Saturday, June 22, 2019

Thursday in Mineral Wells and Friday Hair Day!

I was up early Friday!
Awake at 7:00 and on my way to Fort Worth by 9:00!
Picked Lillian up at 9:45 and we were in Mineral Wells shortly after 11:00.


It was an exciting day to be there, too!
There were lots of press and important people in front of the Baker Hotel to hear the official announcement!


 The Baker Hotel was sold Thursday to a group of investers and will be restored with the work to begin immediately. The plan is to be open again in three years  for the first time since it closed in 1972!
It's going to be amazing!!

My cousin Pam lives in Mineral Wells and she absolutely loves it!


We met her at The Market at 76067 where she works part time.....but not that day.
She pulled into the parking lot just as I was getting Lillian out of the car.
Talk about perfect timing!!
Lillian fell in love with Pam! But then everyone loves Pam!!!


This market is amazing!
It's BIG and has all sorts of rooms from clothing to plants and a florist to an olive oil selection like I've never seen before to children's clothing to art and sculptures to - you just name it! 


I love the cow art!!!


Isn't she precious???


Ah.....those dishes!


Pretty things everywhere you look!


The paintings were all done on thick pieces of wood.
This one was trimmed out in crinkled tin.


My eyes notice all things 'bee' these days.


Lillian was not feeling well when I picked her up that morning but she perked up more with every passing hour!

We stopped for lunch at the Market's 'Coffee and Cocktails' Cafe.


Oh, MY!!!! The food was delicious!
Four BIG Meat Balls!!!
Pam ordered these and shared them with us plus she had some to take home!
Lillian had a cup of tomato soup that was even better than La Madeleine's!


I had soup and salad!


It was a champagne kind of day!!!
My very favorite kind!
Doesn't everyone have champagne on a Thursday when they are in Mineral Wells at the Coffee and Cocktails Cafe? I know I do!

We continued our looking and browsing of the Market after our leisurely lunch.


A super cute dressing room!


Old doors were used everywhere!


I love how they combined the use of the existing vintage walls and floors with the use of other vintage materials alongside some sparkly new ones!


This landing was my favorite place in the entire store!


Pam said the owners found this under layers of added veneers.


I had wondered how they 'did' this!
They didn't! They simply uncovered it!!!
Can you even imagine how exciting that must have been to see?


My view from the top of the staircase......


and to the left!

NOW! For the bathrooms!!!
There were four and I visited all of them!!
This one is my very favorite!


See how clever it is??
I wish you could have heard Pam telling us about her first visit to this bathroom!
She saw the mail slot and basin....and kept waving her hand in front of it thinking the water would come out. Nothing!


Then she noticed the doorknob! Could that be it???




Pretty amazing, huh????


You can see they have some very creative designers!!!


This was one of the bathrooms in the Cafe.....


I love the flooring!


This is the other one.
Not labeled men and women......just bathroom.
I liked that. 

Now for the bathroom upstairs.


All the clear bulbs look like a bubble bath!


There's an old newspaper dated 1957 in the window.


You can see the Baker Hotel from here!

The Christmas room was next to this bathroom.


I like the way they decorated and painted but kept some of the character flaws as the crack in the plastered wall.


You can see the pretty but extremely aged linoleum in this room.


It was cracked and I spied this hole.
You can see they used a layer of newspaper under this flooring.
I was wondering what year would be printed on that paper.
I believe the hotel opened in 1929.


I just loved this place!


In another area upstairs was this very worn wooden flooring.
Just think of all the people who have walked across it over the years.


Back downstairs.
You can see they had pillows plus shirts and all sorts of things with 76067 on them!


I could have stayed all day.


The Market at 76067!
If you are anywhere near Mineral Wells......you need to go to the Market!!!

Lillian and I hugged Pam bye and we headed to the Crazy Water Store!


Lillian needs to drink more water and she says she used to like sparkling mineral water.
That's the purpose of our visit to Mineral Wells.....named after its famous mineral waters.
While we were at the Market with Pam, Lillian sampled Crazy Water #1, #3 and #4.
She said she couldn't taste any minerals.
Really????
So I brought her here and we tried it again.
We ended up with 6 bottles of sparkling Crazy water and 6 bottles of Crazy Water #4.
The lady had to open a bottle of Sparkling water for us to sample and then she gave us the bottle.
So we headed home with Lillian sipping her water and eating a pecan praline that Pam had bought for her at The Market. She was a happy lady!


I noticed all the pretty purple flowers when we were driving in so I stopped to take a photo on our way home. This is horsemint but looks so different from the kind we have at the ranch.
Sherry says you can tell it's horsemint by the square shape of the stem.
This is the Purple Wood Mint variety.
All varieties bring hummingbirds, butterflies and bees to your garden!

