Painted Churches of Texas

We thought since we are so near Wallis, Texas, that we would check out this "painted church."  

WOW, what a treat!!! It was such a treat that we decided to continue on to Schulenburg where we visited more of these beautifully painted, historical buildings. Now, we come home and get on the internet to learn more about them.

The church in Wallis is the Guardian Angel Catholic Church built in 1915.  The beautiful stained glass windows were donated by parish members with their names written in Czech on each window.

A close up view of the center altar. Keep in mind, the statues are life size.

In 1890, several Czech families settled in this area and the first church was soon built.

The interior was renovated, painted by hand, new carpeting was laid, and the pews refinished in 1995.  It is one of the oldest and largest wooden structures of its type in Texas. It is also the first church on the list of the Texas Historical Commission list of painted churches.

This is one of the three altars.  The statues at the top are huge. Just look at that detailed woodwork!

This was just a start of our quest to see these "Painted Churches of Texas."

This is Saint Mary Catholic Church in High Hill. This is our favorite one we have visited so far.

You have to stop and take in all the beauty at this point.  Everywhere you look is delightful.


This one is considered to be the Queen of the Painted Churches. It was built in 1906 in classic gothic revival for the small German settlement. Now for a closer look.

This is the center altar. Just look up at that ceiling too. Christ on the cross is a stained glass window flanked by two life size figures.

We just stood in awe of the beauty we were surrounded in.  I'm not sure how long we stayed, but it was some time.

The three altars were placed in the church in 1911.  The artwork, wall decorations and ceiling were completed in 1912.


There are eighteen original stained glass windows from the second church that was built in 1875.

The balcony where the pipe organ is located...we could not go up into this area...can you imagine what the view would be from here? The chandelier and the artwork on the ceiling gives you a closer look at the grandeur.

As a mother, I feel her pain.

It is a good reminder of the sacrifice He paid to save our souls.

We are not Catholic, but respect all religions for we are one in Christ.


There are more of these magnificent churches to be seen.  We paid a visit to several more, but these two are the ones we chose to share. 

Until next time...

We be Busy...

Our first work week consisted of driving the recyclables to Brenham, after stuffing all of them in the van.  We stopped in Sealy to empty the paper recyclables...then dropped off one of the trucks in Sealy to be worked on...then headed over to Brenham.

Next day, Wallace took the radiator out of the Polaris to be mounted on the back.

Out here on the prairie, the radiator gets filled with seeds, etc.  They tend to heat up!!!

Next it gets a good cleaning.

You should have seen the debris!!!

Even with the pans underneath, there was still some spillage. Never fear for there is a drain just underneath the vehicle.

Radiator is now out, all the debris is vacuumed out.  Now it is time for the radiator to be installed on the back. Darrell!!!

The man is a genius!!!  Let's see how this works now.

Can you see it? The yard is full of these little critters...Pocket Gopher. Boy, is it fun mowing over all those mounds.

Speaking of mowing, I mowed the entire property this week. It sure does look better.

We have also been busy on that darn computer. We needed to get certified in safety: USGS Hazard Communication-GHS. Passed it with flying colors. We also had to update our FISSA+Privacy & Records Management. It is good to keep refreshed on this.

Then on my day off, I went with our biologist, Rebecca, on an eagle run.  Our route took us over 80 miles with only one Bald Eagle to report. The next day, there were two more reported.

We trimmed the Sycamore Trail...checked out the fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, and exit lights...then reported our findings to Ferris. There were several smoke alarms with dead batteries that we changed out. Then we started on vehicle and tool inventory...what fun that is!!!

This is nothing new, but we do enjoy posting boundary signs...that gets us out on the refuge.

I did not take a picture of the sign that was buried in yaupon. We had to do some trimming on that one.

Anyway, that is how our first two weeks went.

Our next blog is in the works...

Until next time...

Brrr...It's Cold Outside

We have now been here one week and have not started to work yet. It has been really COLD outside.

What do you do when you are stuck inside?

This has been keeping us occupied.  I won today!!!  Deism did it!!!

Looked out our window and look what I saw. There were four of them...healthy, huh?

Time for lunch...tacos, enchiladas and Spanish rice.  One of our favorites.

Until next time...

We Have Arrived

At Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge near Eagle Lake, Texas for our second time.  We were here last year at this same time...be sure you check the blog posts to see what we did then as I'm not sure any of that will be repeated this time around.

 As I mentioned in the last blog, we had tire trouble about 30 miles west of the refuge.

This was the only other damage we had which can easily be replaced.  It was directly in front of the tire, what reason it has I do not know, but it will be replaced.

I think you can see what the first order of business was...mow our little yard.

This needed to be done for several reasons.  As we were sitting at our dining area, we noticed a rat running for cover in the deep grass.

As I was mowing, several rats ran out.  Now there is no tall grass to hide in!!!  I also mowed our neighbors yard, so much easier before they get here.

