Traffic

In this photo, we are headed on Interstate 20, which will take us all the way from North Texas to the state of Georgia, which is on the East Coast of the U. S. Were concerned about traveling the weekend after a holiday (Thanksgiving) since everyone would be heading back to their home.

We were pleasantly surprised that we had very little traffic in the direction we were going, but notice the other side! That traffic was headed west out of Birmingham, Alabama. We estimated that it was stop and go for about eight miles. No, there wasn't an accident slowing down the traffic. These are football fans going from Auburn University, to the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, for a game. The sad part is... after putting up with this terrible traffic jam...Auburn lost :(

Our final destination is actually Charlotte, North Carolina where we will meet our new granddaughter Abigail!

Half a Century

Part of the festivities this weekend was the fiftieth wedding anniversary of my sister Suzanne, and her husband Jimmy.

 

Looks like I caught Suzanne with her eyes closed

 

but they went into their marriage with their eyes wide open .

Congratulations you two...... from your maid of honor.

Breakfast

I know Thanksgiving is over

 

but I wanted to show you that at our house, we even started the day with Turkeys!

Gobble Gobble

Well, it is Thanksgiving here in the United States. A day we gather with family, count our blessings, and eat way too much.

I found this old photo when I was unpacking. It was displayed at our house this time of year, in a Fall looking frame. I thought it had a Norman Rockwell feeling about it. Although now that I look closer, it must have been the Christmas turkey he was craving, since I notice the red candle and Holley.

Tom never helps much with the cooking. I remember one Thanksgiving asking him to baste the turkey. He pulled it out of the oven, and did a nice job with the baster. What I didn't notice is that he left the mitt, that he took off of his hand...in the oven with the turkey . It finally went up in flames, setting off the fire alarm. The turkey was salvaged...even though it tasted a bit "smoked".

If you celebrate this holiday, I hope that you are surrounded by loved ones, doesn't matter if they are family or friends. ....and remember to count the mitts before you close the oven door! Janey

The Room With A View

We have one guestroom that we have not furnished yet. It became the room that inherited the boxes of things that we really didn't want to unpack or didn't know what to do with, in our new house. Well, we finally tackled that room this week, since we have a bed being delivered today.

 

There is a small  balcony through the French doors that overlooks a Church across the street. I actually never realized what a pretty view there was from up there.. When the leaves fall off of the trees, you will be able to see the steeple.

Linking today to: Good Fences

Pretty Day

It is a beautiful sunny Fall day here in North Texas. My thermometer says it is sixty one degrees (F)

....and don't let them tell you that we don't experience Fall colors down here...because we do.

I hope that you are having beautiful weather where ever you are.

Horse Apple

Does anyone recognize this?

 

It is a Bois d 'Arc Apple, Bodark Apple, or as I grew up calling it, a Horse Apple.

I never realized that the tree, that this large round fruit grew on, was indigenous to the area of the country that I grew up in. The North Texas portion of the Red River Valley. Related to a Mulberry tree, it's called an Osage-Orange Tree . It was given that name because an Indian Tribe (The Osage Indians), from the area, used the hard wood of the tree to make their bows. Bois d 'Arc in French, means bow wood.

I think it's interesting that this tree that usually grows to about 40 feet., was trimmed into hedgerows, prior to the invention of barbed wire, to fence in livestock, and fence out predators. I forgot to mention that the tree also produces a spiky thorn.

Horses do eat this pulpous fruit, as do birds and squirrels (who seem to eat just about anything).

* photo credit to: Kelley Ouchley 

I, by the way, and feeling much better. Thank you for all of the remedies! Rose I am still looking for that Queensland Olive Leaf Extract :) 

Blogger Down

That was a little extreme. I am not really DOWN, but have a nasty cold.

It makes me mad that I still catch colds, when I try to take such good care of myself.  I also have a thousand things to do this time of year. Me oh my. Does anyone have a remedy?

The Curved Fence

I am not sure what caught my eye first, the unusual curved fence, or the pretty Pyracantha bushes heavy with berries.

The fence is in front of a rather large private home. The Pyracantha bushes are a favorite of landscapers here in the south. They are fast growing evergreens, that can reach 20 ft. (6M), and produce berries in the Fall and Winter.. I've always thought that the berries were poisonous to humans, but I guess there is a species of Pyracantha  that you can make jelly from the berries. We had a bush like this in front of our home in Houston that had orange berries. It was so pretty in the Fall. They also produce thorns, making them a bit difficult to prune.

For other unusual fences go to: Good Fences

A Nice Day

I had a nice day yesterday, despite it being still unseasonably cold in north Texas. I braved the cold, to go sign up for the Silver Frogs Continuing Education Classes at TCU (Texas Christian University). Some of you were interested in what I was going to take....So here you go! Signed up for Maximizing Genealogy Research Success and Saving Ourselves: Writing About Our Experiences.

I will also attend two lectures. One on Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and another on The Holocaust.There are also a couple of lunches I signed up for. I am really looking forward to it. The objective was to get out there  and meet new friends.

