Galveston, I can hear your sea winds calling...

Sweetie and I took a break from our regular Sunday routine and took a day trip to Galveston Island.  It was a beautiful day and it seemed a perfect opportunity since he wasn't singing in either service.  Unusual!

First of all we took a less direct route -- drove Highway 6 as far as we could before having to switch to I-45.  We were amazed at the growth in the little towns along Hwy 6 -- we hadn't been that way in years.

The weather was perfect and we first stopped on the seawall to feed the gulls.  They seemed to love the whole wheat bread that we shared with them!  There were lots of people there and parking was a premium.  I know this is a struggle for Galveston all the time -- so many people and so few parking spaces!

There was some construction -- the pier, where the Flagship Hotel used to be before IKE, has been rebuilt and there is now an amusement park being built on it.  I know that will be a popular place this summer!

After lunch we drove out to the east end of the island, to visit a spot that is constantly changing due to the hurricanes.  There were people fishing and grilling and enjoying the beautiful day but our favorite area was washed away a while back so we didn't spend much time there.  Plus, something there made us sneeze!

We drove along the harbor and saw two cruise ships docked.  Below is the cruise ship CARNIVAL MAGIC.  This is just a quick snapshot -- please excuse the terrible quality!

Then we stopped and took some pictures of a couple of beautiful Victorian-style houses  I thought I'd share some pictures with you.

One house...

and another . . .

We also visited an old cemetery (I love old cemeteries!)

Coreopsis was growing in wild profusion around the stones and crypts.

I thought it interesting that these 5 stones were adorned with artificial flowers in the midst of all the beautiful natural flowers.  Nature did such a better job!

We saw this Texas history memorial that I found to be sad . . . the plaque tells the story of a father and son and the division that the war brought to their family...

Gardening

I'm participating in an experiment -- I was furnished a tomato plant which was growing in a 5 gallon bucket -- everything was ready for me -- plant, dirt, fertilizer, etc.  My plant is doing very well.  Last time I counted I found 25+ cherry tomatoes.  This particular plant is a Texas Wild Cherry Tomato.

Livestock at the LBJ Ranch

Above: Mama cow moved between me and her baby when I approached the fence. You can see the calf's feet under her body.

Look at the horn of this hereford -- the LBJ is burned into the horn.

The goats were cute...

Spring Break -- Rodeo

During spring break we took our Granddaughter to the Houston Rodeo -- well, not to the rodeo but to the rodeo grounds where we toured the arenas, looked at the animals, the exhibits, the carnival, etc. She had a great time but we were oh, so tired when we finally got back home!

The first thing we saw was an exhibit from NASA, complete with a moon walker. V loved having her picture made with this over sized creature.



We saw a good number of old tractors -- they had been rebuilt by students in the FFA (Future Farmers of America) classes.

We were able to watch some of the steer judging. These animals were shown by young children, from elementary through teens. The steers weigh between 1,000 and 1500 pounds and some of the children were quite small. One steer decided he didn't want to participate and he got rather frisky. After dragging his owner, a small girl who weighed about 75 pounds, he got away and started looking for a way out of the arena. It took 4 men to corner him and return him to the proper place.

We also saw goats, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and rabbits, but we missed the llamas and alpaca because we were in the wrong building. The quilt show winners were exhibited as were the pieces of art done by local students. Some of the art work was really outstanding and several sold for record breaking prices. The winners of the various events don't get all the money -- some of it goes to the students and some to the scholarship program.

A lot of fun -- we will have to plan to do it again next year!

More from the LBJ Ranch

Pictures of the outside of the ranch house -- I didn't stand in the rain to take a picture from the outside.


LBJ's sitting room -- he had three TV's -- they were always tuned to ABC, NBC, and CBS. Other rooms in the house also held his three TV's but Lady Bird chose not to have any TV's in her favorite personal rooms.

The dining room. Close to where the park ranger is standing there is a phone mounted under the table. LBJ sat in the chair at that end and he had the phone at hand immediately in case of a national emergency. There were 72 phone lines coming into the house.

My overall impression of the house was that it was a simple family home. Yes, it was large and yes, it belonged to a President of the USA, but there were rather plain furnishings and lots of family pictures on the walls. (Lady Bird was known to be frugal and she had the family furniture re-covered when it became worn.)

LBJ Ranch - Lady Bird's sitting room, bedroom, closet

This was Lady Bird's favorite sitting room -- it did not have any televisions. Below it are pictures of the couple's bedroom room and Lady Bird's closet.

Hill Country Visit with friends

(above) My favorite view from their kitchen looking west, across the porch.

A week or so ago Sweetie and I were able to get away a few days to visit friends in the Texas hill country. It was cold and wet the entire time but we still found much to enjoy. The pictures above show the creek area along the west side of their property. It doesn't always have water, especially during times of drought, but it was flowing while we were there!.

The New Faucet

Doug asked about our new faucet so this is for him and his friend...

Doug, the picture above is the box our new faucet came in -- the brand is Moen. The arched head rotates from side to side -- the small pump on the right is for dish soap.

The picture below is of the actual faucet -- Tom is demonstrating how the faucet head pulls out and in the picture he is using the spray function. It can be used as a sprayer or as a regular faucet. We love the tall arched head that allows us to fill large, deep pans or pitchers from an upright position.

drip, drip

It is raining again -- second day in a row, or is it the third day...my brain is water logged!

Not flooding rains, at least not here -- just a slow gentle rain except for the occasional downpour.

Sweetie and Gracie were caught a block or so from the house in one of those sudden downpours. Gracie HATES getting wet -- they raced each other home and both arrived a bit soggy.

It is new faucet day -- our old kitchen faucet was about 30 years old and it finally wore out. We are replacing it today -- sticker shock when we saw the price of a good quality faucet. We bought a Moen faucet -- one of the better brands and one of the better models. After all, if the previous one lasted 30 years the cost will be rather low with that many years of use figured in.

Our old faucet had the sprayer that pulled up from the base on the right side -- lovely and useful when hair washing. However, just one tiny problem -- some days it would decide to spray when we didn't ask it to. I was not happy to be suddenly drenched by the sprayer when I was all dressed up and just getting a drink before leaving! I kept a plastic bag over the top of it for some time, just to give myself a fighting chance to get out of the way when it misbehaved!

The new one has the sprayer head that pulls down from the faucet -- not from a separate place. We used one like it when we visited Florida and liked the way it worked. We also got the model with the high curved shape which is lovely when filling large pans.

One thing I find interesting, when I watch House Hunters International, is the plumbing one sees in different countries. It is like visiting there without leaving the USA!