JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU

If there's one thing worse than August in Texas, it's early September in Texas. By this time, most everyone else in the country is talking about their first cool snaps and ripening pumpkins, while we're still stuck here in Hades, swatting mosquitoes. It's way too hot to crank up the oven or stand out over a hot grill, but our veggie growers are doing the summer-to-fall-garden segue, so there's not much in the way of fresh local produce to inspire a light, simple meal. Which is why I have no foodie pictures to post. The swimmin' holes have shut down for the season, but the fall-festival-frenzy has not yet begun, so there are no outdoor adventure photos to post either. And, on top of all that, pretty much everything on our property is brown and crispy right now. So what's a gal to blog about?

Early this morning, before the sun came out and we worked our way back up into the 90s once again, I took my camera out and wandered around, desperate to find something, anything, to photograph. I'd all but given up hope when suddenly, I spotted this...

two little succulents -- sedum Autumn Joy and this thing I've always called Cow's Tongue, but just discovered is not -- which found themselves next to one another purely by chance. Both spent most of the year a solid gray-green, but have suddenly dressed themselves in these gorgeous russet tones that blend so beautifully with one another. Two perfect little autumn harbingers.

Just goes to show you. If you look hard enough, there's always something to be grateful for!

A NEW TRADITION

Believe it or not, with the five Muses ranging in age from mid-50s to mid-60s, we just now got our very first grandbaby in the group -- and it was the youngest Muse who bingoed first! Instead of throwing a baby shower, we decided to throw a Granny Shower.

And, since we are all a bit book-crazy, we made it a Build-Up-Granny's-Children's-Library-Shower.

It was held on the patio of Sugar Shack Bakery so, of course, there was cake!

And, since it's The Muses we're talkin' about here, there was also creative gift-wrapping...

and a bit of Show & Tell.

Best. Baby. Shower. Ever!

I DID A BAD, BAD THING

I have this thing. This thing for hi-liters. Whenever I'm reading a book I own, I can't resist hi-lighting anything that resonates with me. Which is why, when my friend Paula recommended The Happiness Project to me, she added "But, you need to buy your own copy so you can hi-lite things. You know how you are!"

So, recently I started reading this book called Crazy Rich Asians, which takes place in a part of Southeast Asia where we used to live, in one of our very favorite cities, Singapore! And, well, pretty much everything in the book resonated with me, from the mention of places I remembered going to, to all the descriptions of foods I loved and ones I wish I had tried, plus all the cultural things I didn't know about back then, but which explain so much about Asian people we have met through the years -- especially our son's best friend and next door neighbor when he was in middle school in Plano. We loved the kid to death, but at ten years of age he was already a devoted name-dropper who wore nothing but designer clothes, and his dad was determined to send him to a boarding school in Switzerland where he would finally meet "the right kind of people."

Needless to say, I just went to town in that book with my hot pink hi-liter.

Too bad it was a library book.

A COLOR-MAD GET WELL GIFT

On Friday my hubby announced that he needed to make a  frame-run to Michael's, over in Austin. "Need any art supplies?" he asked sweetly. "No, not really," I replied automatically. Then I saw his smile fade and realized, he wasn't just being polite, he actually wanted -- no, needed -- to bring me something.

You see, my hubby doesn't handle it too well on the rare occasions when I have anything more than a cold. It shatters his view of the world order, threatens to send the earth spinning out of control. And, since I mostly just want to be left alone when I don't feel well, I guess shopping for me was the only way to show me that he cared. 

Grasping at straws, I wandered over to my art table and showed him a picture of some liquid water colors -- just about the only thing I don't already have -- in my new Creative Girl art book by Danielle Donaldson. "Well, I guess, if you could find the smaller 1/2 oz. size, you could get me one or two of these. Just to play with, make sure I really like them before I buy more."

I should have known better, right?

Well, needless to say, I've had quite the color-mad weekend!

As if that weren't enough, he even made me a tuna fish sandwich! And, even though he had to ask me how to make tuna fish, I swear, it was the best one I ever had! Must have been just what my body was craving.

NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH

Well, you learn something new every day!

Although we did just fine the whole time we were in Mexico, within a couple of days of our return, Hubby and I were both having tummy issues. We didn't touch any of the street food while there, and our hotel had a reliable filtration system throughout, so we're thinking we must have met our Waterloo at that giant travel stop our bus took us to on the way back to Mexico City, where we shared a sandwich.

So what did we do when "La Turista" hit? Why, we took some Imodium. What else? That stopped the trots, alright. In fact, it stopped everything, for days! After it finally wore off, Hubby gradually went back to normal, but I was right back where I started. So, of course, I took more Imodium.

