#HorrorWeek The Dump Truck

The dirty dump truck passed me on the freeway, pulling in front as I read the chilling words, DEAD DOGS, written in childish print in the dust on the back of the bed. Looking up, the dog that draped over the edge stared down at me with blank eyes, his tongue wagging in the breeze as it took a last ride.

This week Goodreads is running two sentence horror stories on their blog! Here's what they had to say:  

"Horror Week on Goodreads is your chance to spook yourself silly. We are indulging in the macabre as we countdown to Halloween, highlighting spine-tingling books, author exclusives, groups,Listopia lists, giveaways, and quizzes that will keep you awake after the lights go out.  Share your two-sentence Horror Story with us all week on Twitter using #HorrorWeek! We’ll select our favorites to post on this blog on Thursday." 

So I thought I'd give it a try.  My story was inspired by true events from about 20 years ago, and it's been rattling around in my brain ever since on occasion.  I did see a dump truck on the freeway in San Antonio with the words "dead dogs" scratched in the dust.  Of course, the truck was covered, so who knows if there were really dead dogs in it, but the event has stuck with me for many years.  It always makes me think of Stephen King's Pet Cemetery.  

Fall Garden Notes, October 22, 2015

I know I've not posted much about the garden lately, but that doesn't mean nothings happening there.  I've been busy replanting the main garden after the rabbit disaster, and having the fence has really helped there so much.

We decided to leave the pepper plants from the spring garden, and I had cut them all back about 1/3 way back before we went on vacation, and they have roared back with a vengeance.  We have had the best pepper crop this year.  Mostly jalapenos, but also green peppers and some anchos.  Just loaded.  These will, of course, be gone at the first frost, but until then it's nice to still be getting fruit from these.

As I was working in the other beds, Sydney spent the entire time laying in the shade of the peppers.

Not a lot to see here yet, but everything is planted and starting to come up.  There's White Carrots, Morris Heading Collards, assorted Kales, and Amsterdam Spinach.  I'm seeing little sprouts coming up all in here.

On the other side I've got assorted Swiss Chards and Egyptian beets.

These are a small assortment of broccoli and cauliflower, and a few Utah Tall celery plants.  These are the few seedlings that survived the rabbits so they have a bit of a head start.

And finally there is a small bed of several types of lettuce and some radicchio.  They've all started to sprout.

This week I've been starting several types of greens and a few tomatoes in the greenhouse.  These are all seedlings that I started back in September.  There are two of these Sleeping Lady tomatoes, and one Large Red Cherry plant that's a bit smaller now, but should catch up soon.

 Here on the counter I'm growing two types of chicory (Whitloof and Verona Red), Dwarf Pak Choy, several types of lettuce (Red Romaine, Crisphead, Lolla Rosa and Little Gem),  Dwarf Siberian Kale,  Scarlet Kale, Giant Noble Spinach, two types of radicchio (Variegatta di Chiogga and Rosa di Treviso).  Just a little bit of each for salads and such.  I'll probably add a second tray or two of each in a month or so to keep the greens coming in all fall.

Some of these have already starting sprouting!

I found Turk (our female turkey) about to enter the greenhouse today -- I could see her eyeing some of those tender little greens.  Good thing I was there to shoo her out.  I'm going to have to block her entrance into the greenhouse when she's out roaming.  Whew!

Bottling the Wine

Today we finally bottled the elderberry wine.  I sterilized the bottles in boiling water first and then let them drain.

 Then we used the siphon tube to drain the wine into the bottles.  The jug made three full bottles of wine, and we had just enough left to taste in a glass.

 It was so much tastier this time.  John thinks it has a "Mogan David" kinda taste.  Now I'm wondering how much better it will be after 6 months in the bottle.  I guess we'll find out sometime in April 2016!

 We put the shrink wrap tops on the bottles and put them in storage.  Now we wait....  I need some catchy wine bottle labels.  Hoping Colleen will help me with that!

Star Wars - The Force Awakens final trailer

The newest Star Wars movie is coming out this Christmas, Star Wars - The Force Awakens.

No, I'm not breathless with anticipation.  The three prequel movies they made were so terrible, I've been cured of Star Wars fever forever.  We will most likely go see it, but I'm not going to be first in line. I do remember the first three movies very fondly and with lots of love.  They were fabulous, but the casting of the last three was so bad it ruined the whole thing for me.



