Wildflowers

Wildflowers in the median on one of the roads in my city.

The bluebonnet, Texas' state flower, is the most popular wildflower in Texas. There are towns that actually have bluebonnet trails for your viewing pleasure. We have taken the trail drives for two years to the official Texas bluebonnet city, Ennis, Texas. The Ennis Garden Club's sponsored Bluebonnet Trail runs from April 1st through April 30th. There is a map that you follow, and along the way you see fields full of bluebonnets. People will drive the route and stop to take pictures of the flowers, and many take photos of their children sitting or laying in the fields of bluebonnets. There is a road in Allen, Texas near where we live that has a median that is covered in bluebonnets in April. People will stop on the road, in many cases in unsafe spots, get out and take pictures in the flowers. I have seen people bring chairs for their kids and have a photographer there to take the photos. Texans are crazy about bluebonnets.

The bluebonnets of Ennis, Texas

Bluebonnets up close and personal

I did learn that not all bluebonnets are blue. On our first trip to Ennis we saw fields of bluebonnets that had red and white flowers mixed in. I looked up the flowers on the internet to see what they were and they are also bluebonnets. Back in the late 1990s there were horticulturists that through manipulations of the seeds developed white and red bluebonnets. I am not sure if that is still done, but there are still red and white flowers out there, so they may now be growing naturally.

Bluebonnets in red and blue

As we were driving to the Talimena National Scenic Byway in April we were driving through country roads in Oklahoma and Arkansas and I kept seeing these beautiful fields and road sides covered in crimson. I made my husband stop so I could get pictures of these beautiful fields. The flowers were everywhere, so I searched to see if I could figure out what they were. From my research I found that they are called Crimson Clover. And we kept seeing them over and over, sorry couldn't resist. For you readers that do not recognize the lyrics from Tommy James and the Shondells' 1969 number one hit "Crimson and Clover", check it out.

Field of Crimson Clover on the roadside in Oklahoma.

Crimson Clover up close

On our drive to the Hill Country in Texas we saw wildflowers everywhere in the fields and on the roadsides. We went on a trip to see the Texas White House and found that former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, was a fan of the Hill Country's wildflowers. There is a botanical garden in Austin called the Lady Bird Wildflower Center. The Lyndon B Johnson National Historical Park is the location of the home lived in by the President and First Lady (The Texas White House)  and it has fields that are covered in wildflowers.

Littlehead Gumweed, got its name from early people chewing on it like gum.

Pink Evening Primrose

The White Prickly Poppy gets it name from its prickly stem and leaves. It is so prickly that even during droughts cattle will not eat the plant.

Fields of Indian Blanket/Firewheel flowers in The Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park

Close up of the Indian Blanket or Firewheel

Mountain Pink grows in the Hill Country right out of the rock hills. The early pioneers called it quinine weed and would dry the plants and use them to reduce fevers.

Wildflowers are not the first thing you think of when you think of the Texas landscape. But, although the trees, bushes and grasses are different than the north and Midwest states, they are just as beautiful in their own way. Add to the landscape the beautiful wildflowers and the Texas landscape is softened and takes on a beautiful country feel.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse Quilt

I published a post on this blog not long ago on how I made a t-shirt quilt for my son. Since the last item I needed to complete my Disney themed guest room was the bed spread, I decided to use the same T-shirt quilt concept for a Disney quilt.

My Son's T-shirt quilt

The Disney quilt has 6 squares across and 7 squares down and each square is 15 by 15. The color theme in the room is black, white, gray and red, so I had to find fabric in those colors that had the Mickey and Minnie theme. I was able to find some great fabric at Joann Fabric and Hobby Lobby. Along with the printed fabric, I bought some solid black and gray fabric to tone down the busy patterns.

Some of the patterns I am using for the quilt.

The next fabric I had to buy was the fabric for the back of the quilt. Because the quilt front will be 90 inches wide for a queen bed I had to find a fabric for the back that would be wide enough to cover most of the back. I found a cool Mickie flannel print to put on each side to make up for the extra inches of fabric needed to cover the entire back. I bought a gray sweatshirt fabric to go down the middle of the flannel fabric. I also used the extra flannel fabric to add some squares to the middle of the gray fabric.

