). Of course, there were van loads of workers, too. It was good to be so busy, because even though we had purchased internet boosting devices, it did not work well . .or sometimes even at all.  We quickly developed a schedule or routine. In the evening/dark my husband sleeps in his chair and answers the gate. When I get up and dressed I work the morning. He takes the calls while I fix food for us. Then I usually sit out side and read or crochet while he takes a nap in the bed. At dark, I come in and he does most of the work again. This routine is adjusted as needed when he goes to “town” for groceries, get the mail, or other errands. Once I went to a social lunch gathering of a few of the guards from all companies in our area in a town about 15 miles away. Once I had a Dr appointment in the nearest big town, 55 miles away.

So, the upside of this job is that it pays well. Not as well as a career, but really well for our short term needs. The down side is that it has very limited social contact. One of us has to be here and available to work at the site 24/7. One of the young men who came in every day took a few moments to share with me — He is 24 yrs old and has two beautiful children (showed me photos) in another part of TX. I asked, ” How does your wife feel about your work and being gone so much?” He informed me that even though they have been together Seven Years, he is still Thinking about getting married. I encouraged him to do the right thing! Others asked about where we are from, and where we go from here. So, there is some friendly contact.

In addition to the ipad, and bright orange work vests, our company provides for other essentials.

They provide the motion detectors, yard lights, and the tripods to hold them and signage (stop sign). They also supply us with a trailer that has a tank for fresh water, a generator that runs 24/7, along with the diesel, oil, and filters to keep it running. Service trucks come weekly to fill (more water and fuel) and empty (waste) the tanks as needed.

This property has a few cows and other cattle. They are no bother unless they decide they want to walk back and forth in front of the motion detectors. Then we have to bang on a pan and get them to move along. I have not seen any snakes. We have only caught one mouse, so far.

While I am here I have read several books ..  and will review them on Goodreads soon. I have started and finished several tatting and crochet projects. I have had many hours to study my Bible and pray for friends, family, and the workers.  I have cooked a few new recipes. Perhaps the best part of this job for me has been that I have enjoyed more sunrises and sunsets than ever before.

I am not an expert on anything about this job or field. This is only about my personal experiences.

starting the “zero to hero” challenge

I have been reading comments and entries at The Daily Post blog. I accept the “zero to hero” challenge.

I think the challenge is over because they posted statistics. It also says “this topic is closed to new replies”. Nevertheless, it is a process to make my blog better in thirty steps. I will not commit to completing it in 30 consecutive days. I don’t have that kind of time.  I do have an idea in mind of what I want my blog to look like. I am hoping this process will be fun as well as educational.

The first assignment is to “introduce myself”. those of you who KNOW ME, know that this can be a really, really long answer!!

1. Who is my reader? Who am I writing to or for?

• My blog is written for: 1- me. 2- people with interests similar to mine. 3- friends and family who might want to know where we and what we are doing. 4- strangers who might want to join the “full-time living in an RV” adventure. and also for 5- people who know they will never join the adventure, but wish they could.
• My blog . . when I figure out how to work it . . (i am just starting to blog and just starting the 30 day challenge) . . will be a place that I can store my thoughts, memories, and ideas until I have time to think more about them and possibly organize them.
• My blog is for all the people, who after meeting us and hearing a tiny snippet of our lives, have said, “You should write a book about your travels and adventures!”

1. Where are you from?

• Is a common question asked when meeting someone for the first time. To which I often answer, “Why?”. I have lived in many states. Visited all 50 of the United States and several foreign countries. Dad was in the US Navy 10 years before I was born in TN. We moved as a family about every 2 years. I lived almost 20 years in MN before I met my husband. We started full time RV adventure in 1999. The first two years were all about visiting family and seeing national parks. Now, we have a pleasant mix of volunteering, workamping, visiting friends / family, and sight-seeing.

1. What do you do?

•  Is another common question asked when meeting someone for the first time. My SHORT resume has 17 lines for jobs that I worked for more than a year or a season. I cannot begin to even count how many jobs I have worked for less than a year.  Mostly what I DO is: have fun living life! Love God. Laugh every day.

