howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
We finally have rain. It's been a long, hot, DRY summer so we are
relaxing and enjoying the rain as it replenishes the cracked soil here.
a light shower hitting the pool
Jack, our German Shepard was loving the cooler weather, here he's
going after a cricket, he loves eating those things. See it on the
float? he's a little suspicious of the camera though!
lastly, a sunrise from last month through the pine trees.
thanks for stopping by folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck
ps- ya know...you might just be a redneck if:
Your favorite Christmas present is a painting on black velvet!
Lol shepard is like to snap a pic when I'm trying to eat! Hoping for cooler weather and rain tuesday!
haha! that's right about Jack ihashblox! hey I've seen you commenting in places before, you get around quite a bit I think. what part of the country are you in? and is it the U.S.?
thanks for commenting!
Im due north of you.
Yeah i see ya around as well! We usually talk to hippie a lot.
No worries about the comment. Jack is a beautiful shepard btw. My shepard was a half breed. Mother was papered but bred with wolf. Certain states sadly frown on the breed. Anyway, Pup had a lazy ear. Considered surgery, but uh well.. i was 13 at time. Lol anyway take care
sir ihashblox! wow a shepard and wolf mix, now that sounds interesting, was yours a great dog? any advantages of being bred with a wolf?
Had white coat. Didn't seem as prone to hip displacia. Idk cool dog, gentle giant until crossed.
well the hip thing would certainly be an advantage. gentle until crossed, ha! then you had a problem on your hands!
I love nice soft rains when it soaks into the parched land. There is something about the fresh earthy smell that accompanies a rain...
Jack doesn't trust you, not the camera. He thinks you just might swipe that fat and juicy cricket out from under his nose! 🤣
haha! yes that's right, I tease him alot so he doesn't trust me! and that photo captures that perfectly.
Jack is very handsome. I spotted him in the background of the second picture and thought to myself "he has his own version of Big Dog".
Congrats on the rain. I think it moved from Florida to Texas, and I'm grateful.
oh thank you ginnyannette! are you saying that it finally stopped raining there? yes I know, about Jack..Big Dog reminds me so much of him, both handsome dogs!
Hey @janton, great to hear that :) Enjoy rain and make sure the dog knows how to swim in case if it slips into the pool, its on the edge with rain pouring.
Loved the last photo too, who is @winchestergirl42 and who am i? You're a much better photographer :D
haha! well in our real estate business I took thousands of photos but not nature ones or anything like that so I don't really know how to take that kind. but anyone can get lucky.
Any one can get lucky in writing as sir @glenalbrethsen and at photography as @winchestergirl42 :D One day we both will catch them too ;)
well I plan to let Mrs. J do the photography so I don't have to and I don't think I want to do as much writing as sir Glen but I'll let you take that challenge on!
haha that's not fair, you have support now, whereas I am alone :D
This is not a fair competition :D
hey there hananali...it's not my fault if you can't find a girlfriend!
Okay @janton thank you for making me sad :(
YAH @janton, beautiful rain.
thank you Ma'am yes it is a real blessing.
I hope you get lots!
That sunrise! 😳
Jack is very handsome. My very first dog was a German Shepard. He was my baby sitter.
Bless you!
howdy sugarcreek! yes I remember you talking about that, the dog watching out for you and all, amazing.
Rain, glorious rain! How much rain did you get? Are you like my husband where you can know how much rain you got just by watching and looking at the ground? Did your cracks disappear?
Oh and how much does Jack weigh? Chester was so bulky last winter, and now he seems so skinny. I don’t know if that’s just how they are between winter and summer?
howdy hebrewhousewife! I can't tell how much rain we get here by looking at the ground because as soon as it starts raining it is on the ground running everywhere because of our clay soil, it has a hard time of soaking it up, that's why we always need soft, gentle, slow rains.
it is still raining, we probably has a half inch but looks like it's going to rain all night so who knows how much we'll get. enough to make the cracks disappear that's for sure.
Jack weighs 70 lbs but he loses at least 5 lbs in the summer heat and only eats 2/3rds of what he normally does. In fact some days he won't eat at all in the summer so yes they fluctuate alot from the seasons.
