Just Hangin' 'Round Town

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day weekend...I know I did. When Mom and I started this blog, we said we would be sure to post pictures and some of the happenings around the sprawling metropolis of Madisonville. A couple of weeks ago, a posted a few and promised there would be more to follow, so without further ado...

(http://leonageneralstore.com/LeonaGeneralStore/Home.html)

Okay, so this technically isn't in Madisonville, but the Leona General Store is one of the best steakhouses around! If you are ever in this neck of the woods, I suggest trying it out. I went with my dad, my sister and my stepmom's family on Saturday night, and we chowed down on ribeyes, mashed potatoes and buttery rolls.

My dad says he hates these cows...Supposedly they crawl through his fence and hang out in the yard all day.

This is my cousin, Tucker. He's already got the makins of a cowboy!

As usual, Mom's cows are lounging around in our swimming hole.

They were all eyeballing me when I pulled up in my car...probably waiting for me to turn my back so they could lick it. I swear every time I clean my car and leave it outside for more than a couple hours, I will come back to find cow slobber all over it. Can't say I have that problem in Houston...

Another cousin, Ms. Katherine Marie Newton. Her daddy decided to give her the same middle name as my great-grandma, Helen Tinkle (a.k.a. Mawie). Mom and I have plenty of great stories and memories of that feisty, old woman!

Snapped this riding around the place in the Mule (meaning an ATV, not a stubborn, 4-legged creature with long ears)

Found this ole' guy relaxing on the porch.

Mom wanted me to show everyone the buzzard eggs she found. Have you ever seen a baby buzzard? They are actually kind of cute...all white and fuzzy. Too bad they grow up to be such ugly critters.

Pretty, little Black Eyed Susans...our pastures are covered with these

Say hello to Waffles and Earl the Girl. My Uncle Bill will take in any animal. These were old show pigs that didn't make their weight classes (I know it's hard to imagine when you look at them now), but now they are just pets. These pictures really don't do them justice...They're ENORMOUS.

Last, but not least, I would like to introduce the adorable Twix John Deer. There was a bit of a dispute about his name, so they decided to just smush the two together. His mama was killed, and my Uncle Bill found this little guy laying in the ditch. For such a little guy, he sure can put away some food. I fed him three bottles in one sitting yesterday!

That's all I have for now! Until next time...

-Reygan

The Jumpin' Off Place: Part 2

     Several months ago my mom and I were sitting around daydreaming about what we would do if we came across a chunk of money, and we both decided we would love to travel the world. Being the practical one, Mom asks, "That's all good, but how would we replenish our money supply?"
     Jokingly, I answer, "We could start a travel blog! We would have thousands of followers and everyone would want to advertise on our page. We could make a name for ourselves, and the Travel Channel will give us our own TV show. Who wouldn't want to watch a mom and daughter from the country travel their way around the world?"
     Mom's eyes lit up, and she said, "Oh that's a great idea! I think we could do it!" Of course that was immediately followed by, "But what the heck is a blog?"
     I explained it to her, and she replied, "Oh God, I'll never figure it out."
    After months of joking about it, I finally created "A Stone's Throw", and sent the link to my mom's cell phone.  I called her after work to talk about it and to tell her it was time to take an adventure because currently we had a travel blog with no travel on it!
     The next words out of her mouth were, "We do have to have an adventure! Let's go into the pasture!"
     "Mom, did I hear you right? The pasture?"
     "Yes! It would be an adventure...a country adventure. I bet a lot of people haven't seen the things we have in our own backyard. They would love it! We can take a picture of our tank and tell everyone that is where we swim. I bet most people don't have cows standing in their swimming pool, but we do!"  
     On a side note, we consider a small body of water in a pasture a "tank", not a pond (According to Mom, that's a thing in some one's back yard that has pet fish in it).
     So it looks like our first big adventure will be in our own backyard, and I think it's going to be great. Sometimes I forget that everyone didn't grow up on a ranch or in the country, and that the things I am used to seeing on a daily basis would probably be pretty interesting to a lot of people. So here we go...the beginning of it all...the jumpin' off place...

I snapped these driving down the mile long dirt road to the house. I love it this time of year. Notice the "tank" on the right hand side of the picture!

Meet Jasmine the Goat. She belongs to my cousin. "What does she have duct taped to her head?!", you ask. Why that would be pvc pipe to keep her from poking her head through the fence and getting stuck!

I just happened to have all these pictures on my cell phone, but we definitely plan on taking more. I just  thought I would give you a little glimpse into our lives.  Since I work in Houston, I am only able to go home on the weekends, but we will have more pictures up soon!