Friday, December 27, 2019

So much to see So much to do.

Adventures in the Hill Country Continue. So Friday (11/15) evening the Jackson came back to the house we're staying and unloaded. They propped the screen door open so they could come in and out with ease. By the time they finished it was cold and just dark enough they couldn't see to release latch for the screen door so it would close. We decided to wait until morning to fix it. We closed and locked inner-door so all was good. As mentioned in last blog the wine came out to sit and relax.
Next morning the Jackson's had to leave and the door was still propped open. So that was good but after they finished loading their car the the latch wouldn't release the door and close. Crap.
                             So my question
 to Pam was "How many engineers does it take to fix the door?" Apparently 2.  I'll be in trouble for this picture. 
The guys did get the latch to release so the did close.  That was entertaining.

At least we thought so. After the entertainment it was time for breakfast and back we went to Hilda's. The food is that good and everyone loves their Migas. Two people could share the migas they give you so much.  After breakfast Pam and Kevin head back home while David & I go shopping.  First I had a couple of wine purchases for Pam and Hannah to make. We should have gone on Friday but we didn't so we found the wine bus tours and traffic.  This is what it's like on a Saturday at Fat Ass Winery. 
Well this is just wonderful! I had this whole blog finished and ready to schedule the post 
but instead it went into draft and lost everything after this. Grrrr. mmm well hopefully I can remember some of what I had in this post.
A typical Saturday at Fat Ass Winery... is wild crazy no parking inside the fence. There were people outside listening to live music, playing corn hole, horseshoes, drinking, and just having fun. Did have a video but I'm not sure it'll gonna upload correctly. But then maybe it loaded.  Maybe it'll work and maybe it won't. Not sure.  I guess I'll figure it out after it posts.  mmmmm
After finding a place to park outside the property we ran in to buy 2 bottles of wine and didn't hang around. Too many people but they were having fun.
We drove next door to the Wine Garage though. They are actually part of Fat Ass but have old cars on display and only serve dry wines.  It was kind of a disappointment since they only had 4 cars to look at inside and to go further they said you could buy a tasting and a glass/bottle and they'd see if they could get you into the back garage.  David wasn't that interested but did check out what was on the tasting room floor and we had a wine slushy. Not bad.
Outside they had an old gas pump and firetruck.
   

From here we ran to Fiesta to fulfil my shopping list request and ran into the same type of crowd. David got lucky and found a spot to park out next to Hwy 290 while I ran in to get the wine. The line to purchase was a little longer here though. At least I was entertained by the the 2 guys playing music outside on the porch while I waited.  
We slid out of the lot without too much trouble to go down the road to look at the yard decor and found a couple of antique buildings open to explore. 
David found a big rooster with a bunch of his little friends. Of course that was not his wording if you get my drift. 
I was getting tired and it was getting late so we decided to head back to Kerrville to find a place to eat.  We had been hearing about the Cowboy Steak House on the radio and decided to go try it. We were glad we did.
We got there before the crowd and we seated shortly after arriving.
The steaks were a good size. Thick, juicy and tender. Oh and really tasty. Even though my head didn't hurt anymore from my fall the rest of me just kinda ached. Got back to the house and just relaxed a bit and then headed to bed.
Sunday (11/17) We got up stripped the bed, took out the trash and ran the last load of laundry through the dryer. Packed up the car so everything we bought and suitcases fit nicely, locked up the house and headed to Cafe at the Ridge for a bite of brunch. We found this place about 8 miles out of Kerrville about 4 years ago when we were searching for land to buy in this cool neighborhood called Tierra Linda. Wish there had been something available. The property we were interested in had gone under contract.  
Food here at the cafe was/is really yummy. Nice size portions and reasonable prices.
After eating we head outside to wander around the grounds and the nursery.  There's so many fun things to look at.Like this Pretty cool looking tree stump  made out of cement and a water cistern. It was kind of leaning but it seemed secure where it was. I hope. 
 
