So, I ask “Why?”

Today as I was making breakfast, I put the bread in the toaster and waited patiently for it to toast. When it popped up, I was hoping for a lightly browned piece of toast but that is not what happend-it was more black than brown. Oh Man!!

So, I began to think of all the things that you believe should happen but when they never come out like you want!!

• Toaster Toast:  You expect it to come out brown but depending on some Gremlin that lives in the toaster you can get anything from pale to burnt!! Why? I used to think it depended on the time of day but it doesn’t matter. I can remember my dad scraping off the burnt part so we could still use the toast. What a mess would it be in the sink!! The ironic thing is that if you put in 2 other slices of bread, you will get different variations of pale to burnt again. The picture below proves my point!
  So, I ask “Why?” (It depends on the brand of the toaster used to have the Consistency of toasting of the bread. The higher price of the toaster does not always make the more consistent piece of toast! Personally, I believe it is a gamble each time you put the bread in the toaster!)
  
• Chocolate Cookie Dough:  I love how the chocolate chip cookie recipes always say that the recipe will yield 3-4 dozen cookies. No matter who is cooking them, I have yet to see that number of cookies to be made, mainly because of sampling the dough before it is cooked. To prove my point, I had my daughter who is a Pastry Chef make a batch and I made a batch. Her batch made 3 dozen and I made 2 1/2 dozen. I think the suggested yield should actually say depending on how much you actually sample will determine the outcome. So again, I ask “Why?” (According to my research, the more people who are in the kitchen at the time of baking will affect the yield of cookie dough as will the size of the cookie put in to bake!)

• Fitted Sheets: Nothing is harder than putting a fitted sheet on by yourself.  Mainly because it never fails that you get one corner on and move to another and that first one pops off!! Again, I wonder why? You would think that all of the sheets would be the same size as the mattresses, they should fit! But NO!!!!!!!  Funny, how it always works when you have a helper. Again,  I ask “Why?” (According to what I have read, the fitted sheets actually shrink each time they are washed and dried, which is why they do not stay put when put on the bed!)

• Dryer times: I am thinking that the roulette wheel was invented by the same person that invented the timer on the dryer. The marks on the dryer do not mean minutes like you would think! They are estimates of time for sure!! I say this because I can put in a medium size load and set the time for 45 minutes and wait for the ding that says it is ready. I go to check and sometimes it is dry and other times it is damp!! Really? All I want is to have dry clothes!! When it is damp, I turn it back on for 20 more minutes.  I hear the ding again. I go and check it out and it is finally dry but seriously-65 minutes for clothes! Arrg!!! I am thinking one of the the Gremlins are again hanging in the electrical system of the house. Laundry should not take ALL day!! So again, I ask “Why?” (Apparently,the timer settings vary and are approximate and not actually like on the clock.)

 

These are just a few of the things that I wonder about. Why?
I don’t like to waste time and these things kinda waste time and lots of energy.
I know it is crazy but these are the top 4  things make me wonder during the day at home!!

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How my life changed again in May!!

May has been such a hard month for the past 9 years for my family. It has been a month of much sadness due to the death of my husband that hit my family suddenly in 2007. Life changed drastically that evening of May 8th! That was the day that my husband passed away from complications of Necrotizing fasciitis, MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and also  haemochromatosis. Also, his medical team was incredible, it was just his time to go as his body just could not bounce back from the 2 surgeries to remove the flesh-eating bacteria in his side.I did not know how I was going to get thru such a traumatic time. It was very dark!!!

Becoming a widow was not a title I ever wanted or desired. I discovered that people look at you so differently after the death of your husband. The fear, anger and anxiety that comes with it is mind-blowing!! I learned that you have to strong and determined and to check everything out 50 times more than you ever did before mainly because everyone questions your motives. These last nine years have been difficult to say the least!  My daughters handled the situation with such grace and dignity. My youngest daughter, Samantha has been incredible. She has been strong and unyielding in her faith. I have learned so much from her. She has been my rock. While I faltered and depended on her very much for support, energy ! But enough about the that and sadness, I will talk about it another time!!

I am so thankful that 2016 has brought happiness back to the month of May for our family.
When my youngest daughter and her husband told me that their baby was due in May, I knew that it would indeed turn our feelings around for this month.

They welcomed their first child (my grand baby) Humberto, Jr on May 4th at 11:47pm! My heart just melted when I saw him! He is just perfect and so cute.He was 19 inches long and weighed 6.2 pounds. He had tons of dark hair and beautiful blue eyes just like his mom’s. What an angel!!

