We are spending the weekend at a family reunion this weekend. Our hostess, Susanne’s, garden is the perfect setting. Everywhere you look there’s a lovely surprise. We are missing those that can’t be here.
Category: Family
Cornholio.
We made a set of cornhole boards for Julie for her birthday. She chose Seahawks’ colors. They turned out nice. GO HAWKS!!
FYI, Glidden paint sells NFL colors at Home Depot. Check it out for your next project.
731 days.
731 memories, smiles & tears.
Sunday brewery touring, resumed.
We took a break there for a while from our taproom exploration. But we’re back. First stop, 4th Tap Brewery Cooperative; have a nice flight!
Next: Oskar Blues Brewery; good tunes, too. I learned a new word here: zymurgy. See, it’s an educational tour.
We stopped for dinner along the way, but finished at Austin Beerworks:
We are in training for Fran’s visit…. 🙂
Class of 2017.
I attended one of the many University of Texas at Austin convocation ceremonies today. The daughter of a college roommate of mine graduated. Being on a university campus always feels a bit like home to me, no matter how brief my visit might be.
Seeing these young people graduate college and turn to take the next significant step in their lives makes me nostalgic. I can recall the excitement of the prospect of having your entire future before you. For me, that day was 30 years ago. I feel older; but not old. A little part of me wishes I could do it all again. The rest of me is content to look back on a life that’s more than half way lived, enjoy the memories, and cherish the remainder.
Congratulations to the all the graduates of 2017!!!
This little piggy went to market…
I can’t believe it has taken me so long, but today I visited Texas Farmers’ Market at Lakeline Mall this morning – open 9am to 1pm every Saturday. They set up right in front of Dillard’s in the parking lot. I really enjoyed it, and the beautiful day that came with it. They have all sorts of fare: veggies, cheese, meat, eggs, bread, sweets, olive oil, pasta, flowers, doggie treats, live music, sweet smelling pamper products, a little place to sit down and rest, and more. I’ll be back.
A busy two weeks.
I have been away for a bit. Since I last posted…
On Valentine’s Day we stopped by Cypress Creek Park while on a winding drive through the hill country. As we walked down to the water, I spied a male belted kingfisher – the first I had ever seen in person. I’m kinda getting into this birding thing, so I was very excited. But, I didn’t have my camera with me. So, being the budding-but-persistent-bird-photographer, I drove out there again the next day with my camera and spotted him again; holding court in a tree on the bank of the creek. I couldn’t get very close, but I did come away with a photo of him. Success! A tad fuzzy, but my first, for the archive. 🙂
The next day, I flew to Seattle to meet my sisters. We went together to eastern Washington to visit our aunt; one of the last living siblings of my parents’ generation. It was a nice weekend. We shared laughs and memories and a few tears. I enjoyed it. I also snapped way too many pictures. This one was of the ice crystals on the plane window next to my seat.
Spokane has gotten much snow this year. The nearby rivers are flooding and raging. This is a picture of upper the Spokane River falls on our last night there.
I’m back in Austin, now, and will try to keep the posts a tad more frequent. Have a good week!
Mayfield Park posers.
While my family was visiting, one of our stops was Mayfield Park. We went to see the peacocks, and they didn’t disappoint.
Sunday funday.
Today we tried out a “puzzle room” a.k.a. “escape room” with our visitors; a first for all of us. We went to Puzzle Room Austin. The general idea is… you are locked in a room for 60 minutes. The room has a bunch of clues and physical puzzles in it, and the goal is to work out all the puzzles to find the key to get out of the room. We almost made it, but ran out of time. The good news is they will let you out either way. 🙂 It was lots of fun, though.
No photos of the puzzle room, but here is a bowl of Seahawk M&Ms, which we finished off even though our team is out of the playoffs. GO HAWKS!
Remembering the Alamo.
We have out-of-town family visiting us this week, and today we headed to San Antonio. It has been a long time since my last visit to the Alamo. So, it was nice to visit again to get a Texas history refresher.
The rain finally let up, the sky cleared and the sun came out, making for a nice afternoon.
The Alamo is hallowed ground, given the loss of life there in 1836 of those trying to defend a foothold in the battle for Texas independence. A plaque on the door reads:
“BE SILENT, FRIEND. HERE HEROES DIED TO BLAZE A TRAIL FOR OTHER MEN.”
If you are patient, you might be able to get a picture of the front of the chapel without people milling about.
Keeping watch.
We took a roadtrip to Fredericksburg today – one of my favorite Texas Hill Country haunts. This trip we toured the National Museum of the Pacific War. And, let me tell you, this is one amazingly detailed set of museum exhibits. We spent about two and a half hours walking through the museum, and we still didn’t see everything. You must go.
On the way home there was a rainbow on the horizon, after a few late afternoon rain showers had rolled through. I was taking some random photos out the window as we drove. When I got home I scrolled through the photos I captured, and liked this one in particular, which has been significantly cropped. I liked it because I can see the faint colors of the rainbow through the branches of this tree. But, it wasn’t until I zoomed in that I noticed the hawk perched at the top of the tree, and the two gravestones underneath its branches.
Stockings, hung (with care).
Yum, paella!!
We went to a party at Julie’s house last weekend. Her roommate’s parents were in town and made one awesome pan of paella. Very pretty to look at, and delicious as well. Lucky us!
A day for thanks.
We opted for a quiet dinner on the boat. Football. Turkey. Apple pie. And all the fixings. Niiiice.
Sunset at anchor in our cove. Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Sheila365 