BROOKVILLE, INDIANA. June 7-12, 2012.

I liked this building alot. Check out the vine on the stairs. It's a hamburger place. No sign...if the blinds are open the store is open. If the blinds are closed...they are closed.

Downtown Brookville...Main St. about 7 miles from the Moehlman Farm. Population about 5,000. They are getting ready for their canoefest. There is a river there and lake nearby. I like Brookville ALOT!

Movie theater. There is a bowling alley also.

Brookville court house.

I forgot what this building is...some city related thing. I love the portico above this side door.

Court house.

This is an old bank which now houses a mortgage company...or something like that. We went inside and looked around at the cool architectural features. Cashier windows still there etc. Lots of marble and copper. The clock and door overhang are copper too.

The men setting horseshoe stakes. They only lasted one game.

Men cutting grass. Oh wait...no...they had gone to the creek to get some river rocks for the garden. See in the little trailer? Michael LOVES his lawn mower. Jane drives it too.

Men staying busy w/ chores. I didn't get a picture of them doing the dishes. We let them have a little fun between chores.

BROOKVILLE, Indiana to DEL RIO, Texas.

Went to Sister Jane & Michael's farm and had the best time. This is the souvenir we brought home. J. & M. had traded in their 2005 Honda Element in Feb. for a much needed pick up truck for their property and it was still on the car lot. Nobody in Brookville needed or wanted an Element...WE WANTED IT!! We made a fine deal on the price and drove it back to Texas instead of flying home. Left Tuesday morning and drove 8 hrs...spent the night just south of Memphis. Wednesday we drove 9 hours and spent the night in Belton/Temple. Today we drove 6 hours (stopping in San Antonio to get our truck where we'd left it near the airport) and arrived in Del Rio around 3 pm. We're feelin' kinda haggard. This vehicle will replace our 1996 Honda Accord which has 220,000 miles and a broken A/C. MUCH MORE VACATION BLOG TO COME...so stay tuned.

C.J. & KEVIN DO DEL RIO. MEMORIAL WEEKEND.

C.J. and Kevin live far north of Dallas...almost to Oklahoma. Their town is Tom Bean/Whitewright. We are so thankful and lucky that they drove so far to see us. We used to wait tables together in San Marcos in the 80's. The Pecos River hasn't changed much...water level is lower and that's about it. Still good views.

Our usual picnic spot high above the Pecos River. We were the only ones there.

On the left side of the water you can see a boat dock that I have shown before. Water is alot lower.

A rock w/ a hole! Bet it fell off the cliff hundreds of years ago.

A view of Langtry...pop. 21.

He never met Lilly Langtry. Langtry was first called "Vineagaroon" which is a bug (Google it). Langtry was not named after the actress (Lilly). Judge Roy Bean never hung anybody.

A cool rock set in the flag stone of the visitor's center. I'm running out of things to photograph in Langtry.

The pre-requisite photo op. You've seen other Poole visitors posing in this same place.

Old man Poole has seen it all already. He rests in the shade.

Mother Nature is still keeping some of the plants a-blooming.

We saw acres and acres of blooming Purple Sage. It's very beautiful...especially when seen in large quantities.

Our picnic pretty much sucked. The wind was SCREAMING up there....see table covering. I still stand by my statement that I bet down below...at the boat dock...it was hot and buggy.

O.K....o.k....I guess I'm glad that we didn't sell our bikes in the recent garage sale. We also did a Del Rio Driving Tour that included the vineyards, fence to Mexico, Whitehead Museum, Main Street, River etc.

Only a certain and special few will understand this. Vintage.

BENNIE WAS VERY ILL LAST NIGHT. 5/24/2012.

For no apparent reason The Benster got all sick w/ his allergies last night. They are never doing very well but this was crazy. I took him for a walk and 30 minutes later he looked like this.

His poor little amputated stump. I have some strong steroid pills that I'm only supposed to use when he is really bad. I'm supposed to give him 1/4 of a tablet. That never does any good at all. I gave him 3/4 of a tablet and he FINALLY improved.

These pictures don't seem to show how intense this allergy attack was...we found out he is allergic to Cedar, Mesquite, dust mites, storage mites (whatever THAT is) some grasses etc. etc.

That back foot is always the worst...and it WAS....and he's only got the one back leg. It looked like a damn raw sausage. It's GOTTA hurt. This afternoon Gene and I had an appt. for him w/ Dr. Pharr to begin his allergy shots. She is his Del Rio vet. Dr. Scott is the San Antonio skin specialist. He had mailed the serum to Dr. Pharr and she showed Gene how to give the injections. He will get TINY amounts every 3 days for a number of weeks. Then the doses will get stronger and farther apart. If this doesn't work I just don't know WHAT I'll do. I showed Dr. Pharr these photos and she said "No dog should have to be like that Mary. GIVE him larger doses of that steroid if you have to. Last night was the worst I've seen him in the 5 months that we've been wrestling with this problem. I'm sad and fed up...so is Bennie. And the bill is HUGE. It's not the money that bothers me...it's that NOTHING we've tried so far has helped!!!

