Just a little of our Day

I just wanted to share this updated forecast. On Tuesday they say that this 38 will be the high in the am and then will fall throughout the day. And we have a chance of sleet/snow/ice.

I am so thrilled that we have had a beautiful day today. Papa and I went to the Stock Show. We had a lot of fun. I will have to say this though - it is something that we do every several years. By the time you pay to park and then admission - it is quite expensive. But every so often it is something fun to do. I still have not found my camera but I was able to get a couple of photos of my favorite area at the stock show. There is a barn that has lots of baby animals. I was not able to get photos of everything that I wanted to - because there were so many kiddos around the cages, but here are the photos that I was able to get:

I love baby pigs. I think they are adorable. When I was a little girl, I remember going to a farm once and seeing baby pigs and asking my parents if I could have a baby pig..I was serious. I wanted one. Look at these above, aren't they adorable? Oh and by the way - this was not all her babies - the rest were sleeping.

Now I love the baby chicks as well. See the Ferris wheel? It actually moved around and there was chicken feed on each of the seats- it was trying to lure the baby chicks on the step and that way they would ride around. They did ok - if the girl in the pen put them on the step but they did not get on and stay on on their own. The one you see there - will jump off in just a little bit. But they were still cute to watch.

They had baby ducks, calves, goats and lambs - they were cute too but too many people to get very close.

Oh- and I am sure that you all have heard about how everything in Texas is bigger? Well here is some proof!

This bunny was huge! I have a photo of another bunny but I don't know if you will be able to actually tell how BIG this bunny actually was.

Sorry I was not able to get more photos. But I hope you enjoyed these that I was able to get.

On the way home, I was able to see a Road Runner. The first one that I have seen in a long time. I don't know if I have shared this before, but I really like road runner and actually they are like an "I love you" from God. When I see one - that is what it reminds me of. It is good to have things that you really like and when God blesses you by letting you see it - it is a special message of love from our Father who loves us so very much. And just in case you do not know what a Road Runner is - I borrowed a photo from Google images for you to see one:

Hopefully some day you will have the chance to see one in person. If you do - they will probably be running across the road.

This afternoon, the weather was so very nice that my husband and I cleaned out our chicken coop. They needed new hay in their laying bins and so we change that out and I scooped out a lot the mess on the floor of the coop. It felt good to get that job done. It needed it and it was nice to do it on such a beautiful day! :o)

You Learn Something New Every Day

I learned something new recently. This is something that many, if not all of you probably already know. But just in case there is someone who does not know - I will share.
See this gauge above? This gauge tells when the engine is warm. So why is this bit of information important? Well when I get into my car and it is COLD outside - I like to have my heat off and even the blower off. Because even though you turn the heater off - air will still flow through if you have the blower on. And I for one, do NOT want the cold air flowing into my car. So I will go for a while till I think that the heater will start blowing warm air. Well now I know that if you will watch this gauge - you will know when your engine is warm and when warm air will flow in to the car. Isn't that cool? I know, I figure a lot of you already know this but I wanted to share - just in case there were other ladies out there that may not realize this. I hope you guys stay warm and cozy through this cold weather. :o)

By the way, You really do not want the gauge to show any hotter - cause if it does then your engine could be over heating.

What a Beautiful Day

Today we needed to go pick up our granddaughters birthday present from Toys R Us - the closest one is about 20 plus miles away so we decided to make it into a date by stopping by Souper Salad for lunch. It was so good. With the new way that I am eating it has limited the places that I can eat. I know a lot of places have plenty of good food, but they have a lot of ingredients that I am wanting to limit or stay away from and to be honest they are not very filling. I like to eat healthy food that is filling without a lot of added fat to it. Anyway we had a very nice lunch. Oh another cool thing - if you have a Souper Salad in your area - be sure to go to their website and look for a printable coupon. It saved us about $1.80 - I know it is not a lot of money but every little it helps.

