Emu-tional Stuff

Well, we're still in Wharton, TX. We've had another job-related delay, which is causing us to pursue other options as far as our next location. As always, we'll keep you informed!

Since we're still hanging out here at the TeePee Motel, watching slim, fit Olympic athletes compete while I sit on the couch eating popcorn, we decided to exercise a bit more and go jogging around the neighborhood.

We found an emu!

Why anyone would raise an emu on a farm is beyond me, so of course, I googled it. Turns out apparently you can use every part of an emu - meat, feathers, oil, eggs, bones, and claws (?!).

Here are a few (vaguely) interesting things about emus:

(1) They have a flat breastbone, and thus don't have any white breast meat - there's no muscle there. Because of that, they can't fly (no wing support).

(2) Apparently their oil can be used for everything from arthritis to sunburn. Huh.

(3) Their feathers are unique in that they have 2 shafts coming out of one quill, so to speak. This makes them popular for craft projects, such as hats.

(4) They can live into their 30s.

(5) They're intimidating (ok, that was just my throw-in, but it's true - they're BIG).

We also saw a massive brangus bull that I wanted to photograph, but he was too far away. But do you remember that Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs accidentally digs into the middle of a bull-fighting ring, and the huge black bull keeps trying to run him over? And at one point he's sharpening his horns on a round sharpening stone? I love that one.

Oh right. Back on topic. That massive bull in the field looked like the bull in the cartoon. No neck at all, just solid muscle. But no roses on his head. :)

One thing that Wharton, TX is known for is pecans! These people have more pecans than they know what to do with. One pecan company downtown has a cute mural of a family of pecans in old fashioned clothes cooking in the kitchen, and beside this on the mural is a recipe for pecan pie. Don't know if that's what the pecans in the picture are making. I hope not. That's kinda cannibalistic.

Nuts in general can be expensive, and in different places we've been, it hasn't been unusual to see signs up in people's yards telling others not to steal their pecans. Pecan Theft. It happens.

But these people around here have loads of them. We've seen lots of people selling them on the side of the road or at their farms. Today we saw a pecan grove (they're all over) and I snapped a picture of it. We've even seen pecan groves that do double duty as cow fields. Guess they have built-in fertilizer that way. Stinky, but practical!

The groves are really pretty. Makes me want a pecan tree, for some reason. Even though I like almonds better. Maybe I could get an almond tree someday....

Major progress on the quilt! I'm almost done with all the quilting, and then will just have to sew down the edges to finish it. Yay! The cats have been enjoying it (of course - it's something new to wallow on). Here's one of their adventures:

Loki: HEY. It's the big blue thing! For me to hide under! SWEET! I'm going in!

(Loki pokes his head under the edge of the quilt that's drooped over the side of the couch.)

Loki: What the....POE. Get out of my spot!

Poe: ....

Loki: Poe, you KNOW this is my spot! Move it, bony butt!

Poe: (blinking)....

(Loki smacks Poe with paw across face. Poe flinches and smacks back. Epic jungle jaguar battle ensues.)

Kelli: AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! STOP CLAWING MY FEET! I MEAN IT!

(Poe, blinking, runs away.)

Loki: (blankly staring at me) Meow?

(Loki jumps on my lap, purring loudly, and falls asleep, the face of cherubic innocence.)

The End