This is the sweatshirt and flannel fabric for the back of the quilt.  I cut 4 extra squares ironed the edges under about a half of an inch and top stitched the squares staggering them down the middle.

I drew up a grid on some paper to come up with a pattern as to where each square was going to go and then I knew how many squares of each pattern I need to make.

I cut the squares 17 x 17 and also cut iron on interfacing the same size. I applied the interfacing to the large squares and then cut them down to 16 x 16 so that I had a 1/2 inch seam allowance on all sides.

The first cut of the square

Ironing on the interfacing to each square

After all the squares were cut I laid them on the floor to figure out if I like the pattern on my grid. As it turned out, I didn't like it, so I played with it like a puzzle and came up with a look I liked.

It took a few tries to get the layout the way I liked it.

I picked up each cross row with the far left square on top and stacked the rest under the top one all the way across. After stacking all the rows across I started sewing them together. This process was the same as the instructions on my T-shirt quilt blog post.

A finished row

When the top was complete I laid the back piece right side up on the kitchen island and put the front piece on top of the back with the right sides together. Then smoothing the two pieces out and making sure they were straight alone the edges, I pinned, and then sewed it all the way around the edges leaving about 20 inches open to turn the quilt right sides out.

All of the corners where four squares meet I pinned the front to the back.

I then turned the comforter right side out through the open section and then hand sewed the opening closed. Next, like the instructions with the t-shirt quilt, I laid the quilt top side up, I straightened all the edge seams, smoothed the surface, pinned the top to the bottom at the all the square corners, using embroidery floss, I tacked the front to the back at those corners tying a square knot, and that finished the project.

All corners were tacked together with 6 strands of embroidery floss tied in a square knot.

I can use  the back as the comforter top, or the front as a quilt. I also moved the red comforter from my guest room, and put the new quilt to the bottom of the bed.

This is the back of the Mickey/Minnie quilt.

The front of the new Mickey/Minnie quilt.

I used the old comforter from my guest room and draped the new quilt on the bottom of the bed.

It turned out cute and reversible. In the words of Mickie Mouse, "Oh Boy!

Nothing Burger?

Ok, I have recently posted my rant on what I feel are stupid sayings. The three I wrote about were, "Have a good one", "It is what it is" and "We don't know what we don't know". I never thought that I would have two more so soon. But, In the last few weeks I have heard these sayings so many time on the News that I feel like I could scream!

First, "There is no there, there". Really, how many theres are there in that saying? Do we really need a saying that has 5 words and three of which are the word there? How about, "There is a total lack of substance" or "Nothing of significance exists"?  There is only one there, there and it make sense!

Next, "It is a nothing-burger". I swear I have heard and read this saying more in the last few weeks than any other statement, ever. I know this saying started in the 1950s and it should have been left there, there! Oops sorry about that, that, lol. What does it mean? What is a nothing-burger? Is there a something-burger? It sounds stupid and very juvenile coming out of the mouths of every commentator and journalist that says it.  Urban dictionary gives the meaning as something, lame, dead-end, a dud, insignificant, pathetic or something that is over-hyped. Any of these alternatives would sound better spoken by an adult on a News show instead of nothing-burger. The nothing- burger is over done!

I'll have my nothing-burger rare with awesome sauce!

Crepe Myrtles

This tree is a late bloomer and should fill up with blooms very soon.

White blooms on the entrance to a neighborhood

This crepe myrtle was cut really low in the Winter so it is now a shorter tree.

Just a short blog on Crepe Myrtles, my favorite tree. When you drive along just about every street in Northern and Central Texas in the late Spring, Summer, and Autumn you will see the medians and yards full of beautiful blooming Crepe Myrtles.

This picture looks pink but the bloom is actually a lavender color

This is the full lavender tree.

These trees are, in most cases, cut down in the Winter to sticks about four or five feet tall. Then in the Spring they grow like crazy filling out into a beautiful tree with the most brilliant blooms.

