Backroads

We have been in Austin taking care of our little granddaughter, Hannah. When we have time, we enjoy driving the back roads and staying away from the freeway.

That is where we discovered the small town of Meridian, Texas, population around1400. Above is the county courthouse, built in 1886 (restored in 2007). Meridian is the county seat of Bosque County. The county was settled by Spanish explorers, and the name in Spanish means forest or woods. I thought it was interesting that the Bosque country of Spain and southern France is pronounced "bask", while this county in Texas is pronounced "bah skee".

The Hotel

If you are ever touring our stockyards in Ft.Worth,Tx, don't miss stepping into the hotel

or better yet, stay there for a true western experience.

They have been open since about 1907, and have a beautiful lobby

with antique furniture, some of it covered in rawhide, but don't sit down there..

step into the hotel bar, and saddle up for a drink! Even if you are not cowboy, I assure you...you will have fun people watching!

* Going to go play grandma for a few days. I will return....

The Stockyards

Fort Worth is a modern cultural city, but all you have to do is spend a little time in our stockyards, and you will be transported back to the wild west. Fort Worth is very proud of it's cowboy heritage,  evident by our slogan: Fort Worth, Where the West Begins.

I think I was on the wrong side of the street for this shot.....but you get the idea.

There are always cowboys about, and twice a day there is a longhorn cattle drive down the middle of this brick street.

Cowgirls

Fort Worth, Texas has a great Cowgirl Museum.

The mural on the art deco building was done by Richard Hass

For other murals around the world...go to : Monday Murals

Yee Haw

My cousin Judy was in town this weekend, so we went down to The stock yards to take some pictures.

If you want to imagine yourself in the old west....The stock yards is where you want to be.

It was a drizzly cloudy day, but we went anyway.
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Approaching the area, I saw this unusual shop. I didn't go in, but I think I might just have to go back, and look around.

 When the cattle drives came through Ft. Worth, Texas in the last half of the nineteenth century, on the Chisholm Trail, headed north to the markets...there was a lot of action in this part of town. Actually, there still is...but it is mostly tourist traffic.Come back again, and I will share some more photos of this wild and woolly part of town.

*I say down to the stock yards, even though it is on the north side of the city. The central business district, and most of the town sits on a high ridge south of this area.

Man With A Hat

This unusual sculpture ....hmm maybe it wouldn't qualify as an actual sculpture. How about a silhouette?

stands 50 ft. tall in a small park (Burnett Park), in downtown Ft. Worth. It is titled The Man With A Briefcase, and was done by Johnathan Borofsky. I for some reason always think of it as The Man With The Hat.

 It stands across the street from our tallest building Burnett Plaza (567ft.), and is supposed to capture the essence of worldwide business.

The Sky

A cloudy sky in Fort Worth, Texas just before sunset

This is a pecan tree. Pecans trees are one of the last trees to get their leaves in the Spring. Mother always told us that the Pecan trees would not leaf until after the last frost..

A Corral

Today is the day I usually share a fence. I have gone back in my files to this past June. We live in the San Juan Mountains (Colorado), in the summer, in a tiny little town at almost 9,000 feet elevation. Once you are able to catch your breath, there are a multitude of things to do.

This little (unidentified boy), was waiting his turn to participate inside that corral, at our annual Stick Horse Rodeo.

Linking to to: Good Fences

Architecture

A fellow blogger, saw a building in The Netherlands that reminded her of a building in New York City.

That building was built in 1902, and is still a tourist favorite, The Flatiron Building

We have a similar building here in Ft. Worth, Texas designed by Sanguinet and Staats, and constructed just five years later in 1907. It was at one time the tallest building in North Texas.

A little known fact, and a bit ironic, is that Major General Wm J. Worth (1794-1849), for which Ft. Worth, Texas was named, is buried under the monument in his honor, out in front of the Flatiron building in NYC!

 To read Marianne's blog on similar architecture, in The Netherlands go : Here

TOP OF THE MORNING TO YOU!

I guess a lot of you will wear green today....

...unless you want to get pinched! I won't have any trouble finding something green in my closet...it's one of my favorite colors . Most of the celebrations, parades, etc. took place this past weekend here, since St. Patrick's day landed in the middle of the week.

Do you  plan to attend a St. Patrick's day celebration today?

What Are The Chances?

I simply must relay this story to you...I think it is quite amazing:

One of our son in laws, Matt, who lives in North Carolina, is a part time musician, song writer (and a good one at that). He plays the guitar, and  likes to display his guitar collection on the wall of his home office. He received his first guitar back in 1989, a gift from his Mom.

It was similar to this one (but an older model). He wanted to upgrade along about 1993, and sold it. Apparently he has been looking on Ebay recently, trying to find that vintage guitar model, to make his collection complete. He finally found one listed by a guy in New York City. To make a long story short. The guy selling it was asking too much, so he waited until he finally reduced the price, and Matt bought it.

The guitar came the other day, and he was shocked when he opened it, because there was a sticker, that he had put on it so many years before. Yes, it was HIS guitar!

Can you believe it?! What are the chances?

* Matt did live in New Jersey when he sold the guitar in 1993

Snow Scenes

Hard to believe it was just a little over a week ago, that it was snowy here in North Texas, since it will be sixty degrees today.

 Having moved here, from south Texas, I am just not use to seeing snow.

I loved watching it pile up on the window sill

and my husband, who grew up in Chicago, couldn't wait to go for a walk! I could hardly keep up with him.
Now that the snow has melted....flowers are starting to pop up all over town. I hope that Spring is also coming your way! Have a great weekend...

