A DAY WITH NURTURE WOMAN AT WATERSTONE

When newest Muse Jenny was inducted a while back, we gave her the name Nurture Woman, having got the impression that she was like a little mother hen, always taking care of everybody and everything. However, we had no idea just how appropriate that name was, until she invited us to spend the day with her on their 150 acre country homestead, Waterstone.

The View Down to the Blanco River From The Lookout

Their house is made from straw clay -- a thick noodle soup of straw, clay and water, packed down into wooden forms that are later removed, leaving wooden frames that you attach siding to -- and is pretty much just what Hubby and I had envisioned building for ourselves, had we not stumbled upon this property we loved, with a house already on it.

Our day began on this porch, sipping coffee and tea while enjoying the antics of her horde of hummers, at the dozen or so hummingbird feeders which she keeps filled with nectar.

Love these handmade tiles in the kitchen, from a local artisan.

And this staircase? Oh My!

Nurture Woman Demonstrates Her Outdoor Shower

Their property has a Wildlife Management agricultural land use designation, which includes supplemental feeding. Julie's personal passion happens to be encouraging the growth of songbirds and other native Texas species, but that involves trying to keep deer, possums, raccoons, etc. just well enough fed to discourage them from raiding bird feeders and nests, but not well enough to become overpopulated themselves. It's a very delicate balance!

Of course, keeping all the critters well-hydrated is just as important as feeding them, which is why you'll see little watering holes like these everywhere you look on the property.

Everything at Waterstone uses rainwater.

So many of their big shady cypress trees along the river banks got uprooted in the big flood, but at least they are salvaging some of the wood, to be made into wonderful furniture and such.

There was a marvelous picnic lunch under a shady tree, followed by more touring, and visiting with her daughter and friends on the property next door. Then, when we just couldn't take the heat one moment longer, there was this!

See the kayak in the tree? A reminder of just how high the water got during the flood.

Does it get any better?