I left on May 22 for Utah, intending to drive back with Chris and Alyona. I had a delightful time there, spending lots of it with my little ggrrls. Also saw mom and Squirt a couple of days, then helped Chris pack on a few days. We left on Tues around 3 pm, drove to someplace until 10pm, then stopped. Got up and left at 8am, and arrived in Cedar Park at 1am.
Pics and more to follow.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
Old Peeple drives
I realize this post is going to classify Rick and me quite quickly as old peeple. Here it is: We like to go for drives and see the countryside. But lest you assign this as old peeple ways, we have always enjoyed doing this. Illinois, Indiana, didn't get to do it much because we were always busy doing kid stuff on Sat mornings, afternoons, and evenings, the times that we now go for drives (along with various Sunday times).
In North Carolina we saw our first tobacco plants (they are huge) and cotton. In PA, we saw stuff, historical, scenery, parks, rivers, etc. Here in Texas we see - Historical Marker signs. First we see the sign saying a historical marker is one mile ahead. Then we see the Historical Marker. So we started stopping and reading the markers. They tell us stuff like on this river/creek, the first settlers used a natural limestone bridge just below the water, then they built a concrete bridge, then a real bridge over a period of 100 years or so. Oh. Then we drive across the old bridge (no sides). On a 5-10 mile section we came across 4 Historical Markers. Texas has to do everything bigger than anyone else, that includes having more Historical Markers than any other state.
Rick has been searching for a body of water in which to launch the sail boat, a place that is not too crowded, doesn't necessary flow downstream (like Lake Travis on the Colorado River, at least I don't want a river that flows down, for how will we get a sail boat back up?), and that doesn't cost mucho dinero (little Spanish lingo). Enter Lake Granger. We came across this lake on one of our drives. It is on the San Gabriel River, but really does seem more lake-like and not river-like. The attendant at the guard shack told us Texas only has one natural lake; all the rest are man made, mostly by the Army Corps (corpse if you are Obama) of Engineers for water shed and flood prevention. Lake Granger will cost $30 for a year pass and wasn't crowded at all, but then it had been raining all morning. So maybe the little sailboat will see more water than the swimming pool here in Texas.
In North Carolina we saw our first tobacco plants (they are huge) and cotton. In PA, we saw stuff, historical, scenery, parks, rivers, etc. Here in Texas we see - Historical Marker signs. First we see the sign saying a historical marker is one mile ahead. Then we see the Historical Marker. So we started stopping and reading the markers. They tell us stuff like on this river/creek, the first settlers used a natural limestone bridge just below the water, then they built a concrete bridge, then a real bridge over a period of 100 years or so. Oh. Then we drive across the old bridge (no sides). On a 5-10 mile section we came across 4 Historical Markers. Texas has to do everything bigger than anyone else, that includes having more Historical Markers than any other state.
Rick has been searching for a body of water in which to launch the sail boat, a place that is not too crowded, doesn't necessary flow downstream (like Lake Travis on the Colorado River, at least I don't want a river that flows down, for how will we get a sail boat back up?), and that doesn't cost mucho dinero (little Spanish lingo). Enter Lake Granger. We came across this lake on one of our drives. It is on the San Gabriel River, but really does seem more lake-like and not river-like. The attendant at the guard shack told us Texas only has one natural lake; all the rest are man made, mostly by the Army Corps (corpse if you are Obama) of Engineers for water shed and flood prevention. Lake Granger will cost $30 for a year pass and wasn't crowded at all, but then it had been raining all morning. So maybe the little sailboat will see more water than the swimming pool here in Texas.
We saw quite a few buzzard hawks sitting and flying around. Looking for carrion, I suppose.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Celtic Woman
Rick and I both love to watch YouTube clips of these singers, so last Jan we decided to look and see if they are doing any US tours and they are. Last night and tonight Austin was scheduled, and we bought tickets for last night's performance. It was wonderful, loved their music and dancing, and it wasn't even too loud. I brought and used my ear plugs, but the sound level was great.
In Jan when we visited Fred and Barbara, Fred really wanted to come to Austin, see us and go to the concert. We bought tickets for him and Barbara even tho we really suspected they wouldn't come. Two weeks ago they decided for sure to not come. Fred is on dialysis 3 times a week, but dialysis centers are all over and his doc encouraged him to come and enjoy; the dialysis center in Indy would even arrange it all, but when it came down to it, Fred just didn't feel up to the trip.
We gave the tickets to Peter and he brought a date. We didn't want them to not be used since they were $73 a ticket, so really happy he wanted to come.
In this age of sexualized everything, twirking, etc, it was so nice to go to this concert, hear lovely music, and see elegant ball gowns and dance.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Incredible shrinking bananas
Rick and I have been eating more bananas. The last time I bought them he was with me, and I got some that were fairly large. Then on Fri or Sat, after I ate the last one, I bought a few more but these were little. They started ripening too quickly so I put them in the fridge. This morning Rick asked me where the bananas were and I said in the fridge. He got one out and noticed how little it was and asked, why's it so little, what happened to them, thinking they were the other larger bananas. I said, these are new ones, I put them in the fridge because they were ripening too soon.
It just struck me funny that he thought the bananas were shrinking.
It just struck me funny that he thought the bananas were shrinking.
Showhouse
When I was growing up we called the movie theatre a showhouse. I have mentioned here before that Jason comments on my use of (old fashioned) language when I call it that. Most people say they are going to watch a movie, but the elitist term to use is film. "Watching a film." Interesting how language is, with some words being high class and others low class, yet they are all just words. It's the connotation our society puts on the words.
So when we saw this theatre near where we live, I just had to take a pic and blog it.
So when we saw this theatre near where we live, I just had to take a pic and blog it.
Hawks
Because we live on the top of a hill with wooded areas all around, we get lots of hawks that love to fly above us, circling and catching air currents. I love to lie back in the pool and just watch them circle. I suppose they might also be looking for vermin to eat. Rick snapped these the other morning. There were 6 of them, and sometimes they got fairly low in the sky. Beautiful.
Yesterday morning I was walking on the trail between the houses. I love to be in nature; it renews my soul. Although it's not even close to Blanton Woods, yet it does have shrub trees and live oaks and I would rather see that than concrete sidewalks and asphalt roads (please keep the snakes).
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