Another addition

Grand daughter Ashley and husband Tom welcomed their second child into their growing family. They now have two boys Harper and Corbin. So now we have 13 grands and two great grands. What a wonderful blessing. Both baby and mom are doing well. Happy travels.

Take me out to the ball game

On Sunday we accompanied our kids/grands to a Ranger's game in Arlington which is about a half hour drive from here and very near the DFW airport. It was a warm Sunday afternoon and for awhile we were sitting right at the edge of the shade up on the third deck right behind home plate. What a great afternoon. The Rangers had just won the American League West in the previous game and this was the last regularly scheduled home game. They were playing the Seattle Mariners.

Foxy wanted to get an autograph of Ichiroe who plays center field for the Mariners and is a favorite of another grandchild, James. However she got no response and was not a pleased grandmother. Our tickets came with a free hotdog and soda drink. There was also $1 ice cream cones available and all the beer you might want to drink if you were willing to pay their prices although $8 seemed a bit high to me.

The best part of the game came when the Ranger's pitcher hit a home run with the bases loaded adding four points to their score. This was the second time in the game that the rangers managed this feat. The final score was 12 to 5 and we left for home quite satisfied with the entire event. Go Rangers!

Christian, seven years old, is playing on his first baseball team and on Saturday morning we watched him hit a home run with the bases loaded. He was quite pleased to do this and really enjoyed it happening again at the Rangers game.

We do like to go to professional baseball games to not only watch the game but enjoy these huge stadiums and all of the activity including, "Beer for sale!" This American past time has been eclipsed in popularity by football but remains a favorite for me when I can be there in the ball park. Happy travels.

Things are chugging along

There is not much news here. We are going to estate sales, taking care of the grands once or twice a week, working on stained glass, and putting more items in our antique booth, Foxy is working on her shoulder rehabilitation, we are walking daily, and I am trying to keep my weight down. These are all things we have been doing since we relocated to Denton. Thus there has been little to add to this blog. Things will change and then I will have more to report. Happy travels.

Opera on Tap

When we left to go hear Opera on Tap, it was raining! Yeah! Two hours later it was still raining as we returned home. We went to a bar and restaurant, The Abbey Underground on the courthouse square. Here is where students and faculty from the North Texas University Music College perform in hopes of getting bar patrons to enjoy a touch of class, opera. The beer and wine were good and we met Karen who sings in her church choir with her mom in tow. Jeffrey Snider is on the faculty and introduced each of the singers and told a bit about the music being sung.

Many of the singers were big people and perhaps size helps one to belt out a tune. We started out with a large lady and a large tenor and having sung, made me wonder if it was time to go, since the fat lady sang. Just kidding! The tenor had a great range and could really belt out his song. I think that Foxy is a secret closet opera lover and probably listens to this type of music in secret with a glass of a little something . I believe that I would need liquid nourishment if I heard a diet of opera. Well we stayed for an hour and a half and I was glad to bid them adieus and return to the rain. There are some types of culture that will never take on this good 'ol boy. Happy travels.

New glass pieces in the works

We went to a large estate sale this morning and got a bit lost returning. We had to drive through the Dallas - Fort Worth Airport area and somehow I missed a turn but after going 15-20 miles out of the way we managed to find our way home. It has been a beautiful day here, fall is in the air, and we are only missing the smell of roasting chilies. After lunch I started in on two glass designs and got the patterns cut out and the glass selected and cut. Tomorrow I will grind the pieces and begin the process of copper foiling the edges. Maybe I can include a picture of the work in progress.

After dinner we are going downtown to hear students and faculty of North Texas University Music School do some numbers from opera. It is mostly sopranos and although I do not really care for opera, I do like some of the songs. We shall see and reserve judgement. There are so many musical things being presented in Denton that we feel we must sample some. Happy travels.

Contagion, the movie

Today we treated ourselves to a movie. We went to see Contagion. It was very realistic and explained at the end exactly how such a virus could begin and spread. It makes you want to not touch anything, shake hands with people, and constantly wash your hands. It was very well done although the subject matter was difficult. It was indeed riveting. All of the actors do a credible job in each of their roles. If you are looking for a happy, uplifting, or light movie, you will be disappointed. If you want to learn something about a serious subject then you will indeed enjoy this movie. Happy travels.

Settling in

We are beginning to get into somewhat of a routine here in Denton. At least one day each week we meet our grandsons after school. They may have homework to complete and music to practice and then we play cards with them or very occasionally take them out for a treat. The schools had grandparents day last Friday and we met each boy at school during his lunch period and shared sack lunches with them. We think that if the school system does this again next year that we will bring a treat lunch from a fast food restaurant which is what many of the other grandparents did this year. It should beat any sack lunch offered by the school cafeteria. It was fun to see the joy on the faces of each kid who saw his or her grandparent. It was a fun thing to do.

Starting with Thursday and through the weekend we go to as many estate sales or garage sales as we can find. This has several purposes since this gets us into various areas of the city and we can see prospective houses as well. We then take any finds home, clean them up, price them and then take them to our antique mall for sale from our space. We reopened our antique business and have been cleaning out stored items as well. Sales have not been brisk but we are selling some things and of course enjoy the whole process. I have also put up some of my stained glass pieces, repaired others and finally made a new piece to put in our mall. Who knows, maybe someone will commission me to do a special piece. We left our book of past stained pieces out on a table in our space and it has been getting attention.

We continue to read at a great rate and are looking for a store that trades in used books. We finally attended a Presbyterian Church last Sunday and discovered that the brother-in-law of the minister used to preach in our former church in Kerrville. It is a small world indeed.

Today we had a few short showers which we so badly need. Many of the terrible fires are now under control but over 1500 homes are totally destroyed. Yesterday was the 70th day of temperatures of 100 or higher this summer. So we have survived the hottest summer in Texas on record, ever. Maybe this month our electric bill will begin to be lower. Happy travels.

