Moving Day

This morning we said goodbye to our new friends and fellow pickleball players and said hello to our son Jeremy and family.  The original plan was to go out to dinner for my birthday but some of us ate a late lunch.  Jennifer kindly produced a bake at home pizza and a cookie pizza which Allie decorated.  We spent the evening visiting until time for kids to hit the sack.  I took the camera and left it in the truck!  Tomorrow we will be going out to dinner.  I promise more pix.

The family relaxing before kids' bedtime.

Gramps and Luke doing what guys do best.

Thanks to Stacy & Ruth Ann, Matt & family, and Rachel and family for their birthday wishes.  Thanks to our friends too.

Since this is a shortie I will fill it in with a (hopefully) helpful tip and some useless trivia.

To get rid of tomato sauce rings on plastic storage containers, use a drop of dish detergent with a handful of used coffee grounds to scrub away the stains.  Wash out the container with warm water and the stain should be gone.  Disclaimer:  I have not tried this.  U use glass containers for tomato based dishes.

50 years ago, when I was 15, the top 10 tv shows in the US during the 1966-1967 season were

1.  Bonanza

2.  The Red Skelton Show

3.  The Andy Griffith Show

4.  The Lucy Show

5.  The Jackie Gleason Show

6.  Green Acres

7.  Daktari

8.  Bewitched

9.  The Beverly Hillbillies

10. Gomer Pyle, USMC

I can remember my parents watching all of these shows except Daktari.   I remember a movie by this name but not on tv.  I guess my parents preferred the comedy/variety shows over the drama.  I was leaning toward westerns and mysteries. 

Come visit with us again tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

WOTB Part 3

The museum is the last area of the Park complex that we visited.  Within the museum 46 exhibits cover over 10,000 square feet on two floors.  First we viewed the 20 minute video giving an overview of the period--1836-1846.  From there we wandered through the first floor

Gives new meaning to Bowie knife

The founding fathers of Texas

Sam Houston, first and third president of the Republic

Stephen Austin, who negotiated with the Mexican government to bring settlers to the area and who helped found the Republic's constitution.

Famous Texas Rangers

I like quilts

and old toys.  This exhibit brought out the fact that only during the 1900's did children stop being thought of as little adults and in need of nurturing and play.

These smaller exhibits are on the second floor which is accessed via a long curved ramp with the history of Texas represented in a mural along the wall.

Grandma's recipe for washing clothes made me tired just reading it.

There were lots of very interesting displays and exhibits, including part of a steamboat and a whole children's interactive room.  We found it a good way to learn Texas history in general and local history in particular.

We were hungry after our 3 hour tour of the Park complex (started at 11:30), but were determined to make it the 50 miles back to Conroe to enjoy prime rib at Texas Roadhouse.  Thanks to our children who gave us the gift cards for Christmas. (You know who you are.)  The prime rib was perfect, the salad crispy, the steak fries nicely seasoned, and the yeast raised roll warm and yummy.  Worth the wait!

Tomorrow is moving day.  Where to next?

Louise and Duane

WOTB Part 2

Dr. Anson Jones arrived in Texas in 1833, settling in Brazoria where he set up a medical practice.  He became involved in Texas politics and became president of the Republic of Texas (after it was independent of Mexico) and served one year until Texas became the 28th state in the Union at the end of 1845.  Soon after his inauguration, the Jones family moved to the farm which Dr. Jones named Barrington after his home town in Massachusetts.    

The home is the original structure built in 1844 and was moved to its present site.  The outbuildings were recreated based on typical Texas architecture of the mid 19-century and information found in Dr. Jones' journals, diaries and account books.  They represent the lifestyle of the Jones family and the slaves who lived and worked there.

View of house with smokehouse on left, kitchen next to house, (chicken coop behind smokehouse)

House showing porch and dogtrot, or open space to gather for work or play when weather permitted

Left front and back--master bedroom and back bedroom, right front and back--parlor, dining room 

the upstairs consists of two large rooms

Hand-quilted, don't know if they are antique  I liked this one because the leaves are stuffed then sewn shut so they are puffed above the rest of the quilt.  

This is way more work than I want to do.

Kitchen--outside and

  

inside

barn, slave cabins, pigpen (far left)

inside slave cabin

left side of room

Herds of cattle came up from Mexico into Texas and mingled with cattle lost by eastern settlers.  They adapted to the wide-open plains, and developed the wide sets of long horns characteristic of Texas Longhorns.  Oxen are any breed of cattle that are four years old or older, have been trained to work while wearing a yoke, and provide the poser and strength to move heavy loads and cultivate farmland.  

