The weather improved, so we're returning to morning walks

 Hello, everyone.

It's been busy around Ye Olde Homestead and I didn't realize how long it had been since a post was made.

This was a view of a near-dawn walk a few days ago. I just liked the shapes of the trees against the sky.

Today's walk gave  me this image:

This is a REALLY big thistle plant. As y'all can see, it's sending up a bloom stalk. I'm not sure which variety of thistle it is--much too small to be an artichoke, plus the climate probably isn't right for a volunteer artichoke anyway. It's not milk thistle, those have variegations on the leaves and don't look as mean and prickery. It does completely fill the setback between the sidewalk and the fence, so probably it's close to a meter/yard across.

If you recognize the plant, please feel free to chime in in the comments and share the info!

Israel pilgrimage, ninth in series

Hello, everyone.

Today will cover the remainder of the third day of visiting sites.

En route from the northern part of the Holy Land to the more central part, besides the sites of Qumran and the Baptism site, we stopped at Jericho and at the Dead Sea.

Jericho has been a major city for thousands of years. Joshua came there and conquered it--it was not small even then. Jesus came there and encountered Zaccaeus, the tax collector, perched in a sycamore tree along the path. Our bus drove past the site of the sycamore tree and we viewed its descendant. Our guide told us that this is the only sycamore tree in the area. There has "always," meaning as long as anyone knows, been a sycamore on this spot, a sapling will grow there and replaces the old one over time.

The sycamore tree has a protective fence. There is a small play area inside the fence, too.


We went to the Franciscan sisters' convent for Mass. Their back patio, which is covered, is set up to be an outdoor chapel. It is in a lovely green area, and there are peafowl strolling the grass and cleaning up the bugs in the shrubs.

One of the peafowl

About a half block away from the convent is the big mosque of the city.

View of the mosque from the sidewalk in front of the convent

The mosque began playing a sermon (?) in Arabic on the loudspeakers of the minaret while we were having Mass on the patio of the convent.

I can just imagine how pleasant it is to be quietly offering morning prayers, or midnight prayers, or vespers, and having the loudspeaker kick off and try to drown out every other sound in its vicinity.

There was an Orthodox church nearby as well, but we didn't get a good photo of it.

Jericho has a number of shops that are like shops we commonly see in Mexico. This is a produce market. (Other photos were too blurry.)

Jericho has an ancient palace that is being excavated.

We ate lunch at the Dead Sea, at a resort restaurant. After we ate there was some time to experience the famous salt water. Which is kind of in the "have a little water with your salt" range of concentration.

The supervised area of this resort. They marked the lifeguard's area of responsibility with the float line out in the water.
The bottom varied between squishy, slippery mud, to a latex like surface, to gritty sandy precipitates. Yes, you will float in the water. I went out into it and tried to squat down on my heels in the warm water, but I couldn't. The water floated my rear end before it touched my heels.

The resort had both water spigots near the shore (to rinse your face if needed and your feet) and also showers with rental lockers and rental towels. In addition to the restaurant, which seemed to be set up for groups mostly, they had shops and a bar. There was a nice path down from the shops area to the waterside.

The Dead Sea is a lot smaller than it used to be. As there is no outlet, and the losses there are from evaporation, I think that a decrease in water arriving is the reason. The only source, as far as I know, for water into the Dead Sea is the Jordan River. Which also supplies drinking water and irrigation water to many, many people before reaching its end here.

After visiting the Dead Sea we drove to Bethlehem to our new hotel. It was about two doors down from a dental lab.

We don't think we would want any dental work there!

A statue of the Archangel Gabriel in front of the St. Gabriel Hotel in Bethlehem. (Link goes to Tripadvisor, has capsule information and pictures of the hotel.) The lobby has an upper level that includes the bar and seating areas. In the evenings, we sampled the red Israeli wine they had and it was good.

Israel pilgrimage, eighth in series

Hello, everyone.

Apologies for the break in posting, it was a busy week. Today's post begins the third day of visiting in the Holy Land.  We got out early as it was our day to change hotels as well as visit places. Our bus toted all of our luggage around in the hold all day as we went around.

