Aggie Ring Day & Scrapbook Layouts

I've enjoyed the last two days working on two layouts. I think the biggest reason I enjoyed it so much is because I've been in and out with family things to do. The most fun we had was last weekend in College Station, Texas A&M Univ. Parent's Weekend. We started Friday afternoon with the rain falling walking to the William Clayton Alumni Center for Ring Day. All I can say is, 'WHAT A ZOO'! The seniors were having a ball, celebrations started, pictures being taken everywhere. My favorite is this one to the right. Everyone was damp from the rain. May have dampened the body but certainly not the Aggie

Spirit! The picture at left is Lynn proudly showing off the Gig-'Em Aggie while making sure her coveted Aggie Ring is there for all to see. Now just one more thing to do to the ring. She will wait until Natasha gets hers next semester and then they will Perform a Ring Dunk! Another Aggie Tradition.

When I arrived back at the ranch on Wednesday I started in the evening with the two LO's I needed to accomplish before Saturday. Both were using Sketches from 52 Sketches...52 Weeks. Because of the busy week between the ranch and our home in Angleton I didn't complete Week #15. I decided on a companion page to my "Real" layout I did a while back. Another view of my Tahitian Sunset Rose from a different position. The picture is below.



My entry for this week's 52 Sketches...52 Weeks, Week 16 is a pictures of a Killdee and her nest. I loved working with this sketch for the LO. My favorite was the tag. I had fun working with my Ranger Perfect Pearls. You can't see the shimmer but it is a really fun medium to work with. I used a butterfly stamp. Larry happen to find the nest and came in to tell me about the nest. I've seen several Killdee nests on the coast. I've always found it amazing the color of the eggs is not always the same. The color directly depends on the color surrounding the nest. Somehow when I took the picture the eggs came out darker then what they really were. As I worked I remember my feelings to see this hen's nest. Her nest was along the side of our county road. The chances of the nest surviving would be next to 'nil. All of the other nests I'd seen had two or three eggs. This gal was prolific, she had four. The picture was taken last June. As I finished up the layout I thought how could I attract a Killdee and keep her nest relatively safe. Every nest I've seen has been in gravel. Our road is the wrong place. But our garden is a great place. I just need to get some gravel back there so maybe next year we can attract a pair to build a nest. The pair would help with bugs for the babies.

Texans have fond memories from the '90's about Killdee's. Seems it is the in thing for Candidates running for governor to get out with the press in tow and have a hunting trip. It is always during Upland Game Bird Season. It's the only way to show one of our state's favorite passions before the actual election. Deer Season and Duck/Geese season start on or just after the election. 1994 Election between Ann Richards and George H.W. Bush was a very hot election. It was important for both to be seen as true sportsman or woman as the case may be. Open day of Quail Season Ann & George headed out to the field, separately of course. At the end of the day both reported success and a good day of hunting. Ann Richards had to be the one to hang her head though. She killed a Killdee, a protected species, and was levied a fine. She handled it like the honorable Texan she was. So her day of hunting brought more press coverage then Bush's. I guess it can be said some bad press can be good press.

As for the spelling of the Killdee's name. They are also known as Killdeer and both spellings are correct.

I leave you with one more though: Why can't I use the symbol "&" in the Labels? I tried to write Texas A&M Univ. That is the correct way to write the name of the University. I had to settle for TAMU. Oh well, rules of the blog post.

Keep our elected officials in your prayers. They sure need some good thoughts sent their way.

Kim