Good Tidings To You

During the year, while doing all the research dedicated to the dear departed ones, I often had a thought, "Perhaps, I should spend more time with the living". 

The season came to do so (which brings less of my online activity here).

The holiday period has been very busy in a nice way - with cooking, baking, season's meetings, visiting, tasting delicatessens made in somebody else's kitchen, and Christmas caroling. I do enjoy it all even when it makes me a bit tired.

In 2025, I am planning to reactivate my corners of the Internet and create some more posts, regarding our direct ancestors and non-relations as well. My plan is also to continue my two Alphabet and "They Lived in Texas" series, among others. How I will manage, the time will show.

⭐

Wishing all our close and distant relations, friends and acquaintances, and last but not least, the followers of my Internet pages, who kindly spare their time to read my posts - a blessed holiday season and a prosperous New Year, with good days only.

Good tidings to you all!

 

2017 Calendars

This post is my reply to the Calendar post by Dorota.
Yes, I like calendars too!

At the beginning of the New Year, we all hope for the best. The calendars are still so empty - with every single day waiting for its story.

These are my calendars for the year 2017 - all of them are gifts which we received from family and other friendly people.

Wall calendars

Flowers - issued by an organization which provides various services for people with autism and other disabilities

The Year with Our Lady of Fatima - a gift from mom

The calendar issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Holy Mary manifestations in Fatima.

It contains pictures of various places which are situated in the Fatima area (Portugal) and the information on the message shared by Our Lady during her appearances in Fatima.

American Landscapes - with beautiful pictures taken in different part of the USA

Day planners

A very nice date log in which I am taking notes on everyday matters and my blogging activities/plans. The log contains 12 golden 'how to be successful' thoughts by well-known business persons. One motto for every month of the year.
I like the booklet cover and the quality of paper used in it.

Besides the calendar part, there is also a section with useful information such as: how to convert inches to meters and cms, expenses log, international dialing codes, volume conversion chart, texting acronyms and an address book. This is great!

Daily planner - with lovely little pictures of birds

Right now, I am not sure what I will use it for...

Pocket calendar - a Christmas present

I collect pocket calendars - calendar cards which were quite common in the past are hard to find these days. It seems booklets are more popular these days. This one is quite pretty - with colorful illustrations. I think I will use it to take notes on the shows/movies we watch. Hopefully, 2017 will be a year of full of good things to remember.

Calendar pages

All the year on one page - it's easy to check the days/dates on them.

Wishing you all - and ourselves as well - the year full of joy, laughter, and happiness only!

Black-Eyed Peas - Noworoczna Tradycja Amerykańskiego Południa

W pierwszy dzień Nowego Roku zgodnie z tradycją znaną południowym stanom USA, zjedliśmy black-eyed peas, czarnooki groszek, który ugotowałam wcześniej. Mimo grochu w nazwie black-eyed pea jest właściwie odmianą fasoli. Teksaska (i nie tylko) tradycja mówi, że należy go zjeść w Nowy Rok, by zapewnić sobie szczęście i pomyślność na całe następne 365 dni.

Skąd taka tradycja noworoczna, by jesć tę fasolę z czernym oczkiem?

Wiąże się to z czasami wojny secesyjnej, kiedy to wojska Północy 'najeżdżały' domostwa mieszkańców Południa i żołnierze generała Shermana rekwirowali wszystko, co nadawało się do zjedzenia, łącznie ze zwierzętami hodowlanymi. Zostawiali tylko ów black-eyed peas / czarnooki groszek, gdyż uważali, że nadaje się on tylko na paszę dla bydła. Nie mieli jednak racji - na szczęście dla mieszkańców Południa. Ci ostatni, dzięki fasolowemu groszkowi z czarnym oczkiem, nie musieli głodować.

Tak własnie black-eyed peas stał się symbolem szczęścia. Gotuje się go na różne sposoby. Próbowałam kilka przepisów, ale najbardziej smakuje nam ten ugotowany 'po mojemu'.

Co potrzeba do gotowania?

