Find the Mantras

My last couple of posts have been about an area of our town, The Foundry District, that is being revitalized to attract small business owners and promote art.

 

Amongst all of the colorful murals in the area, I noticed this sign and asked about it. Seems someone has painted 28 mantras in various places in the area.

 

The word mantra has several definitions....I feel that the one that fits the use of these signs is: a phrase that helps you circle back to the simplistic approach to life.

Each of the mantras has a number painted on it. I am thinking it would be fun to have a scavenger hunt of sorts and have a group try to find and photograph all 28....

The Alley

One thing you will notice when driving through Ft. Worth's new Foundry District is all of the street art. There is even a colorful alley where every inch is covered with  murals done by local artists. Here are just a few:

The Prickly Pair...(no I didn't misspell Pear.) by Wheron

Adrift by Renee and Dohoney

Connecting Gate by Drigo

 There wasn't a title on this

I thought maybe it was a self portrait of sorts of  The Sour Grapes Crew?

and last but not least :The Birth of the Unicorn Cowgirl by Miles and Ryan

For more information of the art of the Foundry District go HERE

Mixed Use Urban Area

I have mentioned before that I take classes for seniors offered by TCU University, and that there are also special interest groups to join. I have chosen to take part in The Art of Ft. Worth and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

This week we attended a presentation by Katie Murray who is one of the participates in an Urban Renewal Project where they are refurbishing old warehouses in what is now called the Foundry District. . It is a mixed use urban community in partnership with local organizations, and the art community.

The above art display is to represent the Monarch Butterfly migration through Texas

Katie ordered these little butterflies from the Ukraine.

An artist herself Katie, has been instrumental in gathering other street artists  to paint beautiful murals all over Ft. Worth. I will on the next post, show you part of Inspiration Alley which is a wonderful focal part in this Urban Development.

Reunion

On our recent trip to Florida we visited a very pretty Botanical Garden

The Selby Botanical Gardens are situated right on the bay of Sarasota

so in the distance you can see boats anchored offshore.

I was impressed with this bookcase full of Bromeliads.

The weather was perfect that day and it seemed that the plants were enjoying the sunny weather too.

I was amazed by the roots on this old Banyan tree.

Acting like typical tourists, of course we hugged the Hugging Tree.

So why did I call this post Reunion? Well, Tom found out that an old Fraternity roommate from his college days lived in Sarasota and we were able to secure his phone number. He and his wife Mary invited us to these gardens as their guests. We had a great day with them, strolling through the gardens, going to lunch and touring Siesta Key which is the Key south of where we were staying. I especially got a kick out of the funny college escapades they remembered!

It has been 60 yrs. since Tom and Jim have seen each other!

So we have decided to get together a little more often...

Question

I am not exactly a techie, so maybe someone can help.?

I upload my pictures from my camera or my phone onto my laptop computer. I use Picasa to upload and always have. Google a while back said they were not going to upgrade Picasa anymore and I needed to switch to google photos. I did not want to and was happy that I could continue to use Picasa...even without any updates. Now I get this....Do I have to switch?

I would appreciate any input. Thanks, Janey

The House the Circus Built

One of the things we did on our recent trip to Florida was to visit this mansion in Sarasota that was finished in 1926.

It is the Gothic Venetian style estate built  by John and Mabel Ringling, owners of Ringland Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus...and was christened Ca'd' Zan, which in the Venetian dialect stands for house of John.

John was at that time one of the wealthiest men in the US and  it is apparent that he and his wife Mabel spared no expense building this palatial home. The rear of the house shown above faces the Sarasota Bay where at the time their 125 ft yacht would have been parked.

I especially liked the Venetian stained glass windows that are throughout the house. They cast such a beautiful hue of light on a sunny day,

and also the hidden garden where the graves of John, Mabel and his sister are.

Mabel unfortunately stayed here, their summer home, only three times before her death. John suffered great losses in his investments and in the stock market crash of 1929. In order to save his estate, John deeded it to the state of Florida.

You may visit this estate which is open seven days a week and tour the house, the circus museum and the art gallery..

Pampered

Every once in awhile I think we all need to be pampered....and that is just where we have been...being pampered. As you may remember back in February we were headed to the Caribbean, but due to a family emergency we had to cancel. Well, the time draws near to head to our place in the mountains and poor Tom was still wanting to put his toes in the sand.

So, we headed over to Florida....where there is usually plenty of sunshine and always white beaches.

We were hoping that we had waited long enough not to have to share the beach with college kids on Spring Break.

Looks like we timed it right because it was very peaceful...with very few people. I think my favorite part of the trip was walking several miles on the beach every morning at sunrise.

It looks like it's a gray day...but the sun was just coming up, and no we do not know how to play chess

and obviously I haven't mastered this game either. My bags are the blue ones.

I could on the other hand, walk all day at the waters edge

watching the waves crash and the birds looking for a meal.

This pelican was so busy fishing that I had a hard time getting him to be still.

We did a couple of other fun things while on Longboat Key that I will post later..

The Beach

                                              Short Blogging Break..I will return

Gardens

 Today I went on a sister outing to a 35 acre Botanic Garden between the two small towns of Weatherford and Mineral Wells...just west of Ft. Worth.

The gardens which were started in 1972 as just a way to beautify their overgrown pastures, turned into something to behold. Max and Billie eventually donated the gardens in 2000 to a non profit organization in order that the community could enjoy their endeavors. Billie has since passed away and is buried in section called the White Garden. Her grave is covered in beautiful flowers and Max is said to deliver fresh flowers to her grave daily. He has reached his ninetieth birthday and still can be seen puttering around, often mistaken for one of the hired gardeners.

 There are several lakes on the property and a smattering of wildlife

I liked these unusual white ducks.

                                       There is also a pretty little chapel available for weddings.

The Iris garden was in full bloom

and several species of azaleas.

Our state flower the Bluebonnet was in abundance as were a few live peacocks.

There was even a miniature train station and train whistling about.

Here and there were a few bronze statues. Looking closer,

I realized this too was a grave. A special pet. Possibly the one in the first photo.

If you find yourself in central Texas take the time to stroll through Clark Gardens.

Signs

It was a beautiful day here in North Texas so we met up with our friends for lunch in the quaint...but not so small anymore.. town of Grapevine

The wind was a bit crisp out, so we ate inside the restaurant which happens to be a combo Bistro/Bakery. When I saw the terrace ..I felt  like I was in France.

These are old friends from Houston who have recently moved to our area...and we are so thrilled. Lunch was great and the conversation even better.

We walked all over the little town after lunch, and I got a kick out of all of the signs.

You almost have to be from Texas to understand this. Dr. Pepper is a Texas soft drink (or soda) and it is very sweet...and those that like Dr. Pepper...only like Dr. Pepper.

I am not sure that this was a special offer??

This I get

This...not at all. Who would want to rent a room here for an event? Maybe for a 100th birthday party. Sorry that wasn't nice.
I hope you are having a wonderful week....Janey