WHAT'S REALLY ON OUR TABLES

Guess what? We still haven't heard back from the lab or doctors. My sisters, niece and daughter are having a big Shanghai Fest/Slumber Party in Dallas this weekend, and I've been anxiously awaiting the doctor's verdict so I'd know whether it is safe for me to go or not. Hubby believes that no news is good news, and has done everything but pack my bags for me, in order to convince me to go.  Most likely, he just realized that if we haven't got lab results by now, chances are we won't hear anything until next week. He knows from experience that nothing much ever gets done in a doctor's office on Friday afternoons, or over the weekend, and he probably can't face the idea of me being here, climbing the walls, for the next three days. Smart boy. Well, I'll give them until lunchtime, then we'll see.

Meanwhile, after looking at my worktable last night, I realized that I probably didn't give you a realistic picture of what it looks like most of the time.  I showed you what it looks like between projects, when all the little bits had been put away, and the rest was stacked in orderly piles. Here's what it looks like mid-project, which is most of the time.

Yeah, I still haven't put away those new art supplies I showed you a week or two ago. What can I say? I like lookin' at 'em!

My college buddy JoBeth sent me a photo of her creative space this week. She's a recently retired science teacher, Master Gardener, quilter, veggie grower and preserver -- a Texas country girl through and through, and her creative space is most certainly a reflection of all that.

Is that a fabulous pantry/laundry room or what?

My sister-in-law Priscilla started out creating miniatures for doll houses, but that eventually segued into a passion for polymer clay and jewelry-making. Below is a sample of what you might find on her Ohio basement studio's work table.

Love the Orangina bottle Pris!

Now my BFF Paula has never really had any hobbies. Her passions are books, the Project Head Start kids and families that she works with every day, and her 18 month old grandson Wyatt, whom she keeps every afternoon and most weekends. She doesn't have time for hobbies! Needless to say, I was a wee bit surprised when my phone pinged the other day, and I saw the header "Here's what's on my table!"

A work in progress by Wyatt Sanford, who seems to love pink, just like Pawpaw Tim!

Turns out she's been keeping a big pad of paper, markers, crayons, stickers, etc. out on her coffee table at all times, encouraging young Wyatt to explore his creative side whenever the urge strikes. Is that a wonderful grandma, or what?

So what about you? What's on your table? Email me a picture at becky(dot)lane(at)vownet.net.

SECRET NUMBER THREE

Still no word on John's test results.

Lucky for me, I had a wonderful way to distract myself most of the day yesterday.

I had just started my third project in the 21 Secrets art journaling class -- Cathy Bluteau's Doodle Our Way -- and it kept me in a blissful art trance most of the day.

Unfortunately, I finished it up this morning. Now I'm going a wee bit crazy, wondering why they haven't called, trying to convince myself that no news is good news.

Guess I'd better start another project.

NEEDLES & PINS

Well, today's the big day! It has now been five days since they drew Dear Hubby's blood in order to run his final cultures -- the ones that will determine whether he's a free man, or if, instead, he will be heading back to he hospital to have his pacemaker pulled out, and to start the whole staph-fighting regime all over again.

We're fairly confident that the news will be good, since he's been having one of his best weeks in ages, and there is no sign of fever. Of course, that just means we'll be all the more devastated if it turns out bad. Either way, I just hope they tell us something soon, and don't leave us dancing on these pins and needles for another couple of days while the news creeps from the lab, to the infectious disease doc, to the cardiologist and finally to us. Positive thoughts ever-buddy!

LEGENDS IN THEIR OWN TIME

This past fall, when we attended a birthday celebration for my friend High School Debbie, we had the great good fortune to meet a couple -- Bill and M.F. Johnson -- who are not only legends themselves, but also the masters of legend-keeping here in the Wimberley Valley.  Bill is a natural born storyteller, and my hubby got such a kick out of visiting with him at Debbie's party, there was just no way I could pass up the golden opportunity to spend more time with them, which fell into my lap not long ago.

Bill Johnson, holding court in his backyard, in a place where he grew up camping with all his relatives each summer.

M.F. Johnson, a girl from the hoity-toity Highland Park area of Dallas, who met Bill at U.T. after he came back from WWII, married him, and ended up raising five kids in a log cabin on this 100 acre property in Wimberley, which had less than 500 residents at the time.

