More Snow

The first picture just shows the snow. The next picture made us laugh. It was a Dairy Queen sign that said "Blizzard Ahead". Actually, by this time the blizzard was behind us, on it's way to Chicago and points east!

Trip to Arizona

We left Palestine at 6:30 a.m. on November 29th - the temperature was in the 60s, a little humid, a little breezy, it actually felt balmy! Headed north through the outskirts of Fort Worth, through Witchita Falls, on to Amarillo. It was cold in Amarillo, but the sun was shining. We headed west for New Mexico. Stopped for gas in Tumcumcari, NM, the wind was horrible and it was freezing, but no precipitation. Continued west for about 30 miles and I said to Joel, "this is great, we'll be in Santa Rosa, in the motel by 6 p.m." Ha, Ha!! Right after I said that, it started to snow. We finally got to the room at 1:10 a.m. Texas time. We crawled and sat on Interstate 40 for almost 8 hours. Fortunately, we had a full tank of gas so we were able to stay nice and warm in the car. It is a weird feeling to sit on the freeway surrounded by cars, pickups and 18 wheelers. Met an old man wearing shorts, from Chicago on his way to Sun City, AZ - he was afraid he was going to run out of gas, so wanted to know if we were out there too long if he and his wife could get in our car to stay warm. Met a trucker from Michigan who didn't seem bothered by the cold or the wind as he stood by my window and visited for about 15 minutes. These pictures were taken the next morning - you can see how much ice and slush was on the highway. Fed-Ex had a bad night - this was the first of 5 trucks we saw that were in the median - some with the contents spilling out. A day or two later one of their planes slid off the runway in Chicago when the storm hit there.

Thanksgivig 2006

For the last 11 years or so we have had Thanksgiving at our house and we were joined by our Arizona and Nevada relatives. Well, this year we are in East Texas so it was time to try something new. We gathered at Kristin and Johnny's house - there were six hearing people and 8 deaf young people from age 14 to early 20s. While the "girls" fixed dinner, the "boys" played a game of Jenga! We all had a good time and a great dinner.

Christmas in Crockett

If you scroll down about 15 pictures you'll see one labeled "Davy Crockett Drugs" that I took on Labor Day weekend. These two pictures were taken standing on the same corner on November 18th at the "Christmas in Crockett" Arts and Crafts show. There were over 250 booths with all kinds of arts and crafts and, of course, food! I hope to have a booth in November, 2007 selling honey!! I don't know what kind of art or craft the Texas Longhorn was, but he was interesting to look at up close.

Fall in East Texas

This dahlia was in full bloom in October. The leaves were just starting to turn when this picture was taken. It took a while because we had a warm fall.

Honorable Mention

I entered the quilt I made for Johnny's 45th birthday. I pieced the quilt and my sister, Janet in Las Vegas, and I quilted it on her long-arm quilting machine. The pattern is Jacob's Ladder. The wide yellow outer border has honeybees on it, in honor of Johnny being a beekeeper.

Anderson County Quilt Show

Palestine is in Anderson County. In October the Palestine Chamber of Commerce had their annual Fall Festival which included a quilt show. This Texas quilt won best of show.

Y'All Come Back

Kristin and I were at the park selling honey all day. When Johnny arrived, we took a break with our friend Sharolynn and her grandchildren Amber and Adam and toured the park. Couldn't resist taking their picture by this sign.

Beautiful Mums

All over our area before and after Halloween, were these beautiful mums. They plant three small plants in one pot and heavily fertilize them and they make these gorgeous pots of mums. They were selling these for $12 each.

The South Might Rise Again

These "Confederate Soldiers" had a booth set up in the park.

