Just a little jaunt!

A couple of weeks ago some of my extended family and Bob and I decided to take a trip back in time and went to explore where my maternal grandfather grew up. Dave had researched the information and had an old map to follow so we were ready and enthusiastic.

The property was a little north and west of Whitesboro, almost to the Red River, and so we had to drive for about 20 minutes from my dad's house.  Mind you, it might have taken quite a bit longer had we meandered our way over the quaint country roads enjoying the peaceful drive......it might have had Dave not been driving, that is.   As it was I was lucky to get a look at anything  as the coutryside whizzed by.  I mean, seriously, I thought maybe I'd found myself smack dab in the middle of a NASCAR race.  Good grief, Dave, I know you're from Houston but take a chill pill!  

Anyway, we reached our destination in no time flat and pulled in to this driveway only to be greeted by a locked gate.  Dave had previously gotten permission for us to go onto the property but that didn't include a personal welcome with a butler to open the door so we did what any good country kid turned city slicker does.  We climbed over.....or under, as you'll see later.  Dave thought of everything so had loaded a lawn chair for Dad to sit in while he waited for us to go on our jouney.  Guess he didn't feel much like climbing a fence at 95.  Here's a picture of Dad and Dave as the quest began.   

Here we are feeling like quite the adventurers having conquered the fence.  We were ready.  Ready to plant our feet on the land that our forefathers had settled and raised a family on.  Well, we were hoping that was true anyway.  Nobody knew for 100% sure that this was the place but we were thinking positively as we began the journey.  In front from the left are Dave, me, Kelly, and Erin.  Trudging along behind us were Suzy, Marie, and Bob.  Amy was there but she must be hidden in front of somebody.  And Catherine was taking the picture. 

Okay, my very fun sister-in-law, Catherine, gets to model part of what we did several times that day.  She was crawling under this fence but we did some climbing over too.  Turns out there were a few other fences.     

We hadn't walked very far, maybe about 50 yards up a sloping hill, and we found this very old well that we felt was definitely built around the time our great grandfather came to Texas.  It was a very good sign and and a theory I chose to believe.

Here's an example of what some of the property looked like.  Green, beautiful, and oh, so quiet.  Isn't that what is most noticeable when you're in the country, the quiet?  I love it because true quiet is very rare when you live in the city. 

We continued on but kind of spread out to explore and see what each of us could find and I found something!  A sort of petrified frog!  Euuww!  But I held on to it.  I was with Catherine but  Amy and Erin had run on ahead so I wanted to show it to them.

They weren't that impressed!  Ya think?!?

After about an hour of tramping around the property, seeing the sights and dodging the cow patties, I found I was really enjoying discovering flowers I'd never seen before.  So before we started back I decided I'd just bring one home.  I had no clue what was what and the difference between a weed and a flower (heck, they all were probably weeds, for all I know) and I tried several times without much success and no tool to dig with, but finally dug up something green with a stick and my bare, and now dirty, hands.  More about the weed a little later.

When we got back to where the well was we discovered, not too far away, what we thought might have been a cellar.  Okay, I, being the idealist that I am, decided that this was the cellar of my forefathers.  I mean, it made sense.  There was the well not 20 feet away and both were on a hill overlooking the countryside.  A perfect place to build a house and a life on.  That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.     

Erin and I are posing with red faces, hot and tired from our fun and adventurous day.  Notice the droopy weed and dirt in my hand?  Oh, ye of little faith!

And here it is!!  The weed, two weeks later transplanted in my flower garden.  It was sad for a couple of days but has perked up in its new home after a little TLC and water.  It's probably truly only a weed but it's a weed from the land where my grandfather played as a little boy and farmed as a man.  And a reminder of the memory making day I spent with my family.

Happy Birthday Captain Bobby!

Bobby's birthday was actually yesterday, the 11th, so I'm a little late posting.  But it's never too late to shout proudly the praises of those that deserve it. 