We found the present that we wanted to get for the granddaughter. We had seen it at Christmas time and we were hoping that it would still be there. It was. Here is what we got our her for her birthday next week:

Here is another photo of the little package of some additional animals, since you can not see them very well here.
I think my granddaughter will have many years of enjoyment from these cute toys. And I think that it is so neat that Fisher Price made such a neat toy - to do with Noah's Ark and the animals. I also think it is a neat thing that I was able to buy these toys and support the idea of making toys like this. Just like when a the makers of the movie Fireproof - make wonderful movies - I will buy them and add them to my small library of great movies. It is a good thing to support good causes that are trying to support Christian living and Christian ideas.

It was a gorgeous day here in Texas. The sun was shining and the temps were up to about 60. My son and I worked on getting some more wood into the house and also to our wood pile. There is a lot of wood in the back of my husbands truck. We also loaded our new wagon that you can see
here at TSC's website, loaded with wood to put out in the garage so we will have easy access. I am so glad to have this job taken care of - it is something that we needed to take care - especially since next week we are suppose to have a COLD spell and maybe even snow. So we are trying to get ready the best way we can. Tomorrow is suppose to be a beautiful day as well. :o)

This and That

Hello~ I hope you all are doing well. Things here are going good. Yesterday I spent a good amount of time filing papers that had stacked up for too long. In fact - my little cubby hole where I put the papers to be filed was filled up to the top. So I got all of those papers filed away. And it felt great to have it under control finally. I also worked at getting my bank binder in order. It is set up so that each month you put your bank statement in that special area for that month- and I am hoping that when my bank statements come in I will take the time to get them filed away neatly and orderly.

Now that I have everything filed - I think that sometime later this week - I will take my filing drawer out of my desk and go through each folder - getting rid of those things we do not need. Yes - this would have been easier to do before I put the fresh papers in the files but I just did not think of it. Anyway it does not matter - the only thing that matters is that I am working towards being more organized. And that is a good thing.

I also organized the area that I put our bills in when they come in. There had been a pile of mail in there that was not important but needed to be disposed of in the proper way - like credit cards that I do not even want.

Today I had an appointment to get my hair cut. And while I was in town - I got gas, mailed out some payments, and went by two of my favorite thrift stores. One of the thrift stores has started a new system that each week a new color tag is on sale for 50% off - next week that color will be 75% off and then what ever is left the next week will be .50. And then the really cool thing is that like this week blue tags were on sale for 50% off - next week a new color will be 50% off and the blue tags will go to 75% of and so forth. I found a pair of jeans, a church shirt, a long sleeved "cowboy" shirt and a short sleeved shirt for my son, a 8X10 brand new shadow box - just waiting for someone to fill it up, a card, and some rolling pin socks for $15.75. I had not gone there looking for my son but it just happened to work out that way. Then I went to the Goodwill - there I found 2 adorable dresses for my granddaughter, 2- 3/4 sleeved tops for me and a tank top all for $16.? . I have shared this with you all before but I love to shop at Goodwill because every time you spend at least 10 dollars you get a stamp and once you have 10 stamps - you get $10.00 off of a purchase that is $10.00 or more! Isn't that cool? I was surprised that I found anything today - because tomorrow they plan to be closed to do inventory and they had let the stock run really low.

And let me tell you -my sister and I have found some great clothes at thrift stores in fact - I rarely buy things new any more. Especially now that I do not know where I will end up in sizes. So what I buy I might get to wear for a long time or it just may be things I use for a season or so. God has really blessed and clothes have continues to be wearable. I have went down about two size so far and I am much happier at were I am today.

