Texas Scottish Festival is Coming!

Texas Scottish Festival

Sounds like a day of fun to me!

Goodbye Old Friend

 Rick Brainard

February 18, 1956 - May 18, 2009

You will be missed

Tonight I attended a Celebration of Life for a long time friend from my school days. It seemed so unreal and so untimely. Watching others grieve and laugh and tell stories was a mixture of feelings, but mostly joyful ones. Seeing the slideshow of old photos, his band, children and family was heartwarming. When someone close to you dies or worse yet, a family member passes,  things take on new meaning. Makes me think of how much time I may or may not have and how best to use it. I am grateful for my family and my life and don't ever want to take them for granted. God didn't promise us tomorrow! With this in mind, I hope that you consider this and make the most of your days and thank God for what He has given you thus far. Life is short. Cherish it and your family!

The End

Did you win the lottery too?

So do you get those annoying emails as often as I do too? Every day my inbox is loaded with another lottery that I've mysteriously won, an inheritance from some unknown poor soul with abosolutely no living relatives, or some other too good to be true scam from someone ready to give you bucket loads of cash. All I'd have to do is forward all of my sensitive information to this "trustworthy" person from Nigeria, the UK, or wherever they say they're located.  Then for a small sum of money they need to process all this newfound wealth, they'll take care of it. Yeah right, take it and disappear!! I am so infuriated to think that folks do fall for these games and wonder how many have actually lost their life savings to thieves that do this every day hoping for just one taker.  It's actually scary to think! Anyhow, that's my rant of the day...the little image did make me laugh, but in reality something like it is really just sad.

Help me fight Swine Flu now!

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Pandemic Paranoia!

What do you think? Check out this ebay auction that I found....people can capitalize on anything these days is what I think!

I think I can I think I can

Easter Sunday 2009

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday and to Christians everywhere it is the anniversay of Christ's death on the cross.  This leads to Easter Sunday in a couple of days, when we celebrate His resurrection. I don't know about you, but to me this is even more important than Christmas when we celebrate His birth. I won't preach on this subject but wanted to recognize it here on my blog and also post some photos of crosses that I collected from Scotland this past year. It seems like an appropriate time to present them. Most of them are Celtic varieties and they are all photographed within the Glasgow Necropolis Cemetery. The Necropolis is an ancient, eerily beautiful Victorian burial ground. This place became a popular tourist attraction since it opened in 1833. I found myself walking to it at least 3 times when I was there last year. Mostly because it is so big and also to get the best photos at various times of the day. They say at least 50,000 Glaswegians are buried there in 3,500 tombs and mausoleums. If you go to see the magnificent Glasgow Cathedral, you can get to it from The Bridge of Sighs, also very beautiful sights to see. The cemetery is actually a hill starting with the wealthiest people at the top down to the common people down at the bottom. Seems snobby? That's how it was done. I recommend not missing this if you are ever in Glasgow!

I don't normally pose in cemeteries, but did here to show how large these monuments actually are. There are many more that are even taller. I was awe struck to see this in its entirety. Some might find a place like this strange, spooky or weird, but it was serene and beautiful for me.

Irish Blessing

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.

Georgetown Getaway

We went down south to the hill country area of Georgetown this past weekend. It was so pretty and the weather was amazingly nice. Below are a few photos of what we saw and did. Our son and DIL still own a home there and we have been going down now and then to check on it and help out while they are living in the UK for a bit. For those that aren't aware, it'd be just a short jog down further I-35 to Austin, which is the capital of Texas. Anyhow, here's some photos...and if you want a better view, click on the photo and it will reopen in a larger size.

A view of Lake Georgetown with the limestone shores and a few folks fishin'.

This is part of the shoreline and an scraggly old tree with roots growing inside the limestone.

Old farm equipment used as landscaping ornaments at a law firm.

A rusty old water spout going into a feed trough used as landscaping.

Buzzards up in the trees in the sanctuary of the hiking/biking trails alongside the San Gabriel River, which sorta creeped me out.

Me in a drain pipe by the dam of Georgetown Lake.