We had a quiet New Year's Eve, and a delicious meal with black-eyed peas for good luck on the first day of the new year.

We found a new wine, Llano, a sweet red wine, vinted and bottled in Lubbock, Texas.  Hey, it's the new year, just had to try it.




Darrell, our supervisor, stopped by for a visit, then John, the assistant manager came over...we got caught up on what's been going on.  We have seen improvements since last year...the prairie looks good.  They let us know there is a big to do list waiting for us.  Ye ha!!!  Let's getter done.

Karen and Danny, volunteers, were out for a walk.  We happened to be outside with the mower, so they stopped for a visit.

After hugs and handshakes, and the great welcome back, we are looking forward to the tasks that lie ahead.

Until next time...


                                               

Just a Swingin'

Before we exited our place in LaCombe, Louisiana, we took our truck to Supreme Ford in Sliddell to have the accelerator pedal fixed.  Sometimes it would not engage when pressed.  Well, when they were working on that, they discovered we needed the front end (ball joints) repaired...$3000.00 later, we picked it up from the dealership and noticed the steering is now loose!!!  We took it back...now the steering box needed to be replaced and one of their mechanics works on the side and he can fix it.  Oh Yeah.  It's time for us to move on to South Texas (doctor's appointments).  We have so much play in the steering, but we manage to make it to Bentsen Palms in Mission, Texas where we stayed for two weeks...just a swingin.'  Wallace took the truck to Boggus Ford in McAllen to have them look at it.  Our mechanic discovered a part on the repair had been left off (dust cover) by the mechanic in Slidell.  Good Grief!!!  He can't work on it because he is booked up until after the holidays!!!  Supreme Ford supposedly is going to make it good.  Can you rely on anyone out there to do their dang job right?  Our advice  is don't have any work done at Supreme Ford in Slidell, Louisian!!!  

We left the Valley and are now sitting on the side of the road about 30 miles from Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR where we will be parked for three months...we just blew a tire on the 5th wheel that is only two years old.  Towmax STR tires made in China.  I tried to get Wallace to change them out from the start, but he thought they would be okay.  We are now looking to buy all new tires!!!  It has been an expensive closure of 2013.

We did have a wonderful two weeks at "home" in the Valley with family and friends.  But for now we are still Just a Swingin.'

Until next time...

Family Fun at Christmastime

We have been in the Valley with family for Christmas for the past two weeks staying at Bentsen Palms in Mission, Texas.

Our youngest son, Mitchell and our Granddarlins,' Lindsey and Joaquin.

We have been enjoying family, fruit, and FOOD.  One of our favorites is the beef and bean patos.

We will be moving to Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR, near Houston tomorrow...so getting all the hugs we can possible get!!!

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family too.

Until next time...

This n That

We have one work week left and we will be moving on to spend Christmas with our son in South Texas before we move back to Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR for our second time.

When we first got here to SELA NWR, Wallace and I worked together.  Then we were split up, much to my dismay.  Seems like some manly jobs came up...oh well!!!

Since we were not together, it was hard to document our work and share on the blog...so here are a few things we managed to get photos of.

Brochure inventory along with somewhat of organization with the list for someone else to type up and make sure it gets to the proper person.

A picture of the boardwalk at Bogue Chitto before we worked on that.  I operated the blower.

Below is what it looked like afterwards.

Under the railing, the leaves and gunk were so compacted it took a lot of bending to get the blower to finally release the stuff...oh, my back...as the blower was a heavy duty blower.  But, we gotter done!!!

Wallace and I paired up once again to do the brochure run which includes picking up trash at several places along the route, and recording visitation counts.  There are five counters at various places and this is what he is doing in this picture.

Back to the pink jobs.

I planted 57 snapdragons in this sugar pot. Sugar pots were used by the sugar plantations to boil the sugarcane.

Time out for a little fun on Cane Bayou out to the mouth of Lake Pontchartrain.

This is a huge bat box Ken wanted installed...Wallace got to help on this project.  Ken asked us to put the brace on it with specific instructions on how he wanted it done...ha...I got to help with a blue job.

Another semi-blue job.

Replacing three interpretive signs that were bad or changed because of the death of a tree.

Ken had 18 pictures he had printed out.  My job was to find the best placement of the subject, cut and place in a mat. They were then placed in a frame to hang.

Ken is a stickler for details. This wall was to have 5 pictures hung evenly across this wall.  This was the stressful assignment as there were 13 of these large pictures that were hung, all at the same level.

Is that level or WHAT?

I am a stickler too and put a lot of stress on myself, but I must say I was satisfied at the end of that day.

Later, Ken said he was very pleased...allrighty then.

Wallace helped with this bridge so the mower could cross the ditches.  The guys put two of them together and they did a super job.  A post will be installed later so some bozo want try to drive his car across.

Santa Claus is coming to Bayou Lacombe at the visitor center.  We have all pitched in to decorate and it really looks nice.  This is just one little corner.

We won't be here for the festivities, but the building is now ready.



Until next time...