Texas is a big place. There are more than a quarter million square miles in this joint, so not all of it can be amazing.
Many tiny towns all over the state that may have thrived under different circumstances are now virtually ghost towns. You might drive through the "downtown" of these places and see that 80% of the buildings are vacant and crumbling, despite their former lives of fame, like being home to Billy the Kid's grave, or being the county seat, like Pecos was.
Now, they are empty places where people who are up to no good lie in wait for people passing through.
Such was the case on Monday in Muleshoe, Texas.
When we go to New Mexico, we have to rent a giant SUV to fit the two tents we have for our traveling cats, along with our luggage and everything we need for a week. We like to rent because we both have old, high mileage cars that aren't super gas-efficient. Plus, I like to be the biggest thing on the road. Deer, wild hogs and a buzzard through the windshield will teach you that.
So when I went to the rental counter, I explained to the guy that I had rented for the wrong day, and hoped he still had a large SUV available.
He was an old-school Austinite - the real thing, not a California import - and he was so nice and funny. He took pity on me and told me that I could have my original car or, he'd give me a $250 upgrade for free to a ginormous Escalade. I took the Escalade. I'd never driven one, and renting a car is like going car shopping.
So this hulking, all the bells and whistles, shiny black SUV is off.
It's very fuel efficient - we only had to stop once in the 11 hour drive to gas up. However, on the way home, that meant we had to stop in Muleshoe, not Lubbock, because I had a blog post that needed to go live at noon, and that was perfectly timed for this sleepy town. Or we thought it was sleepy.
So because of the cat wrangling needed, I drive, and my husband sits in the back with a little table-like thing the cats can get on so they are less likely to barf. The windows in the back were tinted very dark, so it looked like I was by myself. I hop out and start the gas pump and get back in to post my stuff on my phone.
Suddenly, we both notice that this little beat up car with two unsavory individuals in it is CIRCLING my car and gas pump. VERY slowly. That's pretty odd behavior anyway, but out here in the middle of nowhere to have such an odd and aggressive behavior - we knew something wasn't right. Two SLOW circles around my car later, they pull into the grassy area next to the convenience store so they are right behind my car and just watch me.
Fun Fact - a $70,000 car, which is probably what an Escalade costs, and why I don't have one - is worth at least twice that in parts. That's a pretty common end goal of incidents like this, but there are other horrible possibilities as well. I think in this depressed part of the state that was the most likely, but we weren't having any of it. So my husband gets out, stares them down on the way to put the gas pump back and on the walk back to the car, and I scream out of the gas station in an attempt to lose them. They did pull out behind us, but when cars got between us, I pulled into a McDonald's and we waited until we didn't see them, and went along our merry way.
So if you need gas in West Texas, I cannot recommend Muleshoe. Or Pecos, for that matter. Idle hands are the devil's workshop and whatnot. Glad I lived to tell the tale! After getting buzzarded last year, I might be on some sort of rental list if the car had ended up in a West Texas chop shop.
Anyhoo - I'm here with some fun new goodies from Concord & 9th! First up - a desk calendar! Designed to go with their Easel Die, this is a blank canvas for a custom monthly calendar you can gift for Christmas. I have a friend who gives out gorgeous hand stamped calendars every Christmas and it's a real treasure. On the cover, there's already an image, which I colored with the beautiful water-soluble brush markers I got my sister hooked on on vacation. I love them. I just chose a pale pink and green and left it mostly white. I love the clean design. There's also the monthly at a glance cards in the back, but the top of each month's card is a blank canvas for you to stamp and color on!
I used partial die cutting with my infinity dies to cut part of the circle frame after I stamped it on hot press watercolor paper and watercolored it. Then I used the matching die to partially die cut the part of the floral that was on the other side. I created the background by repeatedly cutting this new stitching die into a white card front. Instead of poking out all the dots, I just put a piece of Press 'n Seal on it to lift them all out at once!
They also have a second girl in their cute builder series - a companion to their Fashion Wear and Winter Wear Girls, and everything from these three sets is interchangeable. So cute. There are lots of fun choices for this double bun girl, but this English major and word lover couldn't resist the book.
I stamped her in Blackout Ink on Canson Hot Press (crazy, I know for me to switch to hot press, but I LOVE it with my new markers, so I brought some with me on vacation), which is my favorite hot press. It seems to take more water than other hot press papers I've used. Then I watercolored her with Daniel Smith - Goethite, Ultramarine Turquoise, Monte Amiata Sienna, Pyrrol Scarlet, Transparent Brown Oxide, Rhodonite and Sepia. She's so cute. The sentiments are from the same bundle.
I had never had a Hanuba Snowstorm because I'm allergic to dairy and it's a bourbon milkshake, but the three of them RAVED about it, so we wanted to try it with coconut ice cream.
HOLY SCHNIKES is that delicious!!! One pint makes four drinks, and I'll include the recipe at the end of this post for you. But the real headline here is that it uses a small amount of cold brew coffee, which my husband does not drink and has never had and he loves it in this drink!
So coffee isn't just for waking up, y'all.
BUT - the new turnabout is coffee themed and adorable! I did my little vintage technique for this one, stamping it first in Acorn four times, then in Peacock Feathers, and then activating the distress ink with water.
I stamped the large cup, which is a layering set, stamping the cup image in Tulip Red, and the coffee in Warm Glow, and then cut it with the matching dies.
The video for the background technique is here, in case you missed it!
The same set has some cute, big, scripty sentiments and coffee beans, so I couldn't let it go just yet.
I used this sweet coffee paper and cut a circle out with my infinity dies. Then I stamped the sentiment and the beans in Acorn and added crystal glaze for the beans. Quick and easy thank you card, that would also be cute for a Starbucks gift card holder. The whole paper pack is super cute.
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So are you ready for a snowstorm?
Here you go - enjoy in moderation!
¼ C. Coco Lopez
1 TBS coffee
⅛ C. Creme de Cacao
½ C. Bourbon (We used Basil Hayden's)
1 pint Nada Moo Vanilla
Blend in a high speed blender - makes four servings. You're welcome.
And guess what? There's a big sale happening today! Shop here and use the coupon for 20% off through October 15th! Get yourself a spare MISTI or take advantage of the discount for boring stuff like paper pads or cleaner!
Wow! Your cards are stunning! And so are the calendars! Stunning! Oh, yikes, what a story! So scary. You know my heart is pumping now! Glad that all ended well. Towns/buildings that have seen better days just hurt my heart.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're okay! Love your cards, as always, and now I need to try that milkshake! Is it 5:00 yet?
ReplyDeleteWhat a blog post! A great story, a super-sounding recipe, and wonderful cards! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLove your Daily Wear card - and it's so you! You DO always have the best (if not terrifying!) stories!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous cards! Glad you are ok!
ReplyDelete1) That's a pretty terrifying story - I'm glad you were all okay! 2) Beautiful cards and calendar! I need that typewriter set. (I seem to need all the stamp sets with typewriter images.) And 3) I will see you at Stamp Joy! I'm so so excited to take your class!
ReplyDelete