Sunday, November 17, 2024
Today we left around 7:45 a.m. and drove 230 miles further south into Texas from Lake Texoma Thousand Trails in Gordonville, Texas to the BK Burk Little Pond Creek Ranch in Rosebud, Texas.
We have now arrived in Rosebud, Texas. Rosebud is a city in Falls County, Texas with a population of 1,296. Rosebud is the home of the "Rosebud Christmas tree", a 170-feet-tall artificial tree located at 128 W. Main Street.
The tree was erected by Bell Falls Milam Electric Co-op in the early 1960s. BFM was then bought out by Heart of Texas Electric Co-op. In December 2013, the facility was purchased by M6 Oilfield Rentals and Mfg, LLC, as a development site and regional distribution center. Owner Kenny Ray Murray has indicated that the tree is a Rosebud city icon and a community tradition that will remain as long as the town itself.
Above and below are pictures of the little town of Rosebud, Texas.
From Rosebud, Texas we drove 8.1 miles via US-77 S and FM 1445 E, then veered off on and continued straight onto Co Rd 136 to Brian and Karen's house at BK Burk Little Pond Creek Ranch (see map above).
From FM 1445 E (shown above), we then turned onto the gravel road, County Road 136 (see below).
We continued to follow the gravel road until we came to a turn to the left -- the drive into Brian and Karen's (see below).
It is now a little after noon, and we see Brian working at pulling up trees around his pond (see above and below).
Both Brian and Karen jump out of the tractor and come to greet us.
After visiting a few minutes, we decide we need to go get set up. Karen says to follow her down the lane and she will show us where to park our RV (see below).
Karen leads us down the lane.
We are now getting our first glimpse of the house they are building (see above and below).
Well we have finally arrived at our good friends, Brian and Karen Jett Burk's ranch in Rosebud, Texas. We drove about 230 miles to get there -- through Fort Worth and Waco. They have a beautiful ranch, they are building a new house and it's so peaceful here.
Next to the new house being built is the old farm house that they have remodeled in the inside.
Shown above and below are pictures of the inside of the old farm house as they have refurbished it. It is so cool!
Mel backs our RV into the spot beside the barn (see below).
They have done a beautiful job of refurbishing the old farm house. I especially love the rustic looking sign they have above their recliners (see below).
Tonight it rained pretty hard with some lightning -- which caused Kenai, their Bengal kitten, to take shelter. It must have scared him!
A bengal cat is a hybrid cat created from the crossing of an Asian leopard cat with domestic cats, especially the spotted Egyptian Mau. It is then usually bred with a breed that demonstrates a friendlier personality, because after breeding a domesticated cat with a wildcat, its friendly personality may not manifest in the kitten. The breed's name derives from the leopard cat's taxonomic name. Bengals have varying appearances. Their coats range from spots, rosettes, arrowhead markings, to marbling.
Saturday, November 23, 2024
Today Brian asked if we wanted to go with them to Bird Creek Brewing in Temple, Texas. We said yes and we took off toward Temple in their jeep arriving at 12:23 p.m.
Temple is a city in Bell County, Texaswith a population of 82,073. Temple lies in the region referred to as Central Texas and is a principal city in the Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood metropolitan area. Located off Interstate 35, Temple is 65 miles north of Austin, 34 miles south of Waco and 27 miles east of Killeen.
Temple was founded as a railroad town by the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad. The settlement began in 1880 as a GC&SF construction camp called Temple Junction by the railway and known as "Tanglefoot" or "Mud Town" to residents. In January 1881, a post office was established, and the settlement was officially named Temple, after Bernard Moore Temple, the chief civil engineer of the GC&SF. The town was incorporated in 1882.
Also in 1882, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway built through the town, and soon after, the GC&SF made Temple a division point. In its early years, Temple was a town of shacks and tents with a large number of saloons and tough characters found in the early West. Locally, it was nicknamed "Tanglefoot" because some residents found that the combination of muddy streets and liquor made walking through the town challenging.