I think that’s about how much Chester weighs too. I notice he has been eating less too. I thought maybe it was because we aren’t giving him as many leftovers, haha! Alright, I’ll have to wait and see if he puts on weight again in the winter.
good day this fine Sunday Ma'am...yeah he should start eating like normal when it gets cool. It's been in the 80s for highs here the last few days which feels really cool and Jack has returned to eating like a horse again so we know it's totally related to the heat.
Love the photo of the dog. Does he really eat crickets ?
haha! yes Jack loves those things! we go out at night and catch them and he will eat dozens at a time. wasps too, he loves to chase down and eat wasps. thanks blanchy!
@janton What a relief the rain arrived dear friend.
I really like your pisina, my dreams is to have an equal in my house
I wish you a beautiful Sunday
well howdy there @jlufer! thank you so much! what do you wish to have equal in your house?
A pool equal to yours
oh howdy back again @jlufer! yes that is a very good goal indeed, in warm climates it is wonderful and makes you not mind the heat!
Beautiful sunset! Love the pine needles in the foreground.
With the ground the way it is, do you get a lot of flash flooding when it rains after a long dry spell?
howdy sir dollarsandsense! I just remembered that you have a post that I need to see. well sir, with this clay soil out here, it floods at almost any level of rain we get, not at our place but all the roads and highways, it's crazy, the clay soil just doesn't soak it up.
thanks for commenting sir!
Glad you finally received some rain! How deep is the pool?
ha! you know what? when we first got here the place had been abandoned for 8 years and the pool was brown and green and we could only see about one foot down so we thought it was a regular depth pool, then a pool repair guy took a pole and measured it and we were shocked to find that the deep end and the shallow end were the same, the previous owners had filled in the deep end so the whole thing is about 4.5 ft deep which is fine with us, that's deep enough to swim and cool off in.
I thought given the size it was all the same depth. I would prefer it that way too. Yeah, if I lived in Texas I would live in that thing.
haha! I don't give a rip about pools but Mrs. J said if we're going to Texas we have to have a pool so that went into the criteria for searching for houses!
Rain is a good thing. Glad you guys are getting some to cool you off;)
yes sir Farmer! we don't really need it for the coolness but the earth is so parched and cracked that we need it for that and our ponds. yeah we're just trying to imitate Kentucky and get the grass green again!
Meanwhile, we're still trying to get over that trillion gallons of rain we got here in Houston last year.
oh howdy there themadgoat! yeah how is all the repair work going down there? I don't watch much news, that was like the most expensive, damaging thing ever. Were you affected personally?
My house got flooded and I lost all my shit. fortunately, I had left my girlfriend and moved into a shitty trailer and didn't really have anything. So after the flood I just got back with her. Houston looked like a bombed out war zone for months after the flood. They've cleaned up most all th3e visible evidence of hurricane Harvey but there are thousands of homes that are empty and rotting because people couldn't afford to rebuild so they just moved out.
wow man..I thought there was supposed to be billions pouring in so that people who didn't have insurance could be helped out?
There is, and a lot of good has been done for a lot of people, but Houston is the fourth largest city in the country. That's a lot of houses and stripping a house down to the bones and rebuilding is very expensive. Someone is always going to fall through the cracks, and we got some pretty big cracks.
sir themadgoat so good to hear from you..yes sir, very good points that I hadn't thought about, thank you!
Howdy again Jonboy! Beautiful pictures. Love your dog Jack too. Our neighbors who live across from us have a German Shephard. Her name is Angel. She is friendly and sometimes we see her around.
thank you sir Rainbow Man. here is a better picture of Jack where he isn't making a face!
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I bet he is a good dog. He looks like he makes a best friend. I'm more a Pit Bull guy but German Shepherds are cool too. It is little dogs I have a hard time with because all they do is bark or yip all the time.
haha! Rainbow Man I couldn't agree more. those little dogs are a pain because of all the yipping, too irritating. I'm patient but that would even set me off. I guess they're good watch dogs but I couldn't handle it.
Howdy! Woo! The rain is bringing everything back to life!
I took a shower in the water dripping off the roof on Thursday night. Incredibly refreshing!
hahaha! really? do you guys have gutters? we only have them on part of the house.
