Texas Rangers Heritage Center

Last weekend we visited the Texas Rangers Heritage Center--

it's a fairly new facility and we have always driven past and

said we should stop in, but keep on driving.

That Sunday, we stop in--to attend Cowboy Church, which is 

held here every Sunday @ 10 AM.

It was a great time to hear the word of God and visit the

center

The Heritage Center includes the Rangers Tower, serving as beacon for learning, a salute to good citizenship, and the Ranger Ring of Honor, a soaring memorial dedicated to those who gave all in their service to the Texas Rangers and to the Citizens of Texas

Around the Ring of Honor are plaques honoring those Rangers

who have fallen during past wars--Dawson Massacre, September 18, 1842 is

one that we had not heard of--

The Dawson massacre, also called the Dawson expedition, was an incident in which 36 Texian militiamen were killed by Mexican soldiers on September 17, 1842^[1] near San Antonio de Bexar (now the U.S. city of San Antonio, Texas). The event occurred during the Battle of Salado Creek, which ended with a Texan victory.^[2] This was among numerous armed conflicts over the area between the Rio Grande and Nueces rivers, which the Republic of Texas tried to control after achieving independence in 1836.

Here is listing of Gonzales Rangers--The Immortal 32! 

Brave men, husbands and fathers, who battled at the Alamo

along with Travis--The story of Texas Independence began here

Texas Rangers are known far and wide.  

And the grounds of the Center display several statues as a tribute

The History of Texas is the History of Texas Rangers

God Bless USA!  God Bless Texas!  God Bless Texas Rangers!

April FOOOOOL............................................

Have you ever been catch on an April Fools joke or prank?  Just be careful today...............

April Fools' Day (sometimes called All Fools' Day) is celebrated every year on April 1 by playing practical jokes and spreading hoaxes. The jokes and their victims are called April fools. People playing April Fool jokes expose their prank by shouting April Fool. Some newspapers, magazines, and other published media report fake stories, which are usually explained the next day or below the news section in small letters. Although popular since the 19th century, the day is not a public holiday in any country.

Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (1392) contains the first recorded association between April 1 and foolishness.

The custom of setting aside a day for the playing of harmless pranks upon one's neighbor is recognized everywhere.^{[1][dubious – discuss]} Some precursors of April Fools' Day include the Roman festival of Hilaria.

In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392), the "Nun's Priest's Tale" is set Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two.^[2] Modern scholars believe that there is a copying error in the extant manuscripts and that Chaucer actually wrote, Syn March was gon.^[3] Thus the passage originally meant 32 days after March, i.e. 2 May,^[4] the anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia, which took place in 1381. Readers apparently misunderstood this line to mean "32 March", i.e. April 1.^{[citation needed][5]} In Chaucer's tale, the vain cock Chauntecleer is tricked by a fox.

In 1508, French poet Eloy d'Amerval referred to a poisson d’avril (April fool, literally "Fish of April"), a possible reference to the holiday.^[6] In 1539, Flemish poet Eduard de Dene wrote of a nobleman who sent his servants on foolish errands on April 1.^[4] In 1686, John Aubrey referred to the holiday as "Fooles holy day", the first British reference.^[4] On April 1, 1698, several people were tricked into going to the Tower of London to "see the Lions washed".^[4]

In the Middle Ages, New Year's Day was celebrated on March 25 in most European towns.^[7] In some areas of France, New Year's was a week-long holiday ending on April 1.^[8][9] Some writers suggest that April Fools' originated because those who celebrated on January 1 made fun of those who celebrated on other dates.^[8] The use of January 1 as New Year's Day was common in France by the mid-16th century,^[4] and this date was adopted officially in 1564 by the Edict of Roussillon.

In the Netherlands, the origin of April Fools' Day is often attributed to the Dutch victory at Brielle in 1572, where the Spanish Duke Álvarez de Toledo was defeated. "Op 1 april verloor Alva zijn bril." is a Dutch proverb, which can be translated to: "On the first of April, Alva lost his glasses." In this case, the glasses ("bril" in Dutch) serve as a metaphor for Brielle. This theory, however, provides no explanation for the international celebration of April Fools' Day.

