Hand Sanitizer at Bendt Distillery

I have always been a bit of a germ-a-phobe so I usually have some hand sanitizer in my purse.  But with this coronavirus thing, even non-germ-a-phobes have bought up all of the hand sanitizer, both locally and online.  I tried to make my own but the recipe called for aloe vera gel.  I guess I'm not the only wanting to make my own hand sanitizer because I can't locate aloe vera gel anywhere either.

I saw a friend share a post on Facebook that a local distillery was giving out FREE hand sanitizer.  

Bendt Distilling Co

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We have just received a new shipment of bottles for hand cleaner this morning and will be filling them immediately. If you are in need of hand cleaner, please come by today between 10am-7pm. No purchase is necessary and hand cleaner is free of charge.

Please note that our tasting hall bar is closed until further notice. For now, we will continue bottle sales from our retail shop, with the following items available for purchase:

***BENDT No. 5 American Blended Whiskey: $25

***Cocktail Series Old Fashioned: $30

***Single Barrel Bourbon: $45

***Sherry (or) Port-finished bourbon: $60

***Single Malt Whiskey: $80

Bendt Distilling Co

225 S. Charles Street

Lewisville, TX 75057

214-814-0545

Tuesday retail / hand cleaner pickup: 10am-7pm

NOTE: Hand cleaner is 70% alcohol by volume. Using hand cleaner is not a replacement for hand washing.

If you have traveled to China, Iraq, Japan, South Korea or Italy in the last 14 days or have been in close contact with someone who has or is suspected of having Covid-19 Coronavirus or you have any cold-like symptoms (e.g. sore throat, fever, cough, or shortness of breath), please do not enter the distillery.

#StillStrongTX

Needless to say, I went right over. I have never heard of Bendt and I had no idea there was a distillery in this town. We have been avoiding going out if we can so I was a little nervous going in but it was worth it for hand sanitizer. I loved being greeted inside the door by lots of whiskey barrels.

I went to the retail shop to ask about the hand sanitizer. While I waited for assistance I couldn't help but look around. I decided to pick up a bottle of whiskey to help support this local business who was doing an amazing thing for the community by giving out free hand sanitizer. I decided on a bottle of Bendt No. 5 blended whiskey. the lady checked me out and gave me two free bottles of hand sanitizer. I felt like I had hit the jackpot!

I smiled at the whiskey barrel that had barrel plugs used for checker pieces. Such a crafty idea!

The distillery looked really interesting and I learned that they usually offer tours but they have closed that in an attempt to limit people being in close contact with each other. I will definitely have to bring Stuart back here once they start doing these again.

I walked out of Bendt with my goodies and just sat in my car in their parking lot for quite a while. Of course, I drenched my hands in the sanitizer but then I just sat and thought.

I had such an uneasiness about me. I just sat there thinking about this virus and wondering how bad it really is and just how contagious is it. There doesn't seem to be a lot known about it yet. I want to be sure to protect my family and I worry that my son and I might be at a higher risk because of our asthma. I thought that if it is spreading then things are going to get worse before they get better so I should probably take care of that toothache I've been having while I still feel safe enough to go to the dentist. I called the dentist from the Bendt parking lot but got voicemail. I hate going to the dentist so I chickened out and didn't leave a message. I decided to just wait until this virus has passed and then go get it fixed.

Today things got a little more serious though. I sent this text to my dad...

House Hunt

We have been needing a slightly larger house and we would like to have one story.  I like things about our two story house but it isn't always convenient.  As we watch our parents age, we also realize that as we get older our joints aren't going to enjoy going up and down those stairs everyday.  We have been casually looking for a house for sale and with some money in savings we finally talked to a realtor friend of ours about going to look at a few. 

This is the house I fell in love with.  It is newer than our house and it is one story.  It is in a nice neighborhood.  It has a pool similar to our current one and larger bedrooms which is what we really wanted.  Stuart and our agent arrived at the house a little before I did so they had already toured it.  Stuart was so right when he came up to me as I arrived and said I would love this feature.  

It has an office area attached to the back of the bedroom and half of the room is just windows.  I love windows because they let in natural sunlight which just makes me happy.

I seriously would have made an offer on this house right then but with the news of coronavirus spreading and things shutting down and the uneasiness of what the economy and Stuart's job standing might be we decided to let it go.  We didn't shop for houses after that.

Rachel's Baptism

Note: 2020 has been a rough year and although I've captured the moments through lots of pictures I just haven't felt like looking through them afterwards or writing about all that has happened.  But I'm slowly working through the pictures now so there will be posts like this one that occurred before the pandemic shut down.  So enjoy some pictures that were pre-mask mandates and not social distanced.

What is Baptism?

Baptism is an outward expression of an inward change.  It is a symbolic act to show that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and we will follow Him.  As we come out of the waters of baptism, we are raised to a new life, a new creation.  We are spirit-filled with the character and power of Jesus for the rest of our lives.