There was a gal there I really liked. She and her husband just moved  here (retired) from Connecticut and are looking for a house. I found out that she had walked the 500 mile Camino last year (through France and Spain). Oh, how I wish I didn't have bad feet and could do that!

Then I stopped at a grocery store that I love, and is always so much fun...It would cheer anyone up!

First I ran into this cute employee. He made me giggle

 

Then I ran into this guy posed as a Super Hero in a turkey suit. I had to ask "What are y'all doing?". He simply replied, "Our turkeys are in!"

I hope that you had a fun day too. Do you have your turkey? ...if not you may find one....and a lot of fun at Trader Joe's!.

The Ship That Just Kept on Sailing

Once upon a time, actually 1953, a beautiful (huge), luxury cruise liner was built in the ship yards of Scotland. The ship was soon purchased by The Greek Line, named the T.S.S. Olympia, and began Trans Atlantic cruises from Greece to The United States. With Trans Atlantic traffic declining, in the early 1970's, she became a one class seasonal ship, cruising the Caribbean , and ports in the north Atlantic

I was a passenger on this very ship in the Fall1972 from Baltimore to Bermuda

 

It was my first cruise, and I thought the ship was simply elegant!. I do remember there was a lot of Greek food on their menu, which was something new for this small town Texas girl. I also recall that our steward didn't speak English ...Amazing how a lot of Americans  expect people to! I wanted to locate the shuffle board sticks....They probably had an English name (other than "those sticks"), but again this small town girl had never seen shuffle board game.. I tried sign language. Pushing an imaginary stick out in front of me. I saw a light  in the steward's eye, as he scurried off down the hallway....only to return with the vacuum cleaner :(

I thought the Olympia surely went to the scrap yard, with all of the newer larger ships around in the coming years...but I was wrong. The ship was sold, and refitted in 1983 and became the Carib I, part of The Commodore Cruise Line.. cruising the Caribbean. Next, she was sold to Celebration World Cruises in 1993, becoming the Regal Empress. The list gets longer as she was auctioned off in 2004 and became part of a fleet of two night cruises from Miami to Nassau.

Despite a campaign to save this mighty ship....she made that dreaded final voyage to India in 2009... to be broken apart for scrap.

I still enjoy cruising, although, I have changed a bit over the years too! .....and sadly, my Greek hasn't improved.

Do you like Cruises? If so do you have a favorite ship? These days, I have fallen in love with River Cruising.

* Image of ship taken from my postcard

No Excuses

Well, I need to get out there and take some pictures. I don't have the excuse that I am babysitting anymore

 

My sweet litte Hannah packed her bag with care

and headed out the door with her mommy

 

The Toddler Chef

The cold, here in North Texas, decided to stay for the weekend, and I decided to stay inside. My sweet Hannah is here again, and we saw no reason to leave the house!

 

I have a bin of toys , but she thought the bin itself was cool.

 

Hannah has reached the age where she hardly eats anything. So, I decided that if she could help me cook, she would want to eat it. This is the kid friendly dinner we decided to make.

 

Our Rich & Creamy Chicken Pot Pie

It worked by the way.

I hope that you had a nice weekend. Was it cold where you are?

 

Baby It's Cold Outside!

The first arctic freeze of the winter has spread across the U.S.....and even down into North Texas

 

This is the fountain out in front of my favorite grocery store..yesterday at noon! Yes, it was frozen!

Tom and I stop here on a regular basis. They have an area that serves food, and a daily selection of six soups all made by in house chefs. He had a bowl of chili and I had rustic chicken, which has big chucks of shredded chicken an a lot of root vegetables.

Do you like soup on a cold day?

Stone Fence

Surrounding a part of the golf course, near our new home (in Ft. Worth, Texas), is this stone fence.

click on photo to enlarge

It always reminds me of the stone fences that Tom and I saw in The Sottish Highlands, on our honeymoon...so long ago.

To see an array of other fences, go to: Good Fences

Go Team Go!

I recently found out that there was a old friend from my hometown, Sherman, Texas, living near me here in Ft Worth. So, we arranged to have lunch.....yes at my favorite art museum. The Kimbell.

 

We had to chuckle, when we showed up in almost the exact outfit (after not seeing each other for 49yrs)!
Beverly on the left...me on the right. Wish I could tell you more about the painting!

 

I surprised her with a copy of this. Since, I am the only one that ended up with this picture. It is of the eighth grade Cheerleaders at Dillingham Junior High (1960-61)

Yes, that is me center row right...and Beverly top left.

Veterans Day

It doesn't matter what you call it.... Armistice, Remembrance or Veterans Day, we should all pause and give thanks for our veterans..  I have a long list of relatives that have served in the military. I am thankful to them, and all past and present military service personnel for their service to our country.

My dad and mom on their wedding day November 1, 1942

Rommel Pot

We have been enjoying showing guests our new town, Fort Worth, Texas. Part of the nickel tour, as Tom calls it, always includes a walk through the beautiful Kimbell Art Museum.

 

This is another of my favorite paintings there, which is part of their permanent collection. Painted by Fran Hals,  between 1618 and 1620. He was a Dutch portrait painter who lived in Haarlem,The Netherlands (1580-1666).