The hogs on the farm are descendants of Spanish pigs brought to the New World almost 500 years ago and look like the hogs of 19th century Texas.  (Look like regular pigs to me!)   The young pigs were allowed to roam freely during the spring and summer.  In the fall the pigs were herded into the pen to fatten up for butchering as soon they were big enough.

After wandering around the farm for an hour or so, we made our way to the Museum.

Come with us to the Museum next.

Louise and Duane

Washington-On-The-Brazos State Historical Park Part 1

The WOTB State Historic Site is a complex consisting of five areas.  We visited the the Visitor Services Complex while on a bike ride from the Colorado River Thousand Trails RV Park.  In another area were a large meeting room, a conference center, an education center and several picnic areas.  Today we visited the Old Washington Town Site, the Star of the Republic Museum, and the Barrington Living History Farm.  This blog will showcase the Old Town Site.

We took pictures of most of the info boards so that you can learn as much as you wish.  

This building, Independence Hall is reproduced as closely in its original condition as possible.  56 men met here to ratify the constitution that would declare Texas as a country separate from Mexico.

  

Texas blue bonnets and some other beauties

 a couple of lizards posed for us

Map of the town  showing some of the homes and businesses.  The Brazos is on the right.  From Independence Hall we walked down a the original wilderness trail which became Ferry Street in the town.  It led, of course, to the ferry. 

Brazos at the site off the ferry.  The Navrasota River joins the Brazos just upriver, making this a good spot to cross both rivers.

Historic old tree started growing with the town.  The town, depending on the river for commerce, rejected the railroad and slowly died when the river flooded and became choked with deadfall.  The tree survived.

No, I'm not a tree hugger.  I'm there to show how big the tree is.

Join us tomorrow for a tour of the Barrington Farm.

Worn Out

This is why we are all worn out.  Tom, Paula, Duane and I have been playing pickleball a minimum of 2 hours every  evening for the past week before Jane and Ron joined us.  We started an additional morning game for Ron and Morgan (Tom &Paula's friend) who don't play in the evening.  Pickleball players are accommodating and helpful (read addicted).  We seven have outlasted the (young) full-time homeschooling parents (haven't seen them on the court for a while) and Yvon who played three nights before he quit. (We found out that he had been spending his days walking 3 miles on the treadmill then biking 6 miles around the park, and then swimming laps during the day before playing pickleball.  I became exhausted just thinking about that!)  

Duane and Tom vs Ron and Morgan (blue shirt)

Paula (pink) and Tom vs Jane and ?

Louise getting ready to serve as Jane waits.

Morgan and Louise in action.  

Paula wreaking havoc

Actually we could all handle the pickleball.  The real reason we are tired is that this morning (Sat) we were surrounded by children.  They were everywhere!  Their parents brought them to breakfast then loosed them upon the civilized world to replace order with chaos.  The result was that they sucked the energy out of us, and that's why we're tired!

All kidding aside, it's interesting to watch these kids.  They sort of swirl around going from basketball to tennis to mini golf to playground then disappear all in the space of about 20 minutes.  Sometimes I felt as if I was caught in a giant whirlpool until they moved on.

Tomorrow Duane and I plan on revisiting the Washington-On-The-Brazos park.  We do plan on getting our pickleball fix tomorrow evening, though!

Later, gator.

Louise and Duane 

Last Date

We played pickleball this morning so that we could go to supper with our friends Gloria and Eddie.  They took us to The Fish Pond, a little hole-in-the-wall place on old US 75.  Because of the name we figured that it would be a fish place, and there was a whole section of fried fish on the menu. However, there were lots of  other selections, including 

a wide selection of sandwiches and dinners like chicken fried steak (a staple in the south), and unusual entrees such as liver and onions.  We really enjoyed our last visit (they are leaving on Sunday), and we are looking forward to meeting up with them in the future.  

After Eddie and Gloria dropped us off, we behaved like true pickleball fiends.  We hurried to the court where Paula, Tom, and Jane needed us to play with them.  1 1/2 hours later we went home for the night.

This was not our only activity today.  After our  morning pickleball games we did laundry.  While we were waiting for our clothes to finish drying, we walked out the laundry door, across a grassy strip and onto the shuffleboard court.  We played about 1/2 hour.  Final score:  Duane 72, Louise 11.  At least this time I was on the right side of 0!

