More Holiday Cheer

This is still from the Small's display on Lincoln Road in Orange.  They didn't win that night but they put up a nice display.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Fa la la la

Well I'm back!  That oil and filter change took much longer than expected. (-8.  So I'm just going to begin to post random shots around Orange.  This lovely display is from the Small's on Lincoln Road.  They were featured on that new show "The Great Light Fight".  Nice display coordinated with music if you tuned into 98.1.   Fab!

U is for Umbrella

I love this shot of the colorful umbrella against a blue sky and the ancient building.  It was taken at the ancient seaport of Akko in Israel.

For other ABC Wednesday entires please CLICK HERE.

Charter Oak

OK, so December is probably not the time to feature a little story on a tree because you really just get the trunk and branches but in front of the parsonage (shown above) is one of the direct decedent seedlings from the original Charter Oak in Hartford.  YAY Orange, we kept ours alive.

A few months ago a man was out in front and he asked if he could step on the property to take a photo. Well we got to talking and he is doing a project on whatever happened to all of the seedlings.  If you go to You Tube and search for Charter Oak Project you'll see his work.  Although, I don't see Orange there yet.

Anyway, if you want to learn more about Connecticut History click HERE.

Hook 'um Horns

Texas Longhorns

Feeling like I need to take a break from the Texas photos but I've still got a lot to show.  Lucky YOU.  I need to get out and get some new Orange material but I've had very little time what with work being so busy now.  

CDP - Theme Day - Looking Out

I realize that this is a repost from a while back but it is SO fitting for the theme, 'looking out'.  This was taken up in Marblehead, MA.  For other theme day delights click here.

Of Stagecoaches and Covered Wagons

 The juxtaposition of the rubber tires and the wooden wheels caught my eye.

Inside the big old barn

Milton and Chris have a huge barn where they renovate things like stage coaches, hearses, and carriages.  More photos of those to come.  But also they've got tucked in every nook and cranny tons of antiques.

 Granite wear

Coffee Grinder

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Where the deer and the antelope play

Cazadores!

Not sure I would have chosen this Mexican Restaurant and Cantina to dine at but there we were.  The food was delicious - nothing like Tex-Mex.  It's somehow different deep in the heart.

Cousins and Clingons

Cowgirl Boots

I have to admit I had boot envy.  My $50 Payless cowgirl boots paled in comparison to these fine boots.  There were about four long rows of boots for women.

Here's a pair for the Christian cowgirl.  The name of the boot is Ooh My God II and if you enlarge the photo you'll see it's $489.99. Now that's some boot.  I think it would compliment my robe quite nicely.

The ultimate.  Here's Chris in shock and awe because she found a pair of boots for three grand, YUP little paw'dner that's $3000.00.  We didn't buy them.

South Texas Tack

By this time I don't know where the heck I am in Texas but I'm sure glad we stopped at South Texas Tack.  This place was huge with lots of stuff a cowgirl could possibly use.

 Oooooo - LOVE the blinged up belts.

I got my first lesson on how to tell a good cowboy hat from another.  It's all in the felt gauge on the front brim.

Blue Bell Creamery

Well I'm back after that harrowing experience in the field full of burrs.  To soothe our souls we stopped next at Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham, Texas.

The Brenham Creamery Company opened in 1907 in Brenham, TX.  In 1930 they changed their name to Blue Bell Creameries. Sure was good on that HOT Texas day.

Milton on the left and cousin Buddy on the right.

Capital Campaign Underway and the Value of Cowboy Boots

Read below the story of an itinerant preacher and wannabe cowgirl and her boots.

So a funny story about getting these photos.  Milton was so tolerant of me yelling out, 'Wait, stop, I want to get a picture', and when we were driving away from the luxurious Kenney, Texas on a dusty road I saw this church.  Being an itinerant preacher who loves churches and with an eye for photography I yelled out once again, "Wait, stop, I want to get a picture".  So Milton pulls over, in fact he pulls right into someones driveway that posted a LARGE sign, "No Trespassing".

Of course, my mind quickly went to, 'OMG!  I'm going to be shot dead here in my tracks here in Texas for trespassing all because I wanted to take a photo so I said, 'Are you sure Milton? Sure?  Really?'  Well he assured me, go ahead, we'll wait.  So I grabbed my camera and got out.

Now it was hot on the range that day.  Very hot.  And this Connecticut Yankee itinerant preacher chose style over practicality.  Bad move.  I had on skinny pants with my fake snakeskin flats with knee highs.  I walked out from the truck and into the grasses.  I got closer, and stood still to make the adjustments for the light.  It was then that I felt my ankles being pricked.  I looked down but didn't see anything and decided to move closer, that maybe the 'no see um's' wouldn't follow me.

But no.  Another prick and then another and then there were so many that my ankles were stinging so I ran out of the field onto the road that I wasn't supposed to be on in the first place.  When I looked down my feet and ankles were covered with burrs.  I couldn't move.  I tried to take a step but it was excruciatingly painful.  So I motioned Milton to drive the truck further down the road to me.  Hell, at that point I didn't care if we all were shot dead in the middle of Texas because we were trespassing.

And so he did.  He just smiled and said nothing.  My cousins were yucking it up in the cab of the truck.  I grabbed onto the truck and had to lift up my pant legs to take off my knee highs, it was the only way to de-burr my ankles.  And did I say it was painful?  I got back into the truck and said, 'Now I know the value of cowboy boots' and again, he just smiled.

My $50 Payless cowboy boots were at the ranch and not on my feet, what was this wannabe cowgirl thinking?  And now I know the value of cowboy boots, I will never leave the ranch without them!

Just a few more of Kenney

Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

Inside a Texas Saloon

Well we got a little thirsty in Kenney, Texas so we decided to stop at this lounge  saloon for a cold Lone Star.  Notice the tractor seat bar stools.  Clever!

Chris and Dee paying up.

Kenney Texas

Kenney is an unincorporated community in northern Austin County, Texas, United States. It lies along State Highway 36 north of the city of Bellville, the county seat of Austin County.  Its elevation is 390 feet (119 m).  Although Kenney is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 77452.

History

The area around Kenney was first settled in the 1820s, but the community itself was not started until 1880, when a station on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway and a post office were established. The community was originally named Thompson for its first postmaster. After four years under that name, the community was renamed Kenneyville in 1884 in honor of evangelist John Wesley Kenney; the name was shortened to Kenney in 1892.

Bellville, Texas

From the City of Bellville's website, "Bellville is a city in and the county seat of Austin County, Texas, in the southeastern part of the state. The population was 3,794 at the 2000 census. Bellville was named for Thomas B. Bell, one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred, after he donated land for the new county seat established by voters in 1846. The original county seat was located in San Felipe. Bellville is located at the intersection of State Highway 36 and State Highway 159 as well as FM 529, FM 1456, and FM 2429."

There was a great Art Gallery there, the Holland St. Gallery, but not all the pawdner's were on board.