 
 I want this wagon but don't have the money to buy it. It would look pretty cool at the Rock'n K. So would the be wood Texas sign.
 

 Wonder if I Could convince David to put a Giraffe down at the bottom of the property where we've fence off the tree line where the hogs kept coming in under the old original fencing. Like I could afford it either. LOL





I guess we've played long enough and it's time to head home. It was a great weekend.

Wish that Larry and Sylvia could have joined us but it was great that Kevin and Pam could join us for at least a day and half. We'll have to play another trip so we can show Larry and Sylvia around the Hill Country.
When we get home TBone sees us drive up and does a little dance.  He knows that he'll get some corn and sweet food now. He's feeling pretty feisty. He's bucking, snorting and charging at the fence.
 I stay at the corral and wait for David to show up with the food.  David offers up some cow crack (a cube of minerals) that all the cows love.


Well that's it for now. Hopefully my videos will work dang it. 
Another fun weekend coming up.

Until next blog... “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities”

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

No more mishaps, Please.

Hill Country travels and adventures continues.
Our first stop was Blanco. There's this one Antique store we like to go to. We always find some cool things. We have never walked out empty handed and this time was no exception.  
Found an antique scale, 2 different kinds of thread spools and blue mason jar. 
 
I put the small diameter spools in the mason jar for display and the larger spool I wrap the left over binding strips and cuttings of the bigger spool until I'm ready to use them for a scrappy project.


Then we found an oxen harness that we'll hang somewhere in the house. 
We also found at other places on our trip a metal sign that David liked, a bird house that looks like water tank for outside, a small bowl with a barn and blue bonnets painted on it and the hat I have on in the next picture.  I think the bump on the head made me a little loopy and wide eyed. It kept the sun off my head and kept it warm when it was cold.Before we left Blanco we decided to buy a bottle of wine to take to the Airbnb we were heading to so we went into the bar next to the last shop we went into. 
Only we didn't leave right away because they had music. These 5 guys were in the back room at the bar just playing songs and telling stories. 
They were pretty good. We hung around for almost an hour listening and finally decided we needed to get down the road.  It started getting late and we hadn't had anything to eat since lunch so we walked over to 300 BBQ and took it with us to eat when we got to the place we were staying. Talk about deers! Wow they were everywhere and the big bucks were in the lead.   We finally got to the house in Kerrville and ate our yummy BBQ and the sides.  Not as good as David's BBQ but it was good. We sat up a while longer and watched TV for a while but soon decided to head to bed. The next day was gonna be a busy one and we needed our beauty sleep.  LOL 
Friday morning we got up and headed to Hilda's in Fredericksburg for a breakfast taco. This is one of David's favorite places to eat. It's a very busy place. The quantity, quality and pricing can't be beat. We didn't want to eat a big breakfast because we'd be meeting the Jackson's for lunch in a couple hours but we needed a little nourishment until then. 
We headed into town to head to the Pottery Ranch on the west end of town but first David stopped in town at the park so I could find somewhere to take some pictures of  quilt I just finished for The Jackson's new grand-daughter who was born in March I believe. 
This is the first time David has ever been with me to take pictures of the quilts I make. I put him to work placing the quilt and he made suggestions of locations. He's creative too.
The pattern is called Babyworld. I made a couple of changes. One was by accident. My steam a seam kept slipping so my elephant is leaping up for the butterflies plus I added 3 butterflies not just one.   Quilting was done by Betty Baker @ Shadywood Quilting. She used a Texas A&M motif. It also has the word Gig'em. I love this quilting.