• 2 szklanki czarnookiego groszku (namoczonego poprzedniego wieczora),
• trochę cebuli pokrojonej w kostkę,
• kilka krążków marynowanej papryczki jalapeno pokrojonych na kawałeczki,
• sól,
• pieprz.

Jak gotować?

Wszytkie składniki mieszamy razem, zalewamy wodą i gotujemy pod przykryciem aż fasola będzie (bardzo) miękka. Wodę należy uzupełniać - jeśli wyparuje w czasie gotowania.

Black-eyed peas najczęściej podaje się z chlebkiem kukurydzianym. Mój przepis znajdziecie tutaj.

Wszystkim Wam życzę szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!

Happy New Year!

 

New Year's Project: 12 Cakes, 12 Months / Projekt 2016: 12 Ciast, 12 Miesięcy

The new year has just started and I came up with an idea for a year long baking and blogging project.

Every month, I am planning to bake a new cake, which I have never made before. Each of those experiments will be followed by a monthly blog entry.

I like baking and quite often make us some cake. Since recently I tend to repeat making the same cakes - which we like of course - maybe it is time for some kitchen adventure and exploring new recipes.

Besides, it will give me an opportunity to share my tries and results on the blog.

I think it will be fun!

If you find my project interesting enough to enter it and start the year long baking challenge too, you are welcome to accompany me and join the project Facebook group .

Looking forward to sharing recipes with you (and trying yours)!

 

 

Nowy rok się niedawno zaczął, pomyślałam więc, że jest to okazja, by rozpocząć nowy projekt cukierniczo-blogowy.
Mam zamiar upiec nowe ciasto (którego wcześniej nigdy nie robiłam) każdego miesiąca, a następnie podzielić się z Wami rezultatami moich eksperymentów w comiesięcznym poście na blogu.
Lubię piec i często mamy ciasto na deser. Ostatnio jednak przeważnie piekę tylko to, co już znamy i wiem, że to lubimy. Może więc przyszła pora, by wypróbować nowe przepisy, a przy okazji trochę poeksperymentować w kuchni. Poza tym będzie o czym pisać na blogu, będzie też niezła uciecha, jeśli wybrany przepis okaże się sukcesem.

Zapraszam do przyłączenia się do projektu i dołączenia do projektowej grupy na FB – jeśli masz ochotę wziąć udział w cukierniczej i blogowej zabawie.
Będzie mi miło podzielić się z Wami przepisami oraz wypróbać Wasze!
  

New Year's Greetings / Życzenia Noworoczne

During 2015 my blog developed and evolved in quite unexpected directions. Among others, I joined the Polish Ladies Abroad Club. I need to say that it is a very friendly and supportive group which I find really inspiring as well. Our common projects resulted in my posts in Polish and English, including 'My Texas Alphabet' and quite a few other ones. I hope to continue this fruitful club collaboration,  complete all my ABCs and come across many interesting topics to write about.
What I first planned when I started my blog - meaning product reviews - did not work out (so far). I do not regret it though. I am still open to such opportunities and possibilities, but at the same time I am quite happy, I dared to share other things with you - my thoughts and experiences, including  remarks on  various life matters.

Many thanks to all of you who spared their time to visit my blog in 2015 (and see what I do on it). Hope to find you among my followers in the New Year too!

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year, hope it will be safe, good and prosperous to all of you and your dear and near ones. Likewise to myself :).

Aleksandra 

If you are planning new things for the New Year and you would like to receive a little pocket planner/calendar (see the picture at the end of the post) to write down your plans in it, please leave a comment - till the end of Jan. - below the post. I will draw a person who will get the calendar (in case if there is more than one comment only).

W minionym roku mój blog rozwinął się i 'poszedł' w całkiem nieoczekiwanym kierunku. Dołączyłam do Klubu Polki na Obczyźnie (bardzo przyjaznej i inspirującej grupy). Zaowocowało to wspólnymi projektami klubowymi i moimi postami w języku polskim i angielskim, do których należy, między innymi, seria 'Mój Teksaski Alfabet'.