I never dreamed that 22 years ago that sweet little infant boy would grow up to become the strong, outgoing, and confident young man he's become. 

Right now he's in Tulsa fulfilling a four day drill obligation with the Air National Guard of which he's been a member for three years. 

Bobby is a junior, working on his professional pilot degree at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.  He is serving his first year as captain of the university flight team and, in May, they'll be going to Kansas to compete in the national flight competition.  He's wearing his flight team shirt in the picture I've posted.  

Since Bobby's been at Southeastern, he's been awarded several scholarships from the flight department as well as the university and just last week he learned about yet another one.  

So before I go way overboard in the bragging department (maybe I already did!) let me just say........That's my boy!!!  

Peaceful

If you come to my house around 4 or 5 in the afternoon these days you'll be blessed.  Spring is not just in the air but is right smack dab in the middle of my yard and what a blessing she's bestowing on us this time around!  

The first blooms are making a dramatic entrance and lots of others are not far behind.  My iris are about finished but the peonies and ice plant are coloring my garden a beautiful pink and white.  I'm looking forward to the hollyhocks and they are just about ready to bloom.  

I've actually kept my eye on the garden a little more this year for more than one reason though.  This year there are chickens enjoying it too.  I chase them out with a broom and it works for awhile but the temptation is just too much and after a couple of days their memories fade and they're just hankering to get back in the there to scratch around and chew on the greenery.  For the most part they haven't really hurt anything so it's not really that bad.  I just have to be diligent to watch.    



Here are my little ladies with the garden in the background.  The hen in the front is the Buff and she is the aggressive, arogant one, always hogging the food and expecting more exactly when she wants it.  She follows me around the yard, hanging out as I'm working in a particular area.  It started when I was sifting the compost a few weeks ago and I'd throw her a worm every so often.  I guess she thinks that's gonna happen again. 




Here's the Link.  She's the puny one, always hanging back to wait for the leftovers when the other two are finished eating.  She's pretty laid back and not really friendly like the Buff.  I think she's just apprehensive and more reserved.  I don't think she ever gets in my garden so I certainly appreciate her obedience. 




And this is the Rock.  Even though I'm pretty sure she's the same age as the other two, for some reason I see her as the mother figure or something.  Maybe it's because she started laying first.  She's not as friendly as the Buff either but will eat out of my hand and that's kinda fun.  The Buff will too but she eats so fast that it takes all the fun out of it.  This morning Bob was mowing so he moved the coop to another spot.  After he moved it he realized he didn't see the Rock anywhere so looked in the nesting box and there she was, seemingly not bothered by the disturbance.  I guess when they're working, they mean business. 





Here's a view of about half of my yard with the garden in the background.  The ladies wanted to be in the picture.  This is what they do the whole time they are out of their coop, just roam around pecking at the grass and scratching around the ground looking for some tasty morsel to eat.  They don't spend a whole lot of time on the patio anymore which is a good thing because that means they're not pooping there as much.  Yay!  I don't think they sleep during the day at all.  Every once in awhile I'll see them sitting somewhere but that usually doesn't last very long.  They're always on the move.  Or bathing!  That's really something to watch when they jump in their bathtub (aka, my former flower garden under the kitchen window) and roll around in the dirt, flipping sand up in their feathers. 




My beautiful white peonies





The big plant is my hollyhocks.  The small pink flower
 on the right is the ice plant.




This is my miniscule veggie garden.  I've
got potatoes, onions, and tomatoes
 growing right now. 



Moving to my front yard, this is the

clematis that I'm really enjoying this year. 



This fun little bush is a Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow plant.  You can probably already guess that it's named because of the changing colors of the flower.  I've had two of these for about three years but this year they have really taken off and are blooming like crazy.  I guess they enjoyed our mild winter.  I love this happy plant mostly because they're really not supposed to be able to live this far north but I planted them next to the brick wall, hoping to keep them a little warmer and so far it's worked.