Check out international April fools' 'customs' here!

Modern By The Yard Ezine

Modern By The Yard Ezine has produced their fourth (4) ezine and

there are some super duper patterns there for you to sew and quilt.

Here you have "Spring Fresh"

designed by 

Twiggy and Opal has designed this colorful table runner--

oh, WOW--what color selections!

These Ezines are FREE!  Check it out here

Another Finish.............

Made it by the skin of my teeth--where did that saying originate anyway?

(After Shakespeare, a prolific coiner of new words, the King James translation of the Bible has been the biggest source of phrases in English. ‘By the skin of one’s teeth’ is one of them. Meaning ‘narrowly’ or ‘barely’, and referring usually to a narrow escape from disaster, the phrase comes from the Book of Job, in which Job is subjected to horrible trials by Satan, to be relieved finally by God. The precise phrase Job uses is slightly different:

‘My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth’ (19:20).

Exactly what ‘the skin of one’s teeth’ might be is not entirely clear, and there have been many theories put forward. The most plausible explanation is that it refers to the thin porcelain exterior of the tooth (rather than the gums). In other words, Job escaped with his teeth, but just barely. Job is comparing the narrow margin of his escape with the shallow ‘skin’ or porcelain of a tooth: the equivalent, in fact, of a ‘hair’s breadth’)  

It's interesting that a lot of the slogans we use today is a Biblical reference.  Any who--I did finish

March pattern on Estonian knit along designed by Toni L. Lorenz.  

It was a continuing pattern from February.  I'm using handspun silk--

soon to switch to another yarn as I didn't have much silk to use.

I have the other mitt finished from Helical Stripes--it doesn't matter

to me if they match or not--finished in time to begin April's adventure in

the Year of Techniques from AC Knitwear

Done, Done It!

Yes, it is finished--well, almost!  Needs some quilting though.

We'll get to that later.  I'm hoping to have several small wall

hangings ready for the quilter and she can just zip them

on one backing--that's my thought anyway--not sure,

how she feels about that though!!

I've been working away on my blocks from three monthly QAL--

so excited to get these two out of the way--until I really

looked and no way.................I put the last section of

the red block on upside down!  Gee whiz--going too fast

isn't always good.

Rip-it, rip-it and we are back on track! 

Slow down Nelly--don't need mistakes that take time

to correct..

Pooling Party........................

Let's go pooling!  Not a real swimming pool, but a yarn pool.  There are several patterns

on Ravelry that uses variegated yarns.  How to pool your yarn? And why?

Twist Collective has an excellent article on how and why--I know it takes 

some math figuring and I'm not the greatest at math, but, this looks like

an adventure in knitting.

What is pooling?  This all began with crochet method of changing the way

yarns work up.  There is a way you can make the variegated yarn colors

create patterns in your work.  Here is video on knitting to pool.

In one way, this is all very interesting and intriguing--I know I need someone to hold my hand,
hence, there will be a KAL with

You can find her basic DaVinci Cowl pattern on Ravelry; take a look on

Pinterest and/or join her Facebook group here.  Her knit along

begins April 1.

First, I need to find a good variegated yarn that will work with this technique--

does that mean I can buy, buy, buy?  

She also has KAL for Rhapsody which begins May 1.

This is a 30% discount on the pattern now through end of April

if you wish to join in this KAL.  I'm thinking if my yarn

for DaVinci doesn't work for pooling, I can use it for Rhapsody.

Summer Reading With Your Ears!...........

Every year I post about this terrific program--free audio books for youngsters!  But, I, as an adult like reading some of these books also.  Look at this list!!  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!  Wow!  All good reads or rather listens............hop over to their website and sign up to download these weekly audios.