The painting is titled The Rommel Pot Player. A rommel pot is a type of friction drum.

I love the way the rosy cheeked children seem delighted with his performance.

I saw my first Frans Hals painting when I lived in The Netherlands, in the late seventies, at The Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague. Some day I would like to go back to the Netherlands, and visit The Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, The Netherlands.

Royalty

Our guests this weekend are daughters number one and three (we have five) . They left their kids and grand kids and came up for the weekend to see us....and our new place. Daughter number three, kept saying "Awww I want to live here. I want to be a princess . I miss my tiara".

 

So, I slipped upstairs (yes, up that long staircase), and put this on her pillow!

Cleaning

In case you were wondering where I am.....I am cleaning

We had guests last weekend...and the weekend before....this coming weekend and the weekend thereafter.
I keep wondering where my helper is? Seems he finds a lot of errands to run?

Oh and we are not huge Longhorn fans. The vacuum was like $100 off because of the logo....so why not? They must have had a bad team that year :) Janey

The Staircase

I know it is a little early to be getting ready for the holidays, but thirty members of my family will be coming here on Christmas day...so I am planning on decorating early . We also have a new grand baby arriving in about two weeks, so we will be heading off to North Carolina, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Very delighted about this ...... stand by for more news on that.

 

I am an early riser. So, instead of reading blogs this morning, I've been making bows....only have about six to go.

 

I have also been measuring garlands.

You see, for the first time, in about twenty nine years, we have a staircase to decorate. I know, most people ...around our age....wouldn't build a house with a staircase. Our new place is on a very narrow lot though, so in order to have enough space...we had to go up. Everything we need is on the first floor, so our guests (and visiting children), will be climbing these. Above, is the before shot....and I will eventually post and after!

Construction Fence

You may wonder why I would want to post a picture of an ugly construction barricade?

Well, that is because the yard on this side of the fence is mine.....The little orange fence does an amazing job of keeping the construction trash from blowing into our yard.

For other good fences, go to: Good Fences

Peaceful

We have been in Ft. Worth for a couple of years now, but I still marvel at how peaceful it can be for a fairly large town.

This picture taken last week, in the early evening, amazes me. Looking north,  at our courthouse on main street, around 6pm. Selfishly, I hope that it stays this way.

A Busy Weekend

Our youngest daughter and her husband moved, this summer, from Chicago, IL. to Austin, TX. We are so delighted to have them closer, especially since they are the parents of my only granddaughter, Hannah.

 

Early on Friday that daughter (with dark hair) flew to Key West, Florida for the wedding of a sorority sister from college. Both are grads of the University of Wisconsin

 

She and her husband, enjoyed a fun filled weekend of wedding activities. The wedding was on the grounds of the Ernest Hemingway House in Key West. She said the  famous (yet controversial) Hemingway six toed cats were roaming around freely during the ceremony. They were jumping on people laps and to the delight of all...making their presence known.

 

They dropped little Hannah off here for a three day weekend.

 

She (the Ladybug), and Gramps helped hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters at my sister's house

 

After trading in her lady bug costume, she spent the rest of the weekend being a typical two year old. Seen here in my fuzzy blue slippers.

I hope that you too had a nice weekend.

Sightseeing

One of the things we did with our guests, that were visiting from Houston, is to go for an afternoon walk in the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens

I can remember as a teenager coming to these gardens for the first time. The one hundred and ten acre park is very well maintained, and most areas are free, with the exception of the Japanese Tea Garden that is worth the nominal fee.

A favorite of mine is the Rose Garden

I was happy to see that there were still some roses blooming

Especially these pink ones

If you come to Fort Worth a walk through these gardens is a must.

The Black Truck

I have shown you several large homes on my morning walk, well here is something else I passed along the way.

 

At first, I thought it was part of a big rig (eighteen wheeler) without it's trailer. Then, I thought maybe it was just a huge truck for pulling a vacation trailer.  I finally decided that I didn't know. Maybe it's just a huge black truck.

My husband and and I travel a lot by car. We have made an observation....mind you it is just an observation. We feel that driver's of black (not red or white), pickup trucks are the most aggressive driver's on our highways. Since we live in Texas, we pass a lot of pickup trucks. Actually, a lot of pickup trucks pass us. Has anyone else ever noticed this?

A Self Portrait

We have so many wonderful museums in Ft. Worth, but my favorite is The Kimbell. We visited this week with our guests from Houston

 

Click on photo to enlarge

This painting , part of the permanent collection at the Kimball, has always been a favorite of mine....and with the invention of the Internet....I love that we can find out more about an artist.

This is actually a self portrait of Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le-Braun painted when she of twenty seven years old.

Elisabeth is recognized as the most famous female artist of the 18th century.

Born in France in 1755 she was a portrait painter. Most famous for the thirty portraits she did of Marie Antoinette. She fled France during the French Revolution and continued to paint royalty all over Europe. While in exile  for twelve years she live in Austria, Italy and Russia.

She did return to France and continued painting until her death at age eighty seven.

* photographs of most of the permanent collection are allowed without a flash.