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Blur—
I need some slow motion…. +A weekend off. I feel like I’ve been going a million miles an hour for the last few weeks. Been very busy at work and then we had another project sprung on us at the last minute, or so it seemed, and now I am going to Pennsylvania for a month. I was thinking two weeks sounded nice but a month is pushing my limits. I’m becoming a homebody again. Apparently there’s this thing called snow that we’re racing against. +I’m starting to like not checking FB often and only being on about once a week. The only downside is that it seems the only…
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A Central Texas Autumn
Last weekend we went to Pedernales Falls State Park for our first camping trip of the season. It was beautiful and while the Pedernales River was not running much (hey, Texas is in a major, major drought!) it was still wonderful. It is only about three hours from our house so even though we set up the tent in the dark it still wasn’t a terrible drive from the Houston area to west of Austin. I’m always upset with people who gloss over autumn in areas that may not have major leaf shows like the northeast. Fall happens in different ways in the south and the drought is making it…
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Garden Update | Helping Hands Community Garden
Lots of things going on at our community garden. New beds and need seedlings, plus what has been established over the last few weeks are starting to take off. Love seeing a full garden! The garden is next to a horse arena so on the weekends it isn’t uncommon to have rodeo competitions going on. The pee-wee kids are the cutest! Little tykes my niece’s age and a little older riding their horses around barrels! Super cute! (need a few more !!! ?) Chris engineered this cucumber tunnel with tomato cages. The cukes are climbing like crazy right now and little fruits are starting to appear. See, aren’t they cute?…
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Wordless Wednesday | Stars over Pederanles Falls
Photo by Chris, click photo to see more details
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Pickles and a Carrot Cake
Now that we are starting to harvest cucumbers we are turning to pickling them. I’ve made a recipe of my grandmother’s before, my mom’s mom, and I love it. Chris is branching out and trying some other recipes. The one in the photos below are a type of Claussen apparently. I didn’t take photos but I made two jars from a recipe of my other grandmother, my dad’s mom, that I found amidst fluttering sheets of paper tucked into an old, red Betty Crocker cookbook. Chris’ birthday was last week so I made him his favorite cake, carrot cake. Honestly I do not like carrot cake but this recipe was…
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Garden Update | Common Ground Community Garden
A week or so ago we went home to gather the majority of the last items lingering at our parent’s houses. Chris and I popped in my mom and brother’s community garden to see how things were going and growing. This garden is very different from the one we are participating in at our new location mostly because there are actually full beds and members that are active in growing things. At the garden we are at, other than a school group we are the only private beds. Chris has been planting in the other empty beds in order to fill the garden up, harvest extra things and to share…
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Adventure Reads
These reads have been culminated throughout the years. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some that should be included. Send me your favorites that I should read! Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer Most everyone is familiar with this book or at least the story behind it, the tragic 1996 climb of Mt. Everest in which 8 died and many more lost limbs and were injured. This was my first Jon Krakauer book and read it a lot of while doing a short backpacking trip in central Florida a few years ago. I think a lot of people, ok, a lot of outdoor people, have climbing Mt. Everest on their list of…
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Eggplant Parmesan Sandwiches
I can’t take credit for this recipe. Our field boss made these for us last spring at the Big Thicket project and ever since they have become a favorite. I didn’t grow up eating eggplant, in fact I only really ate it for the first time a few years ago. This is a very tasty dish, easy and for the most part healthy. Things you need: +Ciabatta buns or your favorite bread +Eggplant +Large slicing tomato +Good mozzarella, not the sliced kind. +Basil leaves +Olive Oil and spices to taste +Other condiments as necessary but it is not needed Slice, spice and grill the eggplant and tomatoes until tender. Apparently…
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Scenes from a Monday
Went to DFW on Sunday and Monday to finish getting the rest of our stuff and to see the family. Here’s a small snapshot.. Zoe showing off her purse sent from Elizabeth’s mom. Really excited about the animal inside the purse, too! Goofing off with my dad, PawPaw, during his lunch break. Grayson tucked away in his sleeper, cozied up in the blanket I made him. He smells so good! Pumpkin vines are taking over the side yard at my parent’s house! Grayson and my brother scoping the pumpkins out. Oh, we found a little pumpkin! He definitely didn’t like that and was swooped out quickly. There’s the real pumpkin!
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Our Work in Print | Wildscape Photo
We’ve been decorating our house with some of our work. It is nice to see our work off of the computer and on the wall! Not only that, but it reaffirms that we are doing something right! Chris ordered canvas prints from Pixel 2 Canvas because they had a discount sale on particular canvas sizes. He opted for a 40×60 print of this shot taken in Fakahatchee Strand. The flowers up close are clamshell orchids, Encyclia cochleata. I was hesitant about the shot on the computer but I really love it printed. You can almost feel like you are walking through the swamp! I went back and forth on what…