Also an update - I had shared that I had gotten discouraged because I had gained about 2 pounds or so over the Christmas to New Years week - well I have lost it again. And it helped me learn a VERY important lesson. It is easier to lose 2-3 pounds than 20-30 pounds..And you may be say yeahhhhh???duh... Well the reason why it is profound to me is because I have have fallen off of the wagon before and I have gained all of the weight I have lost because once I have fallen off - I just start to ignore the scales and pretend there is not a problem or that I don't care. Well I am learning that not only is my new lifestyle of a plant based diet is a long term - the rest of my life decision -but that I have to continue to monitor my weight and not let it get out of had. Being in denial might make you feel better temporarily but it WILL hurt you worse in the long run. So continue to be real about your life and the choices you make - those choices all add up to the direction in which you are going. And each of those decisions are important - they really are. :o)

A Recipe and Being Real

Good Afternoon~ I hope you all are having a good day. Today I worked on making up a menu and a grocery list. I wanted to get this stuff out of the way today because tomorrow evening we have a Christmas Dinner and my MIL's house. And I will have to make up few things to take as well. So I was happy to get my shopping out of the way.

I made up a batch of Taco Seasoning - I got the recipe out of one of my Tightwad Gazette books. Just in case some of you are interested in it- Here it is:

Taco Seasoning Mix

6 tsp. chili powder
4 1/2 tsp. cumin
5 tsp. paprika
3 tsp. onion powder
2 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 - 1/4 cayenne pepper(optional)
This makes up about 1/2 cup of the seasoning mix.

It is a good thing that I just shared this recipe because I had forgotten to put the onion powder in my mix. I have now - so it is all good.

Well since I try to be honest here on my blog - I wanted to share with you all that I am a little discouraged. I have lost a total of 34 pounds...which is great - I know! And I am so happy about it but for the past week or so I have been sitting still- not losing. And I know that I do not need to be discouraged - and I think that is one reason why I am writing this and sharing it because I need to be real and then accept the situation that way it is. So I have been discouraged about this. Then I went and looked at my little notebook, the one that I use to record my weight and blood pressure information and I noticed that I had lost 5 pounds as of the first of Dec. Which for December is not very bad at all. In fact, many people gain few pounds around the holidays- so it is ok that I sit right where I am. Because at least I am not gaining.

With my husband being home and me adjusting to not working - has been an adjustment for me. I have really tried the past couple of days to get back on track - getting to bed earlier - before 10pm if at all possible. I have shared in the past that there is a special hormone that is released at about 10pm. And if you are asleep then the hormone can do your body the most good. And since I have been getting to bed earlier then I am also getting up earlier which is helping me to be back on the schedule that works pretty good for me.

The past two weeks I have had to bake up goodies for a few special people in our lives and so that has been more tempting to me - than usual. So that has not helped at all.

So anyway I have been discouraged but I am going to just take it all in stride - I did not gain all my weight over night and I can not expect to lose it over night. In fact, I have never lost weight this fast before..So I am going to Praise God for the blessings that He has provided - the knowledge and the success. And pray that He will give me the strength to move forward. :o)

Loved This Dress

Earlier this week, when my sister and I went to the Goodwill half price day - I found this awesome dress. It is a "Just My Size" Smocked Jersey border print dress, with the tags still attached to it. I loved the style(of course I would have worn a camisole under it cause I do not wear that revealing of clothing)! The flowers at the bottom of this dress are so pretty and just make me love the dress. Well I tried it on, as I was admiring the fact that several months ago the size would have never fit and how excited I was to find such a cute dress and it would only be about $5.00, I noticed that somehow it had gotten cut in several places towards the bottom in the area with the flowers. I am imaging that some little kid got a hold of scissors and got in at least 2 cuts before they were taken away. Anyway I was so disappointed. Anyway going to thrift stores and Goodwill's is a great way to find really pretty, nice clothes at really reasonable prices- you just have to really be careful and check things out. There may be a really good reason why it is there - other than it did not fit someone any more. :o)

This and That

Well yesterday my husband had a rough day. I think it might have been the "3rd day is the worst day" thing. I have heard this said about surgeries and accidents, that there is something about that 3rd day. Anyway today he has seemed to be doing better. It will take a while totally heal up and that is normal. We are going to just let him take it easy and heal properly.
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I also wanted to share how this new lifestyle that my sister and I have changed to- has really had a lot of benefits. I am so thrilled to say that we both made it through Thanksgiving without gaining weight! In fact - I lost a pound or two that week. And with my husband being in the hospital and me not being able to follow a lot of the healthy changes - like getting to bed before 10pm - and not eating as healthy as I would like - still no weight gain -staying steady. I am so thrilled. In times past, the stress of Jason having the surgery and having to be up at the hospital long hours for 2 days in a row would have given me the "right" or privilege or excuse to go back to sodas or to eat unhealthily, but I did not allow the stress to run the way I live my life. And it felt good to be able to still make good choices - as good as I could under the circumstances.

