TEXAS

The song, All My Ex's Live in Texas keeps coming to mind :0)  But, now most of my family lives in Texas.  My brother and his two girls and now, three grandchildren.  Nice that they can all be fairly close.  I flew into Ft.Worth/Dallas International last Wednesday.  Kind of thought about the Wizard of Oz.  With all of the tornado weather it was a bumpy, hair raising ride.  That International airport is one of the most confusing airports I have ever tried to navigate.  They have signs everywhere.  In fact, they have too many signs that say too little.  It's crazy.  Anyway, I made it.  My brother, Jim, found my luggage before he found me :0)  It poured all of the way to his home in East Texas....Tyler, Texas.  I said."Looks like tornado weather."  Jim said, "Nah...those aren't tornado clouds."  I knew he was just trying to cheer me up.  A huge Tornado hit Northern Texas that very night doing a ton of damage.  The rest of the weather was hot and muggy, but the rain and tornados stayed away from us. Phew....  I hate tornados.  Jim and I grew up outside of Kansas City (Tornado Alley)....we have seen our share.

I got a deal on Virgin Airlines...like $235 RT.  I have never flown them before.  Their seats were comfy and they have purple (meditative) lighting throughout the plane.  Glad they did.  I needed that for the bumpy ride.

This little 3000 ft. dream cottage is my brother and wife's new 'forever' home.

The view from the Master bedroom.  4 bedrooms, all with walk-in closets, 3 full bathrooms, 2 dining areas, living room, TV room, and a kitchen to die for.  Walk in closet?  What's that?  LOL  Their bathrooms were bigger than my kitchen. :0)

The TV room.  They have Docs living on each side of them.  Very quiet community right close by the University of Texas and several other colleges.  Not that Jim and Linda are thinking about going back to school...haha

The live on a lovely small lake that has a paved pathway some 3/4 the way around.  The pool is the perfect size.  3 feet on each end and 5 feet in the middle.  It's a great lap pool.

They have been there 4 months and have not been in their pool.  Lordy!  I walked out before 8 am and jumped right in.  My brother says I have more guts than 5 men together.  LOL  I love to swim.  I didn't care the pool wasn't heated.  I now have the distinction of being the first of their family to use the pool. 

This is a picture of their lake from the other end.  There are swinging benches along the walk way so you can stop, swing, and just think about nothing.

My brother and wife have yet to walk all the way around their lake.  In 3 days I walked 12 times around the lake.  So much to see and so pretty!  GREEN!

Spill way at the other end of the lake.  They have tennis courts, a community pool, and a club house.

Also, there is a fountain in the lake.  They turn it on around 10 am until 7 pm each day.

My pocket camera didn't do this Blue Heron justice.  He is different from the Floridian Blue herons.  He has a purple crest on his head and when he flies, his wings are outlined in purple.  He was gorgeous AND he was getting pretty tired of me sneaking up on him.  They are pretty territorial.

Most of all this is what intrigued me...the snapping turtles.  The lake had 100's of snappers.  They are hard to sneak up on.  They come out in the early morning to sun themselves.  They are as fast as Alligators.  If they catch a glimpse of you, they are GONE.

There are several large birdhouses around the lake.  I had trouble getting clear pictures because of the humidity.  My lens kept fogging up!

This was the other lake resident, a large white crane.  He and Big Blue hang out at opposite ends of the lake.  They are NOT friends.

This little bridge with the Lillies is down below their pool.  They have room for a little garden, spa...whatever.  It's like a little rain forest. :0)

Jim and I got 'skunked' the one day we tried our fishing luck.  Though, Jim's grandson caught a 7 lb. catfish one day.

Let's just say I did NOT lose any weight this trip.  Linda insists on preparing feasts of food...worse than a Jewish mother :0)

A cardinal by the pool.  Lots of cardinals :0)

We only went out to eat once while I was there.  We tried a new Mexican restaurant.  New to Jim and Linda.  It was FABULOUS. I was introduced to a Sangria Swirl.  YUM!

Jules, the Chihuahua sunning herself on the back porch (just like Trouble would do)  Jules is 11 or 12 and has all of the weirdness of a small dog.  She chokes, barks, has a dozen or more allergies, and  makes weird content noises, etc.  One night she was choking on her food.  Linda said, "I think this is it.  I don't she will survive this one more time."  I got up from the dinner table and did a Heimlich maneuver on the Chi.  Yep...she will live another day.  That was a first for me.  Hahahahaha

It gives me great PEACE to know that Jim and Linda have found their 'forever" home near their children and friends.  I could never repay them for the wonderful care their gave to our father in Florida during his twilight years.  They deserve the greatest of happiness.

I had a lovely four day trip.  But, they can keep the humidity and the tornados.  LOL  I'll continue to live with the fires and earthquakes. :0)