Mysterious Anonymous and Generous

Actually I know exactly which wonderful generous friend sent pictured bouquet for my birthday. I didn't have a picture appropriate for this blog post and thought I'd share my purdy posies and purple pot with you!

If you are reading this and are the M.A.G. person mentioned in blog post title - THANK YOU so much. What an encouragement (and a little embarrassment 'cause I can't thank you personally) it is for DH and me to receive b'day greetings with a generous cash gift. I mean really - we both got envelopes with our address typed on and no return address. Only hint was on my envelope it had a Midland Texas postmark. I don't THINK it is my beloved brother and his family sending the gifts but if it is - wow - y'all are too generous.

The humility of receiving a gift from someone who chooses not to let us know their identity is inspiring. Thank you isn't quite enough - the current crop of life challenges made these gifts and cards more than welcome.

It is a magical (not in a black arts way - don't git yer evangelical drawers in a uproar y'all) and mysterious (not in an ominous or disturbing way) and generous (in the very nicest way) and very good for the soul here on Buhlaland - hope you have a pleasant surprise soon and see how cool it is! (Yes I'm old - I say things are "cool" just cannot get into saying something is "sick" to mean it is wonderful!)

I'm fond of fawn

Went out this morning to let goats outof their pen and look who decided to hang around very cautiously for a short visit. We are pretty sure the doe is same one who showed up here last year with a severely injured left front leg (and a fawn) - appears she has given birth in a stand of trees in back pasture . Healthy and cautious - big ears and makes my heart just pitter pat - God made so many wonderful creations - but baby critters are close to the best! It is Great on Buhlaland to have dear deer.

Easter Bunny? Doggy Express - no Bloggy Express!

Conan barked and got Zoe barking too - the mailman pulled up in our driveway which is something he'd never do.
We walked up from the barn and what surprises await - a big box from East Texas - delivery is great.
We open each part of our package so dear rejoicing at beauty and thoughtfulness here.

Vickie is the artist who blessed us
with her art, thoughtfulness and her blog's good cheer. If you like cottagey, Texan, good humor (and lots of dear gophers!) please go visit Vickie over at Sand Flat Farm and enjoy her blogging and eye for beauty. Conan the Destroyer was carefully watching us open the big box.


A decorated tote bag - perfect for cheering up our errands and doctor's office visits! I can take our books, my camera and still have plenty of room for the iPod and snacks!

Ah - wonderful scent from a sachet packet and a crocheted doily that will be perfect under my great aunt's milk glass bowl!



The Pièce de résistance - an original Vickie painting of west Texas.

Cute cards and even an old sweet postcard - such fun!

New Look

DH and I have birthday about a month apart - his in January and mine in February. Since frugal finances and frivolous gifts don't exactly go hand in hand - we discussed and researched a long while before deciding to buy US a gift. WE got a new camera - more complicated than I would normally want and not as complicated (he wanted a DSLR) as DH prefers. Good compromise and the new header is a shot taken this morning.

I'm calling the foggy view of our visiting deer "you cannot see me - I'm totally hiding behind this tree" - because I'm feeling reclusive yet obviously still here.

We are fairly certain the yearling in this picture was our little visitor from last summer. The doe she is with all the time is an injured doe we saw around when the fawn appeared. The doe was badly injured in her left foreleg - and the mother of this deer limps when she runs. Fun to think it is the same one and they feel safe enough to hang around our place most of the time.

I haven't been completely absent from the internet - just not posting much. Our lives keep running into "rough patches" - periods where from day to day it seems difficult - but then with hindsight we can see life is back to our new normal.

Planning to post a picture or two from this weekend's planned birthday lunch on Sunday. Menu will include two kinds of pasta and simple breads, salad and chocolate cake.

Today's visit to Buhlaland's mailbox found a colorfully wrapped pagkage--a new book! I won a copy of Family Feasts for $75 a Week by Mary Ostyn of Owlhaven . This weekend's menu will include her version of Pasta Carbonara . Interesting sidenote is Mary is sister to Sophie .

It is good here on Buhlaland - winter took a sabbatical and we've had 70 degree weather. Deer visit our yard, goats are looking more ready to birth and God is always providing us with new reasons to be grateful. See y'all soon!.

Chance to shop and do good!

