Flash Back

Inaugural Blog Post

Now there is a blast from my past - the first blog post I did back in 2007 - featuring our beloved Norman. Here is Boudreaux the difficult birth mentioned in inaugural post. He inherited his mother Norman's hornless head but his father Joe's size and intelligence (big size not much intelligence). Boudie is the resident indulged fat wether - allowed to stay simply because he was Norman's baby. Aren't you fascinated? I am surprised it has only been three and a half years I've been doing Buhlaland posts - seems much longer. It is still good on Buhlaland - whether you are a fat wether or in any weather.

In all things give thanks!

Childhood Cancer Easy way to Help

I heard about an extremely worthy cause from my dear friends the Skees on Sarah's family blog - I've taken some of what Sarah had posted to explain. "Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation is working closely with scientists, researchers and doctors who are pioneers in the pediatric cancer field, who are on the forefront of bringing many alternative therapies into clinic which could prolong the lives of children diagnosed with Neuroblastoma until a cure is funded. Right now only 30% of children diagnosed with Neuroblastoma will survive, but because it is an "orphan" cancer, research funding is limited as pharmaceutical companies do not see the efforts as profitable. Recognizing that children should not be viewed as a profit, but, rather, our investment, Arms Wide Open raises money for alternative therapies and actual treatments these children so desparately need in order to survive."

Please go to the Website vote often - Neuroblastoma was the disease which took the life of my dear little friend Ellie
Received the larger format and posted it - beautiful girl with such grace and sensitivity and silliness all wrapped up in one.
Am working on getting a larger picture of Ellie - but wanted to get this post up before I wasted time. Time is a luxury children with cancers do not have!
Closing with one of Ellie's favorite songs



It is good on Buhlaland - a few tears over looking back at Ellie's journey and sincere hopes no more children will be taken over the rainbow so soon.

Blue Skies

Last morning of August - picture taken looking north and slightly west from our front drive. Summer has been and soon gone - I don't think I'll feel much regret for this summer. Our major renovation (begun before DH became ill) has turned into a major test of endurance. Combined with our recordbreaking heat in August - well I'm saying adios with no regrets. Just back from getting our flu shots - already available at Walgreen's vaccination clinics. Hoping and planning to have house back in some kind of order before Thanksgiving - would LOVE for this Thanksgiving to be filled with loved ones, family and relaxation. Goats are getting too big to have so many in our little pastures - time to think of who is to be sold. Our dear old Crybaby is showing signs of her age so won't put any stresses on her if possible.

Thinking about friends not seen in years - wonderful gift of the internet is I heard from a dear young woman who worked with me in 2001 - in fact we were at the store together when the planes crashed into the Trade Center. She emailed me last night and we caught up a little on what's happening in our lives. You know - I found my husband on the internet through a personals ad! Proof again the Lord can use anything to His will!

No big news - and that is a good thing on Buhlaland!

2008 Christmas Home Tour

You know you are in Texas when the welcome is warm, the jokes get corny and we display a rare CandyCane Longhorn - legend is they are bred at Santa's place somewhere near Abilene. Cowboys like the green Christmas tree brand but can't figure out how to tattoo an ornery steer.

Come on in - the gates are opening for your visit to Buhlaland at Christmas.

If you want mistletoe to take home maybe someone brought along a kiddo who can shinney up an oak and cut a chunk - we've got more than enough for kissing mania.












We don't do a lot of outside decoration - the front door spray and a few lights around the porch railings --our neighbors across the pasture are the only ones who can see the lights (except for Santa of course) .













Just inside the front door is our hall tree . The poinsettia is in a barbed wire basket given to us by my brother and sister in law several years ago .The cowboy Santa has a snowman sidekick - with our changeable weather in Texas a snowman doesn't have a long life expectancy!-















Our Christmas tree is decorated without any theme other than if it is something we have been given or like - it belongs on our tree.











Among the treasures are a small string of sleigh bells from MIL. She gave us the bells and attached a note saying they were from the Kiehler farm(where she grew up in Michigan). MIL also made the little colorful cross . The sand dollar was a gift from the family of a lovely woman who stayed in our Colorado bed and breakfast one year. A mission group in Haiti sent us the shiny angel. We have the infamous dill pickle ornament, MIL was certain it was some kind of German traditional ornament, but nobody we met in Germany had heard of it! The crafted snowflake ornament originated with my Aunt Dorothy, then MIL went wild and made a dozen or more for us. A little bling on the tree makes it sparkle more.



































The nativity set was made by New Mexico native American artisans, we like it because it isn't the traditional European Renaissance styling.

Our holiday food treat is Coconut Scones - the recipe was originally published in Sunset Magazine but I've modified it a bit over the years.










Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with a large square of parchment buttered generously or sprayed with Pam. In a large bowl combine 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut, 1/2 cup dry oatmeal (not cooked!), 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add 1/3 cup cold butter, cut into chunks. With your fingers or a pastry blender, rub or cut in butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl, beat 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup cold milk and 1/8 teaspoon Almond extract. Stir the liquids into flour mixture just until evenly moistened - don't get too energetic or you'll make the scones tough. Scrape dough onto a floured cutting board and pat into an 8 inch round (please measure this - it makes a big difference in the results if you make them too thin). Carefully slide the round onto your greased parchment on a baking sheet. Cut into 8 wedges,don't separate the wedges to bake leaving them in place. Brush the top of round with a mixture of one egg and two tablespoons milk. Sprinkle the tops with sugar ( I used decorator sugars\ sprinkles to get a glistening effect on the tops). Make a 1 inch diameter depression on top of the wide end of each wedge and fill with a generous teaspoon of pineapple(or your favorite flavor) preserves. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven, re cut and separate wedges. Serve warm. If you like a brunch treat with more of a sweet roll taste, pour a glaze of powdered sugar and milk over the wedges.
That's it! For the tour of homes visitors from BooMama I've worked at keeping it short knowing there are many many blogs to visit and this time of year is busy. Remember the reason we celebrate. Be kind to one another and yourself .



So, this Christmas season I pray that the warmth of the Savior's love will spread itself over you as never before. And that whenever and however possible, you will keep reminding yourself that there are still tiny, shivering sparrows who are too terrified to come in from the cold. Maybe, just maybe, this Christmas, because of something you do or say . . . they will. Chuck Swindoll

Merry Christmas

and a peace filled New Year.

More of the Dallas World Aquarium

Subtitled: surely you didn't think you'd get off without seeing at least a few more of the 133 pictures I took at the Dallas World Aquarium!

Didn't want to disappoint any of you checking hourly on my blogging (oh that's right I'm NOT the one giving away anything so y'all are dropping by out of sheer kindness - thank you!).You cannot go wrong with a blog post including giant clams, spotted freshwater rays, assorted reef fish, sawfish, big octopus, and penguins. Topping it all off - a manatee going in for a few more slices of sweet potato and going for them against a very aggressive turtle.

Seems like a long time ago already - but fun times are treasured here on Buhlaland. Our trip to DWA was fun. Bless y'all

Thanks giving - yes I do

I'm giving thanks today and every day for :sunrise on Buhlaland and our goofy animals companions living with us (or letting us live with them).

My wonderful DH who hates to have his picture taken (so I do stealth photography while he works on furnitue).

For sweet memories of one no longer with us -she loved all the critters around here.

Oh yes and for the book - THE BOOK - guidance in this life and promise of the life to come. I pray you have a bounty of blessings and our country would begin to learn to be humbly grateful instead of grumbly hateful!(phrase borrowed from Chuck Swindoll )

Maranatha - freely translated - Come Lord Jesus

Blooming blogging

Update - you know how sometimes an idea seems so perfect, so in tune with what you are doing and you just slip it in there. I felt so "right" about the posting of flowers and tying it into my late Mother In Law's flowers - so doggoned right I'd already done it! :::blushing and about to schedule a mental competency hearing for herself:::: I don't say I haven't gone crazy I do say I don't have to pack for the trip. SORRY!

I was outside this morning taking pictures of the rejuvenated flowering plants around here (mild fall temperatures make for a second season of blooms) Pesky morning glories still invading and overtaking our copper trellis, rose bushes and fence. Crybaby decided to help herself to some tasty tender morsels. Snickers had to be coaxed - it definitely wasn't his favorite taste.

I am trying to decide whether to just cry "uncle" with climbing roses - I have issues about keeping with a routine of pruning and tending my plants. (I have issues about keeping with a routine of tending my BODY let alone my plants). Just about the time I'm set to dig, one of the climbers presents us with a perfect bud deserving a reprieve!

Last two photos are a plant given to my MIL last spring by her other son's family. Before she left she put the houseplant outside (neither MIL nor I wanted another house plant!). I got such a surprise when digging out a clump of hosta. Under some thick foliage her gloxinia was sheltered all budded up and ready to bloom. I began to water it more and we are rewarded with beautiful pink blooms - in the multiple blooms picture I set the pot on our fence for ease of photography not where it actually resides.

Acknowledging botanic explanations I had to learn in science classes about why plants flower - I believe God gives us blossoms to remind us to have joy in our days. Blooms don't last long, are intensely beautiful, nurture hummingbirds and lots of insects - but they have to be enjoyed in the brief time they are available. It is blooming again here on Buhlaland and I'm grateful.

