HOT NUT RIVETERS

We went to Susanna's Kitchen again last week -- Wimberley's monthly coffee-house-style concert featuring Austin/Hill Country artists. Much to our surprise, we managed to get Fiber Woman and her hubby RCD out to join us. It's been a while!

To be honest, it was probably not the pleasure of our company that lured them out. I think it had more to do with the headliner that evening, Guy Forsyth -- one of their very favorite performers. Like most local musicians, he has multiple bands and often teams up with other performers, such as Carolyn Wonderland, for duo sets. This time he happened to be playing with his band called The Hot Nut Riveters. As my hubby said, how do you pass up the chance to hear a group with a name like that?

There were six musicians in the group, each playing multiple instruments as well as doing vocals. When the banjo and mandolin were the focus, I found myself thinking Blue Grass or Folk, but at other times there was more of a gypsy feel, and that accordion had me flashing back to street performers in Paris, or maybe a Greek cafe. But then there was the steel guitar, and the upright piano where the accordion player could pound out something that sounded almost like ragtime, or was it old-time saloon? When they broke for intermission, we were all asking the same question: What would you call their genre? Though we never agreed on an answer to that question (how on earth do you pin down a song like Post-Apocalyptic Princess?), we did agree that they put on one helluva show, and that we all had a mighty fine time!

P.S. According to their Facebook page, their genre is Americana/Indie/Blues Rock. And, if you follow that link, you can watch them singing their new song Leadfoot Larry, about a poor guy with an addiction -- an addiction to gasoline!

COLOR-MAD CANTINA GARDEN COMBOS

Thought I'd share some of my favorite plant combos, discovered on this morning's stroll through the Cantina Garden:

Love, love, love the way this magenta-colored yarrow looks against my deer-proof coleus substitute, perilla "Magilla".

Those two, along with these streaky pink petunias, make a heck of a trio, don't you think?

While we're on the subject of pink, check out this gomphrena/lantana combo.

The lantana is just beginning to bloom but, once it gets going, those big clusters of tiny pink and yellow blooms will look fantastic with these hot pink pom poms tipped in yellow!

My giant coral-colored metal pot has held something different almost every summer. This year it holds those cute daisy-like flowers which I think were some type of gazania, and this amazing "Haight Ashbury" hibiscus which, unlike most other hibiscus, is grown more for it's fabulous foliage than its blooms!

Remind you of anything?

Last, but not least, is this sunny little pot on the front porch, containing calibrachoa and some type of lime green sedum -- the perfect combo to go with this beautiful glass globe Hubby gave me.

So that's what's goin' on in my garden this June. What about yours?
 

TACO WARS

I'm sure you've heard me mention my favorite taco joint, Mima's, a million times. However, unless you live here in Wimberley, you probably didn't realize they're not the only game in town. In fact, we are a town divided, with each half being adamant that their favorite taqueria far outshines the other! Mima's has your more basic, traditional tacos, and you add your own heat from the salsa bar. The other joint goes more for exotic combinations, with the heat included -- sometimes, a lot! I tried it a couple of times, but always ended up going back to Mima's, who has the best chicken fajita taco I've ever tasted anywhere! Outdoor Woman and her family are diehard fanatics about the competition, and are ever determined to lure me to the other side. After coffee last week, she convinced us to join her there for one of these -- the Cabo Taco.

She was right. They were to die for! Every bit as delicious as the Baja fish tacos we first tried out in San Diego. Just watch out for the tiny bits of jalapeno scattered throughout. They pack a killer punch.

I enjoyed it so much that I dragged my hubby back there a few days later. He tried a beefy, cheesy one, of course, and topped it with a good dollop of their "Mean Green" sauce.

Seating options include metal cafe tables on the "terrace", picnic tables out under the trees, or the best choice for a hot day, the "beer room."

Of course, Mima's is still my go-to place, but occasionally, this one makes for a nice change of pace.

Oh yeah, I guess you are wondering if this place has a name? Why yes, it does. It's called "the Diamond Shamrock filling station out on RR12, next to the tire store."

Ha! Bet you weren't expecting that!

