Joe! First christmas card of the season received. I wonder if I’ll get my cards out this year? 50:50 odds at this point, I fear.
Category: Life
Decked.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year….. Tree up, stockings hung, halls decked, cold outside, rum in the nog, Christmas tunes on pandora….
A delicious way to heat the house.
Julie came over to watch the game with us this afternoon. Sadly, my Seahawks lost today (sniffle). No time to wallow in it, though. After the game we got busy making pizza. Nice, too, since its still frosty outside.
This is a new one we tried. Monte took some chicken left over from grilling it the other night. We used a mild BBQ sauce instead of tomato sauce. Onions and mozzarella on top and…. Yum!
Twinkly.
Tree in the house!
Christmas at Zilker.
I was in south Austin today, and just had to drive through zilker park on the way home. They lit the Christmas tree on Sunday and this weekend the trail of lights opens, after which it will be nearly impossible to make it through the park.
I got a shot from underneath and another from about 100 yards away. Christmas is in the air….
Seeing Stars.
We went to a Texas Stars hockey game tonight with John. The Cedar Park Center is a nice facility; this is my first time seeing it. The Stars won tonight 2 – 1. Happy Thanksgiving Eve !
Bowl me over.
Today Laura and I went to the Austin Empty Bowl Project event. It is a fundraiser for organizations that feed hungry children in the area. Potters donate bowls, food vendors donate soup, musicians take turns entertaining the crowd, and tons of Austinites show up to make it all work. $20 gets you a bowl of your choice and a delicious hot bowl of soup. It was great! This is the one I brought home.
Checking out the creek.
What a difference a week makes. Last Saturday we spent the night on the boat and enjoyed a sunny weekend with temps in the 80s. This week the temps are in the 30s with lots of wind and rain. This morning I took a walk in the rain through the greenbelt at the end of our street. A creek cuts through the woods there. But it is dry most of the time, due to the endless drought. Today there is a creek where one should be.
I’m on vacation, …
I’m off work until the monday after thanksgiving ! Can you feel the joy?!
Monte baked a lovely birthday cake today. Do the maracas, cactus and sombrero look a bit familiar? We have recycled them for a few occasions, lately.
Viva amigas!
I went out to dinner tonight with a bunch of my girls. We went to one of a kind Rainey Street in Austin – my first time there. I had a wonderful time. We ate at NO VA Kitchen & Bar. The food was delicious. Their white sangria is amazing. The service was great. I highly recommend it. Afterwards we hopped around to a few other places and enjoyed sitting outside on the patio, with the sky flashing with the lightning of the cold front approaching from the northwest.
A cool light fixture above our table at NO VA:
And a shot of part of their menu. The ingredients listed for their white sangria include: armagnac / aged rum / spiced pear / sage / vino blanco
delish!
Orange you wishing you were here?
Saturday on the lake. Raftup with Kurt & Kevin on Dancer. What a glorious sunset sky.
The full moon rose as the sun set.
If the clouds break we might get a glimpse of the Leonids meteor shower or the comet ISON.
Fire time.
Day 2 of cold front in town. We finally lit the fireplace this morning to warm things up. Julie came over last night for dinner and some family time and stayed the night. Mom was admitted to the hospital again yesterday so we’re keeping in close touch. She’s quite the trooper. We’re keeping the home fire burning.
Four month high.
We rafted up last night with Lori, Dave & Jake on Camelot, and Rory & Greg on Sapphire. It was a fun night in the cove, as usual. It’s a treasure, to me… time spent with friends, just sitting outside, on a boat, on a pleasant evening, playing music, dancing a little, and chatting and making one another laugh.
After the rain of the last month the lake is actually up about 7 feet. The bulk of the deluges that hit Austin missed the basin that feeds the lake, so we are up only 7 feet instead of 20 or 30 feet. At 625.5′, Lake Travis is back up to what it was 4 months ago. My blog post on July 6th included a shot of the cove at the same level as it is today. On that day, 625.5′ was a 50 year low, and dropping. Today it’s a 4 month high. I’ll take it, though. Keep praying for rain.
This is a shot I took of Nirvana at anchor, as I was paddling around the cove this morning.
Embrace the weekend.
I love weekends. This was the sunrise outside my front door this Saturday morning.
Sheila365 