Old Cemeteries…really interesting places

Burkett has cemetaries…probably more as some of the family ranches have their own…but 2 that we’ve visited.  

The Burkett city cemetery is getting full.   There are gravesites dating to the early 1800s and possibly a few earlier ones.  As with many old cemeteries, there are many unmarked gravesites.   The cemetery association has leveled markers, replaced and repaired some…and there are still more needing attention.   Right now, the blue bonnets are in full bloom, so it’s a beautiful place to walk through.

The second cemetery sits on a hill just above the Pecan Bayou and is called Adams cemetery.  The place was named for the family whose land it was started on.  There are gravesites there dating back to the 1800s also.  We were out there a few weeks back checking things out.   Someone has taken the time to replace markers for the unknown graves.  Nice flat concrete markers with numbers.  It would be great if someone could come along and figure out who was buried there.  This cemetery is full of iris beds.  It will be in full bloom in another week.

  THis grave is completely covered in shells.   It’s quite lovely and shows someone both loved the shells (probably from the Bayou!!) and took the time to do the decorative covering.  What a work of love.

  I love the old markers…the shapes, the designs on them and the love that went into the handcrafted ones.

 

 

 

 

 

            The Hangin’ Tree?     Supposedly, the cemetery came about because a man stole a horse and took off on it…the horse owner (who was inside eating lunch) came out on his porch, saw the thief, and shot him.   The thief was buried where he fell and so began Adams cemetery.  Another story goes that the thief was caught and hung from the old oak tree in what is now Adams cemetery.  Who really knows?   Either story is interesting and definitely portrays country justice being served.   

I really enjoy our strolls through the old cemeteries…always have.  I love looking at the old, old markers.  The new ones aren’t near as interesting.

Susan ~ Patchkat

 

Spring?

Did I mention a few weeks back that I planted 3 different types of daffodils?  I never expected them to bloom this Spring, but look!!!!

 The bright yellow ones just started blooming over the weekend.   I’ve never tried growing them in all the places we’ve had gardens and flower beds.  I think we’ll have a bed full of them in a few years. Aren’t they lovely.  

The bottom one doesn’t show too well..it’s got cream outer petals with the yellow center.  The center is filled with fuzzy yellow stuff.  These bloomed first and just in time to get beat down by the rain. 

Oh well.  I’d rather have the rain!  The flowers can try again next Spring :-)

Susan ~ Patchkat

 

Welcome Isaac James!

Presenting our first Great Grandson.

Isaac James made his entrance on March 19, 2012. 

He arrived at 6:05PM and weighed in at a healthy 9 lb 1 oz…21 1/2″ long.  

Cassie and Brad with baby Isaac.   Now the real fun of parenthood begins!   can we say late nights, early mornings and lots of feedings and diaper changes in between, lol.   Enjoy all the cuddling and that sweet baby smell…the powder and baby oil smells….

 

 

I hate that they live so far away (Wisconsin), but they’re planning to make the trip to Texas in June.  I cannot wait!    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan ~ Patchkat

God’s Promises

Yesterday was lab work and Dr.  day.  The chemo has quit working and we’re definately changing meds.   Kidney issues have settled down, blood work was good.  Cancer tumor marker numbers were up yet again.   I feel great, so I cannot complain.  All that told,  I was still a little on the blue side after the visit.   It would be so cool to have good reports rather than always being negative.   So, while I was on my cell phone whining about the med issue,  I looked up from the wheel to see this…

 A huge, brightly colored double rainbow!    Genesis 9 tells us that God sent the Rainbow as a promise to Noah .   Granted that promise dealt with floods.  

 I took yesterday’s beautiful rainbow as my personal promise that all would be well.  I stopped and caught several shots of both sides…this is the most vividly colored one.  It’s hard to describe how I felt, but my spirits immediately lifted and the evening was nice.

 The house on the left is a co-worker’s home.   She didn’t see the rainbow.   I chased it all the way home.    The closer to Burkett I got, the brighter the left side of the arc seemed to get.  It was a tremendous experience.

Here’s the other end.   You can see both rainbows.  Can you see how the colors are reversed on the outside rainbow?  Isn’t that neat!   Something to do with the light refraction off of the first rainbow.   Both were very visibile in complete arcs.

Susan ~ Patchkat

The SUNSET TREE ~

The mornings are cool, the afternoons get breezy and we can leave the door open for HOURS on end.  The sunsets are spectacular as evidenced by the photo…

  This was snapped about 7PM a few nights ago.  This is the neighbor’s tree…titled here as “The Sunset Tree”.  Love the look of the crooked limbs as silhouetted against the sunset.