1. What are your hobbies?

• I love to read! I have literally thousand of books in my kindle. I like to write reviews on Goodreads. If I get this blog to work I will have a page for interests. It will have entries about Books, Crafts – like crochet and embroidery-on-cards, Cooking – recipes and tips, weight-loss, Spiritual Journey – hymns, Bible Verses, humor, and comments, RV adventures and travels, and who-knows-what-all-else.

1. My newest HOBBY is writing my blog!! I am reading the help pages from Word Press. getting tips and tricks from all kinds of people. Lesson #1. = SAVE DRAFT OFTEN!!!! In general, exploring a WHOLE NEW WORLD!

That’s all for now. Welcome to my Journey.

Psalm 136:26

I found this at Rich Gifts, Graphics and Blog Design 

flooded by accident

The weather is the topic around here for now! It is 27 degrees!! That is literally freezing cold! So, in RV life you have a choice: 1.  to disconnect all the hoses, put them away and live off your tanks a few days or 2. leave a tiny stream of water flowing to keep pipes etc from freezing. we did #1 last week, but this week we were doing the 2nd choice.

Combine that choice with the “dumps system” choice: 1. leave drains open all the time and Be Sure to use Lots of Water for every solid dump or 2. let it collect in the tank and empty it to the ground once a week or so. again this time we were using the second choice.

CAN YOU SEE THE DISASTER COMING?

Last night at about 3am husband says, “honey, will out help me here, please?” in such a sweet voice that I immediately knew there was a problem of EPIC proportions.

He had both closed the grey-tank to collect water to dump the black-water on Thursdays AND left water “trickling” at the sink to avoid the freeze. (ie second choices)

First a word of PRAISE! We have not been able to get level at this site!

the back is high/ front is low.

so all the water that rose up and overflowed the shower basin, soaked all the bathroom rugs and clothes to be washed on the floor (standing about 1/4″ deep) flowed freely toward the front and soaked all the kitchen rugs, kept on flowing to our “looks like wood but it is really just rubber-planks”  .  .but not carpet any more!!

If we had been level, the carpeted bedroom space would have been soaked too.

so, we lifted, dripped, dragged, threw all the rugs out the front door. where they still sit. frozen solid. like a monument. grabbed every towel

and mopped/wrangout/

mopped/wrangout/

mopped/wrangout/

mopped/wrangout/etc

until it was a semblance of only damp. turned on every heater and fan available.

went back to bed.

today I did more laundry  . . wash all the clothes and the towels in the Splendide.

approximately 3 hours per load.

I put dry towels down on the “wood floor” and as we walk back and forth — water ooozes out from below and between.

I did not yet check the basement compartments . .  blog for another day?

The moral of the story? It is not supposed to get this cold in TX!!!. If you are a full-time RVer and this has never happened to you, just wait! If you have been a full-time RVer for a while, you have a similar story to tell . . let’s hear it!

footnote . . .I am not angry, or upset. this is similar to spilled milk. accidents happen. clean it up. even if some basement stuff is ruined,  . . (squared dance clothes or beloved books) . .  it is just stuff.

My blog site is still broken. headers, pages, menus, etc . .  I had hoped to meet with a friend by now who is a computer expert.  He assures me these problems are “easy to fix”. They probably are for him. He is really busy.

Prayers . . .a cowboy prays in the cold . .

Jake, the rancher, went one day
To fix a distant fence.
The wind was cold and gusty
And the clouds rolled gray and dense.

As he pounded the last staples in
And gathered tools to go,
The temperature had fallen,
Snow came and wind began to blow.

When he finally reached his pickup,
He felt a heavy heart.

From the sound of that ignition

He knew it wouldn’t start.

So Jake did what most of us
Would do if we’d been there.
He humbly bowed his balding head
And sent aloft a prayer.

As he turned the key for the last time,
He softly said, no luck
They found him three days later,
Frozen stiff in that old truck.

Now Jake had been around in life
And done his share of roaming.

But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked

It looked just like Wyoming !

photo credit: photobysherman.com

Of all the saints in Heaven,
His favorite was St. Pete.

So they sat and talked a minute or two,
Or maybe it was three.
Nobody was keeping’ score —
In Heaven, time is free.

‘I’ve always heard,’ Jake said to Pete ,
‘that God will answer prayer,
But one time I asked for help,
Well, he just plain wasn’t there.’

