THE GIZMO

Not long ago we were strolling the evening street market down on S. Congress, when one of the booth vendors approached my husband with this gizmo in her hands. "Do you mind if I demonstrate this for you Sir?" Obviously, she can spot a patsy from halfway down the block. Unlike me, no matter how many times that irritating person at the kiosk in the mall says "Can I ask you a question Sir?", he always smiles and answers "Sure, why not?" Of course, he had no idea what he was letting himself in for this time.

What the lady held in her hands was a small, tightly-coiled spring, with handles on either end. As she got closer to DH, she bent it into a U-shape, then started aiming it towards his ear. Before he could even say "Woah, hold on there!", she had touched it to his ear, straightened it, then rolled into a backwards-facing U. Voila! No more ear tuft. Lex and I nearly wet our pants, we were laughing so hard at the expression on his face, but then the lady turned towards me.

"What about you Madam?" she asks, as she guides it towards my upper lip. "Sorry, you're wasting your time. I don't have a mous...YIKES! What was that?" Suddenly, I'm not the one who is bent over laughing. Well, just because it's blonde, I suppose, doesn't mean it isn't there. "How much did you say that was?"

AN INCREDIBLE EDIBLE MELON

Ta-dah! We finally did it - got one Sugar Baby watermelon worth eating (2 servings even!), just in time to pull the whole vine out and make way for the fall garden. Yes, there are two melons in the photo, but I'm afraid I left the smaller one on the vine a mite too long. I kept hoping it would increase in size, but it never did. Instead it just got kinda squishy inside. Ick. Ya know what? It was still worth it - even just for the one!

COMMENTS

If any of you have had difficulty leaving comments, it should be ok now. I had changed my settings to disallow anonymous comments (it was a pain having to moderate all the spam you get that way) but I thought you'd still be able to leave comments if you just entered your name. Apparently not. So, we are back to the old settings now. Comment away!

SEPTEMBER TO-DO'S

At last! Weather which makes you want to be outside!

(click image to enlarge)

NOT YOUR AVERAGE DELI

Did you know that Sandra Bullock, in addition to being an Oscar-winning actress, also owns a couple of restaurants and has restored several historic buildings in downtown Austin? I didn't know that myself, until just a few days ago. Apparently, preserving old buildings is a passion she inherited from her father, and acting is just her way of bankrolling this passion, and giving back to her community.

After receiving a tip about her two restaurants down on W. 6th street from one of my blog-readers,

we decided that Walton's Fancy & Staple might be the perfect place to have lunch before our play on Saturday. Oh, my my! Thanks for the tip Teri - we owe you one! This place is so much more than just a deli. It's also a bakery, a floral shop, a place to find interesting gifts, and they even do event planning! No detail was overlooked, in food nor in architecture. Why, just look at that gorgeous sink with copper faucets in the bathroom. Andy have you ever seen anything more precious than that tiny marzipan bumblebee atop the honey-almond cake with chocolate ganache icing that we all shared? All I can say is, now I can't wait to try her other restaurant, Bess Bistro.

COLOR MAD MONDAY

Here are a few of the pieces created by Little and Lewis, the artists/landscapers that were the inspiration behind the Muses mud-pie workshop. Someday, my half-painted wall will rival one of theirs. Right?














P.S. Many thanks to waflora.com for the first photo, alicesgardentravel buzz.com for the second, and squidoo.com for the last.

SUNDAY INSPIRATION

“To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying ‘Amen’ to what this world tells you you ought to prefer, is to keep your soul alive.” ~ Henri Matisse

P.S. Many thanks to blog.grantthomasonline.com for the above image.

HECK OF A RIDE INDEED

Know what I love? I love it when you take a chance on something you know nothing about, and it turns out better than you could possibly hope. Especially when you've dragged a couple of other people into taking a chance on it with you!

Such was the case this week when I saw a little blurb in The Wimberley View, about how local shop owner Jill Jones was part of a show called A Ride With Bob: The Bob Wills Musical, which was wrapping up this year's tour with two performances in Austin this very weekend. Now, our Jill has a special talent that few people know about. She yodels. Award-winning, Texas swing style yodeling. I've been mighty curious ever since I heard about that. Furthermore, since this play was about Texas legend Bob (Ah-Hah!) Wills, and was co-written by another Texas legend - Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel - and he and his band would all be performing in it, well, my gut was telling me "Becky, get on that computer and get you some tickets!" So I did.

John was no problem. He's a longtime fan of Asleep at the Wheel. Poor Lex though, had never even heard of that band, or of Bob Wills, and thought music that involved yodeling could not possibly be a good thing, but if she got a free meal out of it, she was willing to give it a try. All we can say is, we feel sorry for the rest of you, who didn't rush out to see this while you had the chance. Now you have to wait for the 2011 tour to start, and pray that it comes to a town near you.

The thing I loved most about this show was not just that it was funny and entertaining and full of great music. It's the way Ray is using it to showcase the talents of other lesser-knowns, such as Wimberley's yodeling phenom, Ms. Jill Jones, young Ruby Jane Smith, Timothy Curry from Midland (his singing sent shivers up my spine), and a most amazing trio of sisters who can fiddle to beat the devil, while singing angelic Andrews-Sister-style harmonies. Take my word for it. You'd better keep your eye on The Quebe Sisters Band!

P.S. Many thanks to pegasusnews.com for the first two images, and to wholoblog.com for the one of the Quebe (pronounced kway-bee) sisters.