Jim Hogg City Park in Rusk, TX

It's been a while since I've added any pictures to my blog. So I'm going to try to catch up. A few pictures back we were at the Fall Festival at the Rusk City Park selling honey. This home was in the middle of that park - many years ago this was home to Jim Hogg and his family. Jim Hogg (1851-1906) was the first native born governor of Texas. You can read more about him at www.famoustexans.com/jimhogg.htm

Texas Tree Upkeep

We have 8 Water Oaks around our house. Last month a tree trimming company that has been caring for these trees for years spent a day trimming the trees, removing the mistletoe and cleaning up all the trimmings which they fed into a chipper to make mulch. By trimming the trees, more sunlight gets through and we actually have grass growing under a few of the trees where there was none. They had a "cherry picker lift" on a truck, they lifted a worker up into the tree and the fellows climbed around in the trees doing their work. If you click on the picture it will be larger and you'll be able to see the guy in the tree. 

Honey From the Rock

Rusk is a pretty town 28 miles east of Palestine. The past weekend they held their Fall and Heritage Festival at the Jim Hogg City Park. This is a beautiful park that was once a state park, however, it was not cared for and fell into disrepair, so the state deeded it to the city of Rusk. They have done a great job with it. We rented booth space and set up our honey. Sales were brisk. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - we had a fun day.

Frankston Square Fair

Frankston is a town of 1200 about 24 miles north of Palestine. It is just a few miles from Lake Palestine, a huge lake. Last week they had their 32nd annual "Square Fair". It coincides with homecoming at the high school. When I was a kid growing up on Long Island, NY the volunteer fire departments each had a parade and carnival during the summer to raise money for the department. Well here in TX, some volunteer fire departments have a parade, festival and BBQ dinner and in some towns like Frankston, the school district organizes the festival. There was a parade, and then around the town square the various classes from Kindegarten through seniors in high school had a booth, most selling food items. Instead of having kids go door-to-door selling popcorn, etc. they make their money at the Fair. One lady I know worked in the seniors' booth - they sold 325 hamburgers in 4 hours. Next year we are going to rent a booth space and sell honey! Several town residents got together and gave the gazebo a fresh coat of paint for the Fair.

East Texas State Fair

In September the East Texas State Fair was held in Tyler, which is an hour north of Palestine. It was comparable to a county fair in Arizona. These 4-H cattle were being judged. It was interesting listening to the judge explain what he was looking for in a bovine. We spent about three hours at the Fair just wandering around looking at all the critters, tractors, bees, baby chicks, jams and jellies, quilts and crafts.

Davy Crockett Drugs

The building with the white front and brown awning is the "Davy Crockett Drugs" store. The next time I visit I want to tour the restored 1891 Victorian house and the 1854 Greek Revival house. I was told the weekend before Thanksgiving is the Christmas festival and there are many arts and crafts booths set up around the courthouse. Sounds like a good place to sell honey!

Downtown Crockett

Just a view of the street heading toward the Davy Crockett Forest. Though the town is old, most of the buildings were occupied, and there was no shortage of places to eat.

The Moosehead Cafe

This was a combination cafe and antiques store. While most of those around me lunched on fried catfish, I enjoyed the east Texas version of a "Ruben" sandwich. That's the way they spelled it on the menu - it had a Texas kick to it - I think they may have used hot pepper cheese instead of swiss. It was very tasty! The cafe had an old-fashioned soda fountain counter and above the counter were political bumper stickers. The first ones I've seen that said "Condi for President".

Nice day for a ride

This was a group of Harley Davidson riders who had just had lunch at the Moosehead Cafe. Crockett has a traffic circle, so as these folks were leaving they could only turn right, so to get back on their trip they had to make a circle around the courthouse. They caught everyone's attention as they drove "around" town!

Crockett, Texas

Yes, Crockett was named for Davy Crockett. With a population of 7,251, it is the county seat for Houston County (pictured above is the court house) and it is one of the oldest towns in Texas. Legend has it that Davy Crockett stopped here to camp on his way to the Alamo. Ten miles outside of town is the Davy Crockett National Forest which is the largest national forest in the state of Texas. When my brother and sister-in-law, Doug and Marni, visit, I plan on taking them down there so they can go kayaking. Doug was a big fan of Davy Crockett when he was a kid - he even had a 'coon skin cap!

Best of Show

This is a beautiful quilt. It took first place and best of show. My guess is it took quite a lot of time to make - it was pieced, appliqued, embroidered and quilted. After visiting the show (where I managed to sell a jar of honey) I set off for Crockett, TX which is 13 miles south of Grapeland.