We were excited when Rachel asked to be baptized.  Our church required that she attend a baptism class to be sure that she understood what it all meant.  Stuart attended the class with her and Rachel asked him to be the one to baptize her.

The church captured some beautiful pictures of the baptism.  I just love the expressions on Rachel's face.

Below is a video of this sweet moment.

Worldview Historical Ball 2020

 Welcome to the Worldview Historical Ball 2020

Nicholas has been enjoying his homeschool Worldview Class.  The class meets once a week for 3 hours and then the students have a heavy workload at home.  The program teaches core History, English (literature & composition), Bible, Speech, and Debate. 

They also meet for an additional hour and a half each week to learn ballroom dancing.  The highlight of the year is the annual Worldview Historical Ball which takes place at a ballroom at a local hotel and includes a formal dinner.  This year's theme was a Victorian Masquerade Ball taking place in London at Buckingham Palace between the years 1860 and 1899.  Each student was required to research and recreate a historical character that actually lived during this time period and could have possibly attended the Ball. The character had to be between the ages of 15 and 90 at the time of the Ball. All students had to research a character and write a one-page biography of their character that included an explanation as to why they chose the character.

Nicholas has been enjoying learning about electrical engineering so he chose Michael Faraday, the father of electricity, as his character. 

We rented his costume but he created his mask.  He painted it and added LED lights to it.  He has a controller that let him turn the light feature on or off.  He really enjoyed working on it and I think it turned out great.

The following pictures are not my own.  I'm sorry I do not know the name of the photographer to give them credit.  

The kids just love their Worldview teacher, Mr. Tillman, and his wife who assists with grading and administrative aspects of the class.  The Tillmans are very passionate about teaching and although their class is very challenging they still make it fun and exciting for the students. They put their hearts into the class and especially the ball.

Over the year, the students have been learning basic ballroom dances like Waltz, Foxtrot, East Coast and West Coast Swing.  They have also learned some Basic Latin dances like the Cha Cha, American Tango, and Rumba as well as English Country, Folk, and Period Dances, and a little Texas Two Step. 

At the ball, the students receive a dance card which assigns them to particular partners for certain dances.  

After they completed their dance card they were able to choose their own partners to dance with.

Nicholas was not particularly excited about learning ballroom dancing but after just a few lessons he was hooked and he really enjoys it now.

It helps that he has a lot of friends taking ballroom dancing lessons too.

The seniors in the class always do some kind of prank at the ball.  This year there were a few seniors who disappeared for a while then reappeared in dinosaur costumes.  It's funny watching a T-Rex try to dance.

Here are some of the posed pictures. Again, these are not my pictures.

Next year's ball theme will be Greco-Roman.  Nicholas loves ancient mythology so I know he will have fun working on a costume for that one.

Hiking Northshore Trail

Some of our homeschool friends got together today for a hike on Northshore Trail.  It was a little cold but it was nice getting out in nature while getting some good exercise on the trail.

The ground was a little soft in areas and we found some neat animal tracks.

Although most of the bushes and trees had either brown leaves or no leaves, this beautiful holly stood out with its bright red berries which are a special winter treat for the birds.

The trail is really interesting in that it constantly changes elevation and there are interesting features like creeks and bridges.

Nicholas said it would be fun to ride this trail on his mountain bike.

Nicholas is loving his new camera that he got for Christmas.  He enjoys taking nature pictures.

He takes some really great pictures and I love how he slows down from his usual high speed pace to really slow down and zoom in on some good shots.  I think photography is really good for him.

A friend of mine always takes pictures of where she stands. It is an unusual perspective of the places she has traveled.  Here is mine for the day.  Exploring in my hiking boots.

I know this tree look barren and boring.  However, I still like looking at it.  With all of its crazy branches it just seems to be busy and active even though it looks rather dead.

I'm not sure which type of tree this is below.  It is likely a cypress or cedar tree.  I enjoyed it's colorful blooms.

The teens managed to mingle together and avoid the parents and siblings.  Nicholas has a great group of friends and we are blessed to be "doing life" together with them.

I love this picture.  It was still and quiet here but you can actually "see" the wind as it creates ripples on the water.

An idyllic little scene.  I'd like to paint this picture when I have some time.

Although we were staying warm walking, I was glad to have my coat and hat, especially when we were in open areas that were breezy.  I do not like being cold, even when exercising.

Ahh!  Wood sorrel!  Rachel's favorite edible plant.  It is all edible but if you find it early in the season these little yellow bulbs taste a little bit like pickles.  It grows all over here and is really easy to recognize in this stage.

I just love pictures of trails in the woods.  It just invites me to explore a little more down its path.

Although there doesn't seem to be a lot to look at in the woods in January, you can see from the pictures that there are still pretty colors and interesting plants to study.

This has been a fun trail to explore.  It is really long with lots of different entrance points.  We only covered a small part of it today but I plan to come back and hike other areas of the trail soon.