But, this ad from Kraft makes me wish we had saved some of JR's Star Wars toys from the 70s.

Beauty & the Beast

Sunday we (Colleen, Ashley and I) took KT to see Beauty & the Beast at the Majestic Theater!  This was the Disney version, and it was really good, although I thought it was a little too long and with too many musical numbers for the attention span of a 5 year old.
In any case, it was fun just being with all of my girls.  Jossie got to go golfing with her dad, Uncle JR and Grumpy, so she had some fun, too!
I guess there's not supposed to be any photography during a Disney production (pshawww!!!) but we did manage to take a few shots while we were there.

 KT and I out in the lobby....

 Selfie time!!!

 KT waiting in her seat before the show...

 Colleen and Ashley tried the signature drink for the show.  It was called the Enchanted Rose.  Looks like they enjoyed it!

Colleen took this pic of the Majestic ceiling.  It's so pretty in there.

Pumpkin Patch 2015

We had such a busy weekend! On Saturday we took our annual trip to the Medina Apple Orchard's Pumpkin Patch with the entire Koenig clan.  I really enjoy this trip and watching the girls have fun at this event.  It was Joss's year to really get into the fun.  She oohh'd and awed her way through the whole thing -- the animals at the petting area, the pumpkins, the ponies, the iced apple juice push ups,  the hay bale maze and the hay tractor.  The weather was too hot this year, though.  Whew!  Where is our fall weather?
After the pumpkin patch we came home and had lunch out on the pavilion.  We had a build-your-own taco bar which was a big hit.
Here's a few pics from the day.

On the front porch...

 Two pretty girls ready to go!

 The two little ones got to ride in style!

 First up, pumpkin painting!

 Little pumpkin for a little girl!

 Joss starts out in the hay bale maze....

 Balancing on the pumpkins....

 Looking at the baby pigs....

 Feeding the goats....

 Driving the hay bale tractor

 Yum! Apple juice ice push up.  

 Taylor and KT on the "tractor"

These two loved the ponies!

 The Koenig's

Grumpy took everyone on a tractor ride after we got home!

Fall Photo Challenge, October 10, 2015

Holding fall leaves. #FallPhotoChallenge

San Antonio Zoo!

Saturday we visited the San Antonio Zoo with the girls and their Uncle JR and Aunt Ashley.  We had the BEST time! It was really a joy to watch Joss experience these animals now that she's old enough.
I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but here are a few of the ones I did manage to get.

 Here we are waiting in the front for Uncle JR and Aunt Ashley to arrive!

 KT is a ham bone lately....

 and this one is not far behind!

 KT and Uncle JR 

 Not sure Joss was diggin' the snakes

 Joss's face when she saw the elephant for the first time.  She was amazed!

 She did pet the ferret, but just barely....

 We road the carousel - KT road the turtle and Joss was on a tiger!  She was so funny when we got off --- she had a fit and wanted to go back on!  She loved it.

 Joss in a staring contest with a big jaguar! (good thing there was a glass between them)

 Watching some turtles swim in the snake house

 Aunt Ashley took this photo -- the BEST PICTURE EVER!!!  Joss thought she was looking at some pretty fish until this hippo started moving and turned to look at her.  She was AMAZED!

Grumpy, did you see this!?!!!!!

After the zoo we had lunch with JR and Ashley at Tycoon Flats.  Good burgers and they were very kid friendly!  A successful trip - both girls fell flat asleep on the way home, t i r e d!!

Scenes from the week....

John and I just had a flash back to how it was to raise two kids (we actually did that a LONG time ago.)  We kept the girls while their parents took a much needed vacation together.  Three days we had to get them to and from school, and two days we had them at home.  I'm not lying...we were exhausted at the end.  Whew!  I'm not sure how we did it back then, but I know for a fact we were a lot younger.  It was a lot of fun, though, and we're so lucky that we have two beautiful and well behaved young ladies to care for (well....for the most part!) Ha!  Here's a few pictures from our week....

 Both girls got visited by firemen at school this week!

Oh!!!

Princess Katherine 

 Princess Josslyn