Texas Whisperings

Gone Too Soon But Never To Be Forgotten

2015-01-31T09:21:00.000-06:00

       Not sure what to say, where to start, how to start. Loss is so painful and empty yet full of so many wonderful memories.

       The love of my life " Harold Doty", passed away Oct. 16, 2014 after a very long and painful illness. We were married for 40 years, our anniversary was Jan. 26, and difficult to get through without him to hug. I'm still trying to let go but it isn't easy. I'm ever so grateful that I was able to take care of him here at home, no way was I going to let my love be put in a nursing home to be ill treated or hurt. Home was where he and I wanted him to be right up to God taking him.

       This picture is from early days before we had to get his hospital bed. As you can see, Precious helped me make his days and night better and kept him wrapped in love. She stayed by his side as much as he would let her which was almost all the time. Quite often I would find them snuggled close while sleeping. She follows me every where now.

Stagnant!

2013-03-27T22:53:00.001-05:00

Been a bit off for some time now, hope to get it together again soon.

Break Time With French Market Coffee!

2012-03-06T16:00:00.000-06:00

I am trying very hard to be patient while waiting for a fresh cup of coffee. Coffee of choice in this house is French Market, we wouldn't have another brand, they just don't measure up! Black or with cream you just can't beat that rich wonderful taste!

Well it's ready and as you can see I added a little Coffee Mate of "Caramel Macchiato" to help stave off extras like cookies or cake. I certainly don't need more sweets today, morning cereal was more then enough in the sugar department! I will drink the rest of that pot black and thoroughly enjoy every drop!

The only thing that would make coffee break time better would be having company to enjoy it with me or to be sitting in some neat little cafe in New Orleans right now.

Life is good, go, enjoy the day!

Hersheys Saved The Day!

2012-03-06T15:22:00.000-06:00

            My sweet husband who is diabetic and bed bound, has been wanting chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate! So I checked out our local store to get sugar free chocolate chips for baking but there were none to be had! A really sweet store manager got hold of the Hershey's rep and the wonderful guy had a case sent to the store just for me! My husband is in hog heaven now.

            He sometimes has them by their self, mixed with sliced apple and walnuts or sliced bananas and walnuts! I will be using some of the sugar free recipes on the Hershey sight to make brownies, cookies and cupcakes May even throw a pie in there just for fun!

            Don't worry, I wont let him overdose on the chips, he's only able to eat small portions at a time. Today is a very good day for him.

What, Why, Huh!!

2012-03-06T13:52:00.000-06:00

   Wonderful, beautiful, amazing day here in our small town. Quite and peaceful and a little on the windy side but nice you know.

         Not a lot going on today or I just can't seem to get with it! I read, play with the puppies, care for my husband, list things to do, watch TV a little and do some cooking. Sounds like a lot but it isn't, I;m really dragging my feet.

          I don't know, maybe this just isn't a time for blogging, maybe I need more outside time with our pets! Maybe it's just "Pre Spring Fever" !! LOL! Maybe I'm just old and lonesome, in need of adult conversation about something new. I can;t entertain myself very good!

          Maybe I'll come back later or just wait for another day to write something.

Purples Cats Corner Artwork

2012-03-06T12:37:00.002-06:00

If you enjoy sweet, refreshing and beautiful artwork, you should check out the Purplecats Corner blog. Love her work, think you will too! Look her up and share her Facebook page too.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/purplecatscorner/49449175917

What Kind of Terrier Is This Little Girl?

2012-02-25T21:35:00.001-06:00

This very special little lady we call "P-nut"!, just walked up to our house and won our hearts. She was in extremely poor condition, being filthy, covered in fleas and flea dirt, very, very thin and starving! Since she has wiry hair and the ears fold over we are guessing she might be a "Border Terrier" and might be three months give or take!

