Category: Grandma Ruddell

A Trip to Justin, Texas

We visited Justin, Texas. What a cool town!

What do you think about, when you hear Justin, Texas??? I always think about Justin Boots. That must be where they originally made the boots, right? Nope. Think again. Did they name the town after the boot company? Nopity Nope.

Justin, Texas was actually named in honor of Justin Sherman, a chief engineer with the Santa Fe Railroad. Justin was once a center of salvage companies. After Western wear became very popular, in the 1970’s, the Wallace family started focusing on Western wear. The three major salvage companies closed and the salvage industry disappeared.

Justin is a town of about 4,500 people, close to Denton, Texas. It is really close to the Texas Speedway. In fact, years ago, the town almost bought the Texas Motor Speedway, but didn’t have enough money to run and maintain it. So the Speedway ended up with a Ft. Worth address.

We decided to visit Justin, on Saturday. It’s a nice town, with that down home feel. There is a pretty park, on the south side of town, that has a veteran’s memorial. I had my veteran stand by the memorial. The lighting wasn’t very good, but I’m so proud of him! On the west side of town, there is a Municipal building and another municipal park. The Municipal complex was really nice.

We stopped at an Antique store. There was a fun Halloween display, right outside of the store. We found lots of treasures within, but, alas, no heads! Next door was a Mexican restaurant, and there was another restaurant that was close to that one.

We decided to look inside the Justin Discount Boots & Cowboy Outfitters. Oh my gosh! There were rows and rows of boots. They actually have three buildings, with over 90,000 square feet of displays. WOW! I fell in love with a pair of toddler boots. So, SEE??? They DO have a ton of Justin Boots in this town!

Before we left town, we decided to get something to eat. We found the The Mule Barn. It was a sports bar and restaurant. What a fun place! The food was delicious, a band was setting up, and the place was huge. This was where you saw people coming in, and waving to others, because everyone knows each other. I love that kind of atmosphere.

Where have you been lately? Any fun, little towns? I like to explore the little towns around my area. I’m thinking a day trip to Hico will be in our future. Every time we go through there, it appears to be a happening town.

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Grandma Sherry

TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT SEPTEMBER

I LOVE: The arrival of fall! I hope you’ve had a great September. We also had our trying times. My hubby had covid. My backyard weeds are ridiculous, in my flower beds. It’s just been too hot to bother with them. That’s my next goal. But, overall, it was a good month. There’s something about … Continue reading “TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT SEPTEMBER”

I LOVE:

The arrival of fall!

  • The Texas State Fair begins.
  • I can open my windows to let in a breeze.
  • I’m able to go for a walk, and not die of heat within a minute.
  • School has began again, giving us good schedules to work around.
  • My piano students are all back from their summer relaxation.
  • Making pumpkin pie and hearty crockpot meals.
  • Decorating for Fall and Halloween.
  • Spending time with my grandkids.
  • Seeing the change of seasons in the garden.

I hope you’ve had a great September. We also had our trying times. My hubby had covid. My backyard weeds are ridiculous, in my flower beds. It’s just been too hot to bother with them. That’s my next goal. But, overall, it was a good month. There’s something about Fall arriving that makes me want all things cozy.

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Grandma Ruddell

    The Yin and Yang of a Week of Covid

    We’ve just been through a week of covid. It was a time to think, rest and feel better.

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    This past week was going to be one of our busiest weeks of the month. On Sunday morning, at church, Dick was liturgist and I taught Children’s Church. We both enjoy doing these things. I had my two grandkids with me, which made it extra fun. They had spent the night with us, on Saturday night. They are like two peas in a pod. I love how they play together! They were both going to go home, right after lunch on Sunday.

    I believe every school district in Texas must have scheduled Grandparent’s Day at their schools, for that week! We had one scheduled to attend, in Waco, for our Granddaughter, Libby. That was on Wednesday. But first, I went to the Dentist, on Monday morning, and that evening, I went to Bunco. When I returned home from a fun night of Bunco, Dick and I figured out what time we would leave for Waco, on Wednesday. It’s an hour and a half drive, so we were going to leave about 9, with a stop at Buc-cees for a gift. Not only would it be her school’s Grandparent’s day, but the next day would be her birthday.

    Tuesday afternoon, I gave my two piano lessons. One is a beginner, and is quite enthusiastic! This day, she brought four of her stuffed animals to listen to her lesson. One of these, she sat on the edge of the piano, because he had “a big, fat butt that would sit there nicely.” Yes, yes, I know, my child. We can barely fit on the piano bench, for duets, because of my big, fat butt.

    That evening, Dick was sitting in his recliner, with an afghan wrapped around him. Now let’s be completely honest here. I am Woman, He is Man. He always complains about how freezing cold it is in the house. I thought he was trying to make a point. I rolled my eyes. It wasn’t THAT cold! But then, later, he told me he had the chills. Hmmmm. Didn’t sound good.

    Wednesday morning, we are 15 minutes from leaving for Waco. Dick said he felt like he was coming down with something. Uh Oh. I suggested we both test for Covid. We had heard, by then, that six other people from church had covid. Dick’s test came back positive. Mind came back negative. I banned him into the bedroom, which also has a couch, the master bathroom, and let him go into the office to watch the news. While he went and laid down, I made phone calls and sent text messages. Here’s most of what I cancelled: My other 10 piano lessons for the week; the Grandparent Lunch with Libby; Choir Practice; the once-a-month Cleaning Lady; Dick’s sister and hubby coming to stay all night with us on Thursday evening; going to my grandson’s (Isaac) Grandparent Day at his school; and heading to OK for the weekend, to celebrate Dick’s sister’s 80th birthday at a big party. There had been a lot of plans for that week!

    So, we both stayed home for the week. Dick was feeling sick for several days, though not severely. I used my Freezer Meals, watched TV, and thought about doing yard work, but that thought passed. When Dick was feeling better, past his 5 days of isolation, I had him change out some pictures for me. I got out the decorations for Fall, and have been slowly decorating. We’re slowly venturing out. Dick has gone swimming, and rode his bike for 30 miles. My piano students are back this week. That’s good! Not only did I miss them, but so did Bill, our Black Lab. He LOVES piano lessons!

    Sometimes we just need to slow down. We had packed so many things into last week’s plan, that I was wondering how we’d get it all done. I’m sorry we missed out on the activities. But I enjoyed the rest. Kind of. I don’t think Dick enjoyed it. Bill was bored.

    And so, God said, “I have given you rest. Now, GET WITH IT!”

    Have a good day. Happy Fall.

    Grandma Sherry

    A Mess up and a Blooper In My Bread Machine!

    It’s been a very cold few days, here in Fort Worth. I decided to get out my bread machine and make some bread to go along with our chili. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve used my bread machine, mainly because it’s hard to find any of the box mixes at the grocery store. But I found a recipe, for making it from ingredients on hand.

    I put all of the ingredients in the machine, and found my yeast. However, it expired in 2022. I took a chance and put it in. Then I turned it on. I watched it for about an hour, and it did NOTHING! Next, I found I had two current pkgs of yeast. So I scooped out the old yeast, and put the new in. It still did nothing. Was I frustrated? YOU’RE DARN TOOTIN’!!

    Finally, I threw it all out and started over. It did call for so many teaspoons of yeast, but my pkg was just a smidgeon over that. I added it all. When I put the inner container back in the machine, I turned it a different way, and it clicked into place. Ahhhh…maybe that had been my problem! It started up and did its thing. Woohoo!!! The house smelled so good! I took my chili out of the freezer, and shortly before the bread was done, I heated the chili up. You know how much I love my freezer meals!!

    When I took the bread out of the machine, the top of it was caved in. I think it rose too much , hit the top of the machine, and fell back down. The rest of it was fine. Weird.

    After I cut the top off, I got to the good stuff. My hubby and I both agreed that it was very tasty. Accompanying the chili, it hit the spot!

    I’ve decided to master the homemade mixtures and use it more often. AND…I went to Amazon, and they had a lot of mixes for bread machines. I ordered a mix for Sour Dough bread. We’ll be trying that soon.

    Are you a fan of bread machines? Do you use a recipe or do you buy a box mix?

    Have a great day. Spring is coming soon. Let me know if you liked this post.

    Hugs, Grandma Ruddell

    GRANDMA CAMP

    Oh my goodness! My hubby and I kept our three grandkids for a week of Grandma Camp. It really should have been Grandma and Boppa Camp….I couldn’t have done it without him. We had a lot of fun, and did a lot of activities. Last year, my youngest grandson, Isaac, who goes to a different camp every week of the summer, told his mom that I wasn’t very organized. I didn’t have a certain time for each activity. By golly, this year I was organized! Isaac will be seven in August, and lives locally. Libby will be eight in September, and she and her brother, Liam…who had just turned 11….live in Waco.

    Boppa fixed breakfast for them. They ate a ton of pancakes and had a morning or so with donuts. I kind of like to sleep in. I let them play on their electronics until about 9:00 am. Libby and Isaac like art, creative games and come up with all kinds of things. Liam is a computer genius and prefers to be on the computer 24/7. My goal was to come up with activities to get them away from electronics. Our first activity, on Monday, was to make a Time Capsule. They each drew a picture and wrote about their activities that they enjoyed. We included a section of the newspaper, and a list of statistics. Liam decorated the box. We then found a hiding place for it, to be opened next year at the same time.

    We also went to Isaac’s HOA park, and tie-dyed shirts. That was fun. When we got back, Libby and Isaac made a restaurant and we all had to come get a meal….even the house cleaner!

    On Tuesday, it was the 4th of July. We went to the Movies. Then we came home and made a three layer cake….red, white and blue…with Isaac and Libby helping make it. Later, Liam frosted it. I may have baked it too long. It was kind of weird looking, and dry, but we added lots of whipped cream. Funnily enough, this was one of the kids’ favorite activities. Isaac’s parents came over for dinner, and they brought snakes and sparklers. (I’m sorry….this photo went wonky on me.)

    On Wednesday, we had Game Day. We played darts, Uno, Crazy eights, Sorry and Jenga. We then went to McDonald’s and the robot served us lunch. Liam and I came home, and Boppa took the two younger ones swimming. Isaac got to stay for a sleepover. Yeah!

    Thursday, Isaac and Libby did paint by number paintings. While I gave piano lessons in the afternoon, Libby and Isaac went with Boppa to the Trampoline Park. Liam worked on a game, her was making on the computer.

    Friday, we went to the Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth. What a great place! I bought two postcards for each of them, and we had to find that art piece and have a photo taken. They drew a picture of their favorite art, when they came home. Then we went to Andy’s Frozen Custard for a special treat.

    Have you had Grandma Camp at your house? What all did you do? Were you exhausted when it was done? We were! Ha. But, ah, love those grandkids.

    Hugs,

    Grandma Ruddell