Life Explained

On the first day, God created the dog and said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past.  For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years." The dog said, "That's a long time to be barking.  How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?" And God said that it was good. On the second day, God created the monkey and said, "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh.  For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span." The monkey said, "Monkey tricks for twenty years?  That's a pretty long time to perform.  How about I give you back ten like the dog did?" And God, again said that it was good. On the third day, God created the cow and said, "You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family.  For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years." The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years.  How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?" And God agreed it was good. On the fourth day, God created humans and said, "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life.  For this, I'll give you twenty years." But the human said, "Only twenty years?  Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?" "Okay," said God, "You asked for it." So that is why for our first twenty years, we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves.  For the next forty years, we slave in the sun to support our family.  For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren.  And for the last ten years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone. Life has now been explained to you. There is no need to thank me for this valuable information.  I'm doing it as a public service.  If you are looking for me I will be on the front porch.

                                  (Courtesy of my sister in-law, Rae Lynn) 


And since it is no fun to see posts without at least one picture....


I give you The Next Top Model:

              Courtesy of our daughter, Jessica, owner of Ridgemeade Photography 

 

 

Smile

Remember You Don't Stop Laughing Because You Grow Old, You Grow Old Because You Stop Laughing

                                          Photos courtesy of my sister in-law, thanks Rae Lynn

Tag your it

Jessica over at Unsuppressedjess.blogspot.com tagged me in this fun post. She is my daughter and should know most if not all of these facts but some might be new to you.

First Things First, The Rules:

• You must post the rules.
• Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
• Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.
• Tag eleven people and link them on your post
• Let them know you've tagged them!

Eleven Fun Facts About Me:

1. I like to read, so much so that I have books on Kindle, been a member of Doubleday for years and have endless magazine subscriptions.

2. I love Fall colors, and it is my favorite season...I like blues but have a hard time decorating with that color.

3. My husband was my very first boyfriend, we have known each other for 41 years, been married for 33 years.

4. I don't worry about illnesses or Dr. appts. I figure if something is wrong they will tell me my options and we will go from there. There are other things I worry about more.

5. I always wanted to learn to play the violin

6. I have always liked working in an office setting, even as a kid I would play office.  With that being said, I am a certified Paralegal.

7. Technology baffles me and now I feel like my parents. My husband or girls usually pick out my cell phone, computer, printer etc: and then explain it to me.

8. I am a coffee - cappuccino drinker big time.

9. I wear the same jewelry every day and can't stand not having my watch on.

10. I have no sense of style and basically wear the same style of clothing, jeans.

11. I hate tomatoes

Jessica's Questions for me:

1. What is the quirkiest thing about yourself? My girls could probably answer this better than me, but many folks think it strange that I don't like tomatoes but like tomato soup and ketchup.
2. What was the last movie that made you laugh out loud?   What one made you cry? Honestly we watch a lot of Action movies so I can't remember one that made me laugh or cry.
3. What is your favorite book? I have many favorites but I love Gone with the Wind.
4. If you could spend a day with someone (living or dead) who would it be and what would you talk about? Gosh, that could be a long list but I would love to meet Sean Connery  and we could talk about anything, I just like to hear his voice.
5. What word do you use most often? love you (oops...that's two words)
6. Where is one thing on your bucket list to see or do? Go to Ireland
7. What one possession would you save if your house was on fire? my pups
8. Would you be willing to eat a bowl of live crickets for $40,000?  If no, what would you be willing to eat for $40,000? No and Nothing. 
9. What is your favorite church hymn? Awesome God, considered a praise  hymn
10. Which toe is longer on your feet the big toe or the pointer toe next to it?  pointer
11. What was your best subject in high school and why? history...just loved it.

Who's Next:

1. Sandie at http://chattycrone.blogspot.com/

2. Sue at http://rue-mouffetard.blogspot.com/

3. Debbie at http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/

4. Eva at http://embasonartcorner.blogspot.com/

5. Sweet Tea at http://lagirlsweetea.blogspot.com/

6. Kelly at http://theessenceofhome.blogspot.com/

7. Kim at http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

8. Rachel at http://www.graspingforobjectivity.com/

IF there is anyone else who would like to participate...please feel free...would like to get to know you also.

My Questions for you:

1. Favorite TV show(s)?

2. Do you believe in love at first sight?

3. What famous person would you have like to have traded places with present or past and why?

4. What is your decorating style?

5. Are you a baker, cook or both?

6. Your favorite recipe?

7. Can you sing, dance, draw and play a musical instrument or which ones?

8. What one question would you ask a candidate running for president?

9. What is one thing or profession you wished you would have done?

10. What pet peeve do you have?

11. One thing in your daily routine you would not give up?

Bella

Another Cutie at the ACC animal shelter
MEET BELLA: She’s a sweet, affectionate pup that gets attached to you right away! Bella’s a great companion for all types of families and would live comfortably in apartment-style and small homes. She was really eager to come out and play when I came to her pen and followed me everywhere we walked. Bella’s desperate for a someone to take her home and could make a great companion, so be sure to check her out on your next visit! • Ledger #: 34764 • Age: 2-4 months • Breed: Dachshund mix • Gender: Female

Is she cute or what? I keep thinking about her. I am so tempted to go see her. A friend posted this on FB...dang him.