My sister and I both are so happy to have made the changes that are long term and that have given us both hope that we will be able to lose the weight that we have wanted to lose for years. And that we will have the chance to reach some goals that have eluded us for years. And that we will be able to keep the weigh off once we lose the weight that we want to lose. We have both given the amount of weight that we lose to God. We will eat this way the rest of our lives and God will make the choice of where our weight lose will stop. It feels good to let go of that. Now I must confess that even though I have released that part - I still would love to have instant gratification. And I have to remind myself that it took years to get to where I am and it is not all going to come off at once. In fact, it is good for weight loss to be somewhat slow. If it is then I have more of a chance for my skin to tighten along with the weight loss instead of sagging. And that is a good thing.

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Ok last week when I drove by a gas station - prices were at $2.49 a gallon. And I had thought that once Thanksgiving was past that gas prices would go down. That is usually how gas prices work. Anyway today when I went to Block of the Month - I about died when I saw the most recent gas prices - $2.79. And I was not too happy about the fact that I HAD to get gas today.
I would be curious to know what the gas prices are where you live. So if you would leave a comment with gas prices and at least a state. That would be cool to see how the prices are different? And also did the gas prices jump in your area this week? :o)

This and That ~ Monday

I spent a good amount of time this week end going through my clothes - trying stuff on. Since I had been at the same size for several years or more in a row- I found that I had a whole lot of clothes, really more clothes than I really needed. The good news is that since I am losing weight some of the clothes were already getting too big on me and it was best to put them in the get rid of pile. Then there were some of the clothes that I just did not love so I put them in the get rid of pile as well. It felt so good to be able to let go of the clothes. For a long time I would hold onto things - because I would always have the fear that if I got rid of the clothes then I would need them. Well I don't have room to hold onto that many clothes any more. And I don't plan to be the size that I was at the beginning of this journey ever again. And for the first time I am willing to let go of those clothes.

It is so funny how clothes are - I am learning that if I really like something even if it says that it is a size or two smaller than what I think I can wear - I need to try it on. Sometimes I get lucky! This last week end Goodwill had a midnight madness sale on Saturday night and my sister and I went. We are both losing weight and so what we did was tried to only get things that were a bit small on us so that when we lost a little more weight we could have some cute clothes. Oh and also we are trying to stick with only buying things that we really love! That is important. For along time I think we both would buy out of desperation and then we would not be very pleased with those clothes later. I only ended up buying 5 times, at 50% the already low prices was fantastic!!

And of course as we were shopping we could not help but go look at baby clothes for our grandchildren. Right now there parents don't have a lot of money and that is one way that we can bless them and our grandchildren as well. I lucked out - I think I found about 10 outfits - paying anywhere from $.50 - $1.25 at the most. I may have to take a couple of photos and share with you all later. I was thrilled with the things I found. I am just hoping that the things that I bought will fit her in the season that they are. You know that is really hard to do - to figure out what size a baby will be in like 6 months -a year from now. I only was able to find a couple of things for right now. But I will keep looking.

Well I hope everyone else had a good week end and also have a good week! :o)

A Treasure Found..

Yesterday I had a few errands to run in town and stopped by a local Goodwill to look around. And look at what I found!!!

For $5.00 - I just could not pass it up. It will take a little work, but I think it will just be adorable when it is finished! And then I will need to make a matress for it and a little quilt. That will be such fun!! Now I just need to decide what color I would like to paint it..Mmmmm???