‘Does God answer prayers of some,
And ignore the prayers of others?
That don’t seem exactly square —
I know all men are brothers.’

‘Or does he randomly reply,
Without good rhyme or reason?
Maybe, it’s the time of day,
The weather or the season.’

‘Now I ain’t trying to act smart,
It’s just the way I feel.
And I was wondering’, could you tell me —
What the heck’s the deal?!’

Peter listened very patiently
And when
Jake was done,
There were smiles of recognition,
And he said, ‘So, you’re the one!!’

That day your truck, it wouldn’t start,
And you sent your prayer a flying,
You gave us all a real bad time,
With hundreds of us trying.’

‘A thousand angels rushed,
To check the status of your file,
But you know, Jake , we hadn’t heard

From you in quite a long while.’

‘And though all prayers are answered,
And God ain’t got no quota,
He didn’t recognize your voice,
And started a truck in Minnesota .’

BETTER KEEP IN TOUCH

By Brad Curtis? or Author unknown?

sent to me by Chuck Parnell

also posted on fb in “church funnies”

My comment: Prayers don’t really work like that. God is not a genie in a bottle or a Santa keeping score. However He promises to hear and answer our prayers. Sometimes the answer is, “No”, sometimes the answer is, “Yes” and things work out better than I could ever have imagined. It seems right now God’s answer to my prayers is simply, “wait . . wait . . wait  . . and see what I will do in your life . . wait”. So, we stay here, and keep working while we wait.

keep warm where ever you are!

Maid Rite Sandwiches

Maid Rite sandwiches are found in Iowa.

2 Tablespoons Dried Onions

1 Tablespoon warm water

3 pounds ground beef – never frozen is best.

1 Beef bullion cube

1 Chicken bullion cube

1 1/2 cups water

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon Soy sauce

2 Tablespoons Cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons Brown sugar

cook 4 hours in slow cooker and serve on fresh buns.

source: Mike Revelle

Laundry

Today the topic is Laundry . .

Here at Camp Tejas in Giddings, TX we are still washing the sheets and towels from the weekend. Last weekend we had a men’s retreat. It was wonderful to see approximately 250 men worshiping enthusiastically, eating heartily, discussing diligently, playing football and other recreational adventures, and also relaxing.

Now, staff and volunteers wash, dry, fold, and distribute the sheets and towels for the next weekend of guests.

On a more personal note, last Friday we replaced the Washer/Dryer that came with the motorhome in 1999 with a new and wonderful Splendide. It goes from wash to dry automatically. It has about 15 different cycles to choose from. It is still limited to about 11 pounds per load: 2 pair of jeans, 4-6 t-shirts, or 3 days of undies. The wash cycle takes 45 to 60 minutes and the dry cycle about 100-120 minutes. This may seem extreme if you live in a grounded-house, but is a sweet luxury for us. We replaced the old one because we had already fixed several individual parts since 2011. The noise and vibration on a jeans load could be compared to re-entry into earth’s atmosphere of a spaceship from the moon.

Tejas light tunnel comes down

It was a beautiful day here in Giddings, TX.

50 degrees felt cool this morning and it was windy too . . .

but the next few days will have a high in the 40’s.

Some one said it is good to have pictures in your post. How’s this?

also does my link to the Tejas website work? Thanks for reading  . . .

comments appreciated.!!

This is what the tunnel looked like last month, during the <a href="http://camptejas.org/lot/“>Lights of Tejas festival.

The light tunnel is coming down today. Each “line” has three strands of 100 lights. I am guessing there might be 500 lines or more?

several people were helping. Dave Bennett, Rosie Stoner and Marsha  were  up in the basket

— battling the trees . .

and the rest of us

Claudia & Mike Wilson,

untangling ( Carlotta Habitz,)

and wrapping them into balls. Billy Jones in the back.

we got about half done. Plenty left for tomorrow.

creation of the blog.

I have no idea what to write on my first blog. I read blogs that friends have . . .that they have been writing for years. We have been traveling for years but I am new to this blog thing. I tried it once before (2009 – I think) but did not keep it up)

so I’ll begin with a photo of our home.
1999 American Tradition 40′ Motor home. this is the 4th RV we have owned and lived in. I’ll possibly tell you about the others along the way.