Hey Bloggy readers?blogospherites - I never know what to call y'all so I'll just call you friends of the bloggy persuasion. Anyhoo - just saw a neat opportunity to act quickly and do a VERY good deed. Rachel is preparing to do foster parenting and needs some help in the preparing supplies department. Shouldn't be expensive (little kiddos and their clothes aren't all that costly when we are talking warm weather and small children) and I doubt even UPS charges would be much. PUHLEEEZZEEEEEE zip over there - read her nifty posting and DO IT. Just click on her name and you'll go to her blogsite. You'll be blessed and if we can't help somebody with a little giftie here and there - well life just gets too boring don't you think? Here in Buhlaland we are planning a boy and a girl gift bag and will take pictures before we send it off. It is good to be spontaneous and sounds like Rachel and her husband are just the kind of folks I'd want to be caring for some little ones. How about you? Okey dokey - I have to get back to work ASAP - showing property late this afternoon (yes it will be 100 degrees ) so need to be organized before I get out there.

Try this WIDGET

Please try the new widget on my blog - you will fall in love with the concept. A clever man wanted to improve his son's vocabulary and help with the world hunger problem all at one time. For each correct response to a multiple choice vocabulary word - you donate 20 grains of rice. The whole thing is quite legit. Each time you get a word incorrect you'll have a chance (if you keep playing) to answer it again - so learn from a mistake! Another of those simple things we can do to help someone - costs us NOTHING and blesses someone else. Such a deal! We love some Free Rice Good Vocabulary .

Beauty is such a blessing

Amaryllis plants remind me of my mama,we used to

give a potted bulb to each other most years. I bought two bulbs just before Christmas so they didn't bloom by the 26th. But here it is, the letdown time after Christmas and we are graced with four huge blooms. I'll keep taking pictures of them and changing them out - a solid red plant is about to bloom also. I know it is easy to take the cheap shot and point out that I'm kind of a blooming idjit but really - my mama also said that if you can't say anything nice it is because you aren't trying hard enough. Proverbs 15:1

The botanical and behavioral lesson from Buhlaland.

Homemade Christmas Gifts

I think I've mentioned before that my dear husband can literally do almost anything - this year for Christmas he made these lazy susans - I get the red one and other was for someone else. They are like him - useful and attractive . (explanation of couch cushion sticking up there at an odd angle - only way to keep our little dogs from nesting on top of the cushion and breaking it down - we actually move the cushions into more normal couch position to sit there!)






One of his "lines" when he was courting me (or I was chasing him? - hard to remember which direction that went) was there were only three things he couldn't fix, the break of day, a broken word and a broken heart. At the time I thought it charming male malarkey but he has proven it over and over.

The small picture is one of my keepsake ornaments - a big deal here in Texas is the yellow rose (old song -the yellow rose of Texas).

Trees picture is the very last bit of sunlight on a blessed Christmas 2007. We had a lovely Christmas - life is good here on Buhlaland (and very early to bed - we were laying there reading by 8 pm!).

Too much is JUST enough

Cookies and candies and cakes Oh MY! We had a group of friends over to Buhlaland for a luncheon but what is the focus of MY picture taking? You got it - the dessert table. Starting at the bottom of the picture is cranberry cheesecake, next coconut pound cake, the tiny pies are my MIL's specialty - Butterscotch Tarts (we won't tell her that they are really tiny pecan pies also called Pecan Tassies) a tall bowl contains praline pecans and the white platter is macadamia, craisin oatmeal cookies. Next shot shows the fudge platter - yep - too much is JUST enough for Christmas. Lest someone fear 13 of us actually ate all this - most of it went to our church youth ministry's big Open House on the evening of the 16th. Whew - 'cause I've been doing some damage to those pecans and cookies. Life is a bit waist expanding on Buhlaland - we are upping the cardio and getting rid of leftovers!

Woo Hoo y'all are going to be glad!

Maybe not - I may be overstating but due to the lethargy induced by a 3 day food frenzy - I'm working on hype here. Our sweet mother in law gifted us already (she really doesn't like that wait until Christmas morning thing and we don't do the lots of gifts for Christmas thing) for our Christmas/wedding anniversary (which is January 1). We're getting a new camera! Yep - it was a compromise camera -not the total bells and whistles and "we'll never need another camera because this one upgrades" but definitely not just a point and shoot cheapie on sale everywhere. I have great hopes for publishing some pictures of birds - pictures in which you can see something more clearly than the tree in which a bird might possibly be sitting. Also will have zoom features so will get those "deer in the back pasture" issues straightened out. Exciting final note - we'll have movie capability -so perchance I can learn to post short snippets of our exciting lives! End of this tirade is that we will have a nice digital camera I can use and we both will enjoy. Other than pictures for real estate and blogging - we don't take many pics. But I bet in the coming weeks - it'll be shutterbugging time on Buhlaland. Woo Hoo!