Tea Anyone?

Martha's Bloomers big teapot

Just outside of Navasota, Texas, is an interesting place. Martha's Bloomers is a unique shop, with flowers, antiques, garden and decorative items, and a tea shop where you can go inside and have a light meal and some tea. Martha's Bloomers is one of Southern Living Magazine's Top 50 Shops, and if you are traveling on Texas Highway 6 through Navasota, you cannot miss it. The location has a large teapot sitting on the grounds, making it easy to find.

One thing I enjoy is the variety of advertising used by businesses to draw the attention of travelers passing by, and this teapot is a great example of roadside Americana that increasingly is going by the wayside as homogeneity and chain stores take over the landscape. I only wish that I was hungry when we got to Martha's Bloomers, as I would have enjoyed sampling their fare. I suppose that will have to wait for another day, but if you make it down to Navasota, stop in and give it a try. I have a suspicion that you won't be disappointed.

Moo!

A white Texas Longhorn wonders what is going on.

On Sunday, I took a drive from Houston, Texas to Bryan, Texas for a lunch with about 14 other family members. Along the way there, I noticed this beautiful animal standing in a pasture beside Texas Highway 6 just north of the town of Hempstead. As we had a rendezvous time with the others, I made a mental note of where he was so that I could return on the way back to Houston to get his picture.

So on the way back, I found him still grazing, and pulled over to the side of the highway. My sister got out and started calling loudly to him, "Hey! Hey bully!", so when he looked up to see what all the commotion was, I got a few pictures. Given that a longhorn steer this size could be dangerous, we didn't stray too far from the car.

One thing I noticed is that his head seems disproportionately small when compared to his massive body. Perhaps he is still young, but those are a fine set of horns on this big boy!