Little Independence

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I cannot believe I nearly forgot the significance of today’s date!  The history nerd in me should be slapped.  It’s my state’s birthday!  Over 175 years ago today 59 tenaciously spirited men met inside a cold one room building in the settlement of Washington on the Brazos and made a decision that would forever change the course of history.  With a few strokes of a quill *I’m assuming that’s what they wrote with* Texas became a republic and my ancestors of the period created a legacy that my mother and I would come to appreciate many generations later.  As cattle drivers of the West Texas plains and part time legislators, we have them to thank for our place among the Daughters of the Republic Texas and our 400 acre ranch in Old Glory, Texas–yes, there really is a town called Old Glory.

So here’s to 176 more birthdays Texas!

Google.com

And on another note…the Chef has settled in nicely on the shores of California.  As for me…over the past few days I’ve been creating my own getaway up here on the 2nd floor of the Park Hotel.  I’ve raided my mother’s antique store downstairs for little items that offer me a feeling of comfort since my treasures are now in the military’s safe keeping somewhere in East Texas.

My great-grandmother's porcelain pitcher with my wedding bouquet of dried orchids.

A picture, a vase, a tea cup or two…or three…  I’ve made a little nook where I can write, read or dream away the day.  I can look out the window to the west and think about my dearest Chef…how I miss him.

picture of my sassy grandmother (one with hat) with her 6 sisters..circa 1920s.

I stroll through the yard, camera in hand to capture the first blooms of spring.  Sometimes I run with the dogs other times I sit and just listen to the birds.  Life at home is actually a blessing–no worries, no major responsibilities other than feeding the cat, and no alarm clock.  That does mean no job, but it’s OK.  Money can’t buy what I’m getting to experience.  It makes you stop and think—-When as adults do we ever get the chance to return home to the ones that love us the most and simply live each day without a worry in the world ?    Many can’t say they have.  It’s going to be a priceless 3 months!

Splitting the Pear and Peek-a-boo Spring

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With the upcoming splitting of the Traveling Pear fast approaching (its a good thing no worries)  we’ve recently made a dash to the country so the Chef can see family before he embarks on his next grand adventure as a newly reinstated member of the United States Coast Guard.  We will definitely live up to our name because for the next 4 years and maybe even 20, we’ll have the opportunity to experience many new states, cities and beaches across the continental US!  That even means Hawaii, Alaska, Guam and Porto Rico! He leaves next week for 12 weeks of training in California–and then the real adventure begins.

a greenhouse of by gone era Park Hotel Tuleta, Texas

So while the Chef is at play on the northern coasts of California, I will be living the relaxed life in the country.  The songs of the migrating green jays will be my alarm clock and the howling coyotes will sing me to sleep 😉  I actually like their call–reminds me of my childhood on our farm near Waco.  I’ll be home with my Momma and Dad, at what I like to call the Chateau du Park or The Historic Park Hotel in Tuleta, Texas.  It really doesn’t get any better than that!

1 of the 4 Season statues that Dad loves to back over with the truck

The first signs of spring are beginning to peek here at home.  Mom’s mountain laurel bush is in a full bloom of purple and has an aroma of grape jelly!  Only a few big leaf periwinkles have started to bloom in the front garden.  The Chef happened to find a peach tree putting on new buds at the front of the property.  I can’t wait for the blue bonnets to pop out, they’re always in abundance and beautiful.   A few years back Momma was featured in the local newspaper for having the first one of the season.

And finally my cutie pies (bees) are coming out of their hibernation and gorging themselves on the first blooming buds of the season, as are the butterflies and many more winged darlings.

check out the pollen build up on her legs

I’m sure I’ll have plenty more to post as spring sets in and life in the country becomes my new home once again…that is until Paris calls in April! More to come …

 

 

Eiffel Love…Bokeh Style

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I just had to share some of my Bokeh photography I did in the wee hours last night.  Bokeh for those not familiar with photography terminology is an out of focus image or blurred image.  Basically it’s a technique that can produce some really ascetically pleasing images if you know what you’re doing!  Like this one…

Just had to throw in my dear friend the sheep! From Google

Now, please be kind–this is my first time ever trying out this technique and I have SOOOO much to learn.  My Chef thought I had lost it…really.  Here I was with his beloved Canon trying to work the settings,  hanging Christmas lights from random places, turning lights on and then off, moving chairs here and there.

my hearts need refinement

I must have appeared like a real crazy person.  As he sat there pretending to watch a movie I knew he was really anxious to see if I could reproduce what I’ve been reading about on various photography blogs.  He even tried his hand at the technique when my impatience turned to near tantrum! I’m not there yet, but with practice and probably a few tears, I will be! Enjoy what I call “Eiffel Love. ”

need more light but it's a start

Deux Eiffel and Moet Champagne chair for a fairy!