In order to bring her in I had to first bathe her with a good flea soap and introduce her to the blow dryer! She wasn't all that crazy about getting a bath but took it in stride quite well. You could tell the bath helped as she was very perky after and now she is flea free. I will have to do daily wet cotton swaps on her rear end where she has a large area of flea dirt build up. One must do it slowly so as not to make the hair fall out. She had been out a long time on her own or just didn't have good people taking care of her to be in such terrible shape.

Upon completion of her grooming I fortunately have on hand some excellent puppy food "Blue" which we feed to our youngest dog, Ginger, so she had a very good yet tiny meal to start the day off right. She ate like there was no tomorrow, poor baby. I think she would have eaten until she fell over she was just starving! We feed all our dogs "Blue", what a difference it has made for them. We have a black lab, a mixed terrier puppy and a toy poodle and they all get alone great with the new puppy.

We'll be taking P-nut to the vet this week maybe he can tell us more about her breed and her age. We need to get her started on her shots and flea treatment as soon as possible. Because she is so small I gave her a quarter of one of Precious flea pills which seems to be all she needs right now.

We have a good back yard for all our dogs to play in but they are all house dogs. P-nut has enjoyed checking it out.

When it come to feeding time P-nuts table manners are not very good just yet so she has to eat in the time out cage or she would try eating the other dogs food which might not be received very well! Also she stays in the cage when I have to run errands as she like to chew on things a bit!!! LOL!

Bummer!

2011-07-31T01:19:00.001-05:00

Late, not sure what I'm doing here tonight. Past weeks have been a real challenge, think I'm stuck trying to crawl out of it. Having a hard time finding that bright spot, you know what I;m saying. That little light that makes one know it's all going to work out in the end for the better. Maybe I;m just tired and a bit put out with myself for acting like a baby, after all we've been through hard times before.

My very best friend and love of my life, my husband has been put on temporary disability while Dr's try to figure out whats wrong with his back and why he can hardly walk. He has lost weight, muscle, and strength in his legs. His left leg will just give way and he can and has fallen several times. He walks every where with a cane now, hopefully to prevent another fall. Sometimes he is so week just getting around the house is a chore for him.

It's just really hard to watch someone you love day in and day out, sitting around in pain and I can;t seem to come up with much to make things better for him. I want to make it all better as I would have done for a child but this has me just about beat! I've put in hours on line trying to learn all I can about the therapy they had him doing and with what I Learned, I find I'm very angry with the therapist!

Long and short of this is I need much, much sleep so I can get up early and have my first coffee outside with the dogs, birds, squirrels and who ever happens to get up at the same time. I will put a smile on my face and strive to work harder to make the day better for him. I will help him through his paces and give him a good rub down and maybe he will be up to a trip to town so we can get that elliptical training machine that just might help him to start to get a little better and stronger.

Last thing tonight after saying good night, I'll ask the Lord to help him and to guide me in all that I need to do and know for my part in this too. Bless his heart he deserves a far better wife then I have been but the Lord has put us together so hopefully it will all work out. It must, it will!

With the morning sun, tears and fears will fade and new beginnings will grow. Think I can just see the light!

I Love To Paint

2011-02-05T02:50:00.000-06:00

Among other things that I do, I truly love to paint. I would love to have a small studio in which to play with my favorite passion but that will probably never happen. I can dream though and do!

I am by far anything but an artist, but I do enjoy doing my own thing. I could probably use some instruction but I like my primitive way of painting, it's who I am. Every once in awhile someone comes along and likes it too and surprisingly I've even sold some of my work.

I can't paint with an audience, can't stand someone watching over my shoulder, guess I'm sort of a closet painter! I can't paint something for another just because they like and want it, I have to like what I see or think up before I can do it. I usually spend some time thinking of a subject before finally putting paint to canvas, board or what ever material I happen to find to paint on. I've even painted on cardboard. When the urge arrives I use what ever is at hand.

Lately I find myself wanting to do something again but I keep putting it off as I tend to loose myself in what ever and home and family can get put on the back burner. Not a good thing. Sometimes I even forget to eat, for once started, I don't want to put my brushes down. I wonder, are there any others out there that are as crazy as me??

