MISS P'S AND DEL CASTILLO

You'll never guess what we had for lunch yesterday.

Yep, we had Electric Cock, and let me tell you, it was deeee-lish! You can blame this woman here, as it was her idea.

That's polymer clay artist Randee Ketzel there on the left, author of the newly released book my sister-in-law Priscilla is holding. In fact, Randee seems to be wearing the very necklace that is featured on its cover. Pris is a huge fan of her work and, upon learning that she lives in Austin, made arrangements to meet up with her while here. Randee had signed up for a recent Austin food truck tour primarily because Miss P's was to be on it, and she had heard such great things about it. Alas, it was the only one they didn't make it to on the tour, as it was just too mobbed. Now we know why.

Not only is the cock quite moist, and a wee bit tangy, just check out those frites with sea salt and thyme, and that truffled mac & cheese. Yowser!

The condiments on the picnic tables were housed in these great little beer cartons, and as I sat staring at them, I realized that I could probably use one in the making of my "Postcards From Texas" journal.

Score!

The food truck is located on S. Congress, so we were able to check out all the fun shops there afterwards.

Big Top Candy

We had a brief rest-up when we got back to Wimberley, then it was time to head out to Cafe' Susanna, the monthly live local music event held "cafe style" at the Methodist church (no religion involved, but money earned from the refreshments goes to local charities). If you live in the area and have never attended one of these events, well, you're just plain crazy.

The featured band this month was Del Castillo -- one I wasn't too familiar with. However, I loooooove Spanish guitar, and as soon as I heard this clip, I knew we had to go.

The room was packed (always a good sign) with extra chairs being set up out in the lobby, where they could watch through the doors.

I can now say, without a doubt, that this was some of the most phenomenal guitar-playing I've ever seen/heard in my life. One more amazing CD added to my ever-growing car collection of Cafe' Susanna favorites!
 

CALLAHAN'S GENERAL STORE

We were heading out to the airport in Austin yesterday, to pick up BIL Mike and his wife Priscilla, when we got a call saying their flight was delayed. So, we decided to kill a bit of time at the coolest ranch supply/hardware store ever -- Callahan's General Store, located about five minutes from the airport on 183. Check these babies out:

Reckon Santa would leave a red refrigerator under the tree for me, if I told him how good I've been?

Callahan's has just about everything you can imagine, from cookbooks and cookery supplies (including the biggest section of sausage-making and canning equipment you've ever seen)...

to saddles and bridles and a wall full of rainbow-colored lassos!

In between these you will find clothes, and accessories for everyone in the family, plus a room full of boots...

your usual Tru-Value hardware stuff, gift items, horse and pet supplies, a room full of live poultry, a garden section (with a nice assortment of handy-dandy pee-can picker uppers), and books covering everything you ever wanted to know about homesteading.

Callahan's -- it's my kind of place!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Priscilla and I are having a great time gabbing and catching up, while Mike and John partake of their very favorite brotherly bonding activity...

Gotta love 'em!

THE CHOCOLATE DRAWER

I wasn't planning to do a post this morning. I thought we'd be heading for the airport to pick up Hubby's big brother and his wife. However, we got a call saying they'd been delayed at least an hour, so I decided to do a bit more cleaning. In fact, I decided to tackle the chocolate drawer. What, you don't have a chocolate drawer? What's wrong with you?

It's not just for candy of course. It also contains phone books we never use, baking supplies, and even some ingredients for Mexican Hot Chocolate and Chai Lattes. It's pretty much my favorite drawer. Its most important resident is our giant bars of Hershey's Special Dark chocolate. We each go in there and break off a square after most meals, and it's truly amazing how many crumbs that can generate over time.

Post-Dustbusting Residue

But now it's shiny clean, so we're good to go for at least another year or so.
 

POSTCARD FROM TEXAS: THE BAT BRIDGE

A postcard from Texas, inspired by an amazing billboard I saw as I drove into Austin, coming back from Dallas a few days ago.

BOTTLE TREE 3.0

Hubby asked me to run into town with him yesterday. When he said we were taking the truck, but wouldn't tell me why, I knew that something was afoot!

This. This was afoot.

Our first bottle tree was fairly lightweight, and the simple n-shaped stake meant that any wind or shift in the soil had it tumping over. (Yes, we say "tump" in Texas.) We get lots of wind here on our hill.

The second one was sturdier, but not strong enough to withstand a big delivery truck backing into it as it tried to turn around in our crazy driveway. Hubby did manage to straighten out that 90-degree kink, but it was never quite the same.

Now this -- this is what I call sturdy! Plus it has three strong stakes that go deep into the earth.

I love, too, that it was handmade by a local craftsman. There's just one little problem.

 We're gonna need more bottles!
 

WEEKEND STUDIO: NEW TOYS, NEW CIRCLE JOURNAL

It just occurred to me that I never showed you any of the cool things I picked up at those Austin art stores! All of it was stuff that instructor Juliette Crane had brought with her to art camp, and generously allowed us to play with.

First up are these luscious pearlescent inks from Daler-Rowney. With those handy dropper lids, they are perfect for drizzling on a background, and allowing them to slide down the page in little rivulets.

Then there are these acrylic spray paints, similar to what graffiti artists use. They work great with stencils!

 Last but not least is this colored tissue paper -- but not just any tissue paper...

Bleeding art tissue! When you are doing one of Juliette's multi-layered backgrounds, it's fun to include little scraps of this tissue amongst the layers. No glue needed - the wet paint will adhere to it and make the colors bleed out a bit, the result of which can be quite interesting!

Now for the new Wild Art Circle Journal, which arrived in our mail box while we were Austin, and which I haven't had a chance to play with yet.

This beauty came from Cat in California, and is an altered book. Check out these straps, which she must have made herself:

Here's her sign-in page, for each of the artists who will contribute to the journal.

And here are her front and back end-pieces.

Now if only I had any idea what I want to contribute!