Diamondbacks or Decor ... take your pick

Last week I could barely contain myself because we had plans to visit friends who live on a ranch in the center of Texas and take the kids to the Diamondback Jubilee in Lometa. I realize generally rattlesnakes and jubilees don't really go together, not nearly as well as rattlesnakes and shotguns. Just know visiting the Joneses makes anything fun. And, to be truthful, seeing all those snakes rounded up and in big wooden boxes is kind of exciting. Besides, the fewer rattlers rattling around ready to bite my kids is a good endeavor I can support.


Besides just being blessed to be in the company of the Joneses for an entire weekend, we got to see their beautiful new house. I knew it would be neat, because Maggy is a really interesting person with a lot of style, but I wasn't expecting it to be this nice, or daring.



This is the formal living room that you see when you come in the front entryway. The formal dining area is to the right. There are a few touches still to be completed, such as logs in the fireplace, and maybe a nice rug.

I especially like the detail on the marble flooring. Some details are not quite complete, such as the gas logs for the fireplace, and a rug. My friend has so carefully put her home together and just to have it finished to this extent with three kids and her responsibilities on the ranch and for their businesses ... I don't know how she does it. When I asked about a table I especially liked in the more informal living room near the kitchen, Maggy replied, "oh, I found that in a barn," and then explained their home is just a big collection of pieces they've gotten from family and here and there through the years. Did I mention she's gracious and lovely, and not at all pretentious? She really does remind me of several lovely ranch women who retained all their gracious womanly charms. It's true that you can come from the country and not be a hayseed.


Here's another look at the formal living area. I especially liked the gray risers on the stairs.


A closeup of the flooring in the formal living area. No wonder this house took 21 months to build.


Maggy has one daughter, Marla. Her room is painted a dark, dusty pink. It actually looks more Pepto in this picture than it does in real life.

I wonder if Marla puts her bed back together this nicely every morning before school...? My guess is not. If my daughter had that many pillows I would be sure to break a hip tripping over them, on the floor, in her room.

This window seat was a nice touch. I loved how the trim is this dark putty gray, almost mushroom, color throughout. In this picture, you can just barely see the crown moulding as well. The color combination actually matures the pink. Had the trim been white ... the effect would have been so much more cutesy.

What's so awful is these are not even my most favorite parts of their home. My little impish angels snagged my camera and took picture after picture of themselves, their nostrils, the kids playing upstairs, everything -- and wore down the battery in my camera before I realized what was happening. So I guess now I'll have to invite myself back just so I can take more pictures.

As a sneak peek, however, let me just tell you this: the guest bath had the most interesting, almost tangerine- and cantaloupe-colored onyx tile as a vanity backsplash and inlaid in the travertine floor and shower surround. I had never seen anything in that color range and I fell in love with it. The walls were a cantaloupe color. It was awesome. Sounds odd and interesting, but trust me it was beautiful and peaceful, and very subdued in a colorful way.

Then, in her kitchen, she had this beautiful granite in a brown and cream combination atop cream-colored cabinetry that was very lightly antiqued. And the whole house was trimmed out with above-average crown moulding and baseboards. Maggy totally paid attention to the details. All the beds had great linens and exceptional pillows. It's a wonder they got rid of me on Sunday!


OK, now that I've told you all that about design & decorating, etc., back to the Diamondback Jubilee, which actually just celebrated its 39th year. Yes, for 39 years they've been rounding up rattlesnakes around Lometa. And apparently they need to given all the snake stories I heard over lunch. This year's Jubilee was miserable: Saturday morning it was about 40 degrees and the wind was blowing about 30 mph. See? Look at Maggy's hair. She's holding my daughter Caroline for warmth. Caroline isn't even looking at the rattlesnakes because she's too cold!

Even Mary can't give me a glamour girl pose. Also, we live in Texas and are generally unprepared for coldness.

Here's Catherine looking down into a big box of snakes. Her hair is a fright as well. Her jacket is also inadequate.

And these are the snakes. See, these Jubilee people are really doing a good deed, getting these snakes off the streets, or the pasture, whatever. Apparently they milk them for their venom and then also get their skins and their meat. Blek. They say they didn't have an exceptional roundup this year because it got so warm so early in the spring and the snakes left their dens before the snake finders (or whatever they're called) could get there to catch them. That means more of them are out there, just slithering around.... sssssss .......