Wow

We recently were invited to Houston, our old hometown, to a surprise birthday party for a friend. Since it was a surprise....one of the hostesses asked us to stay with her.

We really didn't know her neighbor, but accepted her kind invitation. 

This is the entry hall to their very modern home. I am not usually a fan of modern homes, but this one was so pretty. It was very white...with accent colors here and there

.We were very pleased with our accommodations!

and the view. They, like our friend who the party was for, live on a small lake

The dining room was all set up for a New Orleans themed brunch, also for the birthday girl, scheduled for the next morning.

I guess I was most amazed by this. No, I wasn't snooping. Her husband uses part of this guest room closet as his tie closet. My husband has maybe six ties.....Anyway, I was a bit flabbergasted by this! How about you?

Another Fence

I am ready for this cold to be over with so that I can resume my morning walks.

When I do walk I keep my eyes open for good looking fences.

I liked this one because of the contrast of the white brick and the black wrought iron gate. I also like the columns that they added instead of just a plain brick fence.

Linking to: Good Fences

I'm Back!

Well, sort of.

I arrived back in Texas about eleven pm on Sunday night. They couldn't get me out of Charlotte on the non stop flight, so I had to change planes along the way. That is when I realized I was getting sick. I found a shop in the airport that sold Ibuprofen in little packets. Went to pull out my wallet, and it wasn't there. Me oh my. I must have looked through my purse three times....and my carry on. Oh dear is the plane still at the gate? I ran down to see...but forgot what gate I deplaned through. So, I searched through my purse again. A light bulb went off and I put my hand in my coat pocket...and there it was! I felt relieved but rather stupid! Went back and bought the medication and continued to my next gate.

I spent yesterday in bed....after getting up to say goodbye to our guests, who had arrived in my absence. They didn't come close to me...just waved. I don't have the flu just a very bad cold, stopped up ears and laryngitis.....I will be back when I feel better....Janey

I Should Have Seen It Coming!

Well I am still in North Carolina . I knew that there was a cold front coming...but I had no idea that the airport would cancel all flights....for two days.

Picture out the kitchen windows 

Thursday...then on Friday .

Who Knew?

There have been so many improvements in the field of baby equipment since I raised my kids. Ler's look at bath time

              There is the rubber ducky faucet cover.

         Clever bath time toy storage

            Toys that easily stick to the sides of the tub.

         Now this is something I would have loved. It is kneading pad for the out

side of the tub to cushion parents knees... Or grandparents in this case ,

         and a pad to cushion the side of the tub that you have to lean over!

        All making bath time a pleasure !

A Surprise Party

I have been out of town. Tom and I drove to Houston yesterday, which is about four hours south of here,

 to help some folks throw a surprise birthday party for a very special friend.

 The Cypress Room at the Champions Golf Club.

These guys really do know how to throw a party!

 The table was absolutely glistening

and the cake was frosted....Oh she is going to be so surprised!

and she was! Sandra was a neighbor when we lived in Houston, and she and her husband also bought a house near us in Colorado.

I am now back in Fort Worth, but tomorrow I am flying to North Carolina to spend a week with my daughter  and granddaughter (1 year old Abigail), while my son in law is in Europe on business.

 I have tried to talk Tom into keeping my blog going in my absence...but he says no.

So, I am taking a blog break. I will try and find time to visit yours in the meantime...I will return.Janey

To The Mall

I don't go to the mall very often, but when I do I have a choice. I go  over a mile or so and get on a busy freeway....and get off a couple of exits to the west....or

I can wind through this neighborhood just west of us, and come our at the same place. You of course know what I prefer to do. This is one of the estates I pass along the way. Looks like the perfect little French Chateau!

Update: The elephant is still there. The red and green Christmas apparel has just removed. If you missed the blog about the elephant...you can go: HERE

A Fence

I spotted this pretty wall or fence on my morning walk. I like all of the different textures. The painted brick, along with the natural stone entrance, and the pretty wrought iron light fixture are the perfect backdrop for the professional terraced landscaping.

For other fences from around the world click on: Good Fences

A Winter Hike

On a recent weekend, Tom and I joined my sister Polly, and her husband Mike, for a hike in a county park on the outskirts of Fort Worth. It is what many would call a nature trail.

As you can see it is a bit of a prairie, flat land with high dried grasses.

There were clumps of cacti that appeared to be ready to bloom.

Since it is rather arid in this part of Texas, there were plants that you would expect to see

and some that I had never seen before.

In the summer they have a field of bison

click on photo to enlarge

and the ever present groundhogs

There was even an occasional glimpse of the water.

 My Tom, the avid hiker, was in his element

that is until  the trail became a mud pit, which he declared was not a problem..."just jump over it".

ahhh that didn't work. He slid right in.

Mike took pity on him and tried to clean him up with a handful of weeds. Shame on me...I was too busy laughing

We walked over four miles that day...which we really didn't intend to. Got a little lost.