Photo opt over and we headed toward the Pottery Ranch. We hadn't been there too long when Pam and Kevin call to find out where we are and they came on out to west end of town.  They were able to come up for the day and night to stay with us in the cute little Airbnb. It was a 2 bedroom 2 bath house. It was spacious and clean. The only complaint we had was the day bed they used as a couch in the living room. The real couch was in our bedroom. That needed to be swapped. A day bed is not comfortable as a couch. But everything else was just fine. We all found something we couldn't live without. LOL  
Our next stop was lunch at Alamo Springs Cafe out in the boonies. I did find a more direct route since the first time Pamela and I went a few years back. We thought Siri was taking us out in the hills to get us lost. LOL The route we used is way more direct as long as you don't count all the twists, turns and dips.
For an appetizer Kevin and Pam suggested Parmesan fried green beans. That was a new one for us. They were really good. They told us you can find them at HEB in the frozen food section. Of course the hamburgers are awesome, the fries and onion rings. There's plenty of food to split and share. In the evenings they have music for all to enjoy.  After our getting our tummies full we headed back to Fredericksburg to go to the Trade Days that happens on the 3rd Saturday each month.  
But first we made a stop at a place called Bankersmith that we'd been hearing about on the radio. They talking about the beer, food and music. 
We thought we'd stop for a quick beer but they didn't open until 4 darn it 

but we got to talk to the owners to find out about the place. The radio said this was a great place to go. We tried. Maybe next time. I took time to snap one more picture of the quilt

After our visit we said we'd try to come back  but for now we headed to the Trade Days.

Oh Trade days had lots and lots of stuff to look at. Some pretty some weird some scary. And some we decided to buy and take home. David found a G Harvey picture of bluebonnets for a great price and some sheets and quilt for our bedroom. We spent 2-3 hours there looking through all the stuff. We decided to go try some wine at Narrow Path Winery to finish off the afternoon. We got there just in time to have a drink and enjoy the views. They're prettier in the spring when everything is green and wild flowers. It was slightly chilly sitting outside but the wine warmed me up. LOL.

It's not getting dark so we decided we'd head back to Kerrville  via Comfort for a drink of moonshine.  David ordered us a Bloody shiner which is made with Jalapeno moonshine and Zing Zang with some dashes of tabasco. So good. We only stayed for one drink and off to find something to eat. It's been a while since we did that. LOL  Kevin thought he found us a new place to eat when we got back in Kerrville but the place was a little too pricey and it wasn't Mexican and that's what we were wanting. We at a our tried and true Mexican food restaurant Mi Sombrero and back to the house.  We broke out a bottle of wine and just hang out. Have to admit it didn't take us long to hit the bed.

Well Saturday will be another day but this post is long enough. Hope it wasn't too boring.

Until next blog post... "Everyone has a book inside of them - but it doesn't do any good until you pry it out."  Jodi Picoult















Monday, November 25, 2019

Busy, Eventful, and Fun

 Got a quilt finished up for Pamela's nursing co-worker's baby shower. Pamela picked out all the fabris for this on like so many other quilts I make.
Before I give the quilts away 99% of the time I take pictures in various locations.  This one I called Blame it on the Wine.  LOL
I took most of the pictures at Bernhardt Winery in Pinehurst.

I had 3 errands to do this day. One was a doctors appointment, take pictures of this quilt for Hailey's Baby Boy to be and go see my Mom and Joe. They live just down the road from the winery.

 Donna at Donna's Lavender Nest quilted a puppy and bone motif. It came out so cute.  Can you see the dog and bones. 
I took one picture that I have to share. LOL. It was getting late so I didn't really expect it to come but do you see my photo bomber?  I had the quilt hanging on the fence and Jerry decided to check out what I was doing and get some attention.  You can see his eyes and just barely see his ears.  LOL
Almost Creepy but it's Jerry.
 Quilt photo shoot over for this quilt. I headed down the road to visit Mom and Joe.  She was having a good day. Had her go stand in front of Joe's Garden area for flowers and trees. 

Being a little sassy.  Love this picture of her.
Joe came over and took a picture with her.
Pamela shared a couple pictures of Hailey at the baby shower opening the quilt.
 Hailey doesn't like being the center of attention but Pamela forced her to smile when she took the picture. LOL 
Poor Hailey was being tortured by Pamela. Pamela said she did like the quilt though.    