In 1886, the GC&SF was purchased by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, popularly known as the Santa Fe Railroad or simply the Santa Fe. The Santa Fe's Temple depot was the site of the largest Harvey House restaurant in Texas, and the Harvey House organization also operated a dairy and vegetable farm near the city. Harvey Houses provided meals for Santa Fe passengers during stopovers and were also popular with local customers. The chain was famous for its high-quality food and its iconic uniformed all-female "Harvey Girl" waitstaff.
Bird Creek Brewing is a locally owned brewery and restaurant in downtown Temple offering gourmet style burgers and more, and locally brewed craft beer.
Mel shows Brian and Karen how he gives the "thumbs up" in front of every craft brewery he visits (see above and below).
Karen had pumpkin soup and cheese curds, Brian had a Cranberry Brie Burger (which is a beef patty on a bed of arugula topped with brie, cranberry sauce and red onions) with French Fries. I had a Parmesan Chicken Sandwich (which is a crispy fried boneless chicken breast, mozzarella cheese, marinara, fresh basil and parmesan cheese on grilled sourdough) with French fries. Mel had a Classic Burger (which is a classic beef patty, choice of cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles on a brioche bun) with a salad.
After that, we drove back to Rosebud and arrived at the ranch at around 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Here's an update on the progress on Brian and Karen's house they are having built by Tilson.
As you can see above and below, they are putting on the roof and siding.
And the kitten Kenai is always up to some antics . . . he is a such a joy to watch as he has so much expressions and personality.
Sometimes we wonder how much Kenai can really understand -- he is truly the "cat's meow!"
Thursday, November 28, 2024
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Hope your time with family and friends was blessed with many fine memories!
Tomorrow on Black Friday, we are going to have our "Friendsgiving" with Brian and Karen Burk. Stay tuned for an update. . .
Friday, November 29, 2024
Most people can't wait until it's Black Friday for all the specials deals, but we couldn't wait because it is the day we had our friendsgiving dinner with Brian and Karen Burk at their house.
It's "Black Friday" and the deal is that we get to have a marvelous day with friends as we have our "Friendsgiving!"
I found this unique-shaped potato (see below) in the five pound bag of potatoes I used to make the mashed potatoes. It was a good omen since it looked somewhat like a duckling or chicken.
For our friendsgiving, we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie with whip topping, and cherry crisp with vanilla ice cream.
Shown above is Mel carving the turkey for dinner. Shown below are pictures of our friendsgiving -- with Brian in front on the left, followed by Mel, Shirley and then Karen.
Saturday, November 30, 2024
I had been thinking about it for awhile, and today I asked Brian and Karen to pose for my for a photo of them in front of their new house. It reminded me so much of the American Gothic painting by Grant Wood. What do you think?
Shown above and below is our own American "Texas" Gothic family - our friends, Karen Jett Burk and Brian Burk, showing stern facial expressions in front of the beautiful house they are building in Rosebud, Texas. They didn't have a pitchfork, but a rake worked just as well!
Shown below is the American Gothic, a 1930 painting by Grant Wood. A character study of a man and a woman portrayed in front of a home, the American Gothic is one of the most famous American paintings of the 20th century, and has been widely parodied in American popular culture. Wood was inspired to paint what is now known as the American Gothic House in Eldon, Iowa, along with "the kind of people he fancied should live in that house". It depicts a farmer standing beside his daughter – often mistakenly assumed to be his wife.
Shown below is the Dibble House in Eldon, Iowa that was used in the painting of the American Gothic by Grant Wood.
The figures were modeled by Wood's sister Nan Wood Graham and their dentist Dr. Byron McKeeby. The woman is dressed in a colonial print apron evoking 20th-century rural Americana while the man is adorned in overalls covered by a suit jacket and carries a pitchfork.
Shown above is Nan Wood Graham (the artist's sister) and Dr. Byron McKeeby (the Woods' family dentist) in the Gallery at the Cedar Rapids Public Library, September 1942.
Wood intended the American Gothic to convey a positive image of rural American values, offering a vision of reassurance at the beginning of the Great Depression.
We love how Brian and Karen's house is coming along and can't wait to see it finished in the quaint little town of Rosebud, Texas!
Shirley & Mel
No comments:
Post a Comment