Qumran region, Dead Sea in background

It was a desert day this day. We headed out onto the highway and went to Qumran and then over to a place with a camel ride (five minutes for those who wished) and then on to the Jordan River. Qumran is in a desolate place--a good trick for a region as small as the Holy Land. It isn't Texas, friends. It isn't even Wyoming. Think more like one of the East Coast states...Rhode Island? New Hampshire might be larger than the Holy Land. But in this highly populated area there are desolate, empty zones.


Qumran is famous because it is the site where the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls was discovered. The Israeli government maintains the place as an archeological site and has a small museum.






















They have what I think I remember as a reproduction of a scroll unrolled in the case for visitors to appreciate. The actual scrolls, being extremely old and written on animal skins for the most part, are kept in climate-controlled conditions I think. They were apparently the main project of a secluded religious community that lived on a hill overlooking the Dead Sea. The scrolls date back to the time of Jesus, give or take a few decades, and after the wars of the late first century AD the community was gone and later completely forgotten. Their stored scrolls were in caves around the area. Every so often a new collection of ancient scrolls gets discovered.

The first scroll cave (extra entrances added by archeologists)

The first scroll cave had only one entrance when its nature as a store room was discovered. A local shepherd was looking for a lost critter (goat? sheep?) and as the hold was deep and dark, he tossed a rock down to see if his creature was down there. I guess the logic is, if it's down there it will say something when the rock comes rolling down. Instead of a bleat, however, he heard the sound of breaking pottery. "Hmm," he said, crawled down to have a look, and the rest is history.







The ruins of the community there have been excavated, at least in part, and various features of the facility are labeled for visitors' information. There is a paved path as well.

They had a really big cistern to store the winter rain water. It might not have seemed so big toward the end of summer when the water would have been running low.

After visiting Qumran, and a short stop at the place with a couple of riding camels--and a shop--we rode over to the Jordan River.

Going to the Jordan meant driving through military areas. We saw people walking around in their uniforms, possibly training, and saw signs requesting that photos not be taken.

There is an Israeli government operated visitors center at the Jordan River at the traditional place St. John did his baptizing. The bathrooms were nice, there were assorted sitting areas, and while we didn't wander in there was a shop.

View of shrine on Jordanian side of the river

 Signs helpfully informed the visitor that immersion gowns were available for $9 each in the shop. Being Catholics, we didn't have interest in that. (The sacrament of Baptism is a "once and done" thing with us.) The folks at the water's edge did, however, have a bowl and shell for our pastor to pour water onto our heads in memory of our baptisms and in honor of St. John.

View of the baptizing area.

The water may be very edifying but I don't think I'd want my head to go under the surface with all that mud in it.

As y'all can see, the Jordan River is not, pace the song, "deep and wide" and it may not even be deep. The shed on the other side of the water is in Jordanian territory. The banks are steep enough that quite a crowd could have stood around listening to the prophet preach and call the repentant to come forward and wash off their old sinful ways.

There is a gentleman that offers to take pictures of the group. He brought the group prints to the hotel a couple of days later. The price was reasonable--about $10 for the group photo print.

The Baptism Site seems like a good stopping point for this post. More of the third day later!

From Santillana del Mar to Comillas

Hello, everyone. The last post talked a little about the thirteenth day of walking. Today's post will go on from there--is it the fourteenth day of walking if it begins two mornings after arriving in Santillana? I can't remember any more if I counted days when we rested in Bilbao.

First, a picture of the little map the ladies at the Turismo gave us.

The top right is where the Camino path enters the village on a tiny road. The village is a very popular spot to visit, and especially on weekends and holidays many local folks drive over to visit the picturesque village and also the museum about Altamira Cavern.

When we walked on, we returned to a more coastal area. We also entered the area that many people had emigrated to Latin America from, and some of them made their fortunes there and then returned to their home towns and villages. They were nicknamed Indianos after they returned, all of this being in the late 19th century I believe, and they had a distinctive style of building.

This church showed two of the very common marks of the Indiano building style: the painted walls of the building, with the gingerbread accents, and the palm tree. It is said that the Indianos, when they returned to their homes, planted palms to remember their years in the Americas. Regarding the paint, most of the Indiano painted buildings that we saw had brighter paint colors than this. Red-orange was popular.

 In Ruiloba, we saw another style of very painted building. These folks have painted murals on both of the street facing sides of their place.