I hope you all have a wonderful day! :O)

Our Week-end Getaway

This week-end I was able to add another photo of a county courthouse. We went to Granbury Texas for the week-end. It is such a neat little town. They had Pirate Invasion going on - so had a lot of Pirate activities going on. We had not planned our trip with that in mind- we planned the trip then later found out that it would be the same week end. Here is the Hood County Courthouse:
There are a lot of really neat shops around the town square. At one of them my husband found this:

It fits him perfectly a lot of the time! So I had to get a photo. That way just in case some of you ladies out there have a husband that might also be suffering from the Fishing Pox! That's cool - now I am adding Public Service announcements to my blog. lol :O)

Speaking of fishing, my husband fished here several times while we were in Granbury.

There was a group of 7 little ducks that were hanging around that area of the lake. They were so sweet. So when we went out to eat - when we had left over biscuits or rolls - I saved them and took them to the ducks. They loved it!

This pier above was a pier that went around a special area of the lake that has been made into a swimming area. They have a sandy beach and huts. It is so cool! I think every town needs something like this. I took this photo from the pier. Wanted to give you an idea of what it looked like without invading any ones privacy.

Remember I said that it was Pirate Invasion Week end? Well we were able to watch a really funny act by these pirates! It was a lot of fun to watch them.

In the skit an apple and a cantaloupe where cut into two pieces.

They got a lady out of the audience to help them out. It was funny here because when the guy put his arm behind him that guy looking at his the other pirates hand - went to kiss it.

While we were there, we went to the Brazos Drive-In Movies Theater. It was a fun experience for us.

As you can see we got to see "Nanny McPhee Returns" and "Despicable Me." They were both cute movies. We stayed up way too late - the movies did not get over till after midnight.

I took this photo out the window of the car. We had a great view. It did not start till it got dark so we had to wait about 15 minutes or so.

Well I hope that you all enjoyed our trip to Granbury as much as we did. We also got to do some antique shopping. We found a couple of really cool things. I will see if I can get some great photos of them and post them later. Even though we did not get a lot - it was so fun to get to look around.

I should be back to regular posting now. I just needed a few days off I guess. :O)

A Heat Wave is Here

"What dreadful hot weather we have.

It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance."

Jane Austen

Well this is what our weather looks like right now. This is the worse thing about living in Texas. The rest of the year it is a great place to live, but come summer it can be miserable. And what is the hardest to handle, at least for me, is when we get the temperatures in the 100's for days on end. And it only getting to about 80 at night - no cool off and no refreshment.

I am so thankful that this past Wednesday night I went out to the lake with my husband and sat out there and read on my current "Little House" book. There was a cool breeze and it was actually refreshing. If I had have known it was going to be that nice - I would have wanted to get out there earlier than we did. But I am sad to say - I think that will be the last time for a while that we have any refreshing weather.

And wouldn't you know it - when it is the hottest outside - is what my husband discovers a problem with our AC ducting. And he worked up there yesterday for a while.

Well ever since we have moved into this house the end of the house with the beds rooms is much easier to keep cool and the end with the kitchen, dining room and living room is usually at least 5(give or take a few) degrees warmer. So after my husband worked to get the hole that they found fixed, he started thinking about what changes could be made to the AC ducting to help the air move around better and keep our house at a more constant temperature. So he has bought some more supplies and is working on that. I am hoping that the results that we are striving for - actually will be.

Oh and my husband also has gotten part of the mini blinds up in our sun room. The back of the house faces the west so that afternoon, HOT sun - usually really shines in and you can feel the heat. So we are hoping that if we have the blinds up it will block off some of that heat so it will be cooler. I think that will make a big difference in our house.

We also bought some curtains that I am hoping I will be able to alter to make fit our back door. Because in the afternoon - the sun really shines through that window. So we wanted curtains to put up but I wanted curtains that I can open up and have it look cute as well. Wish me luck as I alter them- they are too wide and too long.

Well I hope you all are staying cool this summer. :o)

Another Item Checked Off

Checked off of my list of things that I want to do - that is. On Tuesday of this week, my husband had to go in early for a power cut at work. So he was able to get off early. Well I have been wanting to go see an exhibit about Leonardo Da Vinci that is temporarily at a museum nearby. As I was checking out the times and prices and all on the Internet - I was very tempted to get a family pass so that we could go every time a new exhibit opened up. My husband thought that would be a good idea.