Smoke gets in your eyes

A popular song when my mom was growing up was, "Smoke gets in your eyes." I even remember a few lines from the song: They asked me how I knew, my true love was true, I of course replied. something here inside, cannot be denied. The rest of this song has gone to the mists of time for me. However, when we went outside we could smell smoke in the air and the sky was clouded with drifting particles of smoke. We wondered if it was the Bastrop fire or one a bit closer such as west of Fort Worth. We did not know the answer but feel so bad for the people who have lost their homes. To date over 1000 homes have burned. This is a tragedy brought on by the continuing drought and carelessness of people using fire in any form outside. I cannot imagine coming back to the ashed of my home and life. It would be difficult to happen in the first place , much less than the thought of trying to start all over. You could never replace pictures or other momentos of a life lived. We can only pray that the firefighters get these fires under control. Happy and safe travels.

Dog sitting and ice cream

Starting on Saturday and going through Monday, we dog sat for our kids dogs, Violet and Rosie, while the kids drove to meet their good friends Matt and Melina and their kids in Amarillo, TX. We agreed to dog sit while they were away and enjoyed doing so. On Monday afternoon we packed up and returned home and then went back one more time to let the dogs out to do their business in the late afternoon.

Shortly after we returned home we got a call that the kids and returned safely but wanted to know if we would like to go out for ice cream. The kids had asked their boys if they wanted to stop on the way back home for ice cream but the grands thoughtfully said, "Lets wait until we get home and maybe Grandad and Grammy would like to go for ice cream too." Now wasn't that wonderful? Who could resist. So our dog sitting ended with the six of us going for ice cream. Lovely! Happy travels.

Repairing stained glass

The four panels are now repaired and hung in our antique booth in the mall and maybe someone will be interested enough to purchase a panel or even to want me to make them a unique piece of stained glass. The best part of this endeavor is that it is finished and now I can begin to create some new pieces. I really like to make stained glass panels. It is fun so see the final result emerge from a complicated and lengthy process. I think I like every stage of the process. However I particularly respond positively to the colors. I do not know why but I do like colored glass and this give me a chance to work with all kinds of colors. Happy travels.

Dates I remember

Last night we watched an hour long program on NBC, Ten Years - Children of 9-11. It was quite well done and the children selected were quite representative. They have their problems and are trying in various ways to deal with their loss of a parent. Do I remember 9-11? Sadly, I do. We were camped in Guadalupe RV Resort making our morning walk around the park when we began to hear from other campers and workers about the unfolding tragedy. As the day wore on it simple got worse.

Last night I was thinking of other events that I remember such as the assassination of President Kennedy in November, 1963. At that point I was in graduate school at Cornell University and we were appalled. We packed up son Jerry and drove home to my parents home and stayed glued to the television for the entire weekend.

On a happier note I can add the time that Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon. We celebrated this event by buying our first color TV so that we could watch this unfold in living color. Another event was the Berlin Wall coming down and the thousands of Germans celebrating. An event does not have to be world wide in its consequences for it to be momentous. The birth of my first born son and hearing his first cry belongs on my list as does my marriage to Foxy with our kids in attendance. I hope, you the reader has your own list and are willing to share part of it with me. Happy travels.

Repairing a stained glass window

I have been putting off this project for actually years. I have at least four glass panels that need to be repaired. This means removing part of the frame by using the soldering iron to heat up the joints and remove the solder. This is a messy business. Then I have to remove each piece of glass that has cracked. The remaining pieces have to be cleaned and have all copper foil edges cleaned and then finally I have to find new glass and cut out pieces to replace the broken ones. Of course I do not always have the exact replacement piece and that means a visit to the glass supply store. I have done all of these steps by today and now have to get out the glass grinder and grind down the newly cut pieces. Then each of these pieces must be copper foiled on the edges and then placed into the panel, hopefully fitting. Once they fit then the whole panel must be re-soldered and the frame replaced. This takes several days to do and is one more reason why I wait for years to repair a stained glass window. Happy travels.

Max meets Mr. Toad

Last night when I took Max out for his last visit of the evening, he found Mr. Toad. Mr. Toad lives in the grass next to the railroad ties. Our visit disturbed Mr. Toad and he jumped. Max was quite startled and he jumped. Now Max jumps usually up and then forward but last night this jump was up and backward. Mr. Toad then jumped again to get away and Max again jumped up and backward. It was very funny to watch. I did not know that Max could jump backward until that moment. Max is a great sniffer and takes quite some time to find the very best spot to do his business. Once he sniffed Mr. Toad, his business was forgotten. I finally had to drag him away from this wonderful jumping, sniffing, and hunting just to get him to do his business and us a chance to rest before midnight. I know that tonight he may remember the fun time with Mr. Toad and try to find him again. Maybe we should start out an hour early. Happy travels.

Critters redo

Last night I took Max out for his final visit outside and as I was going out the door I felt and heard his leash ripping. I managed to lock the leash and then as Max came to the end, he nearly ripped the leash out of my hand taking my whole arm with it. Somehow I managed to hang onto the leash and Max and as I got outside looked around to see what had caused all of the excitement. I never did see another critter but believe it is the resident rabbit that caused this excitement. Out neighbor Bill, recently brought home some fake Canadian Geese which caused Max to get excited until he began to realize that they were not the real thing. They did not walk, run, or fly either. He sniffed them all over and now only looks at them in case things have changed.

This morning we left for our morning walk about the park and on the way back met an opossum. It took one look as us and decided to turn around and amble off. I had hoped it would play dead. Then Max could have sniffed it and who knows what might have happened. At least it was an interesting walk. Happy travels.