 

I had been told that being a grandparent is the best thing ever.  I always thought those people had exaggerated about it. Let me say in my humble opinion, it is the best ever!! They were 100% correct!!! My heart is happy and full of love when I think about that little guy! I want to see him all of the time.Sometimes that 10 minutes that he lives from me feels  as far as the moon!!

So, I am a happy Obaasan, Grandmum ,Grandmother, Abuela, Mimi, Gigi, Nonna, Yaya or Mema. I prefer Obaasan which is grandmother in Japanese because of my love for the Japanese culture. (The way to say it phonetically is “oh-baah-sahn” and in hiragana it is

 .

Obaasan and Humberto, Jr.

It is once again a happy time in our life.May is not a dark month now.It now has a bright spot!! I can’t wait to see what the next twelve month will bring as the light grows along with Humberto, Jr.!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I learned from the A to Z Challenge

The month of April was filled lots of many interesting details along the highways and bi-ways of our great state of TEXAS.

I came across ghost towns that have faded from memory, farming communities that have not changed at all since they were incorporated and many historical places that are still as famous as when the founding fathers of Texas started them in the 1800’s.

I traveled to most of the different areas from the top of the Panhandle to Piney Woods of East Texas to the rolling hills of Central Texas and to the very tip of Texas!

Each town was unique and filled colorful history and fun facts or interesting buildings!!

I learned about some towns that I did not know anything about (Ziperlandville, O’Brien, Mt. Vernon, Yorktown, Japonica, Kalagary, Utopia)

Ironically, the towns named for cities in Europe or  foreign countries were actually named for cities that the explorers had been born in here in the United States not for those exact places: Lebanon for Lebanon Tennessee, Mt. Vernon for a man that settled there first, Virginia City for an early settler,Japonica for the flowers around it not for Japan, Nazareth for the fact that it was a small town that stars could be seen clearly from.Turkey was named for the flock of birds not the country.

I learned that Canadian is actually named for the river and has nothing to do with Canada!

Happy is the happiest place on earth and there is not a frown there!! Couldn’t we all learn from those townspeople?!?

I learned that there are two ways to say Quitquae: kit-ta-kway and kitty-quay and that it means “end of the trail!!

Dublin is the home of the original Dr Pepper bottling plant, while Shamrock has a huge St Patrick’s  Day celebration and has original authentic piece of the blarney stone!

Florence, Geneva and Italy, Palestine, Athens, Lebanon, Richmond and Yorktown are nothing like their sister cities or countries. They started off to be carbon copies but growth and technology were not kind.

Washington- on- the -Brazos has the most history of all of the towns visited. It could have been the capital of Texas.

All in all, the virtual trip was lots of fun and I can’t wait to travel back to a few of the towns and spend more time in Utopia, Edinburg and Washington- on -the- Brazos.

Thanks so much for being my travel buddy!!

Happy Trails and enjoy your travels where ever they may take you!

#A to Z Challenge Mapping Texas: Zipperlandville

Zipperlandville, also called Zipperlen or Zipperlenville, is a small community located five miles west of Rosebud on State Highway 53 in southern Falls County. The area was settled in the 1870’s by immigrants of German, Yugoslavian, and Czech descent. The town was named for the Zipperlen family, who bought a gin in 1925 and built a store in 1928. The store served as a community center for area residents. A school and several scattered houses marked the town on county highway maps in the 1940’s. The school was consolidated with the Rosebud Independent School District in 1950. Only one business appeared on county maps in the 1980’s, and no population estimates were available. In 2000 the population was twenty-two.

The postal service named towns when it located a post office in a particular area. Residents submitted the name they wanted and the government at that point either approved, rejected, misread, mangled or simply changed proposed names. Zipperlandville is just one example.

Thanks for traveling around the state with me during this month! I hope you have learned something about state. We have lots of very interesting places laced with interesting facts and tons of history! Hope you had plans to take some time to really visit each of the places that I have highlighted on this virtual trip around Texas!!

 

#A to Z Challenge Mapping Texas Yorktown

Yorktown is located in southwestern DeWitt County  where State Highways 72 and 119 intersect on the western side of town.The city was founded by Captain John York and Charles Eckhardt and named in honor of Captain John York, a famous Indian fighter and was in command of a company of citizens who, under Ben Milam, defeated General Cos in 1835 at the Siege of Béxar. For his military services, York received many acres of land in the Coleto Creek area.Charles Eckhardt started a mercantile business in Indianola which at that time was a major Texas seaport. Eckhardt participated in the Texas Revolution and may have met Captain York during military service.

Eckhardt contracted with John A. King, one of the pioneers of West Texas, to survey a road from Indianola through Yorktown to New Braunfels, later known as the Old Indianola Trail. From its inception in February, 1848, this road remained the chief thoroughfare for this part of the state to New Braunfels and San Antonio. This trail shortened the former route by twenty miles and established Yorktown as an important relay station for freighters, prairie schooners, trail drivers, and stagecoaches bringing mail and passengers.