It was about 4:00 when we got back to the nursing home and I started hanging up all Lillian's pictures and fluffing her new room to make it more like home. I put fresh sheets on her bed and a new comforter. She has changed rooms so many times, there's no place to write her new room # on her clothes. I will do her laundry from now on so I said no more writing!!
Her new roommate is a very sweet lady named Ruth.
She was a pastor's wife. He passed away 15 years ago and they never had children. She has little family if any left so a friend is her guardian. Ruth has dementia and needs someone to make medical and financial decisions for her. Her guardian is named Sue and I have not met her yet.
There is a good bit of drama and trauma going on and I feel so sorry for Lillian.
Ruth is precious but her guardian is all controlling. She has Ruth's best interests at heart, I feel certain. The problem is she does not realize that this is Lillian's room, too.
The deal breaker is that she has video and audio monitoring of the room which means she can hear every single word we say. Lillian is not allowed to watch the news as it 'upsets Ruth' although we did watch the evening news and I saw no signs of this.
I can see the video monitoring of Ruth's side of the room but the audio is an invasion of Lillian's privacy and we are going to have to talk to those in authority at the nursing home.
I admit to being discouraged when I got home at 8:30 Friday night.
Louis Dean and I will be back over there on Saturday to play music and visit with Lillian and I intend to unplug the audio! Louis Dean said it is against the law to record people's conversations without their consent and Texas has very strict privacy laws.
I'm reminding myself that God has a way of working things out and this, too, will bring good in the long run. But then I start thinking and fretting and that is getting me nowhere.

We had a treat Thursday night!
Sherry came up from the ranch and spent the night with us.
She came bearing gifts from the garden!
Fresh red cherry tomatoes from the plants Dean gave his dad.
More jalapenos and two huge yellow squash!


AND this book!!!
She read it and said it was good and now I'm reading it!
I have missed the last several bee meetings but plan to be in the country for the last week at least of July and on so I can attend them. They are on the fourth Tuesday of the month except for November and December and I think they switch weeks then.

She was working Friday here in Irving at the home office so we were blessed to get to sit out in the den for an hour or more and visit together. She's the one that told us about the strict privacy laws Texas has.

I woke up this morning just knowing I needed to get my hair done!
Today!!!!


My sweet stylist and dear friend, Yulisa, worked her magic once again.


My hair has been thinning for the last 15 years or so and I am trying different ways to fluff it up and make it look better. I still prefer short hair but if the top is a bit longer I can tease it and volumize it a little. 


I bought a wig! Just in case I need it someday.
But it was a LOT of hair!
Once upon a time I had long hair.
Not as thick as this, though!

Miss Kay cut it for me into a more suitable style and let me tell you - it was such a fun afternoon at K Hair!!!

But I had one more thing.....


I recently bought a 100% density human hair small wiglet and that needed to be cut to fit my style.
Miss Kay can do anything!!
The next time I color my hair - I will color the wiglet as well.
I'm wearing it in these last two photos.

Here it is after midnight and I am feeling better than I have all day.
Getting your hair done does that!
ONE appointment!
TWO stylist!
THREE cuts!


This is the silky green comforter from my Tuesday Treasures.
The window AC unit is on to ensure a super comfy temp.
I turned the sound machine on to Oceans.....
The diffuser is misting out lemongrass.......
I think it's time to go to bed.


15 comments:

  1. this was a wonderful post Linda! i am excited about the Baker Hotel too...I love seeing vintage hotels restored! What a lovely place The Market must be. Thank you for sharing and I must go...my kind of place! Darling summer hair cut and as always you show your kind heart to others..Lillian looks much thinner...The nursing home issues are certainly distressing....I feel so bad for these ladies....enjoy your weekend love!

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  2. It was nice to find such a great place to take Lilian shopping. That is definitely my kind of store. I love all the bathrooms and their unique sinks too. Too bad about her new roommate. I'm sure it will all work out but I would think they would have a separate room for patients with dementia, not in with others. At any rate taking Lilian out for a while had to have done her a world of good. I like both your hair cuts. I would never know you were wearing a wig. Hope your weekend is a great one! Happy Saturday!

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  3. Well now I have another place on my list to visit. Loved seeing Mineral Wells and I know it is a place I could linger for a spell. So sorry Lillian is having to adapt to a new roommate. I agree with Louis Dean...recording people without their knowledge is a no no. I am surprised the nursing home does not have a ward for dementia patients. When I worked in a nursing home as a student many moons ago, they tried to keep the oriented patients away from the disoriented patients. I have a friend in Florida who is in an assisted living/nursing facility and he tells me that he and one other lady are about the only ones there in their right mind. I feel so sorry for him. He is 94 and sharp as a tack. Love your new hairdos....all are cute. I almost did not recognize you in the longer hair. It was cute too!! Always enjoy your newsy posts Linda.