A crepe myrtle cut for the Winter.

These shoots come up constantly around the trees

There are blooms of dark red, lavender, white, and pink, and they bloom all Summer and Autumn. There may be more colors, but these are the only colors I see all the time. They are always stripped during the growing season of their lower runs and sprouts on their bottom branches and trunks.

This is the red bloom up close and personal.

They are such a beautiful sight on the neighborhood medians. 

These trees are native to the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, northern Australia and parts of Oceania. They are grown in warm climates throughout the world. They seem to thrive in Texas.

I love the Crepe Myrtle lined street.

This is just one more plant that brings color to the Texas landscape, contrary to the misconception people have of the brown Summer Texas landscape. Especially now that the long drought that lasted 5 years is truly gone. Texas is green and lush again.

The Concours d'Elegance of Texas

My husband is a car guy. Meaning he loves car racing (Indy car, sports car and Formula 1), he also loves car museums, auctions and car shows. Me, being his loving wife, attend the majority of these events with him. Does this me a I am a car girl? Not really, but I do enjoy spending the time with him doing what he loves.

Some of the cars that were up for auction

Our favorite cars in the auction the Jaguars and the Porsches

The Concours d'Elegance is a antique car show that showcases, and auctions, the cream of the crop cars. The Texas event was held in Houston for many years and now they are holding it in Arlington, Texas, close enough to us for a day visit.  The auction was held in the convention center next to the Ranger's and Cowboys stadiums, and the car show was held in the surrounding grounds. It was actually in a beautiful spot in perfect weather.

I put this picture of a 1935 MG PB Airline Coupe first as a tease because it was my favorite car in the show.

It even had the original tool kit displayed with it.

Saturday we attended the auction and was not disappointed in the quality of cars, and the large bids made for them. The most expensive car auction that was actually sold was a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster that was sold for $1,010,000. It blows my mind how much people will pay for an old automobile.

This Mercedes was the biggest seller of the day!

There were several cars sold well over the $100,000 price point and a few that got over the $500,000 price point. Then you have the cars that did not sell because they were expecting to get 6 or 7 figures and they did not get bids over the reserve. I always wonder what type of people buy these cars. Some are celebrities, car dealers, businesspersons and many are unknown because they are phone bidders. I can think of sooooo many other things I could spend my money on, and none of them are cars. I do not speak for my husband, lol.

On Sunday morning we drove in for the outdoor car show and again we were not disappointed. Like I said it was a beautiful morning and the show was held in a lovely setting.  We parked in the Cowboy's stadium parking lot and had to walk a bit to get to the show. In an adjacent parking lot there is a car show of the car that did not make the cut for the Concours, so we walked through and saw some pretty cool cars in that lot. Some were not marked with the year and some were modified so I was not able to label some of the pictures. You can see by the plaques on the cars what they are.

This is an amphicar.  This car can drive on land and into the water where it runs like a boat. They were built in the 1960s and were made in Germany. A fun fact: President Johnson had a blue amphicar that we loved freaking out his guests with.

1911 Cadillac Touring Car 

From the parking lot show to the staging area for the Concours we had to walk a bit. The scenery on the walk was nothing like your typical sports stadium facility.

A cool water fall feature we saw from a bridge

A pond with another water fall feature

Arriving at the Concours staging area.

Then we walked to the Concours the cars were displayed in a tree lined grassy area, and displayed by category.

1905 Cadillac Roadster

My husband's favorite was the 1930 Franklin 145 Airman

A 1958 Corvette, as you can see by the license plate.

A 1956 Lincoln Premier Coupe

1956 Dual Ghia DG 500

1948 Cadillac Series 62. This car won Best of Show!

In true Texas style this Concours d'Elegance is the only one that has a category for trucks.

1929 Ford Model A from the side

1929 Ford Model A from the other side

1954 Chevy 3100

1960 Datsun Pickup

A  1959 Ford Ranchero  on the left and a 1972 Chevy C10 on the right

When we were walking around the show I had not idea what year the cars were, who made them, or how rare or special they were, but I did appreciate how they looked. And they were Spectacular!