Hello to Granbury, Tx from San Antonio. RTs and Black Chinned showed up here in mid March. Males first. Now lot's of females. The RT's have mostly moved on (to Mimi, Donna, and Barb's areas. I'm envious!). But I'll have a few RT's and lots of Black Chinned for the rest of the season. This year's photography goal is to get just one good picture of the purple band low on the Black Chinned males throat. Do you have hummers yet? Good luck with your hummer season. Rob

Jay, loved your pics! That mill in Marienthal is easy enough to find, since there is hardly anything ELSE there! LOL They have a very nice website, I will attach the link. I was really not expecting the offices to be so "humble". It's just a small house sitting near the mill, with the rooms that were once a living room and bedrooms changed into offices. What I found really interesting is that, out there in the middle of nowhere, we kept coming up on bicyclers. They told me at the mill that that highway (I think it's 96) runs all the way across KS and that all kinds of people bicycle from the eastern border to the western border just to be able to say they did it. They have to pass a couple of cattle yards, fairly close to Marienthal, and the ammonia smell is horriffic when you're passing by in your vehicle. I'd really hate to do that on a bike. We hadn't been "out" in ages, due to my having to work, and then as soon as I retired, DH had knee surgery and there were other things that kept us around home. Had to put the old cat to sleep and I was kind of bummed out because of that, so when DGS went off to church camp, we boarded the dog, locked everything up, notified the neighbors and took off! It was really nice to get out and just drive. We first went up to Yoder, KS, as DH had an aunt that had lived there and I, the family genealogist, did not have very much information about her. So we went there to find out more and found where she and her husband were buried and discovered she had a son who had gone to California and, once back home, I was able to find his social security death record. I don't know if he had family or not. But anyway.... We intended first to go to Kingston, where there was an organic wheat farm but when we got there we found that the farm had ceased to operate and could not find where the man who had operated it had gone. So, we knew about the mill in Marienthal and had the time, so we decided to go there. We didn't find out that there was a place just north of Wichita (Farmer Direct Foods in Atchison - www.farmerdirectfoods.com) that would've served our needs, and would have been a lot closer to where we were, until back home. Organic wheat is expensive, but it is very nice stuff. Keeps for a long, long time as long as it's left whole. Freshly ground wheat does not have that bitter taste that the whole wheat flour they sell at the grocery store has. The bitter taste either comes from whatever additive they use to keep it from spoiling, or maybe it is the taste of spoilage, I don't know. I have an electric grain mill so I mill only about five pounds at a time. We also stopped in Ark City on the way back home and went to the farmer's co-op and found out I could buy 50# of non-organic wheat for $7. I paid quite a bit more than that for organic. But the protein percentage of the organic was twice what it was for the non-organic, and it does make better bread. We stopped in at the flour mill there in Ark City and they told us they get the grain that they mill into flour through that co-op. Another thing that I found odd was that I visited the store there in Yoder and hoped to be able to buy whole wheat there, considering that the Mennonites still do things the old fashioned way. But there was nothing there but bags of wheat from Bob's Red Mill, that cost more than if I'd just order direct from there. So I went to the bakery there to ask them where they get their wheat and did they mill it themselves and they told me they bought their wheat already milled. So much for that. You'd think, in the middle of wheat country, they'd be using local wheat. There's also a family farm near Fairview, OK called Cattle Tracks LLC that sells organic wheat and also organically grown beef. They sell from their farm and also through the Oklahoma Food Co-op. Their website address is www.johnsfarm.com. I find the prices of their beef to be awfully high. BUT, I have noticed that the practice of inoculating beef with water to make it weigh more seems to be on the rise, and I bet they don't do that at Cattle Tracks. So all-in-all, you might get better value with the organic beef. If you're close enough to be able to drive there and pick up the wheat or beef, it is always a lot cheaper because the shipping costs more than the product does. Even with the Co-op, there's the cost of membership that you have to renew every year, you do have to drive to the closest distribution site, which ours in in Owasso, and then there is a transportation charge to pay that, though not as high, is significant. The website address of the food co-op, if anyone's interested, is www.oklahomafood.coop. I couldn't find any place that is local to me where I can buy wheat directly from the farmer. Although they told me at the Two Rivers Co-Op in Ark City that they have a sister store in Newkirk. It would be the cheaper, non-organic, lower protein wheat, however. Oh, and I found out they have dried molasses there too but you have to buy 50 pounds. Here is a link that might be useful: Heartland Mill in Marienthal

Happy TGIF everybody! Nancy, we love MB...last time I was there saw a sign on the restaurant for "Twofers"...got excited until I saw the tank full of frogs! :) Chase, enjoy the nice weather at the cottage! Spring has sprung! amck, after 12+ years in Bedford I never did learn to like hockey but I'll cheer the old team on anyway! Looking forward to baby pixs also. Alexa, have fun visiting with your friend & stay out of trouble! Jessy, oh...I LOVE Marie Callenders' German Chocolate Pie (actually, I love them all!). Duane, that's so cool you're taking care of Roxie! Grace, I'm envious of your horses. It sounds like such fun. Linda, enjoy the show. Our's was a couple weeks ago...a dud. Hope your's is better. Linda, don't work too hard. Annie, is Elery in town this weekend? I imagine Copenhagen is a real mess! Ellen, please post the 1946 Mac 'n Cheese recipe! Have fun at the B-day party! Diane, isn't it great to be able to garden again?! I'll have flowers in a couple weeks. Deanna, it doesn't sound like fun but, hopefully, you're almost done with that project & can move on to something that is!! Cathy, it's not "Yard Work"...it's "GARDENING"! lol Don's on his way home now...probably about at Old Saybrook (30-40 minutes away). I'm making breakfast for dinner because it's easy to fix quickly when he gets in rather than trying to time something for an unknown arrival. Tomorrow, we have an appointment with a REALTOR (why do they capitalize all of the letters?) to look at a house on Beebe Pond overlooking the Mystic River. We've been looking since Feb. '07 & this is at least the 20th house he's shown us. We are soooo pickey! Also, this is a sad weekend. We are boatless in Mystic. As unbelievable as it sounds considering the economy this guy from CA wanted to buy our Nordic Tug. So, we sold it to him. We wintered her in Annapolis, he saw her, & fell in love. The Homeland Security documents cleared last Friday & escrow closed this Tuesday. She's on her way right now to CA...overland. It's costing him a small fortune 'cause her beam exceeds legal limits, without special permits. Crazy, we would have run her through the Canal. Maybe, he's afraid of such a long trip being a new captain? So, we've got a garage full of "boat stuff" to do something with. :( Please help me say, "Good-bye", to her. /tricia

I love to plan trips. This is going to be great fun. We have been invited for dinner at Ruthie G's and to spend the night there also. Also going to be spending the night at Jaybird's house and I know she will be cooking up something too. Vannie is busy planning lots of salads and other things to feed everyone that will be at her house. After being stuffed at Vannie's we will be spending the night at Kathy TX house and she is planning on feeding us again. Marilyn C is going to be joining us in Katy and just might be bringing along a baby possum for us to hold. Going to meet lots of gals that I have never met and some that I have met and am looking forward to seeing again. As I say we will be laughing and eating our way around East Texas.