If I have all that I need I tend to work fast, sometimes finishing in a day or two. If it takes longer then I wont be satisfied with what I've done and wont consider it worth keeping and no one will know but me as it will be trashed quickly. That said I show you one of my favorites. Sadly the camera and lighting doesn't show the colors very well.

This close up show you how rough my work really is.

The subjects name was Carolinas Peyton, his picture was in a 1976 Readers Digest and after reading his story and learning his name I just had to try a painting from the photo. There were more things and a young boy in the photo but I chose only what I liked and put it in my picture.

He is sitting on a stump by the well throwing corn out to the chickens from an old coffee can. The round object behind the well is a large saw that he used to cut the boards with which he built his home. He had a saying, "No man had his hand in his pocket.", meaning if he could not pay cash for what he wanted or needed he wasn't going to borrow from another. I like that.

Enough said, too much and you will be bored to death if not already! LOL!

Take care all and live each day fully.

Crochet Sweaters For My Toy Poodle

2011-02-01T16:11:00.000-06:00

I've been crocheting on and off for years and now I have a new reason to do more. We have a toy poodle, Precious is her name. She was a rescue puppy brought to me by my oldest grandson as he knew I would never be able to say no once I saw the little sweetie.

She has become my shadow around home and goes out shopping when it's a store that will allow her in. When in stores she is always in a pet backpack that actually hangs in the front. That way she isn't under foot of other shoppers. Got my pet backpack at Pet Smart and love it as does Precious.

When I'm cooking in kitchen, she will start dancing around to let me know she would like something to eat also. She gets so excited that her ears will start bouncing until it looks af if she might start flying any minute! She can be quite the clown! LOL!

I took her to be groomed last week and the groomer took off a little too much so her cut is a bit short for the winter. We weren't expecting this cold front that has come blowing in here in Texas to be anywhere like the forecasters predict, so I am making her some sweaters from patterns I found on line. Have to keep my girl nice and warm. So far these are the ones I have made for her. Here are the latest three I have made. I will post more as I get them made also.

I made puffed sleves on this butter yellow one, can't see them here but I will post a picture when she is sitting pretty again. Right now she is snoozing in her afgan on the settee much like she is here in my lap while I was at the computer! LOL!

I used the free pattern ( "Rosie's Doggy Sweater Free Pattern") from "Kristina's Krochet" at http://kristinaskrochet.50webs.com/rosiesdoggysweaterfreepattern.htm It is a wonderful pattern and you can do so much with it to suit your taste. The pattern is also very easy and a fast do, which I like as my hands tend to swell if I have to work too long. I may be adding a few tiny flowers to the green and the butter yellow,just to make them prettier.

I thought about making the booties but not sure my little one would like walking in them!!?? I have to think more on that.

I have book marked many more patterns to do. I think it is so wonderful how others share patterns with us. Some day maybe I'll have one to share that is an original of my own!

Have a great day everyone, stay warm and "Happy Crocheting!

How About a Bible Verse for Your Birthday

2011-01-10T14:47:00.001-06:00

I received a neat e-mail today from a very special friend and wanted to share it with all of you. The link takes you to a page to put in the month and day you were born and shows you a verse for that date. I found it to be interesting. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.birthverse.com/mybirthverse.cfm

Bogged Down in Blogs!

2011-01-10T12:09:00.000-06:00

I really planned on doing a decent blog here today but my mouse took off like it had a will of it's own and the next thing I knew I was reading the blogs of others one after another! LOL!

It was very enjoyable, so much so that an awful lot of time has passed and I will have to cut this short and hope for better on the next try! I do like to read, probably more then I like to write.

You can find so many interesting, colorful, funny and pleasing blogs to read and gain so much insight and learning to so many different thing and people. It gives me food for thoughts of what and how I might add to my blog.

Well till next time, sorry to disappoint, I will try to do better next blog!

Have a great day and enjoy all your with!

