Dear Blogger Friends

I apologize for my absence over the last two and a half months.  It has been a trying time with a three-week illness for me, followed by a life-threatening illness for my 91-year-old mother.  She was hospitalized on May 4 with a bacterial infection called C. diff (Clostridium difficile), an illness which is generally caused by the good bacteria in the intestinal system being wiped out by an ingestion of antibiotics.  C. diff can be fatal if it gets a foothold in the colon.  We've all been warned about the overuse of antibiotics, and the result can be what happened to my mom.  Two weeks before developing uncontrollable diarrhea, she received a course of Cipro antibiotic for an eye infection, which evidently killed all her good bacteria and allowed the bad stuff to run rampant.  She was hospitalized for two weeks and then released to a skilled nursing facility because she was too weak to stand up.  After two days in the rehab center, she was rehospitalized for a week due to being in a near-comatose state. As of yesterday she has returned home and is able to maneuver with a walker or a cane but will continue to be treated with physical and occupational therapy by a home health agency.  C. diff kills over 40,000 people each year in the United States, most of whom are elderly or infants.

I want to thank all of you who e-mailed me about your concerns over my absence.  I have followed blogs in the past where the blogger has just disappeared and I've often wondered what happened.  It's a very strange feeling to lose a friend and not know why.  I hope I've answered all of you who have inquired, and I'll do my darndest to visit your blogs as soon as I can.

I have decided that two blogs is more on my plate than I can manage, so I hope I may direct you to my blog which started out three years ago as a 365 project.  So please visit me at Kathy Goes A Ramblin for future posts of life in rural East Texas and an occasional visit to Arizona, which I dearly love and miss.  My final goodbye photo is of a quaint church which I visited a few weeks ago after my mom was receiving rehabilitation in a nursing home and I decided to take one last road trip into Central Texas before becoming a full-time caregiver.

The Bethlem Lutheran Church in Round Top, Texas (population 80) is the oldest Lutheran Church in Fayette County, Texas, having been established in 1866.  Its unique pipe organ of cedar was built by Traugott Wanke, and the stone construction of the church shows the German architectural style prevalent in this part of the state.  I was there on a Sunday afternoon but the church was locked and I was unable to view the inside.  I must say I had a beautiful day for photographs with those billowy white clouds against a gorgeous blue Texas sky.

The cemetery adjacent to the Bethlehem Luthern Church in Round Top, Texas

Down by the Train Yard

Nacogdoches, Texas

Azaleas

East Texas is well-known for its beautiful azaleas which bloom in early spring.  Nacogdoches has an annual Azalea Trail where one can take various driving routes throughout the city to view some of the lovely landscapes.

Even the historic Oak Lawn Cemetery bursts into bloom.

Dogwood

Sparrows

Redbird in a Redbud Tree

Say that six times!

Flirting with the Camera

Across the Tracks

Daingerfield, Texas

Winter Reveals

This old barn, along with two other buildings is probably no more than 20 yards from a major highway I take at least twice a week but until a few weeks ago I had never seen it before.  That's because this area of Deep East Texas is a heavily forested vegetation-filled region and for about ten months out of the year the foliage hides these old beauties from the likes of me.

Linking to Barn Charm at Bluff Area Daily

Bracing Against the Wind

Italy City Hall

The old Farmers State Bank is now City Hall in Italy (pronounced IT-lee), Texas.

Banks used to be such stately buildings.

Early Spring

Magnolia x soulangeana
also known as saucer magnolia,
Eastern magnolia,
Japanese magnolia,
and locally as a tulip tree.

Anna Culberson

A beautiful angel stands vigil over the grave of Anna Culberson in Oakwood Cemetery, Jefferson, Texas.  Nothing other than her name is engraved on the marker.  The angel stands amidst several crape myrtle trees planted in the Culberson plot.

Linking to Taphophile Tragics

Having a Snack

First Christian Church - Center, Texas

Formed in 1856 the congregation of the First Christian Church in Center, Texas, was one of the first in Shelby County.  Services were held in a private home until a building could be erected in 1886.  The current sanctuary was build in 1905 and moved to its present site in 1930.

Chilly January Day

One day last week we experienced freezing rain for about four hours here in East Texas.  By late afternoon the results were still evident on our backyard bird feeders.

Old Windows

Just imagine what a little soap and water and a new coat of paint would do for these windows on a building over a century old in downtown Timpson, Texas (population 1,155).  Maybe "downtown" is a misnomer.

Meandering Path

How many years did it take to wear that perfect meandering path past this little barn?  How many mule-driven wagons, tractors, and pickup trucks were involved in leaving their mark?

East Texas Icicles

Freezing rain started falling today about 8 a.m. and by noon everything was frosted over with a thin layer of ice.  Luckily the roads remained clear because my mom was discharged from the hospital around noon and she was very anxious to get home.  I kept thinking I was going to miss the photo opportunity of the year - icicles in East Texas - before I could get her home and settled but I did manage to fit in a short drive to take a few pictures.  This one of a barren crape myrtle tree and small icicles hanging from a barbed wire fence was taken in our driveway.  It came close to looking like a winter wonderland here for a few hours.  This is after temperatures in the high 70s late last week.

Weeping Angel

Scott Cemetery

Scottsville, Texas

Three Oaks - Marshall, Texas

The Whaley House, now Three Oaks Bed and Breakfast, in Marshall, Texas, was built in 1895 by one of the cities prominent merchants.

Reminiscent of Days Gone By

This little barn about seven miles from my home and near the community of Martinsville, Texas, is still working today.  It is one of the few wood pitched-roof barns remaining in this area.

Barn Charm

A Place for Bloggers Who Love Barns

Bracelets

Wall Art

I discovered this beautiful angel painted on the side of a building in Weatherford, Texas.

Munzesheimer Manor - Mineola, Texas

A sweet little picket fence borders the Munzesheimer Manor, built at the turn of the century by a German immigrant for his new bride in Mineola, Texas.  Gustav Munzesheimer was part of a large family who settled in the area shortly after the Civil War.  The family was prominent in the community and several members served as city aldermen.  Today the family home, built entirely of pine and cedar, is a popular bed and breakfast in this quaint little town of 4,500 residents 80 miles west of Dallas.

Joining with other fence fanatics in Friday Fences. 

Remembrance of Summer

Black-Eyed Susans

Artwork on a Back Door

I sometimes find it fun to walk down alleyways in towns just to see the backs of shops.  This one in Granbury, Texas, is my favorite to date.  The entire courthouse square of Grandbury, Texas, a small town of about 8,000 people 35 miles southwest of Ft. Worth, is filled with boutiques.   The downtown area of most of Texas' small towns usually contain a few antique shops and but little else in the way of retail, signifying the declining economy of smalltown America.  Grandbury, on the other hand is a shopping mecca and shoppers from the Ft. Worth/Dallas metroplex inundate every weekend and most weekdays to shop the wonderful unique shops of this otherwise quiet little burb.