It's Official----

Anybody who has ever spent a few days here can tell you why we have always laughed when we heard Chicago was the "windy city."   I have never been to Chicago but I always felt sorry for them if they really were windier than us.  Now the Weather Channel makes it official.... Chicago may be the windy city but we are the Windiest.   I just saw this facebook post:
"Well, it’s official. The Weather Channel says Amarillo is THE windiest city in America, and Lubbock comes in at #3. This really isn’t a surprise to us West Texans though."

This is a photo of Cadillac Ranch, just west of Amarillo,  that The Weather Channel posted on facebook when they posted the news that we are windiest.  Our local millionaire eccentric likes quirky art and funds the Ant Farm (artist group).  If you are interested you can read about it here .... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Ranch

     Amarillo has also been in the national news this month for the drought.  On the 18th Forbes reported "Three years of relentless and severe drought has made large parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Texas are drier than they were during Dust Bowl in the 1930s.  In the Texas panhandle, Amarillo is about 10% drier now than the 42 months that ended April 30, 1936 and drier than the state’s record drought in the 1950s, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor."   The National Weather Service agreed:  On May 22nd The National Weather Service says the past 43 months in our area have been the driest ever on record.

    Good news though --- we have had rain this week.  Thunderstorms moved in Wednesday night!!!  Wed. night I got 20/100s of an inch (I know because I live real close to the tv station I watch and that is what they got at the station).  Last night we had more rain causing flooding because the ground is so hard it can't soak it all in.  I love to her thunder rumbling, I love to hear rain. Lightning scares me though and Amarillo has a lot of lightning.  I really miss my little schnauzer, Gracie, that passed away in February.  She was very afraid of loud noises and during thunderstorms she would cuddle with me and we would comfort each other through them. 

Mish Mash of Thoughts

     The wildfire that started Sunday in the little Texas panhandle community of Fritch has destroyed 225 homes, 143 out buildings and 118 vehicles.  The fire marshall said they were able to save 241 homes - so I guess almost half of the homes in the town are gone.  Thursday evening news reports the fire is 90% contained on day 5.  300 people worked to control the fire.  The photos are devastating.
      One bright spot is that people are donating prom dresses and a florist is donating flowers so the high school Jr & Sr's can still have a prom this coming weekend.
     When my son living in Seattle calls and tells me about the rain up there it just blows my mind.  We just don't get rain very often.  On the way to take care of my grandchildren I pass by this field and I wonder if anyone from Washington state would recognize what this piece of equipment might be....

It is an irrigation system (a giant moving sprinkler).  I pulled over to the side of the road and took the photo out of my car window yesterday (May 14th).  That is a barb wire fence you can see at the bottom of the photo.  To grow any kind of crop here you have to get water to it since we don't get much precipitation.  You can clearly see the difference in this field of watered and unwatered vegetation.   I wish I had some way of getting accurate information but I am going to guess that this irrigation system shown is probably 1,000 feet long, maybe a 100 ft tall.   That may be way off as a guess so let me show you an aerial view.  This field is across from a children's home campus so I went to Mapquest, put in their address and got this satellite map....http://mapq.st/1ov3bxt
If you click on that link the irrigated acreage is the big green circle on the left.  The vertical line in the field would be the irrigation system.  When I took the photo the system has moved to the south portion of the field.   The white vertical line to the right of the field is the road I drive down.  The purple bubble with a white dot is indicating the building to the right.  That building is a two story campus building, almost 7,000 sq ft so in relation  maybe that can help you see what size this field might be.
        

What Is This Beautiful Shrub?

My son moved to Seattle last year.  Whoa! What a change of scenery from the  Texas panhandle! When he called me on Mother's Day he told me about this beautiful shrub in the front yard of the house he and his roommates rent.  He doesn't know what it is but he loves it.  When he emailed the photos I could see why, I think it is beautiful too!  Does anyone know what it is? (the photos take a minute to load)

One of the Things That Scare Me the Most

News Channel 10 photo
Scary and Heartbreaking Wildfire on Mother's Day
       Fritch, Texas is a a little town about 34 miles north of my home.  On Sunday afternoon a wildfire broke out and it is not yet contained as of Monday night.  Over 2,500 acres have burned and over 100 homes are gone. On Sunday the wind was blowing horrid and today was much better but still blowing 35-40 mph and of course that is not a good combination with a fire.  God bless the firefighters from all over the Texas panhandle that are fighting the fire.

