We heard about a play near campus called Shit-faced Shakespeare, and went to see it tonight. Yep, you guessed it: one cast member is supposed to be very, very drunk, while the show goes on. I suspect it actually involves more acting than inebriation.
It’s not for everyone, but whether they are actually sh!t-faced or pretend, it’s a funny show.
It’s showing at Spider House Ballroom – little over an hour long. And they have a bar in the back.
And it’s only Saturday!
In my life, I’ve picked up and moved from one city to the next over a dozen times. Each time saying goodbye to old friends, making new friends, and making a home and new memories in a brand new place. My last move, to Austin, was different. Not only did I stay, but when I moved here, so did over 700 of my colleagues. One day we were all working together on one campus, in one state. A few weeks later, we were all back together again, but everything else was different.
Many of us took root here, getting married, having kids, living out our passions, and spending a very big chunk of the time that we’ve been given here on Earth loving living in Central Texas. We’ve scattered. Some moved back home. Some moved on. Some have passed from this life. But, this week marks the 20 year anniversary of our migration. So, last night we held a reunion to celebrate. A hundred and fifty or so people turned out. And it was amazing!
I don’t know what the next 20 years holds for me, but I’ve enjoyed this last round. 🙂
TODAY, we headed to the lake, of course. The winds were blowing 20-30 knots. So Lori and Kurt jumped aboard Nirvana with us and we all headed out. This is a shot of Lori at the helm. Sunny. Windy. A tad chilly. But a wonderful day.
Wow. That was fast. January flew by. This weekend is very un-January-like, though – sunny, with temps inching into the 80s. I took this shot as the sun was dropping last night. The light through the trees was gorgeous.
We’ve decided to leave the signpost up that I made for last summer’s family reunion. It just seems right.
We roasted a whole chicken the other day and I took both cooked breast pieces and transformed them into a magnificent, mouthwatering curried chicken salad.
Simply delicious.
Here’s more or less what went in. It made 2-3 cups of chicken salad.
Curried chicken salad
Mix well so everything is coated with yellowy goodness. Then put it in the fridge – for several hours before serving, to make the flavor pop. Be patient, it’ll be worth the wait.
By the way, the baguette came from Baguette House over on North Lamar. They make the best baguettes I’ve ever tasted. Hands down. Go get you some.
Yesterday we went to the lake and Joel joined us with his out of town visitor, Chris. We sailed up to the basin and back. Winds gusting in the high 20’s & low 30’s made for a great day.
This is a shot of Kurt & Kevin on Dancer, who sailed along with us for the day.
Yesterday was pleasantly windy – 15+ knots. So we set out for the lake and met up with Lori & Joe on Camelot, and Kurt & Kevin on Dancer, for a long sail towards the dam. We managed to weave our way through the Austin Yacht Club regattas, and made it to Mansfield Dam Park and turned around. What a marvelous day! We had a slip up and talked all night with Lori & Joe. Just like old times. I miss the rest of the gang! 🙂
Here’s a shot of Camelot on the way back.
We had alot of fun with Fran and Rachel this week. The house is guest-free again. Well, except for the parrot we are house sitting. 🙂
We enjoyed a fun weekend on the lake – Saturday’s sunset:
We spent Labor Day down by Zilker Park and paddling on Ladybird Lake. A friendly swan:
The paddling scene:
Then we threw some lambburgers and hamburgers on the grill to celebrate the holiday.
A short work week is a busy work week. I didn’t make time to post til now. I’ll try to not be so slow with my updates. Have a great weekend!
I have been challenged in posting the last two weeks. We are in the middle of a 3 week set of back to back visits from family. Which we absolutely love, but it means a little less time to tend to my photoblog. The real challenge though is that the WordPress for iOS app that I use primarily for quick posts is broken and completely useless since the last 2 updates (both updates ver 5.4 and 5.4.1) of the app. So I’m using the browser version of the app for this post. I hope they get it together and fix the problem in the next update.
One set of guests were unaccompanied minors, so I had to get a pass to go through security and accompany them to their gate to pick them up and drop them off at the airport. As I was strolling along the concourse on the west end of the ABIA terminal, I spotted some lovely, colorful prints on display from a Texas artist that I hadn’t seen before. The artist is Margie Crisp, and her prints are simply beautiful. I took a picture of one – couldn’t avoid the reflections from the lights in the airport. This one is called In the shadow of Buchanan Dam. Inks Lake is in the foreground, with images of all the things I love about the Central Texas Hill Country.
I googled her to learn more about her and found that she has produced a book called River of Contrasts: The Texas Colorado, which features many of her river prints. As I’ve come to love the Colorado myself, I’m going to order one.
