Rudolph?

These jaunty deer were running alongside my car this morning.

rainy days & Mondays

Even the kitty is bummed that we've no sunshine today.  Ah well, it was a good day to hang out at the mechanic's and get the brake pads replaced.

And my garden (and most of the county) needed some moisture.

Have learned to take the flash flood warnings very seriously 'round here.

 And now, with all the windows open, it's time to take nap~soothed by the sound of water.

First affordable cherries of the summer!

eggsellent

Something about having cheese & eggs & a crisper full of veg~all on the edge of expiring, coalesced with Bastille Day.

Asparagus & shrooms and garlic on top of ricotta and feta.

 Made pie crust with fresh thyme rolled into it, topped with sauteed leeks and more mushrooms.

Topped with curls of Parmesan for that tinge of crunchy brown.

Yes, it's 104 outside.  But after awhile, hot is simply hot and you go about your day.

Viva la dairy products.

read-y

I cannot remember life prior to reading; feel fortunate to have been born into a family of readers.  Something about this summer is triggering all kinds of childhood memories and many of them revolve around books--trips to the library, story time every single night, hours of discussing authors and plot lines.  Think I've mentioned how I enjoy traveling with my entire clan as everyone unpacks their suitcases.  Of books.   I love how my cousin and I can be having an intense conversation which is suspended in silence as we walk past gigantic bookstore windows.

It is bizarre to me to enter someone's home which is bereft of books.  What do they DO with their brains and free time?

It's been a marvelous summer of reading; what a luxury to own a library card and have access to almost any book in print.  Have been trying to keep track of the books I read this year~an attempt to remember author/titles for recommendations.  Am able to recount entire plot lines and describe the cover art, but don't always remember the title/author.  

Nothing better!  May you have many excellent pages of reading this weekend.

fed

After an interview yesterday afternoon, met a friend of friends (gotta love facebook connections) for dinner at a delightful cafe.  I had been here last summer and was just as pleased with this year's menu.

It was nourishing to have good food with a good conversation.  Happy Friday!

eat, drink, stay

The Chronicle is a treasure of a weekly paper that comes out every Thursday here in Austin.  Since moving here, I've tried to do at least one thing per week from their pages and this week finally brought me to Austin Terrier.  And I can say firmly that the trio of fries lived up to it's review.  In fact, most of them are in my fridge to become part of Sunday's brunch.  I also had the tomato/basil soup, which isn't quite so photogenic.

After that yummy nosh, popped down to BookPeople to hear NPR commentator Marion Winik NPR read from her newest book Highs in the Low Fifties~ fitting nicely with my unplanned week of memoir reading.

Perfection of an afternoon/evening.

living, transformed

 What a marvelous contrast to my former parking lot~to go from screaming couples and thug car stereo thumping~to watching Bambi frolic across the tarmac.  V. nice.

 Of course I can say that freely as my garden is on the third floor and safe from their grazing.

Wait for me!  Wait for me!

snackage

Not sure what is in the bog water in which these cranberries were grown, but dipped in dark chocolate, they make a delightful pre-nap nosh.

mellow

Apologies for the radio silence lately; days have relaxed into a soothing routine of hiking,

swimming,

reading in the shade,

 & a whole lotta eye-resting, aka napping.

A fun surprise in today's post as well as a penny found on the walk to the mailboxes.

I was going to hang some curtains until his lordship decided to take his afternoon nap upon said draperies.  Lovely somnolent & drowsy days of July.

red, white and...

Baby red potatoes getting ready for transformation into potato salad.

 Two cents found!

Sorry, no blue for the final shot of this trio~maybe today I'll find something blue.  Decided to begin early with the picnic food~as the 'big shots down at the hot dog factory and the big shots at the bun factory got together and decided to rip off the American people'.  (Name that movie!)

Baking raspberry brownies to take to one of the very few vegetarian grill parties in Texas.  It's a bit hazy this morning; hope it clears in time for the symphony and the fireworks.

Happy 4th!

all aboarrrrrd

Some Thomas the Train pasta delivered to the west coast 'phews.

leapin' lizards

 While I'm sure there have been clouds everywhere I've lived, I seem to be noticing them more lately.    And while there's something (what, I'm not quite sure) to be said for the Protestant work ethic, there is something delicious and decadent about lazy days with no structure.

Random lawn chair out in the middle of the trail.

I love that in about 30 seconds of hiking out of the parking lot,  it's all nature.

This skittery little guy gave me the stink eye for even trying to get his photo, but he did hold still long enough for this pose.

in life

Amen.  

Happy July!!