At the end of the day, waiting on the front patio--or sidewalk--of the Comillas old jail for the hospitalera to return and open for pilgrims, we saw some people working (painting? cleaning?) on an old house. I want to call it an old Victorian type house. They have brought in the power lift and the men on the basket are probably 40 or 50 feet up. The sight reminded us of the time we rented the Genie TZ50 for house painting of our own.

Snow!

Hello, everyone.

Here is a small view of a rare event: snow falling in the Rio Grande Valley. The snow is now sticking on frangipani leaves, grass, and the newly plowed field. We will enjoy the moment as it will melt soon.

Happy Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This is the patronal feast of the United States: the title under which a saint in heaven, in this case Mary the mother of Jesus, is the patroness of the nation. This is separate from the title, Our Lady of Guadalupe, under which Mary is the patroness of all of the Americas together.

Fall is falling

Hello, everyone.

We've been having cooler days now--had windows open for a couple, then actually closed them. Car thermometer claimed 43F when we drove to church this morning.

And from a walk this past week:

Walking east at 8 am (Central Daylight Time) along the flood control channel, saw the tule fog (mist among the weeds) that had formed. Taken with cell phone.
(Technically, tule is a local word for cattail, but tule fog can form in any weeds. This particular ditch doesn't really have any cattails.)

Just for fun: a dog picture

Hello, everyone.

The Cantankerous Cat has been getting publicity lately and it seemed good to also let one of the Marvelous Mutts have some blog time.

This photo was taken on the night of the Miracle Christmas Snow of 2004. It started snowing at 8 p.m. and stopped around 10-ish. The next day, the snow had all melted by noon. Snow doesn't last in deep South Texas!

Senior Dog, back when he was the only dog, contemplating the change in his world.

The barrel cactus is up on the porch, but it still got a good dusting.

 The next morning, before all the snow melted:

The native sabal palm, dressed in White Christmas beauty.

That snowfall covered pretty much the entire state of Texas. And the HEB Gocery company actually published about 5 books of peoples' snow pictures over the ensuing years. They were beautiful.

Even in the Canicula (Dog Days), there is still Nature to look at

Hello, everyone.

As y'all have likely noticed, there has not been a lot of nature walking and outdoor photography lately. Something about lows around 82 (27 to 28 C) and highs around 103 (39 to 40 C) just discourages me from going out into the wilderness. Or the local parks!

This evening DH went outside and came dashing back in to tell me there was something special outside. The tree ducks were visiting.

zoomed-in shot of some of the tree ducks in the back field

more tree ducks in the field

These are the whistling tree ducks that are native to this area. Sometimes there will be a small group perched on the roof-peak of our house. (Haven't ever had a camera when they were there.) There are actually two varieties of whistling tree ducks, one black-bellied and the other not. They nest in palm trees locally, and hang out in drainage canals, golf course water hazards, and occasional park ponds. Their cry isn't a quack, nor is it that low-voiced squawking sound that mallards and domestic ducks make when it's dinner time. They whistle, or they squeak, and they do it while they fly overhead.

This visitation came around sunset, when the temperature had declined to around 100. (38 C) They will stay for a little while, maybe eat some bugs or fallen sorghum seed, and then they will take to their wings and go to their roosting place for the night.

Training progress, what there is of it

Hello, everyone.

We have been quite spotty on our walks lately--waiting for insoles to arrive in the mail does that, I guess.

DH's insoles are still en route. My new ones arrived on Friday.

New insoles for boots. Also a pair of sox!

I was a little worried when I saw that they are labeled "wide" as my heel is narrow and my toes probably medium. But I pulled the old insoles out and these are the same dimensions in the length and width. Plus they have a heel cup that fits my foot.

Took a 4 mile walk yesterday with these socks and the new insoles. (That's about 6 1/2 km. for anyone counting in metric.)

Insoles in place--I had to loosen almost the entire lace on each boot to put them on.

Rose at a subdivision entrance, right by Bentsen State Park. One of the Austen rose hybrids?

Retama blossoms. This tree grows in places with lots of water and accepts a certain amount of poor drainage. I would think twice about buying any house in an area called "Retama View!"

Part of the Hike n Bike, between the bridge and Bentsen park. Road on right is W Military Highway, a trail once used by Gen. Zachary Taylor to patrol the US-Mexico border.

Silly nanny sign of the day: Bentsen State Park. It's a nature garden. It's outside. OF COURSE there are snakes in the area!

