ABC Wednesday - T

T is for TEXAS

I live in East Texas, the Piney Woods.

This area is famous for its beautiful dogwood trees.

The Texas state tree is the pecan. I have seven in my yard.

The state large mammal is the Longhorn.

The Texas small mammal is the armadillo.

The Texas state bird is the Mockingbird.

Here, in the Anderson County Courthouse, is a hand painted picture of the Texas State Seal as well as three of the six flags to fly over Texas. The olive leaves up the right side of the seal stand for peace, the oak leaves up the left side stand for strength. The state flag, the top one pictured, often referred to as The Lone Star Flag, was adopted on January 24, 1839 to represent the Republic of Texas. It was the fourth of the six flags to fly over Texas.

ABC Wednesday is hosted byMrs. Nesbitt at her place.

ABC Wednesday - S

I've Selected Several pictures to use for the S theme this week. To begin on a Serious note, I present this picture of a Stunning Sunset taken last Summer while Strolling along the Shore.

Now for a Self portrait in Sun and Shadow taken on the Shore of a local lake.

Here we have a great-niece indulging in Some Serious fun Sliding.

I'll end this Series of S themed pictures with some Silliness. Here you can See my nephew, Shannon, and his Son acting, well, Silly!

ABC Wednesday is hosted byMrs. Nesbitt at her place.

ABC Wednesday - O

O is for One Old Photo.

This is a photo of my grandfather (center behind bar) and his two

brothers at the saloon they owned in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

It was The Chrietzberg Brothers Saloon in Quitman, Texas.

I just wish the family still had that mirror or something.

This picture clicks nicely.

ABC Wednesday is hosted by
Mrs. Nesbitt at her place.

ABC Wednesday - M

M is for Mountains

These are some more pictures from our vacation to New Mexico in '05. I wish, wish, wish I hadn't had the date stamp on. it detracts so much from the pictures.

Above is the sight we had several mornings from the RV park where we stayed.

This was such a beautiful area!

We went up the ski lift for some sight seeing. This picture was taken on the way back down.

ABC Wednesday is hosted by

Mrs. Nesbitt at her place.

ABC Wednesday K

K is for Kitty

While this is not strictly a photo, it is amusing. My Kitty Bob is being attacked by a mockingbird. she has a nest in my lady banks out front and Bob had the gall to lay on the front lawn. Mockingbirds are notorious for agressively protecting the area near their nests. Hope you enjoy this. We keep a pretty tight rein on him in the spring so Bob did not hurt the mockingbird then or later. The babies hatched, grew and flew off in their own good time.

Go to Mrs. Nesbitts place for more ABC Wednesday!

ABC Wednesday J

ABC Wednesday is hosted by Mrs. Nesbitt. Go there to

find more participants in ABC Wednesday or to join!

I had a really hard time coming up with a j for this week. I considered several things but they didn't work out. Finally I thought I'd go downtown and take a picture of the locally owned jewelry store, them thought why not just stay home and take a picture of jewelry. so I did. Here are some of my favorite pieces of Jewelry.

ABC Wednesday - I

I is for Interior

Our little tiny half bath in the back was dark and hadn't been updated in many years! This is not used much by guests so I keep the litter pan back here. I wanted it to look a little retro, and lighter. The pictures on the walls are pictures I've taken over the years. By the medicine cabinet is a picture of my old Soot cat. He died about 3 years ago and was 13 years old. I've loved this picture of him so thought I'd use it.

We put in a new toilet and tore out the old dark 60's vanity . I chose to put in this white bead board vanity.









I painted it a soft yellow, put the trim up around the window and painted all the trim white. We put in Levelor blinds and I made the valance to match curtains on the other side of the bathroom,

I haven't replaced the old medicine cabinet yet, still thinking about that. I might go with a mirror instead of another cabinet. The light fixture was replaced with a shiny silver one.

This cabinet and the one below had huge doors that were a pain in such a little room. Especially the bottom one, where I keep the cat litter tray. I made these curtains, hoping to make it look a little retro as well as to get rid of those huge doors.

We also put in new baseboards. The bathroon is so little that I only bought two lengths and we had some left over!





I also bought a new kitty litter pan that has a lid with a hole in it. Crossing my fingers that they will take to it! I know you didn't want to see this but it was part of the whole thing. :)
It's not too graphic!



For more ABC Wednesday photos head over to Mrs. Nesbitt.

ABC Wednesday H

H is for Hero

We did a HEROS unit at school. The heros we studied included such people as Sojourner Truth, Paur Revere, Dr. Mae Jemis, Sally Ride, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Amelia Earhart, Fredrick Douglas.........



As we studied each person we talked about the qualities they possesed that made them a hero.
The qualities we used were linked to ingredients in a hero sandwich, hoping to help them remember and try to emulate these qualities. The Rolls stood for Ristaker and Responsible. Lettuce for Loyal, Tomato for Thinker, Cheese for Courageous, Salamni for Solver (of problems), Ham for Honest.

Using these qualities we then discussed everyday heros, heros in our lives, and how anyone can be a hero.

See more participants of ABC Wednesday here.

ABC Wednesday - F

ABC Wednesday

F is for.........

Flag

Flower

Flappers



















Fairy Princess

Frog

ABC Wednesday - E

ABC Wednesday - E
For more ABC Wednesday players' posts , visit Mrs. Nesbitt's Place.


E is for Eagle Nest, New Mexico


Eagle Nest Lake - We spent a day fishing here, and watched the Game Wardens get a bear out of a tree.

We vacationed at Eagle Nest in 2005. It was wonderful. The tempature was plesant, cool. It was in the 90s and 100s in Texas at that time. Eagle Nest is on the Enchanted Circle, a scenic byway (see map below.) It wasn't crowded since it wasn't ski season. There were many other pretty things to see, but they don't start with E. :)


Elk herd outside of Eagle Nest


(click to enlarge, wish I had a better camera!)

This herd was coming out of the woods and grazing in this area right off the road. This was a daily occurance and we went out several days to watch them.

Enchanted Circle

ABC Wednesday "D"

D is for Doors Downtown

Decorative Door

(I love this shop, lots of cool antiques, vintage kitchen items, and old books)

Dignified Door

Dated Door

Detailed Door

a Door Denied

Dilapidated Door

Damaged Door

(I didn't realize I got that reflection, I was looking to get the damaged plate that looks as if it has been pried up.)

If you would like to participate in ABC Wednesday or view the photos of other participants go to ABC Wednesday .

ABC Wednesday

C is for Courthouse

This is the county courthouse where my husband is a bailiff. He took me in Sunday afternoon so I could get some pictures without bothering anyone. This building was completed in 1914 and was built in the Renaissance Revival Style. Follow the link to see a better (professional) picture of the courthouse.

Above is the back of the District Courtroom. The mural was painted by an inmate from the Gurney Unit, one of the five prisons outside of town.

This is a view from the basement straight up to the stained glass in the dome. To me the spiral staircase is amazing.

This is straight down to the basement floor. The pictue painted on the floor was also done by a TDCJ(Texas Department of Criminal Justice) inmate from one of the prisons.

Above is two views of the circular marble stairs.