Deer approaching the front lawn hoping for some corn to eat. They are literally everywhere in this neighborhood! Free roaming deer, so ya gotta watch out when you drive down the roads.

DH standing on a twisted tree stump on the lake edge.

The Georgetown Water Tower

An armadillo we were able to snap a photo of along the hiking/biking trail before it scurried away. Usually we see these odd creatures dead on the side of the road instead. Look at that long pink nose!

My DH in the woods beside the San Gabriel River.

That's me with the sun in my eyes.

DH across the spillway near the bridge that leads into the neighborhood.

The hiking and biking trails near the home that we had a lot of fun walking and riding bikes on.

UHOH!....now this wasn't part of the getaway. It is my 17 year old son's pinky finger post-op about a month after amputation revision surgery. He had another accident. Please advise your children to be very careful lifting weights. This happened at school and long story short, his finger got in the way of a dumbbell and was chopped off at the end. OUCH OUCH OUCH! He is much better, but geez did it look a lot worse when it first happened. (Sorry if this photo offends anyone.)

Wow it's February and I haven't made a post yet!

Either I am lazy, busy, or distracted from my blogging. Well this past weekend my daughter and I went to the Teddy Bear and Folkart Show here in Grapevine. It was nice and inspiring, full of the usual eye candy, but the best part was meeting back up with our dear friend, Claralie Hall from Gaunchywhomperd Bears. I came home with a few new "elephant" friends and more (THANKS CLARALIE!!!) and we had a nice talk about life and things were were doing. I will return and post some photos of Main Street and I'm sorry that I didn't get a single photo of the show, but sometimes the people there are not so keen on you taking photos for whatever reason. Not like I want to steal their ideas, hey it's free advertising if you asked me. But nevermind that. We walked all down the historical part of Grapevine and saw a Glassblower shop making art glass flowers with long twisted stems. Then there was the train depot and the museum. Further down, we grabbed a bite to eat at Weinberger's Deli yummmmm. Wilhoite's the biker restaurant/bar hangout had a full house. There were antique, gift, memorabilia, jewelery, clothing shops, eateries and more. Every now and then you'd see a bronze sculpture of something whimsical or historical as far as some person in the making of the city or whatnot. The Opry House was there and I even saw Elvis in the old movie house that is now an art gallery, imagine that! Further down at the end we visited the British Emporium and they had IrnBru for sale! Wow, how I miss that drink from Glasgow. We also got a few candies that I had tried over there and saw a lot of London, Glasgow and even Indian grocery items. They had meat pies too. The Beatles, Paddington Bear, Dr. Who and more were prevalent in the gifty items. Mind the Gap towels that I saw in Heathrow were available. It was almost like being in the UK again.....well not really, but fun to shop around in anyhow.

The Gaylord Texan Trolley Shuttle that comes through Main Street.

Mayor Benjamin Wall in bronze near the corner of the Courthouse.

Wilhoite's Biker Hangout View I

Wilhoite's Biker Hangout View II

Master Made Feed Store in Grapevine, Texas

The Sunday Skaters bronze sculpture next to Weinbergers Deli.

Me next to a bronzed gent in front of the Wall Hotel.

The Glassblower's Display - Vetro Artglass Studio in Grapevine, TX

My shadow and her friend on the back of a vintage railroad car.

Cotton Belt Route Windmill

Hedgehog with Mohawk Latte Art

Hedgehog with Mohawk Latte Art by Thai
Originally uploaded by gwen bell Wonder if the hedgehog froth makes it taste better? *wink*

Who Owns Edgar Allen Poe?

Do you remember reading Edgar's poems and stories in school? I sure do. Today in an email from a site I just registered with, I found out it was the 200th anniversary of Poe's birthday on January 19th, which will be this coming Monday. Funny the things you end up learning by the networking and facts on random sites huh? Look here for an interesting article about who owns him. Get your free Never More emboidery and clip art images at Urban Threads dot com too. Here is what it looks like as a shrunken clip art image. The above image is a downsized hand embroidery example. Click for their true sizes. Cool freebies I thought!