2017 SYNC Audiobook Title Pairs

April 27 – May 3

THE DEAD HOUSE by Dawn Kurtagich, Narrated by Charlotte Parry, Christian Coulson (Hachette Audio)

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde, Narrated by Greg Wise (Naxos AudioBooks)

May 4  – May 10

FEED by M.T. Anderson, Narrated David Aaron Baker, John Beach, Anne Twomey & Tara Sands (Listening Library)

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams, Narrated by Stephen Fry (Random House Audio)

May 11 – May 17

BRONX MASQUERADE by Nikki Grimes, Narrated Jessica Almasy, Cherise Booth, Kevin R. Free, Marc Damon Johnson, Sisi Aisha Johnson, Melanie Martinez (Recorded Books)

TEENAGE DIARIES: THEN AND NOW by Radio Diaries, Hosted by Joe Richman (HighBridge Audio)

May 28 – May 24

THE GATHERING: SHADOW HOUSE BOOK 1 by Dan Poblocki, Narrated by Dan Bittner (Scholastic Audiobooks)

IN OUR BACKYARD: HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN AMERICA AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO STOP IT by Nita Belles, Narrated by Nicol Zanzarella (Oasis Audio)

May 25 – May 31

FREAKLING by Lana Krumwiede, Narrated by Nick Podehl (Brilliance Audio)

BOY by Anna Ziegler, Performed by Sarah Drew, John Getz, Travis Johns, Amy Pietz, and Bobby Steggert (L.A. Theatre Works)

June 1 – June 7

BEAST by Donna Jo Napoli, Narrated by Robert Ramirez (Recorded Books)

OF BEAST AND BEAUTY by Stacey Jay, Narrated by Julia Whelan (Tantor Media)

June 8 – June 14

PLUS ONE by Elizabeth Fama, Narrated by Julia Whelan (Elizabeth Fama)

IF I RUN by Terri Blackstock, Narrated by Nan Gurley (Zondervan)

June 15 – June 21

THE RED UMBRELLA by Christina Diaz Gonzalez, Narrated by Kyla Garcia (Ideal Audiobooks)

THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK by W.E.B. Du Bois, Narrated by Rodney Gardiner (Dreamscape Media)

June 22 – June 28

To Be Determined

THE WITCHES: SALEM, 1692 by Stacy Schiff, Narrated by Eliza Foss (Hachette Audio)

June 29  – July 5

AMERICAN NIGHT: THE BALLAD OF JUAN JOSÉ by Richard Montoya, Developed by Culture Clash and Jo Bonney, Performed by Keith Jefferson, Richard Montoya, Todd Nakagawa, Sean San Jose, Kimberly Scott, Herbert Siguenza, Tom Virtue, Libby West, Caro Zeller (L.A. Theatre Works)

MY NAME IS NOT EASY by Debby Dahl Edwardson, Narrated by Nick Podehl and Amy Rubinate (Brilliance Audio)

July 6 – July 12

REBUTTAL by Jyotsna Hariharan, Narrated by Phoebe Strole, Michael Crouch and Nina Mehta (HarperAudio)

REMEMBER TO FORGET by Ashley Royer, Narrated by Will Lasley (Blink)

July 13 – July 19

THE DORITO EFFECT: THE SURPRISING NEW TRUTH ABOUT FOOD AND FLAVOR by Mark Schatzker, Narrated by Chris Patton (Dreamscape Media)

SUGAR by Deirdre Riordan Hall, Narrated by Tara Sands (Brilliance Audio)

July 20 – July 26

GONE: GONE SERIES, BOOK 1 by Michael Grant, Narrated by Kyle McCarley (Tantor Media)

THE ONE SAFE PLACE by Tania Unsworth, Narrated by Mark Turetsky (HighBridge Audio)

July 27 – August 2

AIRBORN by Kenneth Oppel, Narrated by David Kelly (Full Cast Audio)

SHADOWS ON THE MOON by Zoe Marriott, Narrated by Amy Rubinate (Brilliance Audio)

August 3  – August 9

BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY by Ruta Sepetys, Narrated by Emily Klein (Listening Library)

IN MY HANDS: MEMORIES OF A HOLOCAUST RESCUER by Irene Gut Opdyke with Jennifer Armstrong, Narrated by Hope Davis (Listening Library)

August 10 – August 16

SHADOWSHAPER by Daniel José Older, Narrated by Anika Noni Rose  (Scholastic Audiobooks)

METAMORPHOSIS by Franz Kafka, Narrated by Martin Jarvis (Naxos AudioBooks)