On Wednesday morning of our trip, we decided to head into Dallas to the Dallas Museum of Art. The museum’s collections include more than 24,000 works of art from around the world ranging from ancient to modern times.

The ancient Mediterranean art includes Cycladic, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, and Apulian objects and South Asian art ranging from Gandharan Buddhist art of the 2nd to 4th centuries AD to the arts of the Mughal Empire in India from the 15th to the 19th century.

The museum’s European art starts in the 16th century. Some of the earlier works includes the painting of The Shepherd Faustulus Bringing Romulus & Remus to His Wife, 1654. The blue of the cloth holding Romulus and Remus is still very vivid.

There is so much to see at this museum. Here’s a few of the many photos I took at the museum …

Water Lilies, Claude Monet 1908

Fredericksborg Castle, Johann...

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, chronicles the assassination and legacy of President John F. Kennedy along with interpreting the Dealey Plaza National Historic Landmark District and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza. At the time of the assassination, the building was known as the Texas School Book Depository. The building is now known as the Dallas County Administration Building.

The museum, on both the sixth and seventh floor, contains artifacts, photographs, documentary films, areas where evidence from the shooting was found, eyewitness accounts, and interactive educational programming. The collection - which continues to grow – includes approximately 45,000 items. The picture above shows the area where Lee Harvey Oswald is thought to have fired the fatal shots … at the top of the building, in the corner on the right side of the photo.

Below are...

Located in the heart of the Fort Worth Stockyards, Stockyards Station provides a blend of old and new with Historic Walking Tours that line the Texas Trail of Fame, The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, over 25 unique shops including an art gallery, sports store and restaurants that offer anything from ribs to enchiladas.

The 98-acre area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Fort Worth Stockyards Historic District in 1976.There are 46 contributing buildings and one other contributing structure in the district.

Shown below are a few of the historic markers that are embedded in the sidewalks. Do you recognize any of them?

Twice-daily (at 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.) genuine Texas cowhands drive a herd of Texas longhorns down Exchange Avenue in the Stockyards National Historic District . Every detail of the cattle drive—from the saddles and chaps to the boots and hats – is...

Have you ever had an experience that made you wonder how in the world that happened? Let me tell you about an experience I had lately - and see if you think it was a strange happening.

My husband’s jeep had a small dent in the front - near the headlights - from someone backing into him. It was small, so it didn’t matter much - until the headlight burnt out. Then is became a bigger issue because we couldn’t get the headlight out - but we needed to change the light so officers wouldn’t need to stop us to tell us that.

We took the jeep to a body shop in Big Lake, Minnesota - to a friend that does all of our repair work. We’ve been there many times before. My husband drove the jeep and I drove my vehicle so I could pick him up. All the way to Big Lake, I kept thinking that he would want to go to the Lake Cafe in Big Lake. He usually wants to go there if he gets close. In addition...

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden is a 110-acre garden and event venue. The original 33-acre garden, established in 1933, was designed by the Kansas City, Missouri firm of father and son, Sidney Hare and S. Herbert Hare and was constructed as part of an employment program during the Depression. The garden is the oldest botanic garden in the state of Texas and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 13, 2009.

The Botanic garden has twenty-two specialty garden spaces containing over 2,500 species of plants, a garden conservatory, and a public perennial trial garden, as well as natural areas, a meandering brook, a fragrance garden, and a Japanese garden featuring a koi pond, waterfall, and Japanese maples.

Although we visited during winter season, the water features were still spectacular …

And we saw a little wildlife … note the turtles on the end of the...

In our office - which is a converted one room schoolhouse - we have a closet for storage of paper office products. For years, along with the paper supplies, we have been putting other things in the closet - old vacuum cleaners, duffle bags, anything we needed to put away. It had reached the point where we could’t get to the paper - which, by the way, was in a state of major disarray.

Unfortunately, I did not take a before picture, but this is what it looked like -
the black hole of closets.

We spent almost two weeks cleaning the closet out. The rule - if we haven’t used it in the past year, it needed to find another home. The lightweight metal shelves - gone - one to the trash because it was bent from the weight of the paper and one to the neighbor.

Then for the remodel -

The walls and ceiling were covered with chip board. A handy trap door was installed in the ceiling to allow...

On Day 2 of our Texas trip … (see A slice of Texas … part 1)

Off to Parker, Texas, the location of the Southfork Ranch and home to the television series Dallas that ran from 1978 - 1991.

For more than a decade, Friday nights at our house - 9:00 p.m. - were spent watching the television series Dallas, often in suspense over what J.R. Ewing’s latest cut-throat business deal would be. Dallas was considered the “World’s Favorite PrimeTime Soap” (from the subtitle of the Book Dallas by Barbara A Curran) and told the story of the oil business dealings and scandals of the wealthy Ewing family from Dallas, Texas. For years it entertained people in many countries. In particular, it was a weekly highlight for our family.

So, sit back, relax and take a tour of Southfork Ranch with me - the home of the Ewings - Jock, J.R., Bobby, Miss Ellie, Pamela, Sue Ellen, Lucy, Ray and more.

Remember the...

Last week my daughter and I took a five-day trip to Texas to visit cousin Laura and family. I have to say this trip was probably the most relaxing yet interesting trip that I have taken in years. But, having taken more than 500 photos, I have a lot of material to wade through …

We arrived at Laura’s house in Keller, Texas about noon on Sunday - with the temperature in the 70’s (much unlike Minnesota). Keller is a beautiful north suburb of Fort Worth with a population of about 43,000.

The first thing I saw as I entered the guest bedroom is shown below - a custom sewn apron as a birthday gift for me and aptly titled “The Carolyn.” What a wonderful welcome. And, as Laura would say, “You must always check the pockets,” for there to find more gifts.

As you can see, the guest bedroom is very peaceful - perfect for long-sought nights of restful sleep.

And in the kitchen, my favorite...

Last week I attended the memorial service for my dear friend, Merrywayne Elvig. Not Marywayne, not Mary, just one word … Merrywayne. Merrywayne was very clear about that. (She was named after two relatives - Merry and Wayne.)

Merrywayne was clear about a lot of things. You always knew where she stood on an issue. For many years, she served on the City of Anoka’s Housing Redevelopment Authority and numerous other committees. She usually had an opinion … and she let it be known. Most people didn’t mind that she differed from them in her opinion. In fact, often others would seek out her opinion. Typically, she would wait until the end of a discussion and then - in a mere sentence or two, she would lay out the solution in a way that commanded respect. As stated in her obituary, Merrywayne’s “feisty independence was legendary.”

Merrywayne was four feet, 10 and ¼ inches tall but her...

Are you making a list of resolutions for 2015? Many people are busy making that list. However, there are many recent articles that claim that most people never succeed in achieving those resolutions; many don’t make it past a month or two. So how about looking at New Year’s resolutions in a different way?

Turning Resolutions into Goals

Having resolutions seems so formal - you are going to resolve to do something. The dictionary defines resolve as the act of finding an answer or solution to a conflict, problem, etc. Seems pretty formal and rigid to me. Instead, try setting some goals that are meaningful to you - goals that, when achieved, will make your life better. Choose personal goals - not goals that are typical or you think are expected of you. If you find the right goals, you’ll likely find that meeting one goal helps you meet other goals. Keep the list short … don’t try to do...