Since I have nothing else to report, I will leave you with this little bit of trivia:  250 years ago on April 8, 1766, the first fire escape was patented.  It consisted of a wicker basket on a pulley and chain.

Ok, I'll tell you the answer to the Whodunit. 

Mr. Baldwin was supposedly hit on the head and on the verge of passing out, in a dark room, but he somehow knows that the thief was using a sack made of silk.  He has to be lying.  In addition, if he had genuinely suffered head wounds violent enough to render him unconscious for several hours, he would be in the hospital, in a far more serious condition.  Baldwin staged the break-in for the insurance payoff, and hoped to pin the guilt on one of his hapless employees. 

Did you guess right?

Louise and Duane

Lazy Day

I can't believe we lounged the whole day!  We hooked up the computer to the tv and caught up on the evening shows that we've been missing since we play pickleball when they are on.  That took a while since we had four of them.  I didn't even cook.  I heated up leftovers for lunch.  In the afternoon Duane did his computer thing and I read or worked Sudoku during commercials.  We got our lazy selves to the pickleball court for games from 7-9:30.  What a day!

I do have a couple of corrections to make from yesterday.  Our new friend Yvon spells his name with an o, not an a and his wife, Edwina, is from Novia Scotia.  She grew up in Quebec, Yvon's home province, but kept her Maritime accent (sounds like the Wisconsin accent), while Yvon's accent is French.

Since I have nothing else to report, I will leave you with a little puzzle. Yesterday while we were out and about we stopped at the Barnes and Noble Booksellers.  I found a book called Whodunits, by Tim Dedopulos.  Here is a level 1 case called "The Gem Shop."

The peeling sign above the gem shop read BALDWIN & SONS,and if the date were to be believed, it had been in business for more than thirty years.  The window displays were orderly, if empty, but the open door was hanging at an odd angle.  A bored-looking police officer stood in front of it.  As Inspector Parnacki approached, the man pulled himself properly erect and saluted sharply.

"Sir, good morning," he said.

Parnacki nodded politely.  "Has anyone been in or out of the shop?"

"Not since I've been here, sir."

"Good work."

The robbery was much more obvious once Parnacki entered the shop.  Many of the cupboards showed signs of having been forced open and empty trays were strewn all over the floors and glass counters.  If there was a single valuable jewel left in the place, it was well out of sight.

A tall, unhappy man stood in the middle of the chaos.  He was well-dressed, but in some considerable disarray, and there was a nasty-looking bruise at the side of his forehead.  Parnacki went straight to him.

"Mr. Henry Baldwin?: the inspector asked.

The man nodded.

"I am Inspector Parnacki."

Baldwin looked surprised.  Paddington Parnacki?"

"So the newpapers dub me," the inspector sighed.

"Sorry, Inspector,  Your fame precedes you."

"No matter.  Would you please tell me what happened, in your own words?"

Baldwin nodded.  "I was closing up last night.  Sometimes one of my assistants stays behind to help, but they were both keen to get off swiftly.  Their names are Alex Cardue and Scott Benedict.  I have their addresses."

"The events of last night first, please," said Parnacki.

"Sorry.  I'm still a little rattled.  I'd finished locking all the precious pieces away--" he gestured at the broken cupboards, "and turning the lights off, and I was just opening the door to start barring the windows.  As I did so, a dark figure in a tall hat crashed through the door, throwing me back.  I staggered, and then he hit me hard on the head with a cosh of some sort.  I didn't get a good look at him.  It was night already, you see.  Anyhow, I fell over, and cracked the back of my head on the floor.  Drove the wits from me.  I was dimly aware of the noise of the cupboards being broken into.  I didn't realize until later that he was also grabbing the trays and tipping the contents into his silk sack.  It all seemed disconnected. somehow.I must have passed out at some point.  When I came round, it was already light.  I remembered the assault, discovered that I'd been totally cleaned out, and called the police.  That was about an hour and a half ago."

Parnacki nodded.  "you mentioned your assistants?'

"It feels like an inside job, you know?  I had bought a new batch of stock three days ago, and anyway, you'd need to know my routine to judge exactly when to break in like that.  It seems impossible to imagine either of them doing this, but they're both around the right build.  Alec has a new girlfriend, too, and Scott likes his cards."


Don't concern yourself, Mr. Baldwin.  I already know the culprit."

"You do?"

Parnacki nodded gravely.

Who is the thief?  How does Parnacki know?  Hint:  Testimony

You know I can't reveal the answer until tomorrow!  Meantime, happy sleuthing!

Louise and Duane