Southfork Ranch interior

Now...let's see if third time is the charm.

Each time I try to do this post the internet knocks me off... is it trying to tell me something?

The house is 4,769 sq. ft. not as large as the TV show portrays. The tour guide was telling us that the interior shots had to be done on a set in LA because of all the equipment used and these rooms definitely could not handle that.

Here we go...ready...

This room is where we sat and were told the history of the place. They call this Bobby's Board room.

Right outside Bobby's Board room is JR's office. I took this picture because of the walls, they are leather panels with studs and to the right is the bathroom with two stalls.

The doors to the left are the two stalls

Another bar area and thought these candlesticks were quite fitting.

No explanation for these next pictures.

                                                 Actor, Jim Davis, as Jock Ewing

Lovely bronze Eagle is family room.

These bedrooms were on the 1st floor...Lucy Ewings

Bobby's beddroom

Miss Ellie and Jock's bedroom

Miss Ellie and Jock's bathroom

Upstairs we saw JR and Sue Ellen's bedroom and bath

Near the man on the right is the second floor balcony that over looks the pool and behind the bed are large pictures of JR and Sue Ellen. This is the book case going out of their bedroom.

JR and Sue Ellen's large bathroom with sauna

Upstairs hallway went around the foyer. Where the person is on the left are french doors that lead to the balcony in the front of the house.

Half bath off the foyer and around the corner to the left is the private toilet area

Hope you enjoyed the tour and a bit of history. Stay tuned this summer when a new series is suppose to start.

The Magic of TV and a few fun facts - Southfork Ranch part 2

The long driveway I told you about in the earlier post...well our tour guide had some real interesting facts to tell all of us.

To make the driveway appear longer than what it was they would keep shooting the driveway and spice the shots.

To make it appear like Jock was bringing up dust on his Cadillac wheels (the show shows the driveway like it is dirt when it is actually black top) they would put flour on the wheels and in the driveway and the actor portraying Jock, would have to make sure the tires would hit the mark.

For the pool scenes they would tie a rope around the actor (in the pool) waist and someone on the other end would keep pulling them back as they would swim so it would appear as though the pool was olympic size.

When JR looked over the second floor balcony and found Kristin dead in the pool, they actually had a net to catch her in and then transfer her to the pool. If she really did fall from the balcony she would have fallen in shrubs, then there was concrete and then the pool. That would have been some stunt.

Mirror were placed around the pool to make it look olympic size

All this was TV magic.

Jock's Cadillac

We were told that when the show ended they couldn't find the Cadillac until one day when a worker was getting some bales of hay to discover that the car had been buried in the hay.

This was a small arena but in the show of course it looks larger than life for rodeos.

From the second floor back balcony looking over the 360 acres.

Back of the house, second floor balcony that leads to JR and Sue Ellen's bedroom. The covered patio on the right is where many scenes were shot of them having breakfast.

Um...not olympic size

Last day....interior pics

Southfork Ranch - part 1

Southfork Ranch in Parker, TX is the back drop for the TV show "Dallas" starting Larry Hagman as JR Ewing. .

Here is some history:

The house was built in 1970 to Joe Duncan and his family and in 1978 Lorimar Productions flew a helicopter onto their front lawn approaching Mr. Duncan about using his home as the mansion in the TV show Dallas; Mr. Duncan promptly declined.

Lorimar was in a predicament because they originally used a home in another area but no longer could use that place and needed a home that would look like a rich oil family lived there and could be photographed looking good at all angles.

Scouting the area in the helicopter they came across Mr. Duncan's home. Lorimar was desperate to find something fast. They approached Mr. Duncan again and after a few weeks to think about it...agreed, but he had two conditions...

No inside shots...it was their home

and

Shooting would only take place June, July and August when his three sons were out of school so as not to disrupt their school schedules. So all those seasons that look like Christmas and the woman are wearing fur coats...yup...it is summer time in Texas.

In the 1980 cliff hanger of "who shot JR" brought about all kinds of celebrity seekers thinking that the actors really lived in "that" house. People would come on their property, look in the windows and Mrs. Duncan actually had some come in the house carrying out furniture. So the Duncans sold the property and I cannot remember the man's name but he ended up going bankrupt. He built in the backyard a party deck and thought there would be oil near the party deck and capped it off because he mortgaged the house on this scheme. Mr. Rex Maughan, a business man from Arizona, bought the place to use as a tourist attraction. 


Sometime the end of summer


history will repeat itself with a new Dallas airing on TNT. They have been shooting on the actual Southfork Ranch for the past three months.

This was the photo we took

This photo is a photo like the opening of the show

The "long" driveway. It was long but not as long as the show portrayed. More on that later.

The main cast of : L-R
JR Ewing, Sue Ellen Ewing, Jock Ewing, sitting Miss Ellie, in the red is Lucy Ewing, Bobby Ewing, Pam Ewing and Ray Krebbs.


Next up...some interesting cinema facts