We are fans of the Farmer’s Almanac. It keeps us up to date on the celestial happenings around the year. We get one every year and keep it at the ready. The 2011 version is out now, by the way.
And it’s also chock full of amusing miscellany.
Have you ever turned to the classified ads in the back? If you ever need a psychic, magic spell, divine intervention, etc., it is THE place to go.
Happy Birthday Fran! (make a wish!)
Cow Creek is a lovely spot on Lake Travis. It’s not one we get to see very often because it’s about 20 miles up river.
The walls are always raining with water from the rocks. The fall color this weekend was really beautiful.
Our friends Teri and Ace invited us to stay with them on their boat, since Cupholder is in the shop. We had a fantastic time – they are awesome hosts. I got my dose of laughter to tide me over for quite a while.
This weekend is the Annual Birthday Raftup. This year we anchored in Cow Creek, at mile marker 32. We had 5 boats: Robert, Jay and Bridget on Moon Rock; Michelle, Tony and Dali on Caribbean Run; Teri, Ace, Monte and I on Island Time; Dennis and Christine on Lone Spar; and Sarah and Mark on Serenade.
Temps got down into the 40’s tonight. But that didn’t keep the sailors from staying up playing iPod wars into the wee hours – again. Everyone was in fine form.
We sorely missed the rest of our 1st string raftup team members Marty, Sue, Joe, Kurt, Wally, Lori & Dave.
This was a shot of Tony & Michelle on the way back from a shore run for Dali late in the evening. The mist on the water lit up as they made their way back to the boats.
The morning glory that I planted from a single seed back in the spring has grown up and over the 5 foot iron obelisk it was meant to cover. Most of the leaves and blooms have dried up and are dying, but at the very top there is one bright, beautiful flower left that opens every morning.
I thought I’d capture it before it closes for the last time.
I’m trying something new this Friday. I’ve learned of another blogger @ bloggingfrombolivia that hosts a just-for-fun contest every Friday in which other bloggers can enter a close-up, or macro shot. Sounds like fun. This is my modest entry 😉
We stopped in for pub grub on the way home tonight. The tables are covered in beer labels and coasters from around the world and back in time.
The Rainier Beer label reminds me of my all-time favorite quirky beer commercial. I remember seeing it when I was a kid in the 70s and I still think it’s great.
The neighbor’s crepe myrtle has turned a beautiful shade of crimson. I just had to take a picture.
Ok, I’m pretending not to notice that it’s 70+ degrees outside this evening because I’m in the mood for some meat-and-potatoes Irish soul food that seems more appropriate for a chillier Fall evening. Oh well. I’ll just crank the AC tonight.
Shepherd’s Pie – it’s what’s for dinner.
Here’s how I make mine:
2 lbs lean ground beef
1/2 c dry red wine
2 T steak sauce
1 T worchestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
1/2 t dried whole marjoram
dash of ground cloves
dash of ground red pepper
salt/pepper to taste
2 onions – diced
2 garlic cloves – finely minced
8 oz frozen peas/carrots
4 oz sliced mushrooms
5 cups cooked mashed potatoes
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Cook meat in large skillet over medium heat until browned. I use very lean beef, so there’s not much fat, but if there is spoon it off now. Stir next 7 ingredients into pan with browned meat, saute over medium high heat for about 5 mins. Add onion, garlic, mushroom and cook until soft. Add peas/carrots and simmer for a few minutes. Remove bay leaf from skillet and discard. Empty meat mixture into the bottom of a casserole dish. Spread mashed potatoes evenly over top of meat mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350 for 20 mins or so, until mixture is thoroughly heated. Makes 6-8 servings, depending on how hungry everyone is.
Mmmm! Autumn means grapefruit season! Texas produces some sweet, delicious grapefruit. There are many different ways to enjoy them.
One is a drink some people call a Greyhound:
Fill tall glass halfway with ice 2 oz vodka 8 oz freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
Delicious! But, sadly, not so great for anyone taking statin meds to treat high cholesterol, FYI.
We enjoyed a couple tonight while rooting (in vain) for Cincinnati to beat Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football.
After many weekends of work-working and rushing around I have finally enjoyed a weekend working on a fun project that I have put off for too long.
When we went to the Abacos last summer, we stopped at Man-o-War Key. We walked up and down the island, and one house had the most awesome wind vane in the front yard. It had four boats with real sails that tacked as they rotated on the pole. I wanted one!
When we walked by again on our way back to the dock the owner was in the front yard adjusting it and we asked him where he got it. He said somewhere in Washington State. Well, when I got home I searched for this little gem online and was not able to find it.
Christmas came around and guess what was under the tree? Monte had hand carved four little catboats with masts and barn door rudders just waiting for sails. He’d made me a sailboat wind vane of my very own!
Well, THIS was the weekend I was determined to make the sails. So I hustled off to the craft store yesterday and today cut out and sewed the sails. We just finished rigging them. They’re so cute!
Now all we have to do is mount it atop a pole somewhere in the yard. The biggest challenge will be digging a hole in our backyard, where we have about 1/4″ of topsoil ontop of solid limestone. 🙂
I can’t wait to see them sailing around.
We’ve lived in Central Texas for nearly 15 years (gasp). Yet we’ve never made it down to New Braunfels for the annual Wurstfest. It’s a 10 day celebration of beer, bratwurst, oompah music and chicken dancing. And it’s wrapping up this weekend. Alas, we won’t be able to make it down this year either.
Soooo, I decided to have our own little wurstfest at home tonight. Not the same thing, no, but perhaps it will hold us over til next year.
We put a few bratwurst on the grill, cooked up some sauerkraut and shared a couple green-bottled german biers (prost!).
Now, where did I put my lederhosen?
Friday!
We bought last minute tickets to see the 40th anniversary show that Asleep at the Wheel played at the Long Center tonight. The show was put on in partnership with the Austin Lyric Opera. The stage setting was for the La Traviatta show that is starting tomorrow night, but it made for a cool backdrop. When Ray Benson opened the show he said they’d turn the grand old opera into the grand ole opry for the night.
They played for almost 4 hours!
They kept bringing onstage more and more musicians that had played with the band over the years – they had 4 horns, 4 or 5 pedal steel, 2 pianos, 6 fiddles, … Lots of great old swing sound.
Towards the end, Willie came out and played with the Wheel.
It was a great way to kick off the weekend.
This is a shot across Town Lake taken from the Long Center.
We have really enjoyed our herb garden this year. Well, we do every year, but this year the queen of the garden was the basil. We made many batches of pesto, margherita pizza, and caprese salad. We still have some left. We usually pinch off the flowers, but this time of year it’s better to let them go to seed in the hopes that we can get some seed for new plants next year.
This shot caught a sunbeam as the sun was dropping behind the trees.
Mmm, can’t you just smell the basil?
Ok, yes, I know my photos have been less than impressive lately. It’s hard to find interesting material when I’m sitting in front of a computer all day and night.
I need to get up and about, this is nuts.
Anyway.
I know it’s going to get a lot colder, but as for today, 55 degrees seems pretty COLD!
It turns out that I was asked to take on an additional high priority project for the next week or two, on top of the other things I have on the plate, so I decided to cancel my trip this week. It was an easy decision, really, and so I’m happy to not have to travel.
So instead of being on a plane tonight, I was able to watch the election returns as they came in.
This is a pic of the outcome at the end of the night…
Sheila365 