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…. 🙂
Yesterday I took Julie and six of her girlfriends out for a day on the lake for her birthday. We sailed to the cove and then anchored. Sunbathing, floating, grilling, music, dancing and laughter ensued. I enjoyed a beautiful day with a lovely group of young women.
(photo manipulated with iPhone app Brushstroke)
Today Monte and I took a trip downtown to see the recently installed visiting art exhibit Forever Bicycles, by Ai Weiwei. It is sponsored by The Contemporary Austin and the Waller Creek Conservancy. Their material doesn’t cite an end date for the exhibit – it just says “ongoing.” But get yourself down there to see it. It is located at the “Waller Creek Delta,” which happens to be about where Trinity St runs into Lady Bird Lake. The Waller Creek Boathouse and its cafe are nearby, so you can catch a bite as well. And it is located right along the hike and bike trail.
I found the exhibit of hundreds of stainless steel bicycles to be teeming with motion, from every angle. Very cool indeed.
High above the trees, I watched this flurry of cottonwood fluff blow off the tree tops, reflecting in the sun.
The cottonwood is on the right. On the left, a pecan, I believe.
Factoid of the day: “alamo” is the spanish word for cottonwood.
I made it to Laguna Gloria today. It’s remarkable that it is only my first visit, after living here over 20 years. It is the home of The Contemporary Austin, an art consortium. The grounds are beautiful, full of trees, and trails that will take you down by the (glorious) lagoon, as well as Lake Austin. A sculpture garden is spread throughout the grounds and trails. It made for a lovely afternoon of hiking, birding and art appreciation.
A male (red) & female (yellow) summer tanager couple:
Whew! We had a doozie of a party last night to celebrate Dave’s birthday and Jake’s graduation. Fun times. 🙂
A busy week of long overdue yard work & house work, capped off with dinner at BBs. Missing our peaknuckle pardners.
We have some giant sunflowers growing out back. Seriously. They are at least 8 feet tall.
One of the blooms:
It’s Memorial Day weekend, and you know what that means! Yep, the annual Turnback Canyon Regatta; a two day sailboat race up the river from the Austin Yacht Club to Lago Vista and back. We didn’t race, but our friends Kurt, Kevin and Gordon did, so we cruised up and anchored overnight with them. There is a festival on-shore with live music and food, and it’s just a fun weekend overall. Marty & Sue and Lori & Mike joined us, which made it all the more fun. Memorial Day weekend is when we all say it is time to get in the water. Lake temps were about 74 degrees, so we all jumped in. It only gets warmer from here on out. Good times await.
It was a tad humid and hazy, but any day on the water is a good day.
The view anchored off of Bar K Park for the night. We tried to count all the masts, but never we ended up with the same number twice. Consensus was anywhere from 40-45 sailboats.
From the Sunday sail home. I count 32-ish sails in this one shot.
I have shared my excitement throughout this entire Spring for our nesting Bewick’s wrens. The same pair have nested in two different houses on the patio. Their first brood was four babies. A second brood fledged Thursday; three more! The birdhouse is about 5 feet from where I sit while drinking my coffee each morning outside. The little wren parents were used to me and would fly back and forth to feed the babies while I was sitting there. So sweet.
This is the second of the three that fledged.
While hiking at Pedernales Falls this week, I brought my camera along. I wasn’t really birding, but I was keeping an eye out for them. We saw a number of species of birds. This one was a lifer for me – a mississippi kite. I am really surprised this turned out, the bird was at least 200 feet away, way atop a dead, scraggly tree. The sky was very overcast and the light was flat. After severely cropping and adjusting the exposure, I like how this one turned out. The kite is a cool looking bird.
I went to Pedernales Falls State Park today to hike with a couple friends. They had never been, so it was fun to show them the different sights and trails.
We walked a bunch. After six hours or so, my Fitbit had logged almost nine miles. Whew!
We have birds nesting in a number of places in our yard. You’ve already heard a lot about the Bewick’s Wrens. A Carolina Wren also nested – in one of the aloe plants out back. The babies are out of the nest today, and I got a picture of mom/dad feeding one of the fledglings. I counted four babies at one point. You can see another one on the left edge of the bench in this shot. I hung the bark butter up again nearby and the parent bird is going to it every few minutes to feed the little ones. Such cuties. Their tails are so stubby right now, I don’t know how they get around.
Sheila365 