This cycle kept repeating itself, doses getting closer and closer together, for two weeks or more -- with headaches, chills and night-sweats getting added into the mix towards the end. After a horrid night, I wound up dozing on the sofa yesterday morning, and awakened to find that Hubby had actually punched the doctor's number into his cell phone and was holding it to my ear! Presumptuous little twit. Be that as it may, I am a wee bit grateful, for not only did I end up getting both antibiotics and probiotics, I learned a very important lesson.

Come to find out, our bodies actually developed the ability to hurl and spew for a reason. What is that reason? To flush out harmful bacteria. And, what happens when we take OTC meds that stop those two things from happening? Well, those little buggers stay trapped inside. And multiply!

Now that I think about it, I may have heard my sister-in-law-the-nurse discussing this very same thing awhile back, but didn't pay much attention. Why not? Well, because I'm Super Becky, that's why -- the one who never gets sick. Doh!

Oh yeah, guess what else I learned? You can also take prophylactic antibiotics when you travel to places where La Turista is a known issue, to keep you from getting it in the first place (Double-Doh!!) -- something we might be wise to consider for the upcoming Epic Sudanese Adventure, no?

OFFICIALLY SICK OF SUMMER

It happens around the end of August/first of September, every year. One day I'm fine, the next I've suddenly had my fill of Texas' searing summer. Getting away to the coolness of San Miguel was marvelous, but it made readjusting to the heat and drought when we came back even more difficult. When I checked the 10-day weather forecast last night and saw an endless string of temps in the upper 90s/low 100s, without a chance of rain in sight, I dropped my head into my hands and moaned "I just can't take it anymore!'

Therefore, I was more than a bit shocked when I stepped outside for my morning walk and found it to be much cooler than I was expecting. Not only that, there was a fresh dampness in the air and I just wanted to suck it in and fill my lungs with it! And then, oh my, I spotted this.

The Texas Sage, which I have been watching like a hawk for weeks, and which had not a single blossom on it yesterday, had suddenly burst into full bloom!

Now, some people swear it can predict rain, but I think it's safer to say it responds to shifts in barometric pressure. So, maybe it's still not going to rain this week, but something is afoot. And it gives me hope. Maybe autumn actually is on its way.

A BUTTERFLY BONANZA

There used to be a wonderful horticulture program at Richland College in Dallas, with amazing greenhouses and demonstration gardens, and I was lucky enough to spend several years studying there before they shut it down. The most spectacular thing I ever discovered there was a plant called Butterfly Vine.

They had a plant sale there every year, and my Propagating instructor had taken some cuttings from that vine and potted them up, so I bought one. She warned me that it might take several years for it to get "butterflies", but I thought it was worth the wait. Unfortunately, the year it finally came into bloom, we got transferred to Houston.  I hope it's making someone else very happy these days.

I searched all the nurseries in Houston, but never came across it again, and more or less forgot about it. Then one day, three or four years ago, I stumbled across a plant by that name and put it in this bed downstairs, hoping it would eventually cover that section of porch railing.

Unfortunately, all it ever got was a few insignificant yellow blooms each year, but no butterflies. I came to the sad conclusion that there must be more than one kind of Butterfly Vine, and mine was the wrong kind.

So, imagine my glee when I stumbled into Gardenville Nursery over in San Marcos one fall, and discovered a massive Butterfly Vine growing right there on their shop trellis, covered in these!

You see the "butterflies" start out the lime green color you saw above, but then turn sort of a coral-ish bronze, and finally self-preserve right there on the vine to a parchment-like texture. An older vine covered in swarms of these? Well that's truly something to behold!

I asked them if they had any for sale, and they told me they had earlier, but they were all gone. However, they planned to take some more cuttings just as soon as they had a spare moment. I kept checking in, again and again, and finally brought one home about a year ago. Guess what I discovered right after planting it in a big pot upstairs? The original vine, downstairs on the porch rail, had a few butterflies on it! And now, just a year later, the new one does too! Could life get any better?

Yes, apparently so, cuz earlier this summer I wandered into a Lowes or Home Depot, and discovered a tableful of Butterfly Vines, covered in blooms, while still in their pots! I guess the commercial growers finally figured out how to grow these things! So I bought one more and planted it on the left side of the trellis below, to balance the massive coral honeysuckle on the other side and give us year-round interest, since the honeysuckle peaks in spring/early summer, while the butterfly vine peaks late summer/fall. Best of all? So far the deer haven't bothered any of them! (knock on wood)

Can you even imagine? Not one, not two, but three Butterfly Vines in full bloom here, a couple of years from now? SQUEE!!!