I was on FB and saw a post on my sister's page and it said "If this isn't Barbara she has a twin?"  How funny the TV cam at the Chiefs 26 vs Vikings 23 game caught Barbara at the game.  She's the one with grey hair looking off in the distance.  Told her I was glad they didn't catch her picking her nose.  LOL                 
Got a phone call from our friends the Harpers and they asked if we'd be home on Saturday (11/9). Of course we are, come by I said.  Sheryl said they'd be here in the late afternoon. That was perfect and we even fed them.  Being in the country we don't get too many visitors and it's nice to have long time friends just stop in.

 I think this is the part of Pamela's job she loves the most.  Taking care of a fellow nurse/co-worker and her new baby.
Spenser a friend of Pamela's    knows her too well and sent her this T-Shirt. At first I thought WHAT! Then I read it again. Oh yeah.  That would be good shirt for me too. Unfortunately Pamela takes after me in coordination and walking. I cracked up.

We had a couple of nights below freezing and long enough that after Lilley ate her breakfast she tried to get a drink of water the next morning. She was little miffed at first but then continued to lick the ice.. I finally chipped a hole in the ice so she could get some water.
You can see the ice on the rain chains. I don't we saw a freeze until January when move up here in December.

 The weekend of the 14th we had made plans with Larry a co-worker of David's and his wife Sylvia to go to Fredericksburg for the weekend. They had never been. But darn it poor Larry hurt his leg and walking around town was not in the picture so they had to cancel.  We rented what we hoped was a cute and comfortable Airbnb. Whew it was and the price was very reasonable. We would have payed $100-200 more if we'd stayed in a hotel. Hate that they didn't get to go this time but we'll schedule a trip again with them. We went ahead and decided to go to the Hill Country on our own.  
Our friends the Jackson's sent us a text to see if we wanted to come see their new home in Austin and stay the night that Friday. David and I laughed because we were just about to text them to see if they wanted to join us in Fredericksburg and Kerrville since we already had reservations and couldn't cancel.  We decided we would stop by on Thursday for lunch and tour their new home. And they decided they could join us for the day and night Friday but had to leave mid-day Saturday. That works.
So here's the fun part... Not!
So we get to Kevin and Pam's in Austin on Thursday the 14th and took a tour their awesome home. It's really nice and spacious. And the special touches the previous owners put into this house were awesome. In the powder room the back was made of penny's. In their closet the previous owner didn't want to lose precious storage space and cut a spot in the closet under the stairs for storage. Pam & Kevin used it for suit cases.  There was a light in that space too. The house had 3 spacious quest rooms tucked down a hallway. There was some really nice tiling on the walls. Can't say enough about this house. The backyard was small but the patio was a nice size. A wet weather creek ran behind the house with lots of trees.  
After the tour we went to lunch at a restaurant just down the road. We had just put in our order and we were all talking and I was actually sitting still and square on the chair when all of a sudden I was going down. It was kinda surreal.  Needless to say the wooden chair dumped me on the floor and I landed hard on my butt and fell backwards hitting my head on the window framing.
I was stunned. The manager and I'm not sure who the other lady was but I do remember hearing her say she was a trained EMT.  David was next to me in no time. 
So that's how we started our trip to the Hill Country.  My back , butt and neck for the rest of the weekend were stiff and sore and I had a headache for about 2 days of it. Not a bad one but it was there.  Come to find out I was the 4th person to take a ride down to the floor because of the chairs being defective.
Of course and thankfully no one took pictures. Everyone worried about me all weekend. Everytime we came to a curb David would say watch out for the curb or the crack to tease me.  The one picture I did take was on that Sunday.
 
 I hadn't noticed before, but I turned just right and saw my right arm in the mirror.  Holy crap! I don't even remember hitting my arm.  
Today it's more purple and green.
After lunch we hung out for a while. Then We got on the road and headed to the Hill Country.

Well that's it for this post. I'll share the rest of the trip in my next post.

Until my next post....“Be strong and of good courage.”  Joshua 1:9