Compare & contrast

Remember when your English Literature teacher used to give that assignment? "Compare & contrast Crime & Punishment with The Scarlet Letter," something like that. I always hated that one. In Texas, we are having our 21st day of temps over 100, along with a record-setting drought. The weatherman said the other day that it's been over 200 days since we had an INCH of rain. ARRGGHH The whole state is toast! Just 3 years ago, we had Hurricane Ike. That storm went on, and on, all night. It knocked out our power for 16 days. And we woke up to this mess in the yard:

We had to deal with that broken tree limb ourselves - help was hard to find:
Now, we're staying inside, enjoying the air conditioning, and wishing/praying/hoping for rain. Here's a squirrel, cooling his jets in the cool dirt under our oak tree:
Several of our wood ferns look like goners, but they might bounce back:
Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I just got out the sidewalk chalk and wrote a plea on the driveway:
Don't worry, I remembered my manners:
If you can spare some in your area, please send us some rain!

Late bloomers

It's too hot to think here in Texas, but a few things are managing in the garden. Here's a nice sunflower we grew from seeds we bought in Fredericksburg back in May:

When I got home from Hong Kong in February, I eagerly planted tomatoes which did exactly nothing. Suddenly, however, the Stump of the World has taken off, grown and put on blooms. It is shown below, getting support from the viburnum next to it. If it ever produces a tomato, it will be the longest-awaited EVER - probably 6 months. Hope it tastes good.We've had a few showers recently, but we still need a lot of rain. Send us any extra you have!

Everyone would be in love with me!

Farrago blog post

Farrago is one of my favorite restaurants here, the word means hodgepodge and that's what we have on the blog today. First, here's a cool ride, we haven't shown one for a while. This was parked outside the diner in Michigan when we visited family recently:

Speaking of the trip to Michigan, your blogmistress finally got to ride the fabled Dingray bike that her brothers built in the 60s. It was lovingly restored by brother Bill, and it is FUN to ride. The hubs of the wheels are off-center, which makes the bike undulate up & down. The faster you ride, the more it bounces. It was a big hit with everyone. Now I want my OWN Dingray!
Here are the world-famous Daughters of the Potato Famine, my brothers, and our spouses. That's a happy bunch!
Last weekend, we drove to Albany, TX to see the Ft. Griffin Fandangle. It is a prairie theater, half the population of the little town is involved in it, and it's really a fun show. This little shaver must have pulled the short straw, he played the skunk:
We've all been to live plays, but have you been to one with Texas longhorn cattle in the cast? Well, this play has a whole mess of them:

Here's a shot toward the end of the show, the whole cast (minus longhorns) came out for a final song.

Enjoy the Independence Day holiday, everyone! Fly the flag, cook some bbq, and relax.

Memorial Day 2011

We thank our dads, brothers, uncles, and friends who served in the military. This weekend, we got a new flagpole so we could fly the flag. Here was the first spot - it looked nice, but the flag smacked you as you went by. Here's a better location - out in the garden a little farther. A nice little patriotic breeze straightened out the flag so I could snap this pic:
I'm going to donate a pint of my primo O negative tomorrow at the blood center. The next time you see a serviceman, buy his or her lunch!

Pookie goes to a family reunion

Today, hubby and I drove up I-45 to Old Town Spring, TX for a Smart gathering. Just look at that happy little family:
This purple one wins my "Cutest Smarty" award, check out the eyelashes:

I asked the owner, where'd you get those? Think about it for a minute, those of you who use the internet way too much. . . carlashes.com, of course! They're $26.99 for a set, I guess I'll think about those before making an impulse buy. Besides, Pookie is a boy.

Here is a Smart with a vanity plate: SODIT. That's not a very nice thing to say in British English (English English?) The owner of this Smart, an English woman, said the state of Texas would not allow her to have this plate unless she could prove she was in some kind of business that has to do with sod. As it turns out, she owns a lawnmower repair bidness. BAM! The plate is hers.

The guy who owned this Smart has poured a lot of extra money into it - bigger wheels & tires, souped up engine, and these cool doors:

I need to go online and find one of these stickers for Pookie:

Where can I get one? Probably at Youjustgotpassedbya3-banger.com.

Texas Hill Country getaway

Last week, hubby and I had our first vacation (that didn't involve moving) in two years. We headed to Fredericksburg, TX in the hill country. There are several wineries there & we did a little sampling. Here is the rental we stayed in. The shrub in front of hubby is sage, and to the right of that is a huge rosemary bush. It almost seems to grow wild there.

Fredericksburg is the kind of town where they roll up the sidewalks at 6 p.m. If you happen to be on horseback, you can still hitch your trusty steed to the curb:
Fans of "A Christmas Story" will recognize this beauty:

A lot of the older structures in Fredericksburg are made of limestone. Here is a beautiful barn, too pretty for critters.

We drove about 30 miles to Enchanted Rock, a big chuck of pink granite that's like an iceberg - way more below the surface than above.

Sure, we climbed it. We had a couple of Diet Cokes with us for hydration. That's me in the following pic, holding up that big rock:

Across from our rental there was a little herd of sheep. The first day we were there, they ran to the fence to greet us (after that, they found us boring). Hubby seemed to speak their language so I filmed it for posterity: