The Trip

Good Morning from Colorado! We sure had a fun trip . Not sure why, since there is not a whole lot to see. A few highlights of our trip. You have to pay close attention to find something to photograph on the route here!

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We are not exactly sure why the highway department needs to warn the other drivers that we were on the way?

This airplane is not on the ground. It's a crop duster, flying VERY low. I am taking these through the car window, by the way. Bet you could tell!

My timing is off, or Tom is driving too fast. Wanted you to see this neat old house...probably left from the dust bowl days of the thirties.

Aww a cute little red barn...until this 18 wheeler ruined my shot.

Racing the train.

The beautiful Welcome Center in Amarillo

Where the signs don't welcome you...but warn you.

The weather in the Texas Panhandle can turn nasty this time of year

Hello New Mexico. The Capulin Volcano

Little house on the prairie.

We are going to stop for the night, as soon as we go over Raton Pass ..where New Mexico is on one side and Colorado the other. See you in the morning....Janey

Don't know about you..but I have trouble proofreading my own blog. Sometimes, I go back later...and go "Oh my gosh!"

Out Running The Storm

We are on the road. This storm was coming at us in New. Mexico. No worries we made it through.

Internet not working at hotel This is from my phone.

Oh Wow!

I know, you thought I was on my way to the mountains...and I will be soon. I was just so excited to see blue blue skies today, and a beautiful big yellow ball, called the SUN!! ....that I took a break from packing....and headed outside.
 
 I was running an errand, near the center city...we call it downtown, and swung by my favorite mansions. I am a sucker for a beautiful house, especially if it is old.

This is one of two houses, sitting side by side, on a high bluff, above the  Trinity River. They were part of a neighborhood of mansions  built in the late nineteenth century, in an elite neighborhood nicknamed , of all things, Quality Hill.

you make click on photo to enlarge

This is the history of the house above

The one that sits next door is my favorite. One may even rent this place for a special event, and they do have tours. Your tour ticket  includes another mansion, not far away, which I will show you tomorrow. I drove over there too, with my sun roof open.

The history of the second house.

Rain, Storms, Destruction

 Hello from soggy TEXAS

 

Not to make light of the extreme situation.. The storms in Texas have been very widespread. Thirty something counties have been declared disaster areas with flooding, destruction and deaths. Although, where we live, it has just been constant rain. My heart goes out to those in the path of these numerous storms.

I will be taking a break until we get on the road. It is migration time! So see you on Saturday...Janey

P.S. We usually go to the mountains for cooler weather. This time I feel like we are seeking higher ground!

A Time To Remember

It is Memorial Day here in the U.S. A time when we pause to remember the brave men and women who gave their lives while serving their country.  I wanted to take some photos of something patriotic for this blog, but the weather would not cooperate.

The white cloud is a rain drop on my lens. I did take another, but this one appealed to me. It looks like a ghostly spirit standing guard at the sculpture. 

The above is a World War l memorial park here in Ft. Worth. It was back in 1917 the sight of an army training camp, where over  100,000 young men were trained to join the war. The poem at the base of this sculpture is the moving poem In Flanders Fields written by John McCrae in 1915, while he was still on the battle fields of Belgium.

Sunshine

The sun did peek through today for a little while in North Texas, but we are expecting heavy rains to arrive this afternoon. Tom and I were invited to the Colonial Golf Tournament yesterday. We walked around with our umbrellas.. The golfers are always cute (they look so young), and Tom actually knows who they all are. I had fun people watching. I was amazed at the number of people who showed up without an umbrella or rain jacket. Do these people not check the weather report?
I will not even comment on the young women's selection of walking shoes.