Not yet we don't. I'm going to make some and have them run into the collection tote and some swales.
howdy back sir nateonsteemit! yes sir, that's a plan, good thinking.
haha Jack's eyes...he's totally watching you :)
Nice pool too :)
thank you, we had to have it restored, should have seen it when we got this place after sitting vacant for 8 years! the only thing good about it was it was full of water so we knew it wasn't broken or had big cracks.
are you in the top ten this week?
yeah Jack doesn't trust me because I tease him alot, he was afraid I was gonna get that cricket before he could eat it! lol he loves those things.
I grew up with a cat who always ate crickets @janton; I can still hear that distinct crunching in my ears :)
Turns out, I am in the top ten this week 😎
ya'll had some strange cats up there. top ten huh? ...yawn...so what else is new young lady? Now if you DIDN'T make it into the top ten that would be news. you are apparently so talented that you can get there no matter what's going on! am I wrong?
Nope. You are not wrong @janton 😎
and by the way, our Canadian cats eat US cats for snacks lol
haha! well I doubt if they eat Texas cats for snacks but maybe! if you get a great week and Brian is feeling good as he continues to improve when are you going to blow us all out of the water? I mean you have a huge contact number of people and you can vote on tons of people, more than I've ever seen on here.
Thanks buddy, I appreciate that. Maybe this week? One day at a time in my life :)
The dogs looking at you like "Here I didn't think he liked crickets, well if he really wants it....I guess." Speaking of crickets last year there was a couple murders close by, in a interview this guy said twenty years ago all you ever heard around here were crickets. That's when I realized you don't ever hear crickets anymore. I went to the pet store to buy some crickets. Now mind you I've had my run in with a cricket before. Right after I bought my house there was this really loud cricket in my front yard. He'd drive me insane when I tried to go to bed. Some nights I would go out there determined to kill him. It was like he knew every time I'd go to open the front door because he'd shut up. I never knew what happened to that cricket, nor any of the others, I assumed they became victims of this spray happy I have to have a perfect lawn lady, no weeds, no bugs....fifteen years of that is what I blame on the decline of the bees around here (and crickets). Anyway, so I go out to get the crickets and the saleslady says to me you know you can put crickets in your yard but that doesn't mean they'll stay.....to which I replied I had thought the birds would get them anyway. She said pet store crickets don't multiple, they do something to them at the manufacture so pet store owners aren't flooded with breeding crickets, plus they don't want the pet stores to breed them otherwise they wouldn't buy them. So with that understanding I figured at least I'd have some around for a bit. I bought sixty crickets for ten bucks. I brought them home and scattered them around the yard, especially in the wood area where they like to hang out according to a little research I did on them. They pretty much stayed rather close by last summer and it was like music to my ears. Sure beat police, fire and ambulance sirens. I told someone I had bought crickets and they were like that's the worse thing you can do. They can get into your house and create problems, they attract spiders because they are natural predators to each other, etc., etc., then I said that may explain why there's such a spider explosion around my house. You couldn't walk around my house without seeing some spider or another at night webbing his way around. I had so many spider web formations I'd leave them so my grand kids could scope out the different types of webbing. (Leaving gardening shoes on the back porch was a big no no unless you wanted to find them with a funnel looking web inside) I said well since I put them out in the wood area then maybe the spiders will leave me house and go out looking for the crickets....that seemed to work since the spider population died down. Then this spring came, no crickets. I figured they all died off. Then summer came and no crickets so I assumed the lady was right, they'd all died in the winter and there's no population because they can't multiply. I was out watering my flowers the other night and my grand son says to me, listen to the crickets grandma.....I guess I convinced myself pretty good they were gone I stopped listening for them. All around us all I could hear was crickets! As a matter of fact I can even hear them right now as I am writing this chirping away through the window, lots of them, and it's still music to my ears. Maybe what the distributor uses is only temporary, I don't know but they are out there.
haha! wow now that is a cricket story! I love the sound of them at night too, and of course Jack loves to eat them so everyone is happy. I've never heard of anyone buying crickets to put on their lawn, that's an interesting first!
It's the inner city....there are no grasshoppers at all and butterflies are so rare if you see one you find yourself in awe of it.
howdy this fine day sunlit7! I hope things are going well for you. can you tell me what city or do you like to stay pretty anonymous?
