I Didn't Sign Up for Beef Trim

Beef Trim.... I had a tirade over beef trim this past Saturday. Sadly we have none of our own beef in the freezer. And it showed when my poor husband made the statement and echoed by his cousin.... 'EXCELLENT STEW!' Poor husband got a tirade over stew meat. 'I'm done with stew meat having become beef trim, if I wanted trim I would have purchased bologna thank you very much!' Stew meat looks like this on a wonderful little blog called The Life of a Wife:


Pieces of Stew Meat are suppose to look like this. What in the world has changed in the last two years since Mrs. Bowles has made this fab looking Sunday Stew and the stew meat I purchased at HEB in Mexia this past Friday. The pieces were a 1/3 of that size and tough as nails. It's not just at HEB either, Brookshire's is the same way as is Kroger. I didn't sign up for beef trim Mr. Grocer as stew meat. So HEB and Brookshire's I'm headed to Stephens Grocery this Friday to pick up some real stew meat to make that fab stew for Poor Dear Husband. By the way Sweetie, thank you for telling me the stew was just as good today for lunch! Made my day!

Just a reminder to self, I'm bookmarking Mrs. Bowles', The Life of a Wife, to get some of those fab recipes with delectable looking dishes she is creating in her kitchen! Link to that fab picture above and the recipe! Life is fun when your searching for a picture and you find a blog as a jewel in a haystack. Jewel sounded better then needle! ;-) Thank you Mrs. Bowles!

Bumble Bee

If you have not checked out the store over at My Scraps and More and the FAB Gallery it is must visit site and community to become involved in. Going on right now is the My Scraps Talent Contest!!! Fun Fun Fun!!! We are ending the third week tonight with five more to go. Even though you won't be eligible for the Talent Contest Prize there is a little prize awarded each week. Week 3 of the Contest was AWESOME! You can check it out on the thread here!

I had an absolute ball stepping totally out of my zone!!! A 2fer layout which required the use of two separate companies papers that don't match together. Talk about having to think. I have never fussy cut for a layout like I did this one. I have never done a seven photo layout and had to find a sketch to do the challenge. I used Page Maps sketch from p. 47. And this was my creation:



To find out more about this layout you just have to visit the link to the challenge above. Then scroll through the thread to find my layout. Hey, I just want you to see how fantastic this community is!!!

Predators in My Life

Following some of the friends I've made online in Agriculture a post on a Hunting Blog reminds me that life on a ranch is not always a friendly place to be. Please be warned there are graphic images.

Wolves Kill Prized Quarter Horse

We are fortunate we don't have wolves in our area of Texas. But we do have coyotes and mountain lions or cougars. They are the same species just different terminology. We have two donkeys in the pasture with the cattle to help protect calves. The really sad part as the drought deepens here, the chance of coyotes hunting in packs increases as their prey decreases. Their most common prey is rabbit and other small mammals in our area.

Yet, coyotes are opportunistic hunters and your pet dog can become a meal. Puppies in an yard are their favorite because they can lure them away from a home. Coyotes have learned to be leery of humans. When one has an experience that coyotes will not always remain out of a human's way, you begin to reevaluate your status on the food chain. We are only at the top of the food chain because of our brain in relation to other animals.

Top of the Food Chain came in full view earlier this spring as I watch unfold before me the cruelty of my environment play out in front of me. To become part of a coyote hunting it's prey was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. The prey, our beloved German Shorthair Pointer Belle. I'm just glad I was there to remind the coyote he should be leery of humans. At the same time my biggest regret was I never had a clear shot and when I did he was out of range. I could have been the one the coyote was after, to think differently is just plain stupid on any human's part.

Fashion: Hats!

