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| We used to eat at La Fonda when we lived in Lafayette in 1964-66. The restaurant is still open, and serves some of its original Mexican dishes as well as fried rabbit. We had a belated Father's Day celebration with Craig, Tom, Dad, Dave, and Martin. So grateful for these good men in our lives! And for those of you who weren't with us: Al, Ryder, Micah, and Amon. |
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| The Sistaz were there with Dad too, of course. Happy Father's Day, Dad, and thanks for being the best Dad ever! |
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| The road took us through Giddings so we had to stop at our favorite authentic taqueria for lunch: Taqueria Chihuahua. Well worth the long wait in line for hot off the griddle tortillas filled with scrambled eggs, sausage, etc. |
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| We met Martin on Friday and stopped by 613 Claymore in Lafayette, our home in 1964-66, when I was in sixth and seventh grades. The subdivision was new; no tree in the front yard then. From Lafayette, we moved to New Orleans, where I lived until graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School in 1971. Mom and Dad were there until about a year after Katrina hit in 2005. |
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| Austin has speed bumps and speed cushions. A speed bump by any other name (e.g., speed lump) is still a reason to slow down. For 2,600 feet in this case! |
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| Haven't seen a TV antenna in a long time. You needed at least two people to operate it: one to go outside and turn the antenna pole, and one to watch the TV reception and yell "keep turning!" or "good!" |
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| Finally! Ham burgers! |
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| A benefit of being in Lafayette, in the heart of Cajun country, is getting to shop at NuNu's Cajun market for seasoning and chicory coffee. |
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| Do you see Micah at the tip top of the tree? |
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| The tip top is gone and Micah's safely on the ground. |
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| Zephyr is fascinated by Violet the hamster. |
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| And by Rainbow the Beta fish. Rainbow's bowl is now covered in a lingerie bag to keep curious claws out. |
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| Zephyr's calm here, but regularly wrestles with the ivy. |
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| She likes the coolness of the banana bowl. She'll outgrow it soon. |
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| Perfect place for a nap. |
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| Emma attended freshman orientation at Centenary on Father's Day weekend. Love the hair, Emma. You mentioned you might go silver? |
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| We turned our backs on the Little Shop of Horrors plant for too long, apparently, and it claimed this chair as its own. Yikes! |
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| Amon and Papa Tom had better not spend too much time freeing the chair! They could be next on the hungry plant's list! |
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| Success! The chair was pulled off the plant with no harm to either one. Yes, it looks like the plant kept the chair seat. Not so. Was removed and replaced by human hands. |
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| For old times' sake: celebrating with beef nachos grande at Waterloo Icehouse. Austin was originally named "Waterloo" when founded in 1837. Two years later, the city was renamed in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the "father of Texas." |
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| Since Papa would be at work on Sunday, Fox gave him her gift on Saturday. She painted a little ceramic Fox for him and signed his Father's Day card. LaWanda, do you recognize Fox's outfit? |
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| Lala and Fox built "Underwater Magic at Fairy Cove" for the annual Woodland Fairyland Trail at Zilker Park. We strolled along the trail, the way marked by solar-powered lights. A harpist played at