Grapevines and Wildflowers

A few days ago I set off on my annual quest for wildflower viewing.  It's a beautiful time of year in Central Texas.  The bluebonnets are just beginning to appear along the roadside and other blooms are peeking up in places.  Redbud trees are showing those signature pink blossoms and the hillsides are starting to turn green.

Well worth a ride down a country road.

 Texas wines are ever popular among my friends and family.  A vineyard I've only known via grocery store shelves is a short drive from our little town.  I couldn't resist following the road designated as the path to the winery.

Only the beginning of a lovely stop.

Redbuds are only in bloom for a few days each year. Better enjoy while I can.

Serene ponds in several places.

Vines are watched carefully to guide the growth for maximum
quality of fruit production.

I arrived in late morning, just in time for a lovely tour and a sampling of wonderful wines.  The staff was friendly and knowledgeable with the owners hosting warmly.

Maybe non-productive when making beverages,
 but oh so beautiful to my untrained eye!

The grounds were beautiful.  I was allowed to stroll the trails and snap photos at my leisure.

I liked it here!
 Wildflowers grew on the grounds and aging trees draped over creekbeds.  The rocky soil gives the entire area a rustic appeal with bits of color sprinkling the ground.  I will return to this beautiful place!

Chasing Wildflowers

Texas wildflowers are the most beautiful in the world.  I know this from viewing experience.  It is the time of year when I begin to salivate over possible roadside views, refusing to take the predictions of the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center for sparse displays too seriously. The tiny purple and yellow early bloomers are already beginning to pop up along my morning walking trails.  Rainfall during the wrong months may have discouraged the hardy bluebonnets from the massive displays often enjoyed in April.  I'll take what I can find, and hope the flowering mustard (aka "bastard cabbage") doesn't succeed in blocking the bluebonnets and indian paintbrush for light and nutrients.

I'll begin driving the backroads in a week or so to see where the plants are beginning to flourish.  That will give me a map for future views.  Years ago, I made this pilgrimage to see the flowers as homage to my mother.  She would terrorize anyone mowing her lakeside yard in an untimely manner.  The wildflowers had to be given time to bloom and seed so the next year's blooms could be assured. The year we lost her, the yard was mowed early and the wildflowers have never come back to that little bit of lakefront.  I'll spot some in this neighborhood and watch them bloom, marking it as an honor to Mammy!

Tangled

We have new neighbors moving in next door.  Ol' Abner visited briefly with the man yesterday.  They appear to be about our age and have moved to our little hill country berg for many of the same reasons that shaped our choice.  I suspect they will be a good fit for our quiet neighborhood.

Just a few doors up the street, another home remains empty.  Dancing Girl  and Guitar Man were in the midst of purchasing that property when the clearance for the title became a fast widening abyss.  We knew there was a problem or two with the house, but nothing that couldn't be corrected with a little TLC and some elbow grease.  Initial research from the title company uncovered vendor liens and some unpaid fees associated with the house.  The real estate inspector found some needed repairs, as were expected in a house neglected for nearly a year.  They proceeded with hope that closing could take place on schedule or even a few days earlier.  Buyer paperwork was completed and cleared for closing.  We were as excited as they.  Another debt encumbrance to the property was discovered with the state.  It was further determined that a delinquent mortgage existed.  Calls to the lender to attempt to work out an agreement to avoid foreclosure, went unanswered.  The seller had previously sold the home as an "owner finance" and offered to enter into the same agreement with DG and GM.  With a murky title, owned by a trust and further listed as an asset in an investment company, clearly they had no choice except to back  away.

I am devastated.  We love this neighborhood and they would have been the perfect compliment to our street.  It felt so very right.  The house was the right size for them and their extended family for weekend lake outings.  As a future retirement home, it would serve their needs well, not only because of it's close proximity to ME, but because they had contracted to purchase the lot behind.  Guitar Man has as many, maybe more toys than Ol' Abner, and a place for a manly playhouse would fit the property perfectly.

Perhaps another property will better suit their needs and we'll find it next time they are here...but it won't be on my street!  That's just wrong on so many levels!