I am from Grand Rapids MI, I don't mind that as much, anyone wishing to find out anything more than that would have to work pretty hard at hacking someone's exact location. When our local news station went from using Disqus comment board to FB everyone had to sign in under their real name. I won't do that anymore, one night on a discussion about illegal immigration someone looked up under the property records my name, posted a picture of my house and address and encouraged people to come demonstrate outside. I had to call the news station and have them remove it. Now I have a fake FB account to go on their site with, no more of that crap for me.
howdy again sunlit7! wow that is some scary stuff. At least you aren't going to be using a real fb account again, smart move!
I still have my old FB account, I just don't use it to blog on comment sections. As a matter of fact I used it the other night on here when someone said that FB was banning search results for marijuana, if you link something up using your FB account it will sometimes go to your homepage...so I used my Quite Frankly account. I couldn't believe the news lets me post under that name knowing it's not a real name....I wasn't worried though, if they'd banned it I would have went in under Quite, Frank. lol.
That does look like the rain we encountered when we were out and about. Apparently, though, it was only up north of us because the kids said it didn't rain here. It's been nice having the temperatures fall a little, but now it's more humid. Always something.
You all need it more than I think we do. No big black soil cracks anywhere here that I've seen.
yeah but it's nice not having to mow every week. We must have saved $200 so far this summer, at least, by only mowing a few times. but it's been raining for two days now so things are going to jump up now and look like Oregon!
Well, I guess we could get into a discussion about what constitutes rain. Is this a dust buster, a gully washer or cats and dogs we're talking about? :)
I could see where you'd be okay with not mowing so often. Where's the savings coming from? Fuel? That's a lot of fuel. Of course, it's a lot of landscape, too.
yes sir gasoline, the mower is a gas hog and it takes quite a few hours each mowing. the rain is a steady medium type with heavy at times. gonna be alot of flooding out there, not around our place but this clay can't handle hardly any rain so even a little causes big problems.
beautiful
howdy there @marya77! thanks so much for stopping by and commenting too.
Nice pool... and sunset. I'm glad it's finally raining on you guys, at least now the road runners won't burn their beaks pulling the worms out of the dirt. (that was a lot funnier in my head)
I must ask, did your favorite black velvet painting have a picture of Elvis on it?
haha! sir coinsandchains! hey ya know what? I really like some of those black velvet paintings! some are cheesy but some are pretty cool. I don't know about the Elvis one though, it's been awhile since I've seen any, need to look again.
that Road Runner joke was pretty funny! hey do you try to get more sleep on Saturday night or Sunday morning I guess, for church or do you try to keep your schedule the same?
I think your artistic now @janton !! you dog is so handsome by the way x
haha! well that is a stretch but i do get a lucky shot sometimes. Mrs. J is artistic and wants to start taking scenery and wildlife photos around here when we get a better camera.
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yes Jack is very handsome. he takes after his owner! lol. no thank goodness he doesn't.
here is a better photo of him if you are not commenting on my post, I always use the "replies" section for commenting.
is your wife joining Steemit ? how old is your dog , don't know if you mentioned it or not
howdy again winchestergirl! no my wife wants nothing to do with steemit except she likes putting some recipes together that I've posted, Keto recipes and she wants to work on her photography skills so I can have some good photos to post but no she basically doesn't write and is very private.
do you consider yourself an introvert? I sure am. but if you are, then what appealed to you about steemit?
yes I am a introvert , but in the right company I can be more myself and talk away !! my hubby found steemit and he thought I should give it a go , well life is too short so why not , even if I don't get anywhere with this I made my mark out there !
howdy back again winchestergirl! good late evening to you, if you're still on here..well if steemit lasts, and I have it on good authority that it will(myself) then you WILL get somewhere even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming! lol.
no all it takes is consistency and you appear to be very stable and consistent. the other thing is caring about others and being interested in them and you appear(unless you're faking us out) to have those qualities as well. So there you have the secrets to success on steemit and you can't fail now!!yay! you can have a drink tonight to celebrate. lol!
God bless you guys over there across "the pond."
thanks very much for your comments , and you sir are a gentleman , who looks after people and listens. I hope you and Mrs J and family keep well and healthy x
Holy cow! That swimming pool is enormous, Jon...at least it looks that way on the camera. That's very funny of Jack. He does look very wary of that photographer dude...lol...
