TEXAS STATE SONG?

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed earlier, when suddenly this Stevie Ray Vaughn song popped into my head. I'm thinking maybe we should adopt it as our new state song. For once, we're doing OK here in Wimberley, at least for now. Other parts? Not so much.

Then again, maybe we should take a more optimistic approach. Something like this might do the trick. Apparently that's Hubby's attitude, as this appeared out of nowhere on our porch yesterday.

Yeah, that's the ticket. Let The Sunshine In!

41 + 4

My dad was a home designer/builder, and often, on Sundays after church and lunch, we would go visit his works-in-progress. I feel kinda bad about it now, but on more than one occasion I ended the tour with a comment along the lines of "It's great Dad, but I wouldn't want to live here. I'm going to redo a neat old house. Something with character and history!" I read waaaay too many historical romance novels as a kid.

That was the plan, anyway, until I went and fell in love with a mechanical engineer -- great with machines, not so great with things like carpentry, plumbing and repairs. Plus, we never stayed in one place long enough to complete a project of that magnitude. So, it just made more sense to buy new, then "Get outta Dodge" before anything had a chance to fall apart.

Still, just because I never actually lived in a neat old house, that doesn't mean I ever lost my love for them. In fact, I eat my meals in them every chance I get. No surprise then, that it was love at first sight when I saw the place Hubby had chosen to celebrate our forty-first anniversary (plus four years of dating) yesterday -- a very European place in the heart of Austin called Fabi + Rosi. 

I opted for pork schnitzel with spaetzle...

while John went for pepper steak with truffle fries.

I had to help him with those fries. (Moan!)

For dessert we started to share that item at the top of the list, just because we wanted to tell people we ate Krack Pie with Hooch Cream. But then the lady on the banquette next to us leaned over and said "Order the lemon chevre tart. Trust me."  I'm so glad we did.

Actually, the celebration started with us taking lunch over to Lex, Nate, his parents, sister and niece, only to discover that four of them had driven over to Wimberley to surprise us! They now have a refrigerator full of Mima's tacos. On the plus side, they were all soft tacos, which reheat pretty well. Plus, it's never a wasted trip if it means snuggle time with The Goob!

In between that and dinner, there was a trip to one of the best bookstores (with a great children's department) and THE best toy store. Turns out, I'm not the one they need to worry about, when it come to bringing Little Goober prezzies every time we see him!

Know what I love most? The amount of time and thought he puts into finding just the right thing. Or things.

POPPIES, FOR REMEMBRANCE

In the weeks leading up to Memorial Day, the deer finally decided to stop devouring all the poppy buds on our wildflower berm down the hill, leaving a nice display in honor of the occasion. Fortuitous, is it not, since poppies have long been the symbol of remembrance for those lost in battle?

 The Cantina Garden is making me very, very happy right now. After so many years struggling with drought and deer, it's finally starting to look like the garden I first imagined. Well, minus all the veggies I was picturing. Apparently veggies are not my thing. I'm more of a perennial person.

The Vitex is a purple blaze of glory right now...

and the traditional coneflowers are in full bloom...

but what really tickles me are these amazing hybrid coneflowers, bought for next to nothing off the bedraggled-rack at Lowes last summer.

I was not all that certain they would survive, but just look at them now!

Just love the variations in color, and how each bloom morphs as it matures!

Also love the way they blend with this crazy gomphrena that keeps coming back...

and this lovely Coral Bells, whose leaves start out a rich coral color, then turn into toffee!

But, know what I love most of all? These crazy 'shrooms that just pop up out of nowhere...

then turn themselves inside out!

Any idea what kind they are?

THE SECRET IS OUT

Remember the "Epic Misadventure" I mentioned earlier this week? I couldn't really post about it because it involved our grand dog Guinness, whose parents were off in Hawaii on their honeymoon, and we did not want to spoil their remaining time there.

Hubby took her out for a walk a few days ago, and they ended up getting attacked by a couple of dogs who were running around off leash. They went straight for Guinness' neck, but John was able to kick them away before they drew blood.  He came home rather drippy himself, but that was from taking a nose dive on the pavement, not from any bites. I'm just grateful he didn't bonk his head in the process, or we could have ended up with a repeat of The Great Mima's Debacle!(which was first thought to be from a bump, then maybe an aneurysm, but ultimately attributed to the head bump after all)

We thought Guinness was fine, since there was no blood on her, but the next morning she yelped and jumped back when I reached down to scratch behind her ear. Fortunately, she once boarded at the local vet while her daddy was staying with us, so they had her on their client list and were able to get her right in. When they dug down through her furry ruff they found a couple of shallow nicks, which they are treating with antibiotics. She should be fine in a jiff. Physically, anyhow.
 

Not sure she will ever let us take her on a walk again, in that particular area, but hey, at least her parents reassured us that we are still her favorite babysitters!

TONGUE-TIED

Little Cal had an appointment with a pediatric dentist yesterday. When the midwife first examined him she said he might be "tongue-tied". When she came to the house to check on him and discovered he had lost some weight, she was fairly certain of it, so she sent them to a specialist. He said it was becoming more and more common in newborns, but they hadn't yet figured out what was causing it. Luckily, it's an easy fix. Nate's parents had mentioned a craving for enchiladas, so while Lex and Nate took Calvin to his appointment, we took Holly and Frank to Chuy's! While there we got a message from Lex saying that everything went well and was over in a jiff, but that hearing her Little Goober scream was "pretty rough!" She thinks it was more from being startled than anything else, as he stopped soon afterwards. By the time we got back from Chuy's, with takeout for the new mom and dad, Cal was already nursing away!

When Little Mama took a break to eat her lunch, Papa John finally got to hold Goober for the very first time.

I think he's in love!
 

Or maybe he's just imagining all the shenanigans the two of them have in their future. 

WHAT'S NEW?

Well, I'm trying very hard NOT to become an all grandbaby, all the time blog. It's hard. Especially when the only other epic event that happened this week is something I can't post about right now. So I guess you'll have to settle for this.

That's Miss Guinness, our grand dog.We are taking care of her while her mom and dad are on their honeymoon in Hawaii. That epic event I mentioned may have had something to do with her, but we're not tellin'. Don't worry Mom and Dad. It definitely wasn't her fault!

THE VISITOR

Caught a glimpse of this guy from our upstairs bedroom window the other day, perched by our water tank down the hill. He stayed in that same position, not budging, for the longest time!

From that distance, and with his head turned, I thought for sure it was one of our little foxes, though I was surprised to see him out in the middle of the day. The ones we have around here are greyish brown, not red.

It wasn't until I downloaded and enlarged the photos that I realized...

it was just a kitty cat, lookin' for lunch!