New Pendant

Well, as usual this one has been sitting, waiting to be photographed for a while. It is a tricky one. These photos aren't the best. I'm not sure if I like the necklace curved like that or not. I don't have a name for this one. I used to make similar pendants with different stones all hanging down in a row. With this one I wanted to go back to that idea but add lots of new details. The stones are Turquoise and Labradorite. I am really happy with how this pendant turned out.

Fort Worth is beautiful!

I talked about mine and Frank's hike at the Fort Worth Nature Center in my post about the CCC. I wanted to share the rest of my pictures of our hike. We did the most difficult trail in the park, which isn't saying much, this is Texas after all. It was a good workout in a beautiful setting, however, and we do plan to go back to this place as often as the weather and our schedules will allow. There are also plenty of flat trails that are great for kids, and we want to take out nieces back with us.

The park is situated on Lake Worth and has trails all along the lake.

This time of year the blooming and growing things are smaller and less showy than in the spring. You really have to stop and slow down to appreciate these tiny beauties.

The broken glass was in the CCC ruin that we had our picnic at. Though trash is never cool, I found the shards to be beautiful.

This hill of stairs is the steepest one that we encountered. It is a little deceptive from the bottom and steeper than it looks!

At the top of the hill even Lucy was tired!

Frank wondered what this sign meant. I knew it was supposed to be a yucca plant, and commented that there must be a field of yuccas ahead.

And, there they were....

Unfortunately, Lucy thinks she is our pack leader, and pulls so hard that picture taking can be difficult. The pulling is a bit helpful when going up hills though!

The sight of falling leaves made me happy. However, I wish I could suspend this season and this perfect weather. I'm definitely not ready for the darkness of winter.

Almost to the end of the trail. Malta, my old lady, will be 14 this month. We have traveled the country together, and she is a wonderful companion. Frank never knew he could love a dog until Malta and I came into his life!

Busy clicking away....

Luckily this time I'm clicking my camera, not my keyboard! I have been busy photograph tons of new stuff for my etsy shop, and I am nowhere near done. These items and more will be going in the shop asap.

American Experience: the CCC

My maternal grandfather, Pawpaw, was a proud veteran of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The CCC was created during the Great Depression by FDR. This service put to work unemployed young men building roads, bridges, planting trees, and working in State and National parks. I grew up going to places like Garner State Park and knowing that the CCC had built the buildings there. The young men of the CCC did great work and became the first generation of environmentalists. My Pawpaw grew up poor, hunting, fishing and gardening to survive. All of my life he had a wonderful vegetable garden, and loved to hunt and fish. I am proud of the legacy that he passed on to us, his love of nature lives on.

I was excited to watch American Experience: the CCC on PBS monday night. The show was really interesting. They talked about the connection between the dust bowl and the great depression, and the work that the CCC accomplished. I only wished that Pawpaw was there to "give us a report" as he would say, and tell his stories. Mom said she doesn't have any pictures of him from that time, but seeing the footage and images on the show I could just picture him as one of those young men.

Frank and I hiked at the Fort Worth Nature Center on Sunday, which was amazing and I have much more to share. On the trail that we hiked were several ruins of buildings built by the CCC. We had our picnic lunch in one. Pawpaw's spirit was with us, and I can just hear him saying, "Partner, I was in the CCC and we built buildings just like this"!




By the way, this site is just a ruin, but many, many buildings still stand and are in wonderful shape.

Little Munchkins and Twinkling Lights

We visited some of our favorite little people on Halloween night. First we trick or treated with our God son Oscar in the mall. He was a convincing yet cute Dracula.

Posing

I love this one, even though it is blurry, because he is laughing.

Dracula Attack!

Me with my beautiful nieces. The two little ones were both Hannah Montana, but had shed most of their costumes by the time we saw them.

When we left Frank's mom's house there was a carnival at the mall. We have always wanted to snap photos of a carnival's lights at night and we finally did.

Our Weekend....

We had a wonderful weekend! The weather was absolutely perfect, and it looks like it is going to stay that way for another whole week. Sunny, in the 70's and cool in the shade. I couldn't ask for anything more. We started our weekend with homemade Cappuccinos. One of Frank's coworkers generously gave us an espresso machine and I'm learning the ropes. They are delicious, I must say!
I have made it my mission to discover all the hidden natural spots in my area. There is a system of trails along the Trinity River here in Fort Worth. The area near our house is less populated than closer to downtown and the major parks. We took the dogs out on the trail weekend before last and discovered a new spot. The area where we enter the trail system is called Riverbend Nature Area. There is a trail that runs along a creek, connecting the river trail to a neighborhood trail. I cannot believe that I have lived down the road from this area for eight years and never new what was there. It is amazingly beautiful, looks like you are in the country, and definitely underused. I am so thankful to have discovered this little spot.

To get to the trail we drive down a road, appropriately named Hidden Road.

I love the way the dogs shadows look!

Ahhhhh

I love this place!

Here we are at the creek. I can't believe how clear and clean the water is.

On the way home. Lucy off the leash, for a minute.

Fall in Fort Worth. I love it!

*I have a lot more to report about our weekend. This was just our first outing. I have to get busy on jewelry though, so it might take me a few days to get it all on the blog. I wanted to tell you though to check out your local PBS channel for a show about the CCC. Ours is airing tonight. I'll tell you more later about why this is so important and interesting to me.