Early in 1848, after the founders had the proposed town surveyed, they offered 10 acres  and the choice of a lot free to the first ten families to settle the townsite. Many German, Bohemian, and Polish families came and soon changed this wilderness into one of the most prosperous sections of the entire state.

In May, 1848, Peter Metz and John Frank built the first house in the settlement of Yorktown for Charles Eckhardt. It was built of logs, twelve by twenty feet, with a back room and chimney. This house was later occupied by a brother, Caesar Eckhardt, who was the founder of C. Eckhardt and Sons Mercantile Company, known for half a century as the leading firm of its kind in western DeWitt County.

Unfortunately, neither of the founders lived to see the town develop beyond this point. In October 1848, in a battle with Marauding Indians, Captain York and his son-in-law, James Madison Bell, were killed. They were buried in a single hand-made coffin in the Yorktown Cemetery some seven miles  east of Yorktown; a historical marker designates York’s grave.

 

The Catholics established a church in 1867 and the Lutherans in 1872. The huge oak tree on the lawn of the latter church is one of the oldest in the state.

 

 

 

 

 

             

 

Today, the town is a town of about 2,500 residents who are mostly farmers or ranchers. Most are of German heritage and love living in the quaint town that has not changed very much in the last hundred years!!

 

The town is filled with interesting buildings and structures that are still standing after one hundred years. The Hospital was closed in 1981 and has been featured in a paranormal movie. It is one of the buildings that people love to explore.

Yorktown Hospital

Feedstore

Eckhardt and Sons Mercantile Company

Nau Building

Downtown Yorktown

Yorktown CIty Hall

Detail on Chevrolet dealership

Bakery

 

Thanks for visiting Yorktown!

#A to Z Challenge Mapping Texas: Washington on the Brazos

Located between Brenham and Navasota off State Highway 105, founded largely by European-American immigrants from the southern United States, Washington-on-the-Brazos is known as “the birthplace of Texas” because it was here that, on
March 1, 1836, Texas delegates met to formally announce Texas intention to separate from Mexico and to draft the constitution of the new Republic of Texas. They organized an interim government to serve until a government could be elected and inaugurated.

Washington County was established by the legislature of the Republic of Texas in 1836 and organized in 1837, when Washington-on-the-Brazos was designated as the county seat. Although the county seat moved to Brenham in 1844, the town continued to thrive as a center for the cotton trade until the mid-1850’s, as it was located on the Brazos River to use for shipping out the crop. The construction of railroads bypassed the town and pulled off its business. The strife of the Civil War took another toll on the town, and by the turn of the 20th century it was virtually abandoned.

 

Washington on the Brazos State Historic Site is located on 293 acres of lush park land, the picturesque area gives visitors unique insights into the lives and times of the 59 delegates who met on that very spot on March 2, 1836 to make a formal declaration of independence from Mexico. The site is now known as Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site and features three main attractions: Independence Hall, Barrington Living History Farm, and the Star of the Republic Museum, which is administered by Blinn College. The site’s visitor center is free and includes interactive exhibits about the Texas Revolution and the park’s attractions, a gift shop, a conference center and an education center.  From 1836 to 1846, the Republic of Texas proudly but precariously existed as a separate and unique nation. Washington on the Brazos is, indeed, “Where Texas Became Texas.” Washington on the Brazos State Historic Site is the core of the Republic of Texas Complex, which also includes Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site—a wonderfully preserved 19th century stagecoach inn located nearby in Anderson, TX.   Additionally, you’ll find the nearby Six Flags over Texas Monument in Navasota, TX.  A visit to this significant historic site is a must for all Texans and newcomers alike!

 

Independence Hall is a Replica of the building at Washington-on-the-Brazos where the Texas Declaration was signed. The inscription reads: “Here a Nation was born.” The delegates declared independence on March 2, 1836. They adopted their constitution on March 16. The delegates worked until March 17, when they had to flee with the residents of Washington, to escape the advancing Mexican Army. The townspeople returned after the Mexican Army was defeated at San Jacinto on April 21. Town leaders lobbied for Washington’s designation as the permanent capital of the Republic of Texas, but leaders of the Republic favored Waterloo, which later was renamed Austin.