The Exhibit

Okay I promise...no more mall pictures. Next time Hannah is here, and the weather is bad,  we will go to the library! Although, we really did have fun at the mall.

Tom and I spent the morning yesterday at the newest exhibit at The Kimbell Museum, here in Ft. Worth.

The estate of these wonderful philanthropists, allowed the private art collection to be shown, free of charge, to the public

Although no photos were allowed inside the exhibit, this van Gogh print was hanging in the lobby. The collection inside were originals by Picasso, Chagall, Rothko,van Gogh, Monet and Matisse. There were also several Remington sculptures including a bronze cast of Rodin's Kiss, which was a twenty fifth anniversary from their uncle. It was a wonderful exhibit, and we enjoyed lunch at the museum, which is always a treat.

It Glows!

One of the things we saw, while hanging out at the mall on a snowy day with our granddaughter, was a bit of a surprise. I actually don't shop much at malls, and I find that they have really changed.

Have you ever seen this? It's glow in the dark mini golf. I guess you play by black light. We didn't play, but it was kind of fun to watch!

Where To Play?

My husband and I were going to take our little granddaughter to The Children's Museum, while her parents were busy working from home (at out house). Just as we pulled up the the museum, we noticed a long line of school buses in front, and what looked like 200 children lined up to go inside. We quickly decided it was going to be way too crowded, but what to do? It was a wet day with snow on the ground?

We went to our local mall. I don't go the the mall that often, and I was surprised at all of the things for children to do. I feel sure they are trying to attract young mothers! Hannah loved this play area.

 There also was a carousel

and an actual little train to ride....We did do a lot of shopping, but we sure had fun!

Working From Home

I have noticed that more and more people are working from home these days.  I am sure there are both pros and cons. Since the Internet is world wide...I suppose you could do your work from anywhere? It would cut out your commuting expenses, wardrobe cost, etc,etc.and it must cut down on the bottom line for the companies too, since they don't have to have as much real estate.

My two daughters don't work from home, although the one that lives in North Carolina does on Fridays, and the other may on occasion. This past Friday. She and her husband came in from Austin, TX and did just that..

  Oh great. They will be here to visit with us all day. Wrong! When this generation say they have to work....they work!That is her in my office. She appears to be working on the computer....but she was actually on a conference call, and I had to laugh. It seems she can't speak without moving her hands!

How do you feel about working from home (full time)? I personally don't think I would like it. I would miss having contact...face to face with other people.

It did mean that Gramps and I were able to go out on the town, and spend the day with little 2 1/2 yr old Hannah.

Oh, by the way Katy...May I put a picture of you on my blog? :)

Blogger Pause...

Taking a break. I will be back.....

The Brick House

On the previous blog, I showed you an unusual brick fence. If you look closely you can see parts of it on the far side of the house. Yesterday I walked back down to photograph the main house. Yes, there is snow! We had 4 to 6 inches in the area. A heavy snowfall for north Texas.

A Scotsman who arrived in the U.S. in 1883 built this home, described as a chateausque style mansion west of Ft. Worth. He had built a successful brick contracting company, and later served as mayor from 1927-33.
The home was added as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1983
It is being renovated, and the new owners have painstakingly replaced bricks and are saving as much of the old interior as possible, including the old staircase. The owner has promised me a tour.

It's Fence Day!

There are a lot of fences in this new neighborhood of mine, but this is one type I have never seen before.

This fence with it's unusual top goes around (or use to), most of the city block. I am not sure when the fence was built, but the property owner, from 1893 to 1944, owned a brick contracting company here in Fort Worth, Texas. The old home, which faces the next street, is being renovating. I will post about it on another day.

For a look at fences around the world go to: Good Fences

Obsolete?

Many of you know that we made a big move a couple of years ago. Gosh! has it really been that long? Well, when packing up, we did a lot of serious pitching and tossing. Getting rid of  of things that we had collected over the years, that were no longer necessary. We even went through all of our books.

Well, I ran across this today in the bookcase, and I am wondering how it made the cut? I ask you when do you think it was last used? No, it's not that I am a good speller....it's just that it has become obsolete, like the encyclopedias that we gave away a few years back. Will I get rid of it? No, it helps fill up the bookcase since we discarded (donated), so many books.

Do you still have a dictionary?

How about a set of encyclopedias?

Boredom

We have been housebound due to a light snow....which then was followed by a slippery coating on ice. The roads and bridges are a mess here in north Texas. Well, my husband is a type A personality (what ever that means). To me it means he is constantly on the move....unless he is asleep....and this sitting around the house is driving him a bit crazy.

I discovered him in the courtyard throwing snowballs. He asked me if I wanted to play? You choose a diamond shape (of the wiring we had installed to grow a vine), and see if you can throw the snowball in that space. I threw one...and it went completely over the fence...and I stopped. My hand was cold.

If you see the sun, will you please send it my way?

Should Have Made Soup

If you have watched the U.S news, or read my previous blog, you will know that North Texas has been paralyzed my a "little" snow. There have even been jokes about it on the Internet.:

and it wasn't like we didn't have any warning. So, what do people do when they hear of impending doom? They rush to the grocery store, and empty the shelves. I decided I would make a pot of "healthy" soup and stocked up on the ingredients. Well, I never got around to making the soup, instead I decided to try my hand at making kale chips

I carefully washed the kale, spun it dry in my trusty lettuce spinner, tossed it with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled it with sea salt.....and baked it until crisp. Hmmm, I think I should have made the soup.