Well we drove to the museum and lo and behold - they had done a total remodel job to the building. It is really a nice building, however, the problem is that along with all the changes to the building the city decided to make ALL the parking lots in that area charge $5.00 for parking. This area used to have free parking unless it was stock show time and then you might have to pay but that was expected and understandable. So after we got past the initial shock of having to pay for parking- we got a parking spot. And went into the building - the first thing I noticed was how LOUD it was. It is in the middle of summer and I am sure there are a lot of people trying to do things that are cool to entertain their children.

Well we decided to just get one time tickets and then see if we still thought it would be a good idea for the family pass then get them later. Well we are SO glad we did not do the family pass thing. The museum is really neat but here's the thing - if you have children and they get to enjoy all the areas of the museum - the price for the tickets would be worth it. But if you are an adult, then to me - it was not really something that I think is worth the price. I have to be honest though - I don't like loud places that are crowded. I like quiet, peaceful things.

A couple of years ago we went on a vacation down to Port Aransas. Well we took our RV thinking it would be the best way to go. When we got to the RV park - we were parked in rows so close together that you could hear other people opening and closing cabinets and it sounded like it was your own RV. We were put right in the middle of about 5-6 families that go there every year. And one of the men greeted us with a LARGE bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand(at 4 in the afternoon). To say the least this was not the best vacation that we have had. We had stopped at a small RV park on the way in a small town - and we actually enjoyed the two nights we stayed there better than the rest of the time. We figured out right then that we needed to make sure that our vacations from then on - were quiet places - were we could relax and enjoy life. Ok - all of that to explain that we prefer quiet - to loud, overcrowded places.

Well we did enjoy the exhibit. And we looked around at a few of the other exhibits. I have to say that I have just not gotten into this being a blogger and carrying my camera around thing yet. I could have gotten some great photos to share with you. And I got a few from my camera on my phone and that will just have to do.

Leonardo Da Vinci was a brilliant man. He had some really awesome ideas that were ahead of his time. Now if I understand correctly - he had a lot of different drawings. They had a copy of it on the plaque telling about each of these things but my phone camera was not getting a good photo. Some of these things he invented and some of them he had the ideas and they were invented from his ideas. That is the understanding I got.

This first photo was a machine to measure the wind speed.

This one I thought was cool. A boat that had a double hull. So that when enemy ships would come and ram the boat trying to make a hole in it to sink it - it would not sink. Isn't that smart?
I think the rest of these speak for themselves.

And a post about Leonardo Da Vinci would not be complete without a photo of "Mona Lisa." There were about 6 paintings total and I am upset because we looked at 3 of them that were on one side of a room and I thought that we would look in an area back in there and then come back to that room but we did not go back into that room. And we did not remember till much later - too late - that I wanted to see the other paintings. So glad that I got to see this one.

By the way, I am feeling better. I wanted to say Thanks so very much for the prayers. I really appreciate them. :o)

Some Really Pretty Landscaping Photos from our Trip

All these photos were taken at the Wildseed Farms. I thought there was so much beauty and I wanted to share some of it with you all.

And this photo is a photo of the Butterfly house that they had. I thought it was cool! Do any of you know if Butterflies would really live in them if we were to build one? Have any of you ever had a Butterfly House?

Our Week-end Getaway

On July 22nd is our official Anniversary; however, we went out of town this past week-end on a week-end getaway. This is actually only the second time in our marriage since we have had our children that we have had a week-end away just the two of us. Yep - Last year was our first one.




We had a very nice time. We ended up staying in a quiet town named Llano, Texas. We had planned on staying in Fredericksburg, Texas but the hotel that we were going to stay in was booked up already. (We had some points saved up for free hotel night) So we picked a town about 40 miles away. We are REALLY glad we did because we really like quiet places. And especially at night.




