This past weekend was spent at a family reunion.

My heritage is Basque.

Spanish Basque.

When we went to the Basque festival last summer, I got goose bumps

listening to the Basque men talking. It reminded me of my childhood.

My dad raised sheep just like his father before him.

Growing up, I spent just about every weekend with my dad

 (until I was 14 and then I discovered boys, more specifically, I discovered my husband and well, the rest is history)

 I could not wait till the weekend.

 I loved riding around with my Dad in his pickup truck.

 Stopping by the sheep camp, where all the men were gathered,

 waiting for the orders of the day from my Dad,

 checking the sheep, hauling water,

 and my favorite thing to do,

 moving the sheep down the road to another alfalfa field.

 I can still here the bells of the leader sheep and the smell of the wool.

That is an aroma that you don't forget.

Occasionally, pulling out a rifle to shoot a coyote

 that had found his way into the field for dinner.

Making our way back to the sheep camp for lunch,

which always included lamb

and the best part,

 rice con leche

 with cinnamon or dried apples that had been soaked.

My mouth is watering just typing that last sentence.

I miss those weekends.

Petie

Up to my Eyeballs in Tomatoes

I think my husband's tomatoes have done quite well this year.

I posted this pic to my instagram account and he said last night,

"that's a really nice pic of the tomatoes you posted, but you should have turned a few of those tomatoes around to hide the bad spots".

WTFreak?

I'm sure the people that follow me on instagram, looked at the pic and thought ewww, look at those tomatoes with the big cracks in them.

No

they were looking at the abundance of tomatoes and thinking, look at all that work that Petie has to do...cutting, cooking, canning...

What is wrong with that man?

Petie

Monkey's

We recently added another monkey to the mix

and I had the pleasure of taking care of these two

for a couple of weeks to give their mommy time to rest and bond

with the new little one.

I love their little and individual personalities

so much fun...

Petie

Red, White and Blue?

To be honest,

I really didn't feel like celebrating our Country's independence this year.

Too many people are giving up their freedom's and it makes me sad.

It seems that everywhere you turn,

the nation is corrupt.

Our government, city, state and federal, and the justice system.

 Our schools.

 Our news media, TV and internet.

Families.

We have become a me, me, me society...

If it feels good do it.

Love and equality for all.

Which is just a rue, for, I want my way, no matter what

and be damned you religious people who oppose

my right to blatantly sin.

Don't judge me they say.

Well I am judging.

I am judging right from wrong.

Every man, woman and child was born with the innate sense ability, of right from wrong.

It's called a conscience.

I have known from a very young age, when I am doing something wrong.

Sexual relations with another man or woman of the same sex

is wrong. No matter how you fluff the issue.

That is not Gods plan for creation.

I fear, that society as a whole, has tossed out their conscience,

in order to feel good.

The latest ruling from the high court, is just a tiny piece of what has gone wrong with our Country.

I fear that someday,

we will be sitting around our dining room table,

 talking about what once was.

God,

have mercy on our souls...

Petie

The Weekend

photo by mark roper | country style via dust jacket blog

Doesn't this look like the best place to

stay in bed

all weekend long?

Petie

Arizona Clouds

I was driving home the other day,

when the scene in front of me, stopped me in my tracks

I stopped right in the middle of the road

and snapped a picture

windshield and all

The Arizona skies have been beautiful lately

Petie

Goodbye Mrs. Kiddelhopper

death

it's all around

half way across the world

and right at my door step

there's no escaping it

the last year of my life looks like a used afghan

a little unraveling here

and a little unraveling there

and no matter how you try to fix it

it's still there

you do your best

but,

it just doesn't look the same

there's always a hole and tattered ends of the yarn that came apart

you wish you had taken better care of it

Goodbye Mrs. Kiddelhopper, you will be missed

Petie

It's Winter

I took down all my Christmas decorations

and my house looks so bare

and not in a good way.

The mornings have been a little chilly here in the desert.

I received two cookbooks for Christmas

and haven't cooked anything out of them,

not one single thing. But everything in them looks amazing.

I've been pinning lots of healthy recipes though. Pinning not making.

I'm such a procrastinator.

For some reason, I have the need to read a book.