You might be an even bigger redneck if your favorite Christmas present is a painting OF Black Velvet (on the rocks.)
haha! another great joke from my favorite joke writer! lol. well the pool is 19x29 feet which is fine for a home pool.
Fine? That is PARADISE, man!
haha! yes it is extremely good for being in Texas that's for sure, almost a necessity!
I sure wouldn't dare try living there without one!
What a blessing @janton! Red sky at night fisherman's (and cowboy's) delight....
haha! yes it is buckaroo..how are you guys doing in that department, is it still dry?
@janton we had a sprinkling of rain last week. But as my husband says, it's enough to dirty the vehicles! The ground is very thirsty
howdy this fine Monday buckaroo! that's not good to hear...well I just have to believe that it can't go on much longer!
Yay! I am glad y’all finally got some badly needed rain. You pup looks very suspicious of you. Makes me laugh. You didn’t mention anything about a swimming pool! Now I a m jealous. 🐓🐓
haha! well Mrs. J said it's a requirement if you live in Texas! I'm not so sure about North Texas but for where you guys used to live? man, that would be an essential survival tool!
Gorgeous sunrise 😍
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oh howdy this fine Monday itravelarts! thank you and thanks for stopping in and commenting!
So happy you got the blessing of rain, Cowboy! Love that look on Jack's face....too funny! haha <333 :)
This comment was made from https://ulogs.org
yeah I was telling him about you when he gave me that look.
bwhahahahah that explains it!
This comment was made from https://ulogs.org
Nice pool.
haha! howdy there cosmiccrimes! yes sir, if you live in Texas it is almost a necessity to have a pool!
Pools are fun. My cousin next door had one when I was growing up. I spent a lot of time there.
howdy back sir cosmiccrimes! and where did you grow up at, I mean what country or state if it was in the United States?
I growed up in Virginia.
Rain sure is a blessing! Glad to hear you are getting some before those cracks get TOO big!!!
ahhaha! yes sir..those cracks can get alarmingly big and then when it's time to mow there are just 2 ft tall grass spread around, very thinly, and the rest is dust.
A lovely rain and and even more lovely German Shepherd! I could have used Jack's help this morning with the cricket in my kitchen that was driving me crazy! I finally caught him and threw him outdoors where he belongs. My house is so much quieter!
ahhaha! crickets can be annoying for sure! howdy there melinda010100! good to see you hear, I've seen you around before, the Engagment League?
Jack thanks you for the compliment, do you have any dogs?
I just joined the Engagement League this week. I host the Shadow Contest and do a cemetery photos challenge. Most likely we have mutual friends.
Our Shepherd, Ana, died 5 years ago, and then my guy, Jim died a year and a half ago. I've not had the heart for another dog. Maybe someday.
howdy again melinda010100..what is the Shadow Contest? steemit has so many contests I can't keep them straight!
oh I can so relate to you, my wife and I went for many years without a dog because losing them was so hard! God bless you!
There are a LOT of contests. Mine has been running every week for 7 months and we all have a lot of fun with it! There is always a link at the bottom of my posts. Shadow Photo Contest Round 31- Creature Feature
I think about getting a dog, but the older I get I realize there are some days that I have all I can do to take care of myself!
oh God bless you regarding that last sentence. On the other hand, when we got Jack he made me move and get active in ways that I hadn't in years and now I'm grateful for that.
I'll look the photo contest but I'm not much of a photographer.
The shadow contest is more about creativity than it is about great photography skills! Feel free to enter anytime.
Because I don't have a dog of my own, family and friends are happy to leave their pets with me when they go traveling. It's like being a grandparent. You get to love them to pieces, play all week and let them sleep on the bed....and then send them home and someone else has to pay all their expenses!
hi @janton!!!
The Alliance (@thealliance) takes all kinds of people. even me. loll It is a special group of people from all over Steemit that call themselves 'family' because we all are family once you join.
@enginewitty is the founder and head of The Alliance. He is a wonderful man that has built a place many of ALL walks of life now call home. It's a great place to learn and be excepted for JUST WHO YOU ARE.
No FAKE people are allowed to join. Only real people who do not pretend to be someone other then they are.
Here are The Rules of the Castle. Read them and see if you would be able to really follow them. If so then go to this post......
