SAY IT ISN'T SO!

Hard to believe this little Squeedunk here, our niece Merrit, is not only turning 17 this month, but also graduating from high school! How can that be?

Ah well, we're off to Dallas to join in on the celebration. Catcha later!

ON MEXICAN TIME

Guess where we'll be in a mere 23 days?

 Here!

Meanwhile, I'm rereading (for the third or fourth time) the book that started it all -- the one that made me put San Miguel de Allende on my bucket list in the first place, and got me to thinkin' about living a different kind of life than the one most people I knew were living -- On Mexican Time, by Tony Cohan.
 

HOT! HOT! SUMMER GARDEN COLOR

Coneflower 'Hot Papaya'

I love my native coneflowers, I really do! But, being the color-crazy girl that I am, I just couldn't resist picking up one or two of the color-mad hybrids that started popping up in the last few years, like that Hot Papaya up at the top. To tell you the truth, I didn't expect them to come back this year at all, much less thrive! But they did. So this year, I added a couple more.

This one (Cayenne? Cheyenne?) looks solid red from a distance, but when you get up close, you see the most beautiful streaks of color!

What I love most about coneflowers is how each bloom changes as it matures.

They start out with green centers, and petals thrusting upward, but then the petals come down into a flat daisy shape, before the whole thing morphs into a badminton birdie!

Some have colors that change as well, so you end up looking as if you've got several different kinds of flowers, all growing on the same plant!

Coneflowers -- get 'em while they're hot!

IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER

Most of the emergency response crews and volunteers have gone home or moved on. Houses have been emptied of wet muck and debris. We're no longer seeing those eerie black semi-trailer combos traveling up and down the highway in front of our house all day, every day. Things must be getting back to normal here in poor little Wimberley, right? Well no, not really. For many, the real work is just beginning.

You probably don't remember, but when I first moved here to Wimberley on my own, ahead of John, Fiber Woman's friend Jean offered to host a little watercolor workshop at her home, for anyone who was interested. I was more than a tad nervous, since I had never really painted, but it ended up being a total blast! Well, Jean barely got out of her house in time when the wall of water hit, thanks to some teenagers who happened to be outside late, saw the water coming, and woke the neighborhood up by pounding on all their doors.  Jean is considered one of the "lucky" ones, though she's probably not feeling it just now.

Fiber Woman wears her Ninja dust-protection ensemble.

Her house is structurally sound, so it didn't have to be razed, but it did have to be stripped down to the bare bones. Every bit of it is coated in a layer of flood muck, which has turned cement-like and must be chipped and scraped and sanded before new sheetrock can be installed.  Yesterday the Muses and I went by to lend a hand. Fiber Woman cleaned out windowsills and electrical outlets, while I cleaned off light fixtures and salvaged trinkets. Outdoor Woman was out in the shed trying to salvage important papers.

Jean's sweet next door neighbor, on the far right above, happens to be a wonderful cook. She's made it her mission to feed her neighbors, and dropped off a fabulous lunch for us all.  Her family's full-time home is down on the coast, in Hurricane Alley. They bought this one to be their safe haven, whenever they have to flee hurricanes. Turns out it wasn't so safe after all.

There used to be a row of houses there in that clearing behind Jean's house, and a row of houses across the street from her. All gone now, every last one, but somehow hers and her next door neighbors' managed to survive.  There used to be fences separating each house. Those are gone now too, and you know what? They're deciding they kind of like it that way!

After lunch we moved on to toilet duty. Now that I've seen the inside of a flood muck toilet, I will never again complain about cleaning my own.

And, after seeing how much work Jean still has ahead of her, before she can even think about rebuilding, the Muses and I are thinkin' that, instead of meeting for coffee each week, there are probably much better ways to be spending our time. At least, for a while.

SUNDAY'S GRATITUDES

Today I am especially grateful for adult children who like to cook and entertain...

Grandpuppies with enormous amounts of patience and understanding...

And the good friends who were willing to be a part of their wedding party, even though their baby was due at any moment (note cute little baby feet below).

(If they do this kind of thing to their poor little puppy dog, imagine what it will be like when they have kids!)