Barrington Living History Farm   Using  Anson Jones’s day book as their guide, the interpreters at Barrington Living History Farm conduct themselves much as did the earliest residents of the original farmstead. The Jones home is original; the outbuildings are replicas constructed by Texas Parks and Wildlife using Jones’ own journal and drawings. (Anson Jones was the last president of the Republic of Texas) Step into the lives of Barrington Farm’s earliest residents. Experience the sights, smells, and sounds of the 19th century. The scene is complete with heritage breeds of livestock. Interpreters, dressed in period style clothing, help visitors better understand what life was like 150 years ago.Visitors  are encouraged to participate in the work of the farm and become a part of the exhibit. Learn how to drive oxen, help plant and harvest crops, and try your hand at spinning or making soap. Explore the farm and experience the daily lives of those who came before.

Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site consists of six acres in Anderson, county seat of Grimes County. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department acquired the property by purchase in 1977 from a Fanthorp descendant, and it was opened to the public Oct. 4, 1987, to demonstrate 19th century life at an early Texas stagecoach stop and family home. Ten years were spent researching and restoring the inn to its 1850 use as both a family home and travelers’ stop.The double-pen, cedar log dogtrot house was built by an English immigrant, Henry Fanthorp, when Texas was part of Mexico. Fanthorp petitioned Stephen F. Austin in 1832 for permission to settle in this original Austin Colony. He bought 1,100 acres and built his house in 1834 on the road that crossed his land, thus bringing travelers to his door immediately. Henry Fanthorp was appointed postmaster by the provisional Texas government in 1835, and saw the advantage of offering other services and goods to his frequent visitors. Within time, Fanthorp’s Inn became a well-known stopping place for both travelers and the community.

The Star of the Republic Museum In 1965, when Gus Deutsche was a State Representative from Washington County, he introduced a bill appropriating $800,000 for construction of a “Worthy Museum, at the Birthplace of Texas that would be a Star upon a Star.”  In 1969, Speaker of the House Mutscher, sponsored
HB 634 of the Sixty-first Texas Legislature transferring ownership of the museum to Blinn College and appropriating an annual operating budget.  The museum was dedicated and formally opened on March 1, 1970.  It is the only museum in the state created by the Legislature for the exclusive purpose of interpreting the republic period of Texas history and its material culture.

Wildflower Loop

The bluebonnets alone are a favorite of many and typically are in bloom from March through April. The location and timing of large masses of flowers is hard to predict, but a joy when discovered. Areas around the Visitor Center and down the walking trail to the Wildflower Loop usually offer visitors a view of the sweet scented state flower as well as an array of other Texas flowering beauties. With blooming flowers, a variety of butterflies and songbirds, Washington on the Brazos has much to offer the nature lover, artist, photographer and those looking for beauty and peace. Spend a day taking in the glory of nature and the intrigue of history when you visit this Texas shrine.

The Six Flags Over Texas Monument

The Six Flags Over Texas Monument captures almost 500 years of Texas history. From a time before recorded history, the area around the confluence of the Brazos and Navasota Rivers, along the La Bahia Trail, has been a magnet to travelers and settlers. This monument, located outside the August Horst Municipal Park in nearby Navasota, celebrates its heritage with a timeline of flags, representing the six nations who built the unique character of Texas (Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederate States of America, and the United States of America). A place to rest and reflect on the heritage of Texas, the monument is a joint venture of the Washington on the Brazos State Park Association and the City of Navasota, built and donated to the people of Texas by The Double H Ranch and the Huddleston family.

 X Marks the spot of the”the birthplace of Texas”!!  Which is the reason that it is combined with W and on today’s page! If you are a Texan, nothing is more than important that its birthplace!!

 

 

#A to Z Challenge Mapping Texas Virginia City

I’m taking part in the A-Z April Blog Challenge.
Join me every day (except Sundays) throughout April for the next letter in the alphabet and a look at one of the interesting small towns in Texas!
Something different on each Letter of the alphabet!

Virginia City is now a ghost town  located 2 Miles SE of the Juncture of FM 298 and FM 173 1 and 25 Miles Southwest of Muleshoe.

It was platted on March 13, 1909, by Matthew C. Vaughn and Samuel D. McCloud. The original townsite called for a lot reserved for a courthouse and others for schools, churches, and a park. The same year it was platted, an Iowa land company bought the site and advertised for prospective buyers. A hotel was constructed to accommodate the hoped-for crush of buyers. A railroad roadbed was graded in Virginia City and is thought to have been a silent persuasive tactic (in short – a trick).It wasn’t as bad as tying apples to Mesquite trees, but in any case it didn’t work and within a few years the future town was already in the past.The venture failed, and the town was abandoned by 1913.

 

                  A Quonset barn is the only building that is left in this area.

 In 2013, the town will celebrate its Centennial of Abandonment!

 

Tomorrow we will leave this area and head toward Washington on the Brazos! One of the most historical small towns in Texas.