Goliad, Texas

Photo courtesy of Julie Stewart

I had always wanted to explore Goliad so when my friend, Julie said that she would be staying there for a few days, I saw that as a wonderful opportunity to check it out. Several years ago, Julie and her husband moved to Tennessee so we haven't seen them very much since then. Her husband is working in Goliad for a few months and she came down to see him for a few days.

 Photo courtesy of Julie Stewart

We met at Whataburger, then drove over to Courthouse Square.

 Photo courtesy of Julie Stewart

Julie treated me to a very nice lunch. I had a chicken fried ribeye and she had some chicken and dumplings.

 Photo courtesy of Julie Stewart

There was a very old piano sitting out on the sidewalk. It was one of those nice cabinet grands with a beautiful, deep sound. It seemed a shame that such a treasure would be out in the elements..

 Photo courtesy of Julie Stewart

A couple of the keys were sticking, but I am sure that they could be repaired.

One of the shops had a bea - u - ti - ful chandelier.

It's nice that friends can pick up again right where they left off. I hope that she can make another trip down here before her husband's job sends him back home; we have more catching up to do.

Photo courtesy of Julie Stewart

Gimme back my bullets

I needed more .38 shells so my husband took me out to the club to see if we could get more. Since it was cold AND the day before Christmas Eve, no one was out kerplunking. We found buckets of shells but very few .38's. I use the .38's to make my Pray for our Troops necklaces. I listed several shells in my Attic Rat Etsy shop since I won't live long enough to use all the shells I hauled home

Here are some clever ways people use spent bullets. Very creative:

'Gimme back my bullets' by cedarjunction

Clever ways to use bullets in jewelry

Best Seller - Large Aqu... TheJasmineGall... $70.00	Bullet Earrings - .22 C... HighImpactDesi... $25.00
Bullet Necklace Winches... lizzybleu $20.00	Silver Bullet Casing Be... RockStarFeathe... $9.99
Target Practice - upcyc... thevintagevani... $20.00	Green Malachite Brass B... TrashAndTrinke... $38.00
Steampunk Bumblebee Bul... ArmageddonArt $65.00	Circular Logic girls ne... Dazzlez $17.00
Bullet Necklace with a ... ReneeLoughlinD... $34.00	Aqua Aura Quartz Crysta... ShadowsandSpir... $50.00
SALE holiday break SALE... PrairieFairyDe... $34.00	bullet casing necklace ... emilyuts $18.00
Cobaltium Calcite Cryst... bashfulowl $20.00	Short Quartz Crystal Po... AutumnCrocus $25.00
Purple Glass Bullet Ear... KristinCosta $20.00	Brass bullet cartridge ... argent1na $12.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Texas Renaissance Festival

 I did not want a big party for my 50th. I just want it to quietly go by. No fanfare, no ticker tape parade. Just let it slip on by. Instead of a party, I thought it would be fun to go to the Texas Ren Faire. The weather was perfect. We've been there when it was pouring down rain. I will not go in the rain, ever again.

 There are people who are paid to be part of the festivities. This one wore a really nice costume.

 There is a huge parade that is lots of fun to watch.

 Must keep things tidy. LOL

These really tall costumes are my favorite. They would be tricky to walk around in. I would fall flat on my face if I were to try it. If I hadn't hurt my toe, I would have dressed up as a fairy. It is so much fun to go dressed up.

Rivet Gun 101

 I picked up some cute one-gallon cans at Warrenton last week so that I could convert them into some sweet birdhouses. In the past, I connected the tin using screws. Today, my husband was home so I grabbed a quick lesson on the use of a rivet gun. OMG! They are so, so simple to use. I had absolutely no idea.

 This is what I accomplished after only 1 lesson!

 Our rivet gun belongs in a museum, but it still functions like it did when it was new.

To use the gun, simply drill an 1/8 inch hole in the pieces you wish to connect. Load an 1/8 inch rivet in the gun like the picture above. Stick the little peg in the hole you drilled, making sure that it rests snug against your project. Squeeze the handle several times until it "pops". Since they are aluminum, you could have the grip of an 80-year old and still manage it.


I am off to see what else I can rivet . . . 

Old window re-do

I've already sold a few Paris windows so I thought it would be fun to change it up a bit. Since this window had a little green paint on it, I decided that would make a wonderful garden themed window. I just love the late 19th century graphics. For the background, I used pages from an old book that I picked up at the recycling center. I know that I'm cheap resourceful. I admit it.

S and H Green Stamps

Remember S and H green stamps? I do! Each time you bought groceries, the clerk would hand you stamps equivalent to what you bought. There were blank stamp books available. Once you filled up all the pages, they could be redeemed for cool stuff at one of their redeption centers. I remember riding into Oklahoma City with my mom, sister, aunt and cousins to visit the S and; H green stamp redemption store. It was lots of fun.


After I got married, I went to our grocery store and they offered Texas Gold stamps. I would LOVE to make a necklace with some of those stamps. I just haven't come across any. They stopped issuing them sometime in the 80's.

Scary Paris traffic

Lucky, lucky me! While in Germany, my husband insisted that we go to Paris.

I had heard horror stories about the Paris traffic and wasn't so sure that I wanted to endure it just to see Paris. As far as I was concerned, there were many, many wonderful spots in Germany that we hadn't yet explored. I had also heard that people were so rude there. (We didn't experience any rudeness. Everyone that we encountered was very gracious and polite.)


Each time Howard would talk about us going, I would say that we didn't have to go. He never heard me say that.


Between all of the one way streets and people just walking right out in front of us, we were so scared that we would be in an accident or run over someone.

We had no idea how you were suppose to drive in these roundabouts that had so many lanes.

They park really close on the street.

I mean really close. If the space is too small, they will just keep bumping cars until they make enough space. There was no way we were going to put our rent car on the street. Instead, we found a parking garage and paid 30€ per day. Since we were so unnerved trying to drive around we went to the first one that the GPS listed. The parking garage was almost a kilometer away from our hotel. There was one that was closer, but we didn't find it. We took our GPS with us so we could find our hotel. Once we parked, we didn't move the car until we were ready to leave. 

We walked to the arc where we found the red touring bus and purchased a couple of tickets. It was only then that we started to relax.

The bus took us down the Champs-Elysees and we saw the big Louis Vuitton store.

We hopped off the bus at the trocadéro where you can get a good view of the tower.

We hopped back on the bus and rode it over to the tower itself. It was well-protected. Before I left for Germany, someone had left a mysterious package there at the tower and it had to be evacuated. Fortunately, none of that drama took place during our visit.

The view from here is simply stunning. The tower is so massive.

 

We went back to the hotel and had some dinner, then got on the bus again so that we could see the tower all lit up.

The arc de triomphe is lovely at night.

Gorgeous, isn't it?