I Took The Grandkids Shopping---Caption This Please

What is my grandson telling his sister????

I say "NO! I don't think grandma can parallel park this thing in that spot!"
My sister says  .... "Grandma said to keep BOTH hands on the steering wheel!"
Casey says ... "Are you driving or am I?!"
Carmel says...."Hold on! We don't have seat belts and this is going to get bumpy!"   (nope, they were both buckled in) 
Janet says... Taylor says "See Rhett, to your left are flowers... look at them!"  Rhett says " Another shopping trip with girls! Where are the guys??"
Annie says ... "Pay attention, I'm telling you the one on the left is the brake!"
Patti says... "No, I am not pulling over to ask directions." 
Cindi says..."And on your left you will see the lovely gardens of Lowe's as we complete our tour of Amarillo."


    Betsy says .... I Absolutely LOVE all the responses!  I got tickled over them and have read them over and over.  Thank you for your captions!"  
(and if I get other responses I will add them here so I can copy to put in my grandson's baby book)

I Came Home Dead Tired Tonight...

By the time Friday comes I am always exhausted, but I am glad to have spent the time with my grandkids each week.  I came home dead tired tonight, so I plopped in my big chair, opened my laptop and after reading my email I got on Pinterest.  Here are some things I saw that spoke to me: 

Not really, but books ARE important to me.

 

This is for my blogger friend recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

 

Oh my goodness! This was my grandson about 11 years ago! Drove me up the wall!

True story.

If I knew how to crochet I would make these dishcloths

:)

Long Time Between Posts

     I can't believe it has been this long since I have posted anything, and keep forgetting to post my 7 things.  Now that I am babysitting again I have found myself just running in all different directions.  I love those babies though and love spending time with them.  We are having a great time.
     Taylor and I spend a lot of time coloring, playing with Playdoh, working jigsaw puzzles, digging in the sandbox.  Rhett and I rock and cuddle and wave "hi" at each other.  I will see a lot of my older grandsons this summer.  That will mean lots of games of Chinese Checkers, Chicken Foot, Scrabble, Phase 10 and Uno.  
     When I am not babysitting I am sleeping .... and at every opportunity because I am just exhausted.  I should be cleaning house, packing to move, getting a garage sale put together, figuring out what to do about a car (another thing on the old van has broken ... more things are wrong than right with it).  I have a lot to do and I am tired, overwhelmed, and way behind.  I wish I had some energy.
      I talked to the office staff at the low income apartment complex and they expect several apartments to come open in the next few months.  Actually they had one for me last week but it was a third floor apartment.  I don't think my hips, knees and feet can take walking up that many stairs.  I will of course take my dog, Zoe, with me and since I will need to walk her at least 4 times a day that would be a lot of going up and down stairs.  I can't even imagine carrying groceries up those flights of stairs.  I hate to leave my home but financially it is just stupid for me to continue to try to hold on to it.  I just want to get the move over with and hope things settle down and I have less stress. 
     Tomorrow I am going back to see my primary physician.  At my check-up recently she ran numerous blood tests and some results were not good.  Evidently I am "pre-diabetic."  Also of concern is my liver.  A medication I take can damage your liver but for some reason -- even though my psychiatrist prescribed the highest approved dose of it for me for quite a long time -- she never ordered blood work to watch my liver.  My primary physician did last month and those numbers are not good, so I am going back tomorrow to see what she suggests.  It is always something.
     Nothing exciting going on in my neck of the woods but days are super busy.  I have not even had time to read very much.  By the time I get home and things calm down enough I think I have time to read I am so tired my comprehension is just gone.  I only read 8 books in April.  I make time to read my blogger friends' posts though, even if I don't take time to comment.  Usually by the time I read them my brain is numb from exhaustion and I can't think of a comment.  I love your posts though and look forward to seeing what is going on in your world.