You see, we have this wonderful program in Wimberley, which used to be called Hobby Lobby, but recently got switched to Spring Events, or something like that. Anywho, every January all the residents here abouts rush to the Info. Center to grab their copy of the Spring Events booklet, hot off the press. In it is a listing of all sorts of lectures, classes, excursions, dinner parties, game parties, etc., all taught or hosted by local volunteers. There's always a mad rush to get signed up for the events you want, before they fill up. All the funds which are raised go to support community restoration and improvement projects, local charities, and the like. Fortunately, I managed to get signed up for the visit to Sabino Ranch before it was too late.

I'm sure you've heard me talk about the Blue Hole a million times. Well, the public part of Blue Hole is all on one side of Cypress Creek, but the other side of the creek is private property, so you can't climb out on that side. When we went to a concert there Friday night, I noticed a group of people enjoying the show from over on the private side of the creek, and thought "Wow, imagine having all of this right in your own back yard!" I used to wonder who on earth it belonged to, but now I know.

What I didn't know -- what I had no freakin' clue about -- was that this was not your typical four or five acre waterfront property. This is a hundred acre ranch, sitting right in the heart of downtown Wimberley, with it's entrance tucked away between the post office and the tire store, and most people who come here have no idea what is hidden there!

The horizontal piece of that cross on the tree shows how high the water has risen during the "Big Floods."

Mostly Bill, who is in his early 90s, I believe, just sat and visited with us, sharing his tales of all the interesting characters that founded and populated this beautiful little valley. Many of the stories were passed on to him by his mother, who lived to be 100, and are recorded in several little booklets his family has published. M.F. shared her tales about what it was like to come here as a total outsider, and how she finally managed to become part of this community of "doers." Our journey back in time was interrupted all too soon by the announcement that our picnic lunch was ready to be served.

It was a very good day.

COLOR MAD MONDAY: WATERCOLOR PLAYGROUND

 
Remember the 21 Secrets class project I mentioned the other day? The one with instructor Tammy Garcia, which started with some doodles on page like these below?

Well, it ended up with bits like the one you see up at the top of this post, and like this...

and this...

and this.

And when you put them all together, you end up with this...

not to mention several hours of being in a bliss-inducing art trance! And so, Ms. Garcia, thank you, thank you, thank you! You have my deepest gratitude for coming up with this blissful class idea!

Two "secrets" down, nineteen to go!

FURTHER ADVENTURES

After we got out of the movie Friday afternoon, John dropped me off at a store called Archivers, then went off to do his own thing for a while. Though Archivers is just a little shop that caters mostly to scrapbookers and such, he knows that I never manage to pull myself away in less than an hour -- and I'm not even a scrapper! However, the supplies that scrappers and art journalers use often overlap. The bad news is that this branch of Archivers hasn't even been open a year, and they are already going out of business. The good news is that everything in the store is now 40% off! Though I thought I was fairly well stocked on art supplies, I did manage to find one or two things that I really, really needed (cough, cough).

 
By the time he dragged me outta there, it was almost dinner time, so we headed back to Wimberley. I was planning a "clear-out-the-fridge" sort of supper -- not a favorite with my hubby -- which could be why he decided to take the back way home, through Dripping Springs. Perhaps he counted on my suddenly remembering this place that my British/Canadian friend from Indonesia, who now lives in Florida but has a daughter in Drippin', just told me about this week.

Oh my, my! They even had my very favorite wood-fired Rocket pizza -- a sauceless pizza with arugula and prosciutto -- a combo that I have never found on any other menu except at Mandola Market and Trattioria Lisina, both run by Damian Mandola.

Everything is homemade, including their "wild Texas sourdough" crusts, mozzarella made in-house twice a day, and a house-cured salami. It was the perfect ending to a perfect adventure!

Not only do the serve pizza, they also serve pie. It must be pretty good, 'cause several groups came in while we were there who ordered nothing but dessert! Which brings us to son Austin...

September before last we met up in Houston to celebrate his birthday. He's always been a pie-over-cake person, so after dinner he suggested that we go to a place he keeps seeing, called Late Night Pie, for a piece of birthday pie. Well, when we get there, it looks more like a biker bar than a dessert place. We stand there staring for a moment, then I turn to my son, saying "Uh, Austin? I'm thinking they serve late night pizza, not pie!" Well, guess what? Now we have the perfect place to meet up for his next birthday -- serving both pizza AND pie, and conveniently located halfway between Wimberley and Austin! (In case you're wondering, it's on Hwy. 290, just east of Nutty Brown Cafe, next to the Exxon station)