Bloom! NOT

I am tired.  Time to relax and refresh.  I might just sit in my back yard all day.  A sense of unrest keeps  gurgling to the surface.  Seeing daffodils peeking through the dirt and even popping into bloom in some places makes me sad that I planted no bulbs last fall.  In fact, not a single posie has been deposited into the earth in my new yard.  This is an abomination to my psyche.  Flower beds cannot be planned until that *!?*!!!%*%* building (or garage or shop or manly playhouse or whatever it will be) has been completed.  The lot is cleared of excess trees. Rocks have been unearthed and piled on the corner.  Stakes are inserted with twine stretched to connect the dots.  Now we await the blessing of city hall on the engineered slab design.   My vision for the final look of the back part of the yard seems to have been discarded.  I'm thinking I won't mention it again.  Function is more important than aesthetics, apparently.  I won't think about this today.  Maybe I better stay out of the back yard!

A Beautiful Life

Pat and Cherry

My only first cousins on the paternal side of the family.

Laughter, tears, smiles and hugs filled this week.  A call Saturday afternoon pulled my heartstrings in an unexpected sudden urge to review my childhood.  The photo above was taken a few years before my birth.  Cherry was ten years my senior and Pat was ten years older than my sister.  We were the four granddaughters of Gordon and Nan.  After losing Pat just a few days shy of four years ago, the news that Cherry was in her last hours of life brought my own early years bubbling to the surface.

The two cousins were teen-age girls in my early memories.  Pat was always so "cool and glamorous". Cherry still enjoyed "little girl" toys and was challenged by my first grade study tools.  My mother explained that she was "mentally retarded" and would probably never learn beyond an eight or nine year  capability.  Little did we know how she would expand those capabilities.  Yes, she remained childlike in so many ways, but she led a full and productive life thanks to the plan put in place by her diligent, protective and thoughtful mother.  That plan was followed by Pat after loss of their parents. Pat's older daughter stepped in to protect and enable Cherry's continued success when we lost Pat.

As I went away to college, Cherry was embarking on her own life away from home.  She moved into a "dormitory" where social activities were coordinated with a supervised work environment.  We discovered Cherry's aptitude for detailed shape recognition and sorting translated into a skill for earning wages.  Contracts were acquired for her group to earn a portion of their living expenses and develop money handling.  She loved her work and felt a strong sense of responsibility.  For years she had made potholders on a loom for all family and friends.  I still have two of the six she made as a wedding gift for me.  There will be no more.

Cherry had a stroke and died a few hours later. She had lived her final years in her own home with twenty-four hour care-givers under the guardianship of her niece.  I had never visited her there, but felt her presence when Karen and I went to the house to clear her personal belongings.  It gives me peace to know that she lived a life, not of limitations, but of limitless talent!

Wishing for Snapshots!

For several years I have kept my camera with me at all times.  Since the purchase of that first digital camera, snapping photos at every opportunity has been the norm.  My motto...photograph  constantly and a something will be worth saving.  Taking a picture with instant review is a delight.  Since the move to Texas that pattern has changed.  Certainly we do not lack for beautiful vistas or good times that should be captured on film. I've just found it easier to travel light these days.  My phone includes a decent camera to record those fun moments with friends or a quick shot of a pretty building or artifact.  I even managed to record a part of the Elvis tribute show last week.  I know what I'm seeing and hearing, but the entertainment value isn't quite the same.

After several busy weeks, Ol' Abner and I are enjoying a lazy weekend with no actual plans or commitments.  We drove into Austin and when the road was a little congested, bailed off to another freeway and circled around a different way.  I love that about Austin highways.  If one is crowded, take an exit and grab an alternate route.  In the process, we circled the city's center twice and encountered some spectacular views of the downtown skyline from multiple angles.  A camera phone just doesn't do to capture a skyline view from the window of a moving car along the freeway! In present day, the capitol building is dwarfed by larger buildings but somehow dominates the view.  We were enjoying our ride so much that we never did reach Ol' Abner's original destination, but who wants to wander around a big sporting goods mecca when the sun is shining and the roads are open.

Next time he wants to cruise, I'll take my camera for sure!