 Can you see the exposed rafters of the barn on the left?  Have I mentioned lately how much I love the neighbor’s barn?  So do the kitties as a lot of them sleep over there, hunt mice over there and we have one who even climbs to the rafters to lay in the sun and survey the territory.

Susan ~ Patchkat 

 

StashBustin’ NOT ~

• Yardage purchased this week –  0 yds
•  Yardage used this week    0 yds
•  Year to date purchased –  0 yds
•  Year to date used (goal 300 yds) –  30.25 yds
•  UFOs (goal 10) –  0
• Charity quilt tops made – ytd (goal 20) –  4  
•  Charity quilts completed – ytd (goal 20) –  0

Well, while I didn’t use any fabric,  I didn’t buy any either.  I did manage to finish the binding on another donation quilt (counted in an earlier total) on our drive to Lumber Liquidators yesterday.  That’s another post, lol.

Susan ~ Patchkat

Love those Signs of Spring

 

The roadways are abloom!   I stopped and snapped this cluster of Paintbrushes on the way home today.  Aren’t they pretty.  Really lacy leaves and stalks of feathery blooms.

Not to be outdone,  there were patches and patches of these pretty purple flowers.  

  Today’s challenge…ID these flowers!  They have 5 distinct petals, the flowers are blueish purple with white, about 1″ wide with feathery leaves.  They grow in mounds and right now, they’re maybe 6-8″ tall. 

Susan ~ Patchkat

Remember the problem camera?

I’m still using that little Vivitar camera for my on-the-go shots.   Roll over the name to read about the camera.  I haven’t resolved the lighting/blurry issues, but I can get decent outdoor shots with it.  

Just like any other camera, it is battery powered.   The battery is one that would normally be found in a Nokia phone!  It should be charged in a Nokia phone…there isn’t a battery charger sold for this camera!  Didn’t find that out till after we’d bought it. 

Ernie googled the charger options and found this one.  I don’t remember who he finally ordered from, and there is no other charger sold for this battery (unless it’s a Nokia phone, lol).    This charger is quite lovely to look at…sleek, well made with a lighted charging display.   Thank you to the designer for a coming up with a universal charger.

While this charger works great, it’s a pain to use.   See the black part on the right….it is on really stiff springs, used to wedge the battery (standing up with orange spot) into place.  Underneath the battery, there is a groove with two moveable pins.  Using the charger requires you to line up the pins with the contacts on the bottom of the battery, get the angle just right, and get the spring holder part tight enough to hold the battery in position.   Everytime we charge the battery it takes about 10 minutes of adjusting and fiddling with the angle to get a good contact.   If you don’t hold your mouth just right…it won’t make contact, lol.

Let me tell you.  Before we buy anything else battery operated, I will do some serious research first!

Susan ~ Patchkat

Spices, Spices, Spices ~ what would we do without them?

I’ ve had several inquiries as to the spices I’ve mentioned in other posts.   We were gifted with a nice set of spices from Penzey’s Spice Company.   Christy brought a jar of “Fox Point” with her last Summer and I really liked the mix.   I also like “Forward“…especially in stews and soups.  YUM.   My most favorite to kick it up a little…”Arizona Dreaming“.  Roll over the product names for descriptions!

If you like trying new spices, Penzey puts out a great catalog.  I have drooled over the copy that came with my hand picked collection of spices.  There are some good recipes and plenty of ideas for using the spices. 

 www.penzeys.com  is well worth checking out.

Thanks to Daughter, Christy for introducing me to Penzeys!

Susan ~ Patchkat

It’s almost time….

Our second granddaughter, Cassie is about to pop!   I’m sure she’s ready for this pregnancy to be over and excited to think it soon will be :-)   She has a due date of March 17.   We’ve already been told this first great grandchild will be a boy!   Brad, the baby daddy, has chosen the name Isaac James.  Both biblical names and a lot for a little one to grow into.   You’ll be hearing more on this front in the future :-)

Since they live in Wisconsin, we won’t get to see them until June :-(  but we’re certainly looking forward to the visit!

Hurry up, Cassie Lee!   We love ya.

Susan ~ Patchkat

PS (can you add PSs to blog posts?…)  Cassie’s Mom, Christy, has become a great photographer.  She has been doing family photo shoots for several years…and doing some free-lancing now.  I think she’s doing great work….I’ll share more shots later :-)