The town of Llano has a river flowing through it. There is a cool bridge going over the river.

Along the river is a nice park. My husband spent a few hours Saturday night and Sunday morning fishing. He caught several fish. This one being his favorite! Yeah - He had to send the photo of the fish to our sons to enjoy!

*(Sorry - some how I deleted this picture and had not realized I had)

We loved the county courthouse. I had to take a photo of it. It just might be the start to a collection of them....or not. In the parking lot of the courthouse was a man selling some produce. We bought a watermelon, some peaches and some zucchini. really good peaches are grown around Texas. So I know we will enjoy them!!

We drove over to Fredericksburg and found the town buzzing with activity. We headed east of town to Wildseed Farms. We loved this place. It was probably not the best time of year to visit. I am sure that in March and April - it is a gorgeous place to visit with fields and fields of flowers. You may want to go to the web page above and check it out. It is an awesome place. They have a cafe where you can eat - inside or outside - your choice - we chose to stay inside especially since the temperature was in the mid to upper 90's. In the cafe they have a lot of speciality type foods that they have all sorts of free sample to try things out. We loved some Honey Praline Jelly they had - but forgot to go back and buy a jar of it. There is also an area that they sell wine and have free wine testing every week-end. We did not because we do not drink.

Then we went to the butterfly house. There was and admission fee but it was well worth it. I loved trying to get photos of the butterflies. Let me tell you- they are fast and not only that but I think they are ornery. It's like they sit all nice and pretty till I got close enough with my camera and then they close their wings or fly away. So I took lots of photos -and got at least a couple of photos that were good.

There are a lot of other beautiful landscaping that I will share in another post - so I don't get this post overwhelmed with photos.




Well when it was time to go we were going to take a right to head back to town but we noticed something going on to the left -so we thought we would check it out. Well it ended up being the big Fredericksburg Trade Days - the 3rd week-end of every month they have a big sale. So we pulled into the driveway. There were several cars coming out and one of them rolled down their window and held out a parking pass for us. That was a blessing - saved us about $5.00.




Well there ended up being about 6 big long building with all sorts of booths inside. And then a lot of different things set up out side along several streets. We were thankful when we found a place to get some sweet tea - and found out that if we paid $2.50 a drink - we could come back and get as many refills as we wanted! Well we did not find that till we were about half way done but we got at least 2- 3 refills and made it well worth our money. We were SO thirsty by that time. Remember it is like about 100 degrees by this time!




Well this post would not be complete without me showing you a couple of things that we found at the "Trade Days."
This is a vanity that we found. I loved it! I think they wanted $100.00 for it. And if I had have had a way to get it home(we were in the car) I would have bought it! The middle board there on top has a hinge at the back and it opens up and has a mirror on it. And there is storage under the lid for make up and such. It was awesome!!!

This along with 2 chairs was something that my husband and I both fell in love with. The set was $600. and I am thinking if we had have had the truck and some extra money we would have bought this as well. I would prefer a different color or even a floral - so that stains and such do not show up but I LOVE the design and all of this.


I know this is a LONG post already but I wanted to share one more thing. On Friday on our way to Llano - we stopped at Homestead Heritage . I had taken the boys here several years ago for a field trip and we had loved it. I had seen the furniture and the pottery and thought how nice it would be to be able to get some of it. I mean seriously their furniture is VERY nicely put together. It is high quality stuff. Well anyway Jason and I stopped and we looked around. I wish I had have taken a couple of photos of stuff in there but I can tell you that there were several wooden rocking chairs for about $3000- $4000. There was a child's rocking chair that was $1600. Yep that is right. Well this time as I looked around instead of feeling sorry for myself cause there is NO way we can afford things like that I thought - you know what it is great stuff and if we were rich - I would be tempted to get some of the pieces but I prefer antiques. The details and the quality and story that I am sure if behind each piece. And the price. I know that the really cool things can be expensive but I would have much rather paid $700 and got the vanity and the 3 piece set than to have bought one of the $3000. things any day - even if money was not an issue. It all has to do with perspective.