Zakładając bloga miałam w planie pisanie na temat kosmetyków i rozmaitych produktów używanych na co dzień, spożywczych i nie tylko. Odeszłam od tej tematyki z różnych względów, a przede wszystkim dlatego, że ośmieliłam się pisać o tym, co mnie interesuje i czego doświadczamy w naszym codziennym życiu. Nie żałuję tej zmiany, myślę, że dzięki temu blog stał się ciekawszy, także dla mnie. W nowym roku zamierzam dokończyć moje 'alfabety': teksaski, muzyczny oraz wpisy na temat mojej 'kosmetycznej' stronie życia. Jednocześnie pozostaję otwarta na nowe projekty i możliwości, które przyniesie czas.

Dziękuję wszystkim czytelnikom 'Gone To Texas' za poświęcone chwile na przeczytanie moich postów i zainteresowanie tym, co pojawiło się na stronach blogu w roku 2015. Mam nadzieję, że nowe treści spodobają się Wam na tyle, by na te strony powracać.

Życzę wszystkim udanego i pozytywnego Nowego Roku, pełnego dobrych dni i przyjemnych wydarzeń.

Aleksandra

Styczeń sprzyja robieniu planów na Nowy Rok. Jeśli ktoś z Was chciałby otrzymać w prezencie mały kalendarz kieszonkowy (w formie książeczki) na 2016, by zapisać w nim swoje plany,  proszę o zamieszczenie komentarza pod postem do końca stycznia. Kalendarzyk mam jeden, jeśli więc będzie więcej komentarzy niż jeden, przeprowadzę losowanie.

(15,2 cm x 10 cm)

Instead of New Year's Resolutions And How To Stay Active

There was no tradition of making New Year's resolutions where I grew up. We did celebrate New Year's Eve and had parties of course but since at that time everyday life was  quite difficult and unpredictable, maybe that was why planning such things like eg: 'I am going to get more sporty' would have been quite irrelevant. Everybody was exercising themselves being busy with adjusting to current circumstances and trying to make the most of every coming day.
I guess it all made me more flexible. Maybe that is also a reason why I see no point in making resolutions. When I want to change or work on something, I do not wait till the next year comes. I try to do it whenever it is possible, on a constant basis.
One of these things is all which I call 'move yourself' - from moving around the home while doing all the housework, up to different forms of exercising. It may be, for example: gardening (if you have a garden), walking your dog (if you have a dog), dancing (if you like it), going to a gym (if you are a gym kind of person) or any other sports activity which requires moving yourself from a sofa or getting out of the car.

I like walking. Unfortunately, most of us (including myself)  tend to sit too often and too long, so it is good for our bodies if we can do something to be fitter.

Nice walking area in Fredericksburg.

When it is too hot or too cold to walk outside, a mall can be a good place to practice walking. It can be fun if you have someone to walk with - you can chat, watch nice things and look for bargains at the same time. However, if it is to be a sporting activity, done frequently, it is better to do window shopping only, instead of exercising our wallet again and again.

With Krystyna - a very best friend of mine -  we did thousands kms together, walking here and there...

I enjoyed our walks a lot

If walking is not possible for you, you can join a group of your interest or take part in social activities organized by your church. My mum took up computer classes and started learning a foreign language when she was in her late seventies. It is never too late to broaden our horizons! And quit saying - it is not for me. You do not have to be a professional painter to start painting or drawing. The point is, you can try creating positive things, be among/with other people (or on your own if you prefer it) and enjoy it.
I have always liked being creative and making something nice and useful. It is quite a different way of ' moving myself' though. Anyway, so far I have tried creating things doing:

• embroidery - ages ago;
• crocheting - I tried it and made a few things but I did not like it, so my crocheting career did not last long;
• knitting - while making sweaters: the more patterns or colors - the more fun I had doing it;
  

  

  One of my sweater creations - actually this long sweater is more like a dress

• sewing - making clothes and hats for myself was real fun (if I still had my sewing machine, probably I would post more on clothing);

  

  A blouse made by myself

• DIY home redecorating - the results were always very enjoyable;
• 'computing' - computer and Internet projects;
• baking and cooking.
  
   

Some people tend to complain that life is boring. There are so many interesting things to do (also when you are at home) and so many places worth visiting - museums, art galleries, botanic gardens and more!

Wishing you all a very best year!

Christmas walk