MAGNETIC FORCES (3/07)

It seems as though I'm adding names to my "good life" hall of fame quite often these days. Recently, when my sister, son and niece were here for a visit, I added three in one day! There must be some magnetic force inside these hills that draws certain kinds of people to them. People like Sue Ellen, who just opened up the new fiber arts center at Old Oaks Ranch (www.theoldoaksranch.com), and who was hosting a big open house Saturday morning. I have a feeling I will be spending many hours there, once we are living here on a full-time basis.

Now, a lot of people have opened up yarn shops of late, but how many are located on a working alpaca ranch? I don't know if you are familiar with alpacas, but they look like a cross between a llama and a fuzzy teddy bear, and their fleece provides one of the most luxurious specialty fibers. Our son Austin has changed his mind about wanting a dog as soon as he's out of college, and is now pining for an alpaca. And how many of those new yarn shops offer classes , not only in knitting and crocheting, but also in spinning, weaving, felting, dyeing, rug hooking, quilting, and even yoga? I can see it all now. I'll start the day off with a yoga session, attend a morning class on one of the fiber arts, have lunch out under the trees with the alpacas, then I'll join in on the monthly "Sticks & Strings" session, where fiber artists of any kind can share their current projects, get answers to questions, or just enjoy one another's company. By the end of the day, I'm sure you will probably hear me murmuring "It just doesn't get any better than this!"

Our second addition occurred that same afternoon, on our way over to Blanco, when we stopped in at Frank and Pamela Arnosky's farm stand (www.texascolor.com). I first heard about them about eight years ago from one of my horticulture teachers. She brought an article to class about an amazing young couple who had bought 12 cedar-covered acres in the Texas Hill Country, cut a road in, pitched a tent, and started clearing space to grow some vegetables to sell, and maybe a few flowers. Gradually, more and more space was given over to flowers, less and less to veggies. Nowadays, anyone who has ever bought a beautiful fresh flower bouquet from Central Market or Whole Foods, has probably had one from their farm, which is called Texas Specialty Cut Flowers. Over the years they built their little blue house, grew their production to over forty acres of flowers and put up fourteen greenhouses, raised four children, remained true to their path, and in Pamela's words "still do a pretty mean two-step." Just my kind of people!

In addition to this huge production, they maintain a little roadside farm stand, not so much as a money-maker I think, but more as a service to the community. I stop by every chance I get. Last fall I noticed something unusual around town - fliers announcing that the Arnoskys were holding an old-fashioned barn raising, and anyone who wanted to participate was welcome to attend. Unfortunately, we couldn't be in town on that date, but I was very anxious to check out the results. Much to my relief, it was a resounding success! The raising was held over two weekends, and over 200 volunteers showed up to help. The barn design was based on the 100 year old architecture of the historic Fischer Hall that we happened upon not long ago, and is quite an improvement over the tiny little shed where they used to sell their flowers, produce, herbs, a few local cheeses and free range eggs. The most exciting development is that they are now hosting monthly potluck dinners in the barn, and I don't think they were exaggerating when they told me "We eat good at our potlucks. You should join us some time!" Well, thank you. Don't mind if I do!

After leaving the barn, we had just enough time to stroll around the Blanco town square, peek in a few shops, and check on some historic buildings that have been undergoing a renovation, before we were off to our main destination, Onion Creek Kitchens at Juniper Hills Farm (www.juniperhillsfarm.com). We were greeted by owner Sibby Barrett, and since we were the first to arrive for the Greek cooking class being held that evening, we were told to help ourselves to some wine, grab a name tag, then come on in to the kitchen to keep her company while she finished peeling potatoes for us.

Sibby began her career back in the Dallas neighborhood where I grew up. She started off with a bakery-cafe, but became so well-known for her specialty cakes that she was forced to concentrate all her efforts there. Almost 20 years later, Dallas Affaires Cake Co. is still going strong, but with a competent staff managing the day to day activities, Sibby has been able to back away from the business enough to spend about three weeks of each month at her Tuscan-styled home overlooking the Blanco River Valley. She began hosting cooking classes soon after she moved in, and they became so popular with friends and family, she soon realized that she would need more spaces for people to sleep. Now several cabins have been added to the property.

Although she refers to these sessions as classes on her website, I believe that is a misnomer. This felt more like a group of friends who just liked to cook, laugh, and hang out together, and Sibby was their more experienced hostess, who wandered from group to group, answering questions, helping out where needed, and making sure that everything came together on schedule. Since you have the option of being a cook or a spectator, my sister and I sat on stools sipping wine, while our offspring chopped their little hearts out. Years spent running her bakery must have made Sibby a whiz at organization, because although the kitchen appeared to be mass bedlam, our baked pita chips, whipped feta dip, spicy roasted olives, and Greek salads all came together right at the same time, and we were able to adjourn to the living area to partake of our first course, while the rest of the meal simmered on the stove. Some of us sat on comfy chairs around the coffee table, others sat at a huge farm table nearby. By the time we had finished that course, the Greek meatballs and potato tagine were ready, and as we licked the last drop of tomato sauce off our fingers, Sibby was in the kitchen preparing coffee and scooping out our luscious lemon gelato finale.

Although we had all started out as strangers, by that point we felt more like friends, and I had made my way around the room, visiting with different groups during each course. During dessert I overheard one group discussing the Wimberley Players and their new theatre, so I wandered over to join them. Turns out some of them were volunteers there. I mentioned that my husband was thinking about doing that, once we were living in Wimberley full-time. When conversation turned to the amazing set of the most recent production, I discovered that one of the men there had a major hand in its construction. I said "Oh really? Set-building is what John was kind of interested in. In fact, he recently donated his father's table saw to the new set shop." The man's eyes lit up, and he said "That was your saw? Oh boy, we sure have put it to good use! Now you tell your husband he doesn't need to wait until he moves up here full-time. He can drop in any weekend and we will be happy to put him to work." Oops. Sorry, John. Sure hope you were serious about wanting to do this, because there's no way you're getting out of it now. They know where you live!