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  4. I am so sorry that Lillian is moved again. Things work out the way they are supposed to and your mom being Lillian's roommate was God's way of putting you and your family in Lillian's life. Too bad she can't have a private room. I'm sure it affects her nerves and so it is good that you are able to take her out now and then. What a fun day you three had.

    I like your new haircut too. It will be so nice for summer.

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  5. Mineral Wells sounds like a fun day!

    Poor Lillian and Margaret! Why did they move Lillian? Sigh. You’re right about the audio recording and I’d say perhaps the video too! It invades Lillian’s privacy.

    Your hair and wigs look great. My hair has thinned on top, too. Fluffing helps a lot!

    Have a good weekend!

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  6. i had to smile when i saw you standing on the stair landing, you do look like an adorable doilies standing there. i love the bathrooms, both of them and that tub of bubbles is so cute. i would love that place. glad you could get Lilian out and about and that she felt better. i mean how could she not

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  7. Did the nursing home separate Lillian and Margaret? They seemed to get along so well..
    Your hairdresser always does such a great cut on your hair. Does she have a clone here in Birmingham? LOL
    The building is beautiful - can't wait to see pics when it reopens....
    I'm about a third of the way into the book - it's a really good one!!
    Have a great weekend..
    M

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  8. Linda girlfriend, LordhaveMERCY!!--I cannot keep UP WITH you and Louis Dean! Y'all are always always on the go! ha ha LOl I love this post and seeing the history of this place, you know how I love history! Love the walls and floors you showed us, I am always looking at those things. so glad y'all got to experience this lovely day together. Love your haircut....you look so pretty! And seriously.....a wiglet in the two pictures???---you would NEVER KNOW IT!! You can't even tell! It looks great. A good haircut makes all the difference, doesn't it? I need to go get one!!! Hope you are having a real nice Saturday!! IT'S SO HOT HERE!!

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  9. PS....if Ruth's guardian wants the room under survelliance and everything recorded, then she needs to put her into a PRIVATE ROOM! Right?!

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  10. You are Lillian's special guardian angel! I have never heard of this place, but WOW! I want to buy everything in your photos!! Everything! I guess everything is bigger and better in Texas! The bathroom with the knob and mail slot is amazing! Whoever thought of that is a decorating genius. A water store, now I have heard of everything. Your hair is shorter now, and so pretty! Your hair always looks so pretty! I would never know you are wearing a wiglet in the last pictures. Your bedroom looks so luxurious, a wonderful place to crash after a tiring day. I am shocked that the nursing home would violate privacy laws like that. You may be nervous until you talk to someone and get it all worked out, let me know how it goes.

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  11. Hi Linda :) I love that cow art! Very cute! Oh Champagne Thursdays sound fine to me...a new tradition perhaps is in the works lol! Your bedroom looks so cozy and I love your hair! I like the wiglet a lot! I wore a wig back in the late 90's when I was going through chemo and I hated it so much, it felt so heavy and hot on my head! I'm sorry for Lillian, I hope that situation gets better for her.

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  12. Lillian has had such a run of bad luck with roommates. I was wondering if you would be allowed to give her a little holiday for a day or two at your place? Or would that be too much to manage? Or doesn't the place have any single rooms? I would have thought that it was too dangerous to share with someone with dementia= they can get very scared and could do something violent....I know you will help Lillian work something out. Cheers
    PS that store is just fantastic

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  13. This was such a wonderful post, I felt like I was right there with you and it was a mini vacation! I love, love, love the sink with the postal slot and door knob handle to turn on the water! And the plastic globes that look like bubbles, so clever! And the linoleum is so beautiful even though it has cracks! I'm always so excited when there is an old newspaper in any of the vintage items we buy. We got one in an old picture frame and it has an article/picture of Prince Charles and he was a little boy in that paper! Your bedroom is so beautiful and inviting! I hope Lillian's situation improves, they shouldn't put dementia patients with patients who don't have dementia. Anything could happen and it's just too upsetting! Hope you and LD have a wonderful weekend!!

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  14. I love the wiglet you have...it looks very natural and not too much hair! It's nice to have a stylist that knows how to cut your hair. Love all the vintage things you saw and took pics of! So much fun!

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  15. How I would love to visit that marketplace! Those cow pictures stole my heart. I have such a special place in my heart for cows and horses.

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