 

this is just plain craziness...I don't think its considered Bokeh either.

To see some really brilliant Bokeh photography just Google it and you’ll be amazed at what some can produce.

Dateline Paris 1900: The Astounding Moving Electrical Sidewalk

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Parisian Fields's avatarParisian Fields

In 1900, if you were lucky enough to have a ticket such as this one—and almost fifty million people did—you were in for an astounding treat. Paris and France went all out to make the Paris Universal Exposition the biggest and best yet anywhere in the world.

Although the Exposition seemed to have something for everyone, two words capture much of the spirit and substance of that great event: electricity and motion. As Charles Rearick writes in Paris Dreams, Paris Memories:

The fifty million visitors who came to the ‘Exposition Universelle’ were met with a dazzling profusion of electric lighting—in the pavilions and the Palais de l’Électricité and all the way up the Eiffel Tower. Outside the fairgrounds, the new lights illuminated the city’s monuments and the central boulevards.*

The newly constructed Pont Alexandre III led to the grounds, and provided lovely stopping points for flâneurs, flâneuses…

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Buzzing around Bee County

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I guess it’s the spring like weather that Texas no wait the entire United States is experiencing at the moment and the fact the Chef and I have decided to go organic that got me into the mood this past weekend to persuade my father to become a beekeeper and buy organic/grow his own produce.  The beekeeping part is probably easier than the organic.

Mom and Dad planted a small garden during the Texas heat wave this summer and well…needless to say they were let down.  Mom’s blueberry bush produced enough  blueberries to keep an (1) ant alive for a few hours.  If they had to survive off the potatoes they produced they would have starved to death.  It was that pitiful, but at least they tried.

Living in a county coincidentally named Bee County you would expect bees to be quite prevalent. During my days as Miss Bee County I was spotted with Mr. Bee-himself!

Circa 2004 Apparently, I wasn't that into bees then, like I am now. Poor guy is about to nose dive off the table.

Bee County, established in 1857, however wasn’t named for the fuzzy yellow and black flying cutie pies.  No, it was named for the secretary of state to the Republic of Texas, Barnard E. Bee.   My parents 5 or so acres does have bees, just not sure if they are the good western honey bees or the bad African “killer” bees.  They choose to live about 20 ft up in an oak tree in my parents front lawn and no one wants to scurry up to figure out which breed of bee they are.  I guess we’ll need to eventually if honey bees are to be housed on the property.

"Queen Bee" haha...poking fun at myself!

So the next question is where does one find a beekeeper to buy some bees and their boxes?  The only place Dad knew was out at the Amish community.  Now, anyone unfamiliar with the Amish way of life will soon discover that visiting their community is like a trip to the pioneer 1800s.

Women and children clothed in homemade prairie style dresses and bonnets.  Horse drawn buggies, farms, animals, gardens, no electric or phone…simple, sustainable living and totally organic!    Needless to say I  couldn’t get into the car fast enough.  My father, the eternal wild west mountain man loves visiting with his Amish friend  Ezra, who owns and operates with his children a saddle shop.  Ezra and his children have outfitted Dad in more leather goods a man could possibly need for one lifetime.   From gun holsters to saddles to chaps and belts to Mom’s cell phone case.  I’m sure he’s gone through a herd of cattle just on Dad’s jobs alone.

I knew it would be tricky to take pictures of the Amish since they are a very private community, but Dad figured since Ezra is more with the 21st century than his 19th century kin folk, it would probably be OK (he has a thriving and popular business to run).  Sure enough it was!  Ezra’s 17 year old daughter Clara showed me her latest project.  A leather calendar place mat for a desk.

Considering the age of social media and all the pressures placed on teens it’s remarkable to believe that she’s quite protected from it all.  She genuinely enjoys working within her father’s business–it shows through her pretty smile and outgoing nature.  While Dad talked with Ezra and his son John about another gun holster job I roamed the shop looking at the many creations the family has made.  Clara and I talked about the Amish way of life and what she might do once she’s on her own.  It was definitely a unique experience and it all started because of bees!

Dad and I ended up finding the bees and plenty of bee boxes at Ezra’s neighbor down the road.  Little cuties won’t be buzzing until April though.  I guess they are sleeping…it is winter and not spring!  Until then I’ll be content to gaze at the photos of my fuzzy French bees from this summer.

So adorable

bee bottom action shot...flying away covered with pollen

nature in complete harmony

To learn more about the plight of the honey bee watch this documentary.  It will change the way you view these cute little insects and maybe the way you eat!