A potpourri of images

pot·pour·ri - a noun - apparently from the French in the mid 1700's- pot pourri - literally meaning rotten pot ( you can honestly say reading my blog is educational ,I don't always set a good example so I'll just have to serve as a horrible lesson.)
1 : a mixture of flowers, herbs, and spices that is usually kept in a jar and used for scent
2 : a miscellaneous collection
We're going the potpourri #2 - collection rather than smellocybervision because it doesn't work - you could sniff your computer screen all day long and not even get a hint of life on Buhlaland (unless your computer screen is quite dusty - very dusty - then you'd have a sniff of most of my house - I'm keeping it real here folks!) Also need to point out - I'm apparently possessed by an parentheses demon because you'll be subjected to many improperly positioned thoughts excused by parenthetical insertion (in other words - my brain isn't functioning on the grammatical syntactical level today- said she parenthetically).

The moon photo was taken with a view of our back porch one early evening last week.I accidentally (translation of accidentally is: didn't look in the viewfinder just clicked some pictures) included the gutter and side of our house. Kind of cool how the camera caught the deep purple hues - which can make you begin to hum Deep Purple if you listened to popular music in the early 1960's (yep - I'm OLD). You can take a moment and listen to the immortal sounds of Nino Tempo and April Stevens if you are so inclined.





Last Tuesday hurricane Gustav had blown inland and these beautiful clouds were scurrying across the North Texas skies. We were blessed with all the cooling effect and beauty without the destruction and fear parts of a hurricane. I roamed the campus of Tarrant County Junior College last Tuesday, camera at the ready. The lake is man made and the campus is along it's eastern side .

Pink flower - sweet surprise reminder from my late great MIL. She got the plant as a gift from her other son and his wife this spring. Ethel and I agreed neither of us wanted to tend another houseplant so she set it outside in our little garden. When I dug up a big clump of hosta last week I found the little plant had survived the summer heat and was about to bud out. So even almost two months after she went to heaven, we are still getting sweet surprises from Ethel.


It is good to be a cat on Buhlaland. Moe cat is a good mouser, loyal friend and usually the ruler of Buhlaporch Kingdom.

Last but definitely not least in this hodge podge pot of photos are the goat citizens of Buhlaland - they come running when we walk up to the fence. Our goats are anticipating something good is about to come their way - usually hoping for a snack but a scratching is acceptable. Makes me feel wanted even if just for my pockets of goat feed or useful scratching tools (fingernails) . Their persistent enthusiasm for us is a good reminder of how we are welcomed by our Heavenly Father





Psalm 146
1 Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
2 I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the LORD, who remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free,
8 the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous.
9 The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
10 The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD.

Yes - it was time to do some praising here on Buhlaland and it is GOOD.

Snapshots of a life well lived

My mother in law, Ethel, was born April 4, 1919 - an identical twin. She loved being a twin - although a few years ago the three of us (DH, MIL and me) had studio pictures made and she didn't like any of the proofs. We got a little exasperated with her and asked WHY? they were all good shots - she made a little disgusted face and said "I look like Elsie". We both cracked up - well yes Mom - you DO look like your identical twin! We told her we'd buy the pictures anyhow and tell people it was really Elsie.
They grew up on a farm in Michigan and she often shared stories about the cooking and animals and family gatherings. I think she liked living with us because we have animals and live outside town. One picture is the twins when they were young women and the other was taken about five years ago. The feisty hula girl was Ethel in 1944.


Ethel moved from Michigan to Florida with her husband who unfortunately passed away in 1980. In later years she lived there with her younger son and his family and still later her beloved youngest child and only daughter, Pat. She believed in staying busy and worked at KMart--keeping in touch with many gal pals from her KMart days. Ethel maintained a busy correspondence schedule - sending cards and notes to literally dozens of people. Since her death there will be a lot of folks with less in their mailboxes now - she never liked email but almost every day had a stack of notes and cards to mail. She was creative and a joyous participant in holidays - at Christmas she loved decorating - my Christmas pictures show some of her handiwork. One of her special joys was reading --often reading 4 or 5 books in a week. When she and I went into Fort Worth we made our shopping circuit -- DSW shoes, Mardel's Christian Bookstore - then to Costco. We'd trade books and have friends who also love reading and had the Linda, Ethel , Ella and Kathy exchange library around here! She also sent shoeboxes of paperbacks to Elsie and we got packages in the mail with Elsie's share of the book exchange.
Ethel left notes around her bedroom upstairs - reminders of doctor's appointments, eye exams, people's special events and bits of scripture or Christian fiction which caught her eye. Every morning she was up in her room after breakfast - reading Our Daily Bread and the scriptures related to those readings. She loved Christ as her Lord - deeply and with a personal faith.
The last picture is Ethel several years ago in DH's sporty red car - she was always willing to have fun and often teased by her devoted son - we'll miss you Ethel but definitely will see you again some sweet day.
"No eye has seen, no ear has hear, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him."Isaiah64:4