MOVING DAY- 5/19/2012

I did not take many pictures on moving day...which was last Saturday. First of all my camera got packed and then I found it but was just too busy to do much w/ it. Too bad because there were some amusing moments. There were a few coin tosses to see who had to ride in the back of the truck. Gilbert is on the left. He's a junior at Gene's high school and on the track team. David is on the right and is graduating this year. He works hard on a ranch in Mexico. Gilbert came back and cut our grass at the old place and the new place.

David is moving my grandfather's dresser. Gee, our stuff has been moved around so much...it's a wonder any of it still exists. When I was a little girl...I used to steal chocolate covered mints from Woody's dresser. They were under clothing in the 2nd drawer. He HAD to have known...but never said a word about it.

This is Blanche. She is one of Gene's seniors also. She had asked to come help when Gene was recruiting students and he told her "no". I flipped out and said I needed help too. So, I was thrilled for her to come and help me clean and pack the kitchen and lots of art. She is very smart and pretty and mature for her age. I enjoyed spending the day w/ her. THAT GIRL CAN CLEAN!!

There's Avery...in the back. He's a graduating guy too. These were all very nice and hardworking youngsters.  They said we have alot of stuff. They needed the money. And believe me...it was HOT & hard work. They cussed my Daddy's desk because it's so big and cumbersome. But that was nothing compared to Gene's Mom's cast iron crossbar that the plantation bell and pots hang off of...they said: "What the HELL is this thing?" It took 4 guys to carry it to the truck. That item has become an albatross around our necks since we have become so mobile and non-home owners. We are still gathering up odds & ends from the garage and patio of the old place. I'm pretty fed up.

DIEGO AGUIRRE...aspiring actor.

Diego is Jamey's boyfriend. He just did a commercial and makes a good looking cop.

A couple of months ago he was an EMS guy. He was also in play recently called An Adult Evening With Shel Silverstein.

OUR POOR BABY BENNIE...still not too good.

We have been watching Bennie chew himself up from allergies for FOUR months. Yesterday I took him to the skin specialist in San Antonio for the 3rd. time. Left at 5:30 a.m. in a driving rain...for a 9:30 appt. Got home at 6 p.m. Dr. Scott detected a heart murmur so he was sent downstairs to the internist and heart specialist and is now on a heart med. Heart murmurs are not so unusual or worrisome according to the doctor. Whatever.

The place I take him is South Texas Veterinary Specialists and they have an excellent reputation. It is 26 miles down 1604 from Hwy. 90...so not even really into S.A. very far. Bennie has been tested for so many things at a HUGE expense. Is he EVER going to get well? They assure me that he will. It's a case of ruling out this and that and the other. Whatever.

Actually these pictures aren't even as angry and red as he gets sometimes. He has been on an extremely strong antibiotic for 60 days...finished with that now. He has at least 6 or 8 kinds of meds including- swabs, lotions, shampoos, unguents, ointments etc. etc. Two of his meds I get at the pharmacy at Walmart...he isn't a dog...he's  "people". Whatever.

Yesterday he finally had his skin test (he was tested for 30 things)and it did not show what we had hoped...so a blood sample was sent away for further testing. Dr. Scott said that Bennie's reaction isn't much compared to others he's tested. The bloodwork should be ready in a week and his serum will be mailed to us. Thus, begins a year of allergy shots.

He is a very brave patient and is popular w/ the staff at STVS...of course 3 legged dogs draw attention. Bennie says "WHATEVER!". On the way home just outside of Uvalde, TX... I saw 3 great big roosters running down the shoulder of HWY 90...in single file. They were running FAST. Where were they going? Where had they been?                                                                                                           On a lighter note: Willie (our other dog) was left trembling and scared with Gene in the garage yesterday morning. Willie is terrified of lightening and thunder. They were having coffee and cigarettes. Gene said he looked SO sad and scared that he took Willie to work and smuggled him into class. WILLIE WAS A ROCK STAR all day and got tons of attention. Unfortunately lots of people found out and Gene got a little paranoid and took Willie home at 2 pm. Gene denies everything and insists that he did NOT bring his dog to work. It was a dead pig at the end of a leash and the class dissected it...evidence gone bye-bye. Whatever Mr. Poole!!