My Sister's Rescue From Shawnee National Forest

2011-01-06T16:52:00.000-06:00

Edit

My Sister's Rescue From Shawnee National Forest

by Sherwin Collum Doty on Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 4:01pm

Talked to my sister P this morning and got the harrowing yet funny report of her rescue from The Shawnee National Forest after she was injured in a fall while hiking. I can't tell the funny parts as P would shoot me!

P thought she could make it out with B but the walking was hurting her too much and they were loosing time and light fast. Making a fire proved impossible for them which was bad as it was getting colder all the time with night coming on. So settling P down under a big tree and leaving his coat behind so she would have extra protection from the approaching cold and with the only flashlight between them, B hiked out in the dark seeking help.

Both sis and B were praying hard for the other to stay safe and warm all through this time. Prayer kept P from being afraid for her thoughts were with B and like wise prayer kept B warm as his thought were with P while he hurried on his way.

B walked for some time in the dark trying to keep the trail in sight, in the dark this is not easy. Getting turned around and off trail, B locked on to a star to help guide him through the woods. Following the barking of a dog, led him to the home of an old man with a very long beard who spoke with a mountain twang, whom I identify here as "the mountain man". With his assistance a call for help went out.

Rescue was successful 3 hours later with the help of B, the mountain man & his dog, local fire department and many volunteers. P had to be carried out in a rescue basket, (hence the joke that P was the only member of the family that was a basket case!), sorry P, not! LOL!

Having been taken by ambulance to er, P was found to be very tired and suffering from the cold, her injury was not bad enough to keep her in hospital and B was thought to be mostly tired from his part, so she and B were allowed to go home. Both parties are doing fine now and happy to be back home and sharing their adventure with family and friends.

I did suggested "2" windup flashlights (batteries not needed!) for the next outing. I think they are already discussing other things to carry with, they intend to be better prepared! They are not going to let something like this keep them from enjoying each other and life to the fullest!

Many thanks go out to all that helped with the rescue, you were wonderful! I am so greatfull that all went well, thank you Lord!

Fixed Cell Phone Not Ringing!

2011-01-04T10:59:00.001-06:00

I have a neat little Nokia cell phone and I love it. It takes great pictures, it's light and easy to use. I have been really pleased with it. Then all of a sudden it was acting crazy, ( well maybe not quite all of a sudden, more like slowly) like it was possessed or something! I almost expected a demon to jump out of the thing!

At first I noticed I was missing an awful lot of calls and my phone would have been near me the whole time. I checked the volume to see if somehow I had turned it down.......No, volume was fine!?? Next call would ring through and everything seemed to be ok so I just sort of forgot about it.

Next I noticed my speaker was not working right, sometimes it was there and next time gone which was strange indeed. Then things would go well again and I would forget about the problem........after all, it seems to be working just fine. Wrong!

Then the monster turned loose and reared it ugly head! :-O No speaker phone, no ringing sounds for incoming calls, no message beeps for my incoming messages. Even the little sound when punching buttons quit on me! I checked my ring tones and they would not play, instead the phone would vibrate and I didn't even have vibrate turned on!!?? Spooky!

Finally I got smart and went on line for help. I have learned that there are wonderful people out there in cyberspace that can answer just about anything you can come up with. They even fixed my jeep and lawnmower for me, not to mention a number of computer problems.

Well the long and short of it was I just needed to dump all those received and sent calls that I had neglected to delete over a very long period plus the same in messages. Oh yes, don't forget about those scads of pictures, download and delete them off your phone before it goes into shock!

My poor phones memory was just clogged down with stuff! Who would have thunk right? LOL! I just got used to things like my laptop having so very much memory that I didn't think my phone was any different. DUH! Yes, I'm admitting to my ignorance here for all the world to read about and comment on.

Phone is working just great now and I will try to be more attentive to it's needs.

I hope my hard learned lesson helps some of you out there if you are having the same problem and you wont have to have others know of your ignorance too. You can even brag about how you fixed your problem on your own without saying where you got your fix!

So from this " Granny Geek in Training" , " (LOL!) When in doubt, go on line and search out the answer" .

Have great day everyone! :-)