I need to get myself to the library.

Is it just me, or is there NOTHING on TV?

My daughter bought herself a Rosetta Stone app to learn French.

I find myself,  answering oui, oui to everything.

I think the Spanish or Italian dialect is way more sexy.

The lady on the app, sounds as if she has a frog in her throat.

That, or too many cigarettes.

Going to the cold country for a few weeks.

I need to buy gloves, a beanie and snow boots.

Do they make tennis shoes for the snowy weather?

I have big plans on walking and getting healthier.

Just as soon as I stop procrastinating.

(Ali took the pic above

one morning before Christmas.

I had an apron on every single day during the holidays.

I love aprons.

 I made the one above out of an old pillow case.

I so wish I would have paid attention in Home Ec during sewing class.)

petie

Mushroom Head

Is it just me

or does Ali look like she has a mushroom

growing out of her head?

This was taken way back in May

before another tragedy happened

We lost our favorite Aunt

a Mother almost to most of us

she had moved out to our little piece of the world

to be closer to her sister

they did everything together

almost to the point of driving my Dad crazy

my poor Mother

her world has been rocked

our world's have been rocked

life is too short

Petie

The Audrey Tote

I have a thing for ruffles...

you can find this tote at pompomathome.com

Petie

Wall Love

via home lovin

Petie

Yum...

The perfect drink for warmer weather

you can find the recipe at

backtoherroots.com

Petie

Happy Weekend

our littlebig house

Doesn't this look like the best place to sit

and have a cup of coffee

with a piece of chocolate cake or two?

Happy Weekend...

Petie

Flowery Leggings

I saw these cute leggings on my

instagram feed from dandylionco

so I bought a pair for Elle

I just love little girl's leggings

Petie

A New Year

 

No New Year's resolutions for me this year,

I am going to live my life by quotes...

and I vow to eat more peanut butter, wear more dresses and live in the sunlight.

Hugs,

Petie

all images were found on tumblr, I do not know the sources

so if you do, please let me know. So I can give credit, where credit is due.

thank you

I started off decorating last week with this,

unloading and moving the hutch

After the holiday's I will be moving it back to where it was,

after I've changed the wall color

I haven't told my hubby yet,

he will be thrilled (insert sarcasm)

I am not looking forward to picking out paint colors

but it must be done

I can't live with the brown walls another day

if it wasn't for the holiday's,

I would have already been pulling my hair out with 

trying to pick a color and changing things up

but for now, I must wait

In agony,

Petie

Plum Jam

I bought way to many plums

hopefully,

family and friends love plum jam

as much as I do

Six pints and 12 half pints later

I decided

 that making jam is more expensive then buying it in the store

that just doesn't seem right

Petie

Fun Stuff

Mint file cabinet

Rainbow pattern pens

Do or Die Rifle Note Pad

1/2/3

Getting ready for a busy weekend

Celebrating August birthdays and we have a lot of them

also, my hubby and son will be home for a few days

and my daughter and her family

so today I have been prepping meals

for the weekend

so I can enjoy every minute of them being here

I love it when we are all together

we will celebrate the birthday's on Sunday

with cake and ice cream

and then off to Mass with the whole family

Petie

A Weekend of Procrastinating

Hank on the farm eating watermelon

I hate it when I am not feeling well

I get nothing done

I have a list a mile long of things that need to get done

but all I want to do is lay around on the couch

and watch Fox news

or sit at the computer and find random things

below are some things I found while procrastinating

my chore list

I am loving this white house

I found this article funny and found it sort of relative

to what are government does

In case you have a thing for wire,

I found just the pinterest board for you, your welcome

May seems to be full of events,

graduations, Mother's Day, Weddings

and along with these events come gifts

I thought this was a cute idea for thank you notes

I really need these tumblers for my hutch

and if you haven't tried this on your ice cream,
you are missing out

Petie

A Rustic Spanish Ranch House

Article and photos by

HouseBeautiful

I have had this beautiful ranch house

bookmarked for a while now

I am usually not into color

except for a touch here and there

but I absolutely love all the colors going on in this home

the red chair, the colorful indian rugs, the cacti

and I would love to cook in that kitchen

Happy Monday...

Petie