on two wheels

Skidding in on two wheels, here are some random shots from our Summer.

Red in Fredericksburg is filled with cool items in every price range.

Fantastic 3-D puzzle. You have to see it up close to appreciate it!

Great Wall O' Cutters. Der Kuchen Laden, Fredericksburg.

The girls love their cousin Karleigh!

The tooth fairy pays a visit to Harry.

Look at that sweet face!

Incredible mirror. Incredible store. Root Fashion and Aura. Fredericksburg, Texas.

Outside a restaurant at the height of Mel's latest outburst. Funny stuff. Austin, Texas.

Giant creepy baby head from a vintage store in Austin. There's a Twilight Zone episode in here somewhere.

City park bridge in Hico. I've been riding my bike, driving a car or running over this bridge my entire life. I finally noticed just how great it is.

Layers and layers of yumminess.

gaga for summer

We had a good weekend over here.

I delivered this quilt.

Farmers market was eventful. I sat and listened to a tuba and euphonium quartet playing the Beatles and Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. I was also fascinated by this giant pea sheller machine shaking the purple hulls and creamers right out of nature's garb.

Sadie opened her new Etsy shop and Sophie put together a happy summer outfit. I hope you had a good weekend too! Here's another cool cover of Bad Romance via Ken's excellent music blog.

humbled

Today is Earth Day and I find myself overwhelmed by the beauty of these images taken from the Hubble space telescope.

natures armor

I ran over this turtle. Not with my car, but with my foot.

At first I thought he was a pecan and didn't stop. But I knew

in my gut it wasn't a pecan, so I ran back to take a look.

He was very still, but looked perfect. Internal injuries? Maybe.

Traumatized at the very least. I picked him up and finished my run.

He didn't move for an hour or more, then finally poked his little

head out to say hello.

Was his life spared because I'm so light on my feet? Not likely.

Although I'm sure it helped that my running pace

is less hare, more tortoise.

It had to be his amazing (and beautifully designed!) suit of armor.

His name is Milton. We'll stare at him for a few days before

he moves down the street to our neighbors lush tropical pond.

Photos by Sophie

forget all your cares

We went on a Sunday drive. Olive came with us!

Buster decided to sleep in, all day long, because that's what

old dogs do...

He missed all the fun.

Here's our day as seen by Sophie.

power to the peeps

Happy Easter Weekend!

saki to me!

Sakitini Saturday was magic.

Our goals were simple:

great food and drinks

affordable ingredients

easy clean up

nature/eco friendly as possible

It was a beautiful evening where cactus pads became salad plates,

banana leaves were unfurled into table runners and

dinner plates and lettuce cups were handy entree vessels.

Hollowed out oranges and romas were fragrant and

effective bowls for easy to pour sauces.

Washing plates.

The vivid green looked really fresh against the surface of

white banner paper.

See that rectangle above the salad? That's japanese vermicelli that

I cooked and then placed in loaf pans. I covered the loaf

pans with wax paper and weighted the tops with cans.

Once chilled, I was able to cut them into rectangles

and dust the tops in peanuts.

Daffodils were on sale $1.50 a bunch! They

fit the criteria of our evening perfectly.

Everyone had their own sides of peanut and lettuce wrap sauce.

Nice work Kalynn!

Roll it up.

Presto! Clean up done

and we're out the door.

Like I said, magic.

sakitini saturday

Any big weekend plans?

Kalynn and I are hosting our dinner club

at a nearby boat dock. Since there's no kitchen,

we'll be cooking everything in advance. That way,

our work will be done and we can have just as

much fun as our guests.

Here's our menu and table decor planned

out on the Weiss' chalkboard wall.

Menu

sakitinis and/or wine

roasted beet with goat cheese salad

chicken skewers

lettuce wraps

peanut sauce

roasted veggies

lemon sour cream pound cake over lemon sorbet

Nice pawdicure Button!

Happy weekend.

this land is my land

I think it's really cool when people name

and identify their places with signage.

Here are just a few signs that Mom and

I found in and around Hico.

Sign from above:

AEIOU

Sinterra? Santerra? Senterra?

Sunterra? I think it's Sonterra!

What sounds right to you?

Don't you like the off center placement of the letters?!

Very hip.

I'd like to see the house this road leads to....

Choice font. Love it!

Say hello to Bonnie, aka Bon Bon. She sure did enjoy the ride.

She enjoys anywhere my Mom is.

I think Keno enjoyed it too. Unfortunately, he was banished

to the back seat. He has boundary issues.

One of the many, many, many kitties we fed on mom's"rounds".

She's a one woman humane society. But I won't go on and on

about her devotion to animals or how awesome she is.

She doesn't like that sort of thing.

My Uncle Robert's handiwork. He went for a more primitive look.

R.I.P. Pearl and Louise. Salt of the earth.

What would you name your spread?