After seeing a group of 15 Javelinas coming up from salt flats near here (another post coming about the flats), I learned that a group of these characters that look like wild pigs, but are another species altogether, is called a squadron.
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KRINGLA
Like hubs, our neighbour here in South Texas has Norwegian heritage.
The day that we made Lefse, she stopped by to see how our recipe differed from hers.
Yesterday, she stopped by with a gift of several Kringla cookies that she always bakes to perfection.
We’re so very blessed to spend our winters in a diverse, loving, and caring 50+ community.
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“Laissez les bons temps rouler!”
Every year at this time, McAllen, Texas (our neighbouring city) hosts “The Golden Age Olympics”. It runs over several weeks and includes every event from race walking to jigsaw puzzles (yes, you read that right – it’s a timed event) and winners come away with medals as well as bragging rights.
Each year, there is a different overall theme, and this year, as you’ve no doubt guessed already, the theme is Mardi Gras.
My feature photo was shot at the community hall where hubs registered for the poker event.
The title of my post, translated to English on this banner, is always the theme for New Orleans Mardi Gras – and is so appropriate for the fun and games happening daily at the
Golden Age Olympic GamesI had planned to enter the 5K race walk this year, and am ready for it. Unfortunately, it was downsized this year to a 1.6 K (one mile) race. That’s about the distance I walk at my warm up pace.
I could figure out a way around it, I suppose, but decided not to this year. I’d have to find a warm up spot close to the race path and then work on it. I have neither the time nor the inclination to do that this year.
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Bread Knows …
Yesterday was bread baking day.
I wasn’t in the best of moods when I started. In fact, you could say I was downright grumpy (another story).
When I took the first baked loaf out of the pan, my ocd-ish personality wasn’t pleased, and now, even more grumpy.
I took the photo, sent it to our daughter, and told her about my mood.
Her reply was, “Oh Mom … bread knows, and it’s manifesting you!”
With that, I cracked up laughing and got on with my day.
By the way, the other two loaves came out perfect.
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Palms Unlimited
Just when I thought I must have seen every type of palm tree known to man, what should appear, but a Ponytail Palm?
I decided to check with Professor Google, and apparently, there are over 2600 species of palm trees, so no, I’ve definitely not seen them all, nor will I live long enough to do so.
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No Final Verdict
A couple of weeks ago, we drove past this once regal, but now old and dilapidated house in Edinburg, Texas.
When I took the photo into Google Lens … Ai assist (which is wrong over 50% of the time), identified it as “The Closner House”, built by John Closner, an early developer and political figure in the area.
The house is located on Closner Rd, which is likely where ai got things twisted.
I then Googled the Closner house and added -ai to my search (this brings up a few more reputable sources before the ai assist answers), and the image that came up looked like an entirely different house.
Further research took me to a Facebook page where people were asking about the house in my feature photo.
Some said it was the Stephens house while others corrected that to Stevens, but attributed different occupations to the different spellings of the surname. Some said it was the Closner house (likely after an ai-assisted Google search). This was corrected by others in the group who said that the Closner house built by John Closner was at a different location.
The jury is definitely out on this one, so I guess I’ll just leave it to imagination of what this house was like in its heyday.
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Angle Parking
This year, some of our adventures have included visting the downtown areas of cities and towns near to us.
Hidalgo is home to our county seat.
Welcome to downtown Hildago, Texas 🤠
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Roses in January
While friends and family at home in southern Saskatchewan, Canada are battling strong winds, icy roads, and hazardous driving and outdoor walking conditions, I feel very blessed to be able to walk outside our front door door here in south Texas to practice my floral photography on our neighbour’s repeat blooming climbing rose.
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Juxtaposition
Alongside a secondary highway, in San Juan, Texas, there’s a little park that we pass often.
There’s a mini Lady Liberty, so we’ve often wondered what the park was all about.
Last week, we finally stopped to check it out.
The park is a war memorial, dedicated to armed forces members from the area who died serving their country in various wars since WW2 . Its name is Liberty Park.
The subject of this post, and my feature photo is the juxtaposition of the words carved in the back of the bench and the abandoned items on the bench that hinted that maybe someone had spent the night there. What would be your guess about this scene?
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Slick and Easy
Before Christmas, I asked my FaceBook friends and family if any of them had any experience with the Chef Preserve Vacuum Sealer.
I was looking to vacuum seal a good lot of Swiss Raclette cheese that would be left from our Christmas Eve meal. The cheese is dear in price, so I sure didn’t want to lose any of it to spoilage. Vacuum sealing was the number one suggestion.
A nurse friend of mine from at home in Canada was the first to reply with a detailed and thorough positive review. This gal is a great cook and a thrifty homemaker, and an honest, sincere person, so I trusted her opinion. I gave it a few more days and no one else replied with personal experience, but another nurse friend gave the system a very good review via her friend who uses it. She said she planned on buying this for herself. This is another gal whose opinions I trust.
Although I always check them, I’m never sure of online reviews by folks I don’t know.
I ordered the sealer, and immediately vacuum sealed and froze the leftover cheese.
Raclette cheese saved for next time I was thrilled with how slick and easy it was to operate. I love that the unit is small and that the bags are reusable.
** I’m in no way affiliated with the company, so this review is unsolicited and unpaid**
Radically Retired 