Santa Fe

On our way to Telluride, we stopped in Santa Fe...one of my favorite places in the world! I love the shops, buildings, history and restaurants. This is a picture of the Bed and Breakfast where we stayed. We had breakfast at the table in the courtyard. A fruit plate, quiche, hard boiled eggs and sweet breads. The juice was excellent - tasted fresh squeezed!

Another favorite place is Taos...we stopped by there and ate pizza on the way back to Santa Fe from Colorado. Luckily, that took us by the Black Mesa Winery, where stopped for a few minutes. They were very busy! We picked up some bottles of wine.

Vacation

We just returned from Colorado and New Mexico for a short vacation. The weather was such a nice break from our 100 degree plus days! We went white water rafting, hiking and "mudding" (which my husband really loved!) on one forest service road. On the others we just admired the scenery.

While on this road, we met some other folks from Texas and chatted a while. Beautiful area around Telluride. We stayed in Mountain Village and really enjoyed the fact that the gondolas were dog friendly. Not sure how our dogs would do that high up!

This is a picture of Jeff driving through 2 big boulders! Incredible views and cool temps - in the high 50s!!

Before and After

Recently when we were in New Mexico, I purchased this ceiling tin at a boot shop. I love the weathered texture but didn't care for the cowboy picture which was on the tin.

So I stripped off the picture and painted the center part of the tin - first white, then red, then tried to tone down the red and finally decided that I liked it red - gives the kitchen a POP of color! At first I was going to use a greeting card, but found a wooden cutout that I had in my 'treasure closet' and decided that it would be a better choice.

It is a cutout of St. Pasqual - The Patron Saint of Cooks (I need all of the help I can get!!)


At a garage sale, I found some little star nails and thought that the tin would look good hanging on one of those cuties. Sorry the after picture is not the greatest, but you can see a big change! I like the new look.

Lavender Days

Each June in Blanco, Texas Lavender Days are held on the courthouse square (and surrounding areas). This was our first year to attend and it was great fun!

Lots of booths with crafts, jewelry, clothes, hats, food, Texas wine, and other goodies! We looked through all of the booths and ate our way through the food tent...yum!

See the old buildings in town? There are some cool looking shops there - wish we would have had time to browse in those too!

All of the Lavender Farms were open for tours. The event lasts for 3 days and, hopefully, next year we will be able to spend more time.

On the way home we stopped at Whittington's Jerky in Johnson City...lots of great jerky and gifts! We bought some of the peppered beef and turkey. Yum!

Whew, it's HOT outside!

It is really hot here in Texas...the perfect time for taking a dip in the pool! Trooper only likes to put his front paws in, but Ranger goes all the way in and swims a lap or two! Actually, when the creek is running, they prefer to swim there - the water is not nearly as clean and there are fish, bugs, snakes and frogs! Lots of excitement and adventure.

It is so warm that I think that I will join them for a quick dip!

Wedding Reception

Wedding Reception

The wedding reception that we had this past weekend at our house was magical! Emily and Tom are such a sweet couple and we were happy to share our home with their family and friends as they start their life together! Good food (Rudy's BBQ) at tables set up under the tent, a DJ, a good local band, fun friends and family and candles in mason jars hanging from the trees. When the candles were lit, you could see their warm glow and the hundreds of fireflies in the darkness just behind them gave the night a magical quality. When Tom and Emily left for the evening, guests lined up along the drive with sparklers to wish them well!

This is a picture of my dear friend, Anne-Marie and me at the rehearsal dinner (held on a River Boat on Lake Austin). This was a fun night!

Many of the folks attending the wedding had never been to Texas, so the coyote fence was a popular place for photos. :-) Not bad for a fence that hides the well and pool equipment!

Since this is my first post , you can see that I do not have the whole picture thing down! Like what is that picture doing at the very top?? Yikes! I hope it gets better!