Dive No. 1

Someone sent me an article about the ten best "Dive Restaurants" in Ft. Worth. Let me explain  the word dive. In this case it does not  mean dive...like diving into a swimming  pool. There is another definition for the  word dive. It could mean a dingy or disreputable place like a bar or night club. In this case an eating establishment. I normally would shy away from such places...especially to eat, but this list came highly recommended. So, on a very cold quiet Saturday afternoon. Tom and I headed on the other side of town to Charley's

where they are supposed to have one of this town's best hamburgers. Apparently they also sell firewood

It probably is a place best visited in warm weather, when you can sit outside at these picnic tables. There is a very uncomplicated system for ordering. You place your order at the little walk up window, and they yell your name when it is ready.

Brr, it was way too cold to eat outside, so we were happy to see that there was an inside. ....with a little window where you can order...just like outside.

Well, who ever wrote the article was not kidding. This was an old fashioned burger cooked on a flat top grill and it was delicious.

There is even entertainment. Elvis was supposed to be singing, but he was too busy watching the football game in the corner...men!

If you are wondering where the other customers are. Tom and I... since we have retired...don't always adhere to normal eating hours. Charley's...look for it when you are in Fort Worth!

YeeHa!

You won't have to ask why Ft. Worth is also referred to as "Cow Town" if you are around here from Jan15 to Feb 6th. That is right folks... it's time to RODEO!

There are so many facets of our rodeo, from the stock show to the rodeo it's self, but a favorite event is  always the children's art contest. School children  ages 5-18years, from all across Texas submit their art to be judged. That's right folks the above was done by a child. I believe these are all the high school  age kids. You are looking at the Grand Champion, an honor which comes with some  scholarship money. Done in acrylics it is titled  "Heels and Jewels" by 16 year old Daniela Cortes from Granbury, Texas.

Reserve champion goes to seventeen year old Sohara Zatar from Ft. Worth for "The Gathering", done in black and white pencils.

First Place  High School  2D Division goes to Kasey Rives for "Bermuda Pastures"

 Second Place High School 2D Division to Emily Smith for "Barred Plymouth Rock"

 Third Place, High School 2D Division, Halle Cooley for "Hearty Texas Brahman"

and last but not least Fourth Place goes to April Heaney for "Two Pigs in a Blanket"

Additional money for education will be earned when all of the entries are auctioned off.

Great Job Kiddos!

What Kind of Soup?

Well, for the last few days I have been stretching out our visit with friends in Dallas. It really was a long day...but a super fun one. We have had coffee and  French pastries, sent the guys off to the golf course, hunted for fabric and walked around the antique mall. Whew....I think it is time for lunch. Linda took me to a restaurant she had been wanting to try. Rise is the quintessential highly rated French Bistro in a  ritzy North Dallas shopping area. A place where our last president is a regular, who, by the way, has even autographed his favorite table.

We each started out with this delicious salad

Then we shared a Cauliflower/Gruyere cheese souffle. They tried to temp us with dessert, but we just ordered a pot of French Press coffee, and had a very nice long visit. I love it when restaurants don't rush you.

Oh but I must tell you about their most popular item on their menu!

I didn't know this when we were ordering...or I would have tried it.

Marshmallow Soup!

....and no it is not on the dessert menu! This is the only place you will find this most delicious and very popular soup! Their French chef came up with it when he tried to make mini goat cheese souffles. He said to himself.."My, these look like marshmallows". The soup is really a tomato/carrot bisque with goat cheese souffles floating on top! How about that?!

Antiques

Continuing with our day in Dallas. Linda and I had some time to kill, since our husbands were on the golf course, so she took me to the antique mall where her shop (or stall) is..No, I have never seen it. Linda and Bruce are long time summer friends where we all live in Colorado.

Linda and her antiques

Since their are so many vendors under one roof, they have a central cashier. Each vendor is supposed to work as cashier once every six weeks or so, but Linda usually pays someone to work for her.

Business is good so she rented second stall.
I love these kind of places and could spend all day looking through things like this.
Do you have antique malls where you live?

The Chair

In my post yesterday, I talked about going over to Dallas with Tom to visit friends. The guys went off to play golf...and Linda and I had a mission.

You see, in our new house we only have one living area...and I was use to two. It is nice to be able to get away from a televised football game, and watch something else on T. V., or have a comfortable place to read. We wanted so many things on the ground floor, when we built this place, that we had to settle for a rather small master bedroom. The area under that picture is the only space I have for a chair. So, the search was on. It is not easy to find a chair...and ottoman that is small enough to fit this space...so I started looking a vintage resale shops.

I was able to find this old chair and ottoman second hand for a total of only $116.00. Although they need to be recovered.

The chair slants back just enough so that it is very comfortable....and the ottoman can be stored under the console table when not in use. Now...where to find some fabric? That is where my friend Linda comes in. She is in business....having a stall in an antique mall in Dallas, and she can get  a discount on upholstery fabric.

So, off we went to the wholesale fabric outlets. where we were successful in finding a fabric that coordinates with our bedding...and for only $8.00 a yard! Actually, we found it so quickly that we had to figure out how to fill up the remainder of the day. After all the guys were playing 18 holes! More on the day in Dallas to follow.

By the way, the photo makes the wall color in our bedroom pink. It isn't. It is a paint called Irish Creme...

and is a warm beige with a hint of yellow.