Let's Take a Drive

I keep finding myself saying "this is all so crazy." Really, I'm not sure how else to describe the current pandemic situation. Everything is closing,  being cancelled, or much slower than usual. Finally, on Friday, I had a few deliveries to drop off and a few things to ship out. 

I haven't been out much on my own, for over two weeks, so I was itching to have a purpose to get out, where I could control the radio station and feel free to stop in the middle of the blacktop road to take a picture or 10. (Jeff and I still go to the farm and help with his parents, but otherwise that's about all the places we've been since our last show.)  

Side note - If you are staying home, make sure you crank your vehicle every few days or you might have a dead battery - my older battery didn't like setting idle for 9 days and had to be replaced. 

So come along with us and I'll show you some of the East Texas back roads that I traveled, while making my deliveries. Everything is turning green, the dogwood trees, and wisteria are all blooming, along with clover, Indian paintbrushes, and "yeller" weeds as my daddy called them. 

One of the roads I traveled down has very little traffic and I love this spot, so I got out of my vehicle to take a few pictures of the wisteria. I decided to take a short video, trying to capture it all. Hope you enjoy my walk along "wisteria lane." 

Hope you enjoyed our short drive around the rural route! We will try to share more of the spring wildflowers that we see and hope you'll do the same, since we can't travel everywhere. 

We had planned to go to the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails this spring, but it has been canceled as well. We will  miss seeing the bluebonnets, since we don't have large fields of them here in East Texas. Even though we could stay in our vehicle, travelling the bluebonnet trails is restricted, since visitors to the area would need public restrooms that are closed, etc. So we will try to share some pictures from years past and look forward to getting back out there in the spring of 2021.  

Hope you are all staying safe and well. Please hang in there and we will all make it through this time. 

Find us at the NEW Kickin' K Cattle Co. Boutique!

2020 has been off to a busy start! Just a little over 2 weeks ago, I got a message from a friend that she was opening up a new boutique / vendor market and would I like a booth? Ummmm, I thought about it for a little while and finally decided to take a leap of faith and just do it! Then we had to get busy!  I really didn't have any extra display shelves that I can leave in a store all the time and of course, I had to get busy making inventory to stock the booth, before the Grand Opening on February 1, 2020. I had 12 days y'all and of course lots of other work to do in the same time frame. We got creative and pulled it off! 

Everything has a story and I must share about a couple of my fixtures. I've known Kadyn, the owner of Kickin' K, almost as long as I've known my husband. We are family friends and her mom says I'm like a sister to her. We purchased several things from Pop's estate (Kadyn's grandfather) about 5 years ago, including the locker. It's been sitting beside our shed, just waiting for a place to go. I've intended to take it to Mineola or another show, but it just didn't happen. I knew I wouldn't have a ton of hanging clothes in this space and the locker would be the right size and give some height to the space, so on a cold January morning, I was outside giving it a bath, before loading it up and taking to the boutique.

 Now for a 5 foot t shirt rack - what could I do??? I thought about a shutter shelf, but then I left two of my tall shutters at the Mineola Antique Fair last month... Jeff said "hey, we are suppose to get the shutters (closet doors) from mama's house." Years ago, a little invention called the microwave called for a kitchen makeover at Jeff's grandparent's (now parent's) house and the sliding pantry doors were removed and stored in the attic. A recent insulating job uncovered the doors and the were moved to the shop, waiting for us to take them home to do something with them! Whewee!  So I painted the doors white and then Jeff cut up a privacy fence panel and removed a few of the slats in the doors to make shelves.

 Clotheslines on the top and bottom allow us to display several shirt styles and then we can have stacks of shirts on the shelves. I've gotta say, we are pretty ticked with how it turned out and didn't cost us anything out of pocket!

Our friends at the thrift store say if you want something, to wish for it. So I wrote my list of wants down, hoping they would come true! The list included a mirror, rug, chandelier, shelves, and drapes.

Well, in a little over a weeks time, we came across all of those things! The ladies at the thrift store called when they got a rug in, that just happens to be the right size, an awesome texture, and color to go with our products. We actually found two mirrors, two pieces of furniture, and some leopard gauze-y, drapy fabric between a couple of estate sales and the thrift store! Angea found a chandelier at a garage sale and sent me pictures wondering if I wanted it? My answer was yes, because all booths need a pretty chandy!

 Jeff was good help in getting all my props built and set up!

We got everything made and ready for opening day on Saturday! although we won't be working inside the store on a daily basis, we did go back and stay for most of the Grand Opening. It was a busy day at Kickin' K and I've already got to make more shirts to restock! 

Here I am with Kerri - she's wearing a serape dress from Kickin' K and a denim jacket that I upcycled (It has a leopard cactus on the back of it.) Of course, I am wearing one of my new Cactus Motor Inn bleached tees. 