 The feet felt fine after the four miles. Next walk will be with the new insoles and the Injinji toe liner socks--which are thicker than pantyhose and I would say they do nicely as just a sock. Keeps the toes from rubbing so they don't blister in between the digits.

That next one will be a longer walk than 4 miles, as last year I didn't find out problems with my first pair of boots until we did a 10 mile walk. Four miles just isn't enough to find any problem that will develop with walking, in my opinion.

Mission San Luis Rey

Hello, everyone.

Today I thought I'd write about a lovely place in California, Mission San Luis Rey.

This is an old mission from the days when California was a Spanish colonial expansion. The cemetary is still in use, at least for interring ashes anyway. I have some relatives who are buried there. They have a sweet, little gift shop, the only place I have been that has medals of King St. Louis of France (patron of the mission) for sale.

Parking lot and cemetery entrance. (Old church building off to left, monastery grounds off to right)

An example of the niches in the cemetery. (These are from the older part. There are newer parts, too.)

Explanatory sign in historic garden area--this is behind the photographer in the top picture.

View of the historic gardens

One of the Stations of the Cross on the grounds

Another one of the Stations

Beautiful blooming tree on the grounds (in early September)--I think it's a eucalyptus.

Update on wall decorations

Hello, everyone.

I did some more looking around after my last post, and found this: a poster of the old-time route from St. Jean to Santiago de Compostela. It's mostly the route we walked, so it will be perfect on the wall between our Compostela certificates.

You didn't think we'd neglect to frame those, after all that walking, did you?

This morning I worked on a new sewing project--took a break from the quilt squares--this one is a case for my pastry board. I knew the 2-D measurements of the board, and guessed how much to add for thickness. Oops. Not big enough. I will now add a gusset to the sides of the 19x25 inch silver taffeta bag. Maybe I will put carry straps on it, too, as long as I'm messing around with it and have to remove the side seams anyway.

A picture for today: it's been so very, very dry for so long in south Texas, and now the fall rains have returned. (Last year they were a no-show.) A fruit of the returned rains:

The big mound of Duranta shrub, formerly a lot of mostly-bare sticks, is now covered in blossoms. And new leaves!

(Updated to add the link to the map poster)

Seeing a different section of the Hike and Bike

Today we went to the Hike and Bike, but we didn’t do our usual route. My sweetie wanted to do “the levee.” I had no idea what he was talking about. “Levee” can mean any elevated long lump in the landscape, in practice. It turned out that what he meant was to take a left on the paved turn-off along the way, before we reached the bridge with the swallows. The blacktopped, elevated path was indeed a levee, as it was a good 6 or 8 feet above all the surrounding area.

Little though one could tell it with all the brush growing up. We saw brush piles where a tractor had pushed out mesquite trees in the past, but they were next to 15 foot tall, thick-trunked mesquite trees and bushy nopal cactus plants that must have been 8 feet across and 7 feet tall. So the brush clearing activities were all in the past. After a while we came to a place where the blacktop turned left and descended to meet the regular (also blacktopped) path that we usually walk. There was another path, though, just a set of tire tracks along the top of the levee, and we took it. We saw the biggest walking-stick bug I have seen in a good while along it. We got a good overview of the city’s project to install—I guess—water pipes along the road. Eventually we got the the road and found the turn-off that leads to the parking lot. That was steep, but the dirt was dry and the rocks in the dirt were not loose, so it was okay to walk down on. When we got to the bottom, we found a sign (facing the parking lot, of course) that said “Levy run”. And then I realized what my sweetie had been talking about when he said he wanted to do the levee.

It was a fresh, beautiful Monday morning, with very few people out. We saw a collection of cottontails, and a dove that was dancing on the path to lead us onward, and a roadrunner (paisano bird) that was dancing around between trees off of the path. I think there must be at least two, and maybe three, pairs of roadrunners that live in the Hike and Bike park. Along with the small group of javelinas.

On Thursday last, we saw a javelina boar, but he wasn’t posing for pictures and we didn’t get the camera out in time, so his handsome profile went uncaptured. (Darn.) Today, no javelinas, even though we got to the Hike and Bike around 0740.

Also today the new camera arrived. I will try to learn how to take good pictures to upload with it. Today’s pictures are still with the old camera.

because every Valley blog needs a palm tree!

The walking stick, next to my sweetie's hiking boot for size.