I am often stunned by papers by various companies who supply all those wonderful goodies we use in scrapping. Graphic 45 routinely has provided that "I WANT, I WANT!" desire. Yet for at least 2 1/2 years I've refused to buy because I didn't know what to do with such beautiful vintage papers which is pure artwork!!! I finally said I'm getting some because they are perfect for the photos I have to scrap of family. This was for the Heritage Challenge at ACOT in March. You had to scrap a Heritage photo with hats. My grandmother was definitely a hat person. She wore them ALL of the time. She was most comfortable when out and about wearing a hat. The picture is difficult to see, but it is my grandmother and aunt arriving at the Onteora Club up in the Catskills in approximately 1932 from what my grandmother wrote on the back. And yes, Onteora Club still exists today. And of course both were wearing hats. This was a tough layout for me. I must have played with the elements for an hour before I was able to start adhering everything to the page. I loved the way it turned out, my grandmother would have loved this page. She then would have reminded me I need to wear something other then jeans, 'Ladies belong in dresses, Kim.' She's 100% right, but not when your working with your horses or cattle.

Amigo

I kind of laugh at this layout! This is a layout I totally dislike, not one thing to I like about it. In my opinion I used "ugly" paper to build on. Taken in the front of my Houston area home. My neighbor John was moving to a retirement community in Arizona. Pictures were needed of Amigo to allow for her to move with her best friend. Yes, I typed it right. Amigo is a she and not a he. I know, I know John gave her a male name. I asked John when we had been neighbors about a year. He replied, 'I know!' I smiled. These pictures were then emailed. Laurie is shown with her dog Angel. And one of our dogs Cis-quo was sitting next to me while I took the picture.

I received eight comments on this layout....as all of my work can be seen in ACOT's gallery. I still don't know why?????

2011 Houston Livestock Show & Star of Texas Livestock Show

Eight days on the road with cattle for two livestock shows back to back isn't just hard on the animals but the owners, too! Everyone is tired tired when you load for home. Being 50 something in age makes it really tough compared to years ago, but even our daughter Lynn was worn out! It's so much fun though to be around all your friends within the breed your showing. These shows allow us to talk cattle, share ideas on one's breed, and just plain have fun.

I've been home almost a week as I write this post. We did well in selling embryos and a Half-blood Lowline. We also had good shows with our animals. FJL General Beauregard won Senior Bull Calf Division Champion in both shows beating the reigning National Senior Bull Division Champion. We did not attend the National Show in Denver this year. I have not ordered his photo as of this date. A heifer we have out on lease to a junior to show her did a bang up job at HLSR and took the Reserve Grand Champion Heifer. Here is Sunset Vicky 913W (Bar J Tequila x SC Victoria S11 12J) winning photo. She was not shown at Star of Texas because Andrew was showing his Beef Master heifer at HLSR.

There were two bulls Larry really liked in the sale. One just went for more then Larry thought he was worth. Larry did purchase the other bull who is a maternal half brother to Vicky, MRG Black Jack. He is sired by the hottest sire in the country right now, Yarra Ranges Jackaroo. We look forward to continue showing this bull who won his class in each show.

Perfect Scrapbook Line

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels a particular line of scrapbook papers hits the market and you think it was made for a photo you have to scrap. This was true of October Afternoon's Modern Homemaker released last fall. As soon as it hit ACOT's store I snapped the entire line up. My grandmother was Equipment Editor for American Home Magazine in the late '40's and up until she married Papa Red in 1958 and moved from New York City to just north of Wilmington, NC. In this photo she was obviously out having fun away from work in Atlantic City and her friend signed the photo.

She was attending the American Gas Assoc. Convention in 1950. I don't know who her friend was but I suspect it was a co-worker. Their fun along the boardwalk must have been really special as there was a push pin hole in the top of the photo. I can imagine it was pinned on something near her desk at work. And as you can tell from the papers and embellishments, Modern Woman was absolutely perfect for this photo for fun and the time period. Thank you October Afternoon! I also used this layout to enter the March 2011 ACOT Scraplift the GCT Challenge! The Guest Creative Team member is aceason. Make sure you check out her reveal using Best Creation's Travel Forever line at ACOT, it is wonderful.