You might want to check her out, too.
As for me, i need to get moving… we are headed to the lake to raft-up overnight.
I’m on my way home — like I have been doing for the last 30+ years of visits to Seattle. Washington will always be special, I’ll surely be back, but it won’t be the same. Austin is my true humble abode.
I’m in my comfy chair, with mimosa in hand. Bye Mom.
OK, Let’s go. 
For the last week and a half, Monte and I hosted his family’s bi-annual reunion. We started out with a big 3-day weekend, enjoying reconnecting and having fun at the house and in the backyard with 21 of our relatives that came from pretty much every corner of the country. Then, for the next week, ten of the family that could stay longer came to stay with us at the house. We packed it with as much food and fun as we could. It was really a special, wonderful time. Sailing, floating, grilling, cornhole, homemade pasta, bimini ring game, barbeque, card games, homemade pizza, geocaching, karaoke, low-country boil, gardening, sno-cones, sightseeing, even taking part in our neighborhood’s 4th of July parade. Over the last few days, our party dwindled until it was just four of us yesterday. We set out for the lake and sailed to Starnes Island to anchor up and watch the fireworks show. It didn’t disappoint. We squeezed every bit of fun out of the time spent with everyone.
Today we said goodbye to the last two revellers. It’s just our flock now. The house is quiet.
I leave you with two shots from the fireworks last night — here’s to family!
We dashed out to Mayfield Park today to see the peacocks and the pretty grounds, found a geocache, and then climbed atop Mount Bonnell to enjoy the view.
A nice day, indeed.
We headed out to the lake yesterday. The rains have FINALLY been falling over the basin that flows into Lake Travis. We have been watching the LCRA lake levels like kids in a candy store. The lake is up to over 648′ today! which is up about 25′ from where it has been stuck for the last few years. We still want more – 30 more feet and brimming would be nice – but boy was it thrilling to see. I actually felt my heart rejoice. 🙂
The band of grey, exposed limestone is thinner now. Sometimes Islands are islands again! I’m glad I spent one afternoon walking the length of the peninsula while it was exposed earlier this year.
Our marina has moved half of its dock back to shore. All of the ramps for the letter docks are floating. And one of our boat ramps is usuable again. We went for a sail with Kurt and Kevin. We saw alot of debris in the water. And alot of these….. balls of red ants floating in the lake. Beware folks, you do NOT want to swim into one of these!
We anchored in our cove and spent the afternoon marvelling over how great it was to finally have our lake back. 🙂
Oh, and…. i want one of these:
We popped into our local public house for dinner and some cards tonight. On the way home we were treated to an awesome sunset… complete with rainbow and mammatus clouds (Monte looked it up). We had to dash around a bit and didn’t get a good shot, but hopefully this gives you an inkling of how beautiful it was.
Sunday was the 5 year blogoversary for sheila365! I meant to draft a post ahead of time, and post it bright and early on March 8th. But I just looked at the calendar and time has snuck by on me once again.
That’s ok. In these 5 years sheila365 has evolved, and I think I have a bit, too. My blog started as a post-a-day 365 project during the first year or two, which had me snapping photos during the day to make sure I had something that I judged “share-worthy;” and now it has become more of a leisurely, post-every-week-or-so project, which I have to say has been much easier, though less artistic in terms of trying to capture beautiful photos, but rather just moments from my day that struck me as special or interesting in one way or another.
So happy blogoversary to me! 🙂 I thought I’d go back through my posts from year 5 and pick a photo from one post from each month that especially makes me smile. I have to say it was very hard to pick just one picutre from each month.
March 2014: Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. A visit to the walled El Morro. Beautiful Caribbean views.
April 2014: British Virgin Islands sailing trip – this was taken while snorkeling off Cooper Island.
May 2014 – A trip home to Seattle. One of several last year. It is a beautiful, special place for me.
June 2014 – Back in Austin for fun on the lake with some of my crazy sailor friends.
July 2014 – An amazing trip to Panama City Beach to celebrate a very special anniversary with a very special family.
August 2014 – A roadtrip to the Texas Gulf Coast. One of my favorite places to relax.
September 2014 – A lovely anniversary trip through the Texas Wine Country.
October 2014 – A fun girls’ trip to Washington, D.C. Lots of laughs, lots of wine, and lots of walking. 🙂
November 2014 – An oh so special birthday.
December 2014 – Family visiting means showing off Austin and the Hill Country. Never gets old.
January 2015 – Hiking as many trails as I can before I had to go back to work after taking a few months off.
February 2015 – Yep, more tulips.
What an amazing lap around the sun!
Thanks for coming along for the ride. 🙂
Sheila365 