MOTIVATION MANAGEMENT

I must confess, I am one of those people -- the kind that never seem to accomplish anything without an axe hanging over their head. Like, my house never gets cleaned until I know people are coming over, and Christmas presents are still getting wrapped on Christmas eve -- even if I bought them several months before! That sort of thing. So, it should come as no surprise that I have similar issues with my art. As much as I love doing art once I get started, the getting started is a bit of a hurdle. That's why I need things like on-line classes and Circle Journals. They give me that little shove I need in order to get going, and deadlines to keep me on task. Much the same way that all of you keep me on task with my writing and photography. If I go a couple of days without posting, I know I'm gonna hear about it! Which is the only way I've managed to keep blogging for, what? Almost seven years now! Anywho, this all leads to my discovery of this magnificent little motivator.

Now, I have bought quite a few art books in the last few years -- books that I giddily devour as soon as they arrive, add them to the diminishing space on my bookshelves, then proceed to forget all about them. But this book? This one is somehow different, for it had my hands covered in paint within minutes of its arrival, and they have stayed that way ever since!

Pam Carriker's first book, Art at the Speed of Life, was about making time to create art. Since motivation, rather than time, is my issue, I skipped to her second book, about creating art at the speed of life. Creating art at the "speed of life" means that you can do it in little snatches, while life goes on around you, rather than having to lock yourself away in a "studio" for hours at a time. The critical thing is to make it a habit. And, you know what they say about having to do something at least 21 days in a row before it becomes a habit, don't you? Perhaps this is why Carriker has created these 30 projects to be done over a one month period -- to get you into the art habit, and prove to you that anyone can bring art into their life, no matter how hectic that life may seem.

The amazing thing about these projects is that, not only are they fun and simple to do, they also teach you important lessons -- beginning with how to make your own journal from scratch, if you so desire.

The first project has you layering backgrounds and texture, then mixing secondary and tertiary colors from the three primary colors, and using those to paint your own color wheel on a coffee filter, which you then collage onto your journal page. You even get to practice different styles of lettering!

The second lesson is all about the language of color.

By the end of the book, not only will I have explored all the elements of color, texture, shape, perspective, form, line and value. I will also have learned a ton of important "art journaling" techniques, will have learned to assess my own projects, to see what does or does not work for me, and will finally have my first "completed" journal, filled with work that I love and which can serve as a valuable reference tool in the future.

I'd say that's quite a deal, for $26.95. Wouldn't you?

THERE'S A NEW JOINT IN TOWN

Well, almost in town. This one happens to be in San Marcos, 30 minutes or less away, so it counts. Hey, you guys in big cities drive 45 minutes to an hour to get to restaurants all the time!

Pie Society, an upscale pizza joint/social parlor, was brought to us by Chase and Seth Katz -- the two brothers behind Dos Gatos Kolache Bakery (Dos Gatos, Two Cats, Katz Bros.? Get it?) as well as Zelick's, a different kind of bar for a college town like San Marcos. They transformed a vintage filling station into a place where the music isn't so loud that it prohibits conversation, and the selection of Texas based beers is broad.  Now, with the addition of Pie Society, I'd say they have quite the Trifecta!

The pizza was excellent! We ordered a whole "medium" pizza, which ended up being two meals for the two of us...

plus one of their Caprese Salads. They also sell pizza by the slice. I think that's what we will order next time, so we can try several different kinds.

The only disappointment of the evening was this door...

and the sign which was attached to it.

I really, really wanted to open that door, to get a glimpse of the "social parlor" inside. I don't know if it was just too early in the evening, or if perhaps they are still waiting for their hard liquor license. (they do have beer and wine) But if we could have gone through that door, I think this place would have been the perfect follow up for the movie Jersey Boys, which we had just been to see.
 

DO DEER "NEST"?

Guess who has been snuggled up under the big oak tree next to our house for more than 24 hours now?

She follows me with her eyes when I do my morning laps around the driveway, but she doesn't budge -- not even when we clomp up and down the stairs right next to her! So, I'm guessing, either she's sick or injured? Or, we should be seeing a new bambino or two at any time now. I'm really, really hoping for the latter!