Labor Day Weekend

Twenty miles south of our house is a very small town called Grapeland. I think the population is around 250. But they have a nice old library and in the basement was their second annual Friendship Quilt Show. Joel doesn't like looking at quilts, so I went exploring on my own. This quilt was pieced and quilted by a man. He had several other quilts in the show. This quilt did not win any ribbons, though he had done a really nice job on it.

This is serious work!

Joel is quite serious about this job. Our neighbor puts on his Ipod, has a 44 oz drink in the cup holder and mows away! One way or another the lawns get mowed and the neighborhood looks good!

Summer activity in East Texas

Joel mows about once a week. If we had had a normal amount of rain, he probably would have been doing it more often. However, it is really dry so we are watering several times a week trying to keep it from turning brown!

Yummy Acorn

Here he is enjoying his acorn. If you'd like to see some great pictures of hummingbirds and eastern AZ visit my brother's blog at http://DesertHawgs.blogspot.com

He found one!

These little guys can run very fast and they look like they are flying when they jump from the free-standing bird feeder to a near-by tree. They love the bird seed we put out for the birds. Wal-Mart sells some kind of corn for the squirrels so they stay out of the bird seed. I think I need to try it.

East Texas Wildlife

One of the many squirrels we have in our yard. Joel took these pictures about a month ago. Here the little guy is looking for an acorn!

Farmers' Market Booths

For my Kingman friends, I hope your market grows. This was such a nice place to visit. Lots of fresh veggies and fruit, jams, jellies, pickles, and even a little honey.

Farmers' Market

The Angelina County Extension Service and the Master Gardeners built a Farmers' Market in Lufkin. The Master Gardeners maintain it. They are in the process of adding more plants. The area contains this gazebo, a walking bridge and a covered bridge to drive through. There are permanent booths and this time of the year, the market is open every day.

Beekeepers

Johnny and I have joined two beekeepers associations, one out of Tyler and the other out of Lufkin. Here Johnny (in the jeans and tan shirt) is giving a presentation to some of the Lufkin group, showing them how to split a hive. After the presentation we had a great picnic with excellent Texas BBQ brisket.

Bee Boxes

While the painting crew was at my house painting, I was at Kristin and Johnny's painting bee boxes. I painted 200+ boxes before it got too hot. They are all out in the bee yards now. There are plenty more to paint once it cools off. Don't you love the color? In the 60s we had kitchen appliances that were this color green!

And finally.......

....no more pink roses on the walls. We had sliding shower doors installed in both bathrooms.

The Sewing Room

This is the center of my spare time. A quilt in progress! There is usually more room in here - in this picture I have two craft tables set up so I could spread out the quilt while I'm working on it.

The Bed and Breakfast Room

The room is ready for guests. Even have a few empty drawers in case you want to stay for a while.

Another dining room view

The Dining Room

We are so happy with the dining room! So far everyone has had positive comments about the burgandy paint. And the wreath on the wall - I won it at a lovely little shop here in Palestine during the Dogwood Festival Days.

The Breakfast Nook and Kitchen

Standing in the living room, here is what we see!

The Island

The island is now home to three of my favorite pigs! The rest of the pig collection is still packed away.

The new white sink

This picture includes the new kitchen sink. It looks so much better than the stainless steel.

After all the work

The new Formica was applied right over the old stuff and we think it looks great. It is a "granite" pattern.

A work in progress

The tiles have had their acid bath and two coats of the special paint have been applied. Then it had to dry for 24 hours. After about 3 days the finish was very hard and it looks great.

The other side of the kitchen

In this picture you can see the tiles, the old counter top and the old stainless steel sink. I'm happy to say, they are all gone.

Before and After

Once the wallpaper was off the walls, the walls were textured and painted. Then we discovered we couldn't get these tiles off the backsplash. So the painter and his crew returned and used a special process where they applied acid to the tiles and then spray painted them. The result was wonderful. Here you see the tiles before they were painted.