Becky and Kerri were both wearing one of my jackets and look super cute modeling them! 

It was a great opening and the store was busy all day! If you are near Quitman, Texas, make sure you stop by. There are at least 18 different vendors in the shop, so you are sure to find something you like! The shop is located right next door to the Dollar General and in the same parking lot as the police station on Highway 37 (main street) and a couple blocks from Highway 154.

 If you aren't local, we still offer our goods on our website and etsy. Plus you can still find us at the Mineola Antique Fair each month.

Mineola Nature Preserve

Earlier, I shared about our trip to the Quitman Arboretum, the tour of the Historic Stinson House, and the Medicinal Herb 101 class that was held at the Arboretum in June. After a morning in Quitman with my sister-in-law and niece, we decided to go to Mineola for lunch and they wanted to take me to the Mineola Nature Preserve.

 Now, I've seen the signs when going to Mineola or occasionally an event advertised on facebook that was being held there, although I had never been or realized what an awesome place this was. Wowee, y'all! The Mineola Nature Preserve is nearly 3,000 acres and free to the public (although I believe camping and horseback activities do require a fee).

 A pavilion sits high on the hill overlooking the area. The breeze is blowing and it was very comfortable to sit at the picnic tables and the swing, even though it was in the mid 90's. A amphitheater is located by the pavilion and star gazing events are held there - Jeff would love to go to that one night!

We started down a walking trail and past through the Master Gardener's area. I can only imagine what it would have looked like just a few weeks ago with everything in full bloom! I appreciated that their were markers to identify the plants.

 They showed me the sun dial, then we continued down the path to one of the ponds were families were fishing (catch and release) and saw a few ducks. It was all so peaceful.

 Next we headed down the hill on the Johnnie Bendy Trail. Paths were all very well maintained. The open fields were recently mowed and the walking path wove down the hill towards towards a more wooded area. The preserve goes all the way to the Sabine River, but we didn't walk that far. I believe they said about 2 1/2 miles to the river and we weren't prepared to be gone that long.

 We past a few more ponds and sloughs, with "watch for alligator'' signs!

 Down the trails, different trees were identified and observation decks were created at different points.

Then we came upon a bridge crossing and it was one of the most visually stimulating areas! An abandoned railroad trestle can be seen in the water. There were so many layers of foliage and textures galore. For an artist, photographer, and nature enthusiast, I was in love!  From the bridge we saw 2 snakes in the water below, turtles everywhere, and the white crane crisscrossed the area several times, along with several birds and butterflies. No, we didn't see any alligators, but that would have been awesome to photograph in the swamp! The clouds and sky were just perfect for the day! Brenna is involved with the 4-H photography program and together the two of us took lots of pictures!

It was a great relaxing afternoon! I can't wait to go back and take Jeff with me while wearing appropriate shoes, taking both my camera lenses, and plenty of drinks and snacks for a long hike through the preserve! On our way out, we were able to see the herd of Longhorn Cattle and the Buffalo that reside on the property (although we didn't stop to get a picture of them.)

All day, I was amazed at the Quitman Arboretum and the Mineola Nature Preserve. Until just recently, I didn't know either existed and they are both within 30 miles of our home! The three of us decided that we needed to start making more outings together and exploring little day trips and events around East Texas more often.

(We were a little sweaty from our hike back up the hill to the truck! Next time I'll have my hair up and water to take with me!)

Here's a Facebook post from the Mineola Nature Preserve showing their newly updated maps. 

Wandering around the Vintage Market Days - East Texas

Last Thursday, Angea and I decided that we would take a little road trip on Friday to the Vintage Market Days -East Texas. Our schedules both allowed it, so we wanted to go.  Angea was discussing it with her husband and he ask "Do you know where it's at?" 

Her response: "south". Almost 2 hours south to be exact, in Nacogdoches, Texas. 

She volunteered to drive, since her car gets great gas mileage, so we loaded and did a little wandering, wondering, and a whole lot of laughing! 

So here's a few pictures from our wandering around the Market - there was a civic center and rodeo arena full of vendors and fabulous stuff! 

This vignettes were in the entry way. 

To the left was the civic center.

I'm telling you, someone painted a picture of one of our cows! I don't have a wall big enough for this gorgeous girl, but I sure do love this cow painting. 

To the right was the covered arena full of treasures. The last time I was in the arena, we were at FFA horse judging contest in high school. I'm pretty sure we came home with some awards that day. 

Lunch from an airstream, yes please! Chipotle turkey croissant, chips, and pink fluff in a cup - not your typical junk food. 

Angea tried on a crown! 

This is one thing, I wish I would have got - there was some good smelling potions in this booth. 

We had a great time exploring and checking out the vintage market days! We said we should have done a live Facebook video of our car talk, but we kind of figured, this might be the case!