My geraniums sure were happy to see the sun today. I have pots on both sides of the front entrance. See the black tubing hanging out of the pot? That is a drip system, so they will be happy, and not thirsty, while I am away. Now, if I can just talk someone into deadheading the old blossoms. When I asked one of the yard guys, he just said "those are not going to survive the 100 plus temperatures anyway" :(

I took my sister Polly out for a belated birthday lunch today, at a cute little deli.....

 and then came home, and started stacking up the clothes that I can't live without this summer (we will move to the mountains until October). I was complaining to someone about all of the clothing decisions that I have to make...and she remarked that those were Princess Problems! Tom thinks I am finished (packing).....He has no idea that I have just begun :) I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend..Janey

Rain Rain Go Away

We have had a lot of rain this year. Our area of North Texas has had more rain fall than Seattle or London, so far this year! I think it has rained almost every other day in April, and now May ! There was actually a drought before it started. There is a church in the area, that has a marque out in front stating " Those praying for rain, may now stop". We have been spared the tornadoes that have gone north and south of our metropolitan area.

Although, we have had a lot of thunder storms and high winds. A storm the other day, brought down this limb over this very busy street. Luckily, it was hanging right in the center, so everyone could still maneuver around it. Forecast for today three to four more inches. How is your weather?

A Garden Stone

Years ago, one of my sisters (I have four), had a garden stone made for all of us.

We are pictured in bright colors (in age order). I am the middle sister portrayed  in yellow.

and here is a picture, taken  for our Mom (1997), wearing those same colors..

I have been  behind reading blogs. We are in a bit of a whirlwind getting ready for annual move to our house in the mountains. I do visit, just don't have time to comment on all. The weekend is almost here. Have a good one. Janey

Lush

We have had a lot of rainy stormy days here in North Texas, so I haven't been taking my morning walk quite as often.

When I do get out, it is apparent the landscaping in the neighborhood is happy.

Linking to: Good Fences

Just Don't Do It!

I was waiting for my husband to pick me up at an outlet mall. We had actually arrived together, but wanted to go to different stores. He to a store that sold his favorite hiking boots, and me to Jones of New York. I love their cotton tees, with three quarter length sleeves. Yes, we are stocking up for our annual migration to our house in the mountains. Bet by now, you are wondering where I am going with this!

So, I am sitting on a bench watching for him....and I notice the sign posted on the garbage can beside me. Interesting. Smokers are no longer even welcome outside!

Do you smoke,or did you ever? I did. Amazing that I ever started, because I probably knew that smoking could cause cancer long before it hit the news. In high school I worked, after school, in a hospital laboratory. The pathologists that I worked for, was always cutting up organs in the back room. He was dissecting a lung that he had brought down from the autopsy lab, and  called me in to show me the spongy cancer that filled all the chambers of the poor man's lung. Pretty awful that I also knew the man.(who had recently succumbed to his illness)...After all, it was a small town. So, what did I do...That very year I started smoking....and did so for ten years.Pretty stupid...but I was young and felt invincible. I am so happy that I did quit...and early enough not to have any consequences now. I do have friends that smoked a bit longer, and even after quitting are suffering..... in their golden years.... from COPD.
I guess I got a little gruesome. Sorry.I was just wondering how you feel about smoking?

Shoes

I met this nice lady, who was also taking courses at the University.

 

She invited me to go to lunch, when she heard that I was new in town.

Come to find out, she is a shoe designer!

A Grocery Sack

My friend Sandra also (see previous blog), had this old painting hanging in her dining room. It too was from her Mother's estate.

 

You may click on photo to enlarge

If you will look closer, the matting around the painting is made out of a grocery bag. I have never seen anything like that. The glass is wavy which indicates to me that the framing is very old. All Sandra knew about it is it was something her Mother purchased at an antique store. 

 

A Collection

My friend in Houston, Sandra, inherited a collection of bricks from her Mother. I have heard of collecting a lot of things, but never bricks!

She showed me one of them, since they are packed away and not on display. I am wondering how you would display them? Anyway, this is a brick from Mississippi, made by a slave. The plantation owners made their own bricks back then, or the slaves on that plantation did. It was customary for the brick maker to mark the bricks he made.

I found an article, on the Internet, about a Southern college, with similar marked bricks.

I Am Back!

Tom and I drove down to Houston (our old hometown), for a few days. While there, we saw a lot of our dear friends.

