Life at the Gables

Mum couldn't pass up the opportunity to stand next to the Coca-Cola truck. They only appear at Christmas in the UK. Here they're all over the place!!!

My friend Nancy invited mum and I to a tour of some  Patio homes in the local neighbourhood of Cross Creek. These are smaller one or one and a half story homes usually bought by people who are downsizing. once their kids have left home etc. Always one for a nosey around other peoples homes, who was I to say no?

Normally 3 bedrooms, 2/3 full bathrooms and a half bath (downstairs loo), double garage and an outdoor seating area and small garden.
Price range $487,500 - $534,500 Yikes!!! I don't think I'll downsizing there any time soon!!

A view of the local area.  The patio homes are in the top right and most of them back onto a lake. Click photo to enlarge.
The observation tower from where the above photo was taken. And the Italian cafe where we stopped for lunch.

Nancy and Mum.

The Brookwood Community provides an educational environment that creates meaningful jobs, builds a sense of belonging, and demands dignity and respect for adults with disabilities.
Mum and I went Brookwood last week to have lunch and have a look around the garden.  What a quite and peaceful place it is.  It's hard to believe that it's less than a mile from the extremely busy I10 freeway.
The gardens are beautiful and all tended too by the residents of Brookwood.

Mum's favourite.

A cactus for the Teenager.

A fantastic array of colour.

My favourite.

Delicate pinks.

Stunning yellows.

And something resembling a pink sea urchin.

All absolutely stunning but wouldn't last five minutes in my garden!!
Lunch was delicious but I did laugh as I seemed to be one of the youngest guests there!!

It's hard to say goodbye so we'll just say "See you soon".
13 June 2015

On Tuesday we made our way to old Katy to visit the Heritage Museum only to find they had changed their opening times and were shut!!
Never mind!!  We'll go to the Veterans museum instead.

It's a small, local museum run by volunteer veterans. They have two sections.   One about the wars/battles since the Revolutionary war in 1776 up to today's fighting in Afghanistan.  and one about each of the services.  Air Force, Army etc.

It's not a very big place and you could probably do it all in less than an hour, but our tour (just me and mum) was made more interesting by our tour guide Ralph. A veteran of WWII.  US Navy serving in the Pacific. He knew his stuff and was interested to hear the stories  mum could tell him of life in the UK at that time.

It was well worth the visit.
After our tour we went for tea in the local tea parlour that's owned by a Scottish lady who's been in the US for over 20 years.  A proper cuppa!!

We took a trip to the zoo last Sunday so Mum could feed the giraffes.  It was one of the hottest days we'd had for a while and only two giraffes came out to feed.

Mum didn't mind and neither did the giraffes.  More lettuce for them!!
It was a roll reversal day with me making sure mum had sunscreen on and was wearing a hat and making sure she sat in the shade and had something to drink.

Mum's favourite way of keeping cool though, was the "Chill Zone" where she was happily joined by her grandson.

A "cool" day at the zoo was had by all.

Friday 5 June 2015. Graduation Day for Seven Lakes High School.
Something we never thought the Teenager (or we) would be part of. But he's done an amazing job in the last 8 months and got all the credits he needed to graduate with the rest of his senior class. All 900 of them!! The largest senior class SLHS has ever had.
There aren't enough words to say how proud of this young man we are.

Granny made the trip to see her oldest grandson graduate.

It was a very proud moment for her 

and for his mum and dad

even if he thought it was a lot of fuss!

The venue for the graduation ceremony was the Leonard C Merrell center  and we thought it was huge 

until the graduating class came in

The speeches were great, the students were amazing and  the whole night was an experience not to be missed.
The only photo missing is the one of his 4 seconds on stage to receive his diploma. It hasn't arrived from the photographer yet but will be proudly displayed on the blog when it does.

The lovely Rinda over at Gallo Organico is hosting the Photography Scavenger Hunt for 2015.  I've taken part in this for the last two years and some of the prompts turn out to be easy peasy and others nigh on impossible.  But the fun part is trying to get them all.

Here is this years list.  Why not join in the fun.


1. A bouquet of flowers
2. An ornate door knocker
3. A person walking a dog (or other animal)
4. People playing a board game or card game
5. Architectural columns
6. A metal bridge
7. A turtle
8. Someone "plugged in" to social media 
9. A tent
10. A college or university
11. A cellular tower or television satellite dish
12. A public restroom, bathroom, or toilet
13. A merry-go-round or carousel
14. A traffic signal
15. A flag pole with at least three flags on it
16. A panoramic view, taken while standing someplace high in the air
17. At least two people wearing matching outfits or uniforms
18. An overloaded truck, car, bicycle or other vehicle
19. A ticket booth
20. A natural bo…

We made the most of mum being here to visit a local museum.   My two men folk would hate having to do anything remotely museum-ish.
I drove the 20 minutes down the road to Richmond to the Fort Bend Museum.

Mum and I were the only two people on the tour and we got taken  round 2 hours early as they were going to a meeting.  I like to think it was because I asked about the tour in my best British accent!!

It looks like it stands on acres of land but the "Moore" house literally stands in the middle of town  and you can walk around the outskirts property in about 5 minutes.
The house was built in 1883 by John M. Moore (1862-1940) for his bride, Lottie Dyer. A prosperous rancher, Moore served in the state legislature and, from 1905, served in the U.S. Congress. Following his 1905 election, he remodelled the home from its original Victorian design to a neo-classical style popular in the early 20th century. Richmond's First Baptist Church was founded in the house and noted poli…