The How and read the rest of the rules there. and click on the link to go into the rabbit hole and tell them #snookmademedoit :D
very nice people will meet you at the front door and make you feel at home..... and the rest is up to you and you just being YOU!!
any questions please just ask!!
Well said sis, hats off to your loving description 😎
howdy to you the famous snook! it's a pleasure to meet you. Well Ma'am I thank you for your sincere invitation and I will look at those links. I guess I was stopped by the first set of Alliance questions, one of them being what do you bring to the table or why the Alliance should want you or something along those lines and I'm thinking....uh...I don't know, not much. have no skills or technical knowledge.
Ecoinstant is fantastic, skilled, gifted in many areas but I'm not any of those. I can comment, that's about it! lol. So that's what made me hesitate.
So you don't think commenting is important? Don't you think that someone that REALLY reads posts and spends the time to think of a REAL comment to write is NOT important?
Why are you selling yourself short on what you DO bring to this platform? You have commented more then most people do in ALL their time here which means you have READ more posts then most people will ever in ALL their time here........
How is this not important?
How can you think this is not important?
How do YOU feel when someone reads, really reads one of your posts and makes an intelligent comment on it?
Why would you even think for one second that what YOU do is not bringing JOY to every person that gets a comment from you and that you are not bringing something of value to Steemit and a group of people you would call Family?
so think about that and then rethink your statement to me please.
Oh and this is not about @ecoinstant this is about YOU. YOU being YOU. we already have one ecoinstant............ why would we want 2 of them?
That's what I keep telling him @snook! He's important here :)
Do you hear this @janton? :)
haha! Nothing like being ganged up on by a couple of classy women! in real life I'd just melt away now and be gone! I'm such an introvert.
Give it a go, you won't know unless you try. ;-) Lots of great people to make friends with... and we don't bite... much. LOL Just watch out for the cane, big hint right there. @snook :D
howdy there inthenow! I don't recognize your username but you probably run in different circles. Thanks for the encouragement. And warning.
ha! Not ganged up, just settin' you straight my friend :)
By the way, I sent you an email. Saw your last message...somewhere?!
ok, I'll check that thing.
ok..yes Ma'am well when you put it that way. My problem is that I don't know anything about the group except that they appear to be a powerful, mysterious bunch working on technical projects or something so that's why I figured I wouldn't be a good fit. lol.
So that's the problem, I don't know what it's about or what ya'll do and my impression was like I told you.,.something beyond my pay grade.
I'm a total introvert who likes to stay anonymous but I do love talking to people and encouraging them so if you think I would be a fit then of course I'd be honored to apply. But I don't do videos.
Oh, and I assume it would take away from my Engagement League time also?
I'm tempted to tell you why we need two ecoinstant's but I don't think I better at this time! lol.
janton .. there is a reason there is a #snookmademedoit tag... just put away the Ma'am and write the application post. It's just easier.
haha! oh my gosh..ok I'm thinking I'm thinking..
don't think.. just do
so like @shadowspub
so like @jackmiller and @grow-pro
Good Lord!! why in the world would you stop doing just what you are doing?
One of my son is more than enough...thank you very much so yes you are right in not telling me "why' at this time.......
howdy this fine thursday Miss Snook! I read the rules, absolutely love what I saw, I am old fashioned and loyal to a fault and would be totally dedicated to ya'll and your organization and love supporting and encouraging others.
hahaha! God bless you Ma'am!
I don't know who shadowspub is but I've seen jackmiller because of his buying byteballs and I've seen grow-pro too, because he's with jackmiller right? but I don't know what else they do. sorry I'm clueless.
I have to go to your blog and learn something about you, you seem highly educated, probably used to be a psychologist.
sounds like you need to visit Pimp Your Post Thursday and meet @shadowspub ... it's on twice on Thursdays.
I'm so happy to hear that :D
Hope your day is going wonderful!!!
I'm so happy to hear that :D
Hope your day is going wonderful!!!
Pimp your post Thursday is going on. Come join us.
https://discord.gg/YYhRDC
Please call her Miss. She's only 18.
hahaha! well guiltyparties I have a hard time just calling her snook, that doesn't seem respectful enough, it needs to at least be MRS. someone!
Miss Snook. Or better yet, Senorita Snook.