Sandra and Ron, where we stayed the first night,  live in a wonderful New Orleans style home, that has a small lake in the backyard. You can tell how the weather was. Rain, rain, rain!

The next morning our hostess, Sandra, threw a beautiful brunch, and invited over ten of my  girlfriends.Tom had escaped, to see his favorite dentist. It is apparent that Sandra goes all out when she does something.The food was delicious, the table was beautiful..

and  the company priceless. Sorry about the quality of these photos!

We then, packed up and moved over to another friend's, where our new hostess had an open house, and invited fifteen couples from Tom's old Rotary Club.

Another blurry photo, but I got a laugh out of this.

I am pictured here, far right, with friends Judy and Sherry. Sherry looks like she has huge flower in her hair. When actually, the flower was on the painting behind her! We had a fun filled week...and felt a bit like royalty!

Now it is the weekend...and nothing to do.

A Celebration

It seems all I do is party! Which, is not entirely true. Like today, I am doing laundry and running errands....but this week was the end of our semester at the university. We had a celebration for the 100+ students at a famous Mexican restaurant in town. I use that term students loosely. We are all over 50 yrs old and they call us the Silver Frogs.

It looks like a tiny place, but over the years it has spread down the entire block..

with patios, gardens and beautiful fountains. It is near our famous stockyards, and you will find  a long  line of customers, many of them tourists, waiting to get in.

We had a beautiful party room reserved, since it was threatening rain.

Despite the weather there was a good turnout.

Tom and I had a great time, learned a lot , met some new people, and will sign up again in the Fall...Janey

* On an escapade, and yes I am afraid it may include a party or two. See you on Friday...Janey

Mother's Day

I love this picture of my Mother.

It is  from my old wedding album. Mother is walking down the aisle, escorted by my brother-in-law Jimmy. This was long enough ago, that women still wore hats and gloves. Mother suffered more than half of her life from rheumatoid arthritis. Although, she was probably one of the most optimistic people you would ever meet. She never complained much about her constant pain, and tried to get you to look at the sunny side of any situation. She has been gone now over sixteen years, and I miss her dearly.

Since my wedding album was in black and white, I wanted to show you this (poor quality), snapshot....so you can see her pretty pink suit. I hope that you still have your Mom, if not... that you can spend the day with your children. I had my celebration last weekend, when four of our five girls were here.

Happy Mother's Day . Tell me about your Mother.

Greece

A very classy, gourmet grocery store, near here, is celebrating Greek days. Yes, a grocery store can be classy. If you don't believe me...you should just people watch...or look at the type of cars in the parking lot!

The in store cafe seems to have changed names for the event

There are signs everywhere reminding you to celebrate Greece...

A chef serving up Gyros at the front door

and the outdoor patio (where they have bands on the weekends), even had this large mural.

I could not find any indications as to where in Greece this is? I have been to Santorini, Rhodes and Mykonos, and I don't think this is one of those. Does anyone know?

We, by the way had a Greek wrap for lunch . Very tasty!

A Green Fence

I know this is not what comes to mind when you think of a fence

but it seems to do the job. This Bamboo, separating two properties is so dense, that it would be hard to walk through.

Linking to: Good Fences

Everyone Needs A Helper

I know that I need to get out, and take some pictures, since this is not a blog about my family. Actually, I haven't figured out what the theme of this blog is?

Everyone has gone home now, including my little helper Hannah. I kind of like having her around. No, we do not use bottled water to water our plants....just reusing a bottle :) I hope you have a nice day.....Janey

Entertainment

When we have beautiful weather in Ft. Worth Texas.....this is where we take our guests.

 daughter Katy and granddaughter Hannah

The fountain at Sundance square, where kids of all ages like to cool off.

All About Abigail

I haven't had time to read a lot of your blogs for the last several days,

because we have had a very special guest here! Our newest granddaughter, all the way from North Carolina,

 Miss Abigail
We loved every minute of having her here....and we hope that she had a good time too.

Although I think she is still not sure about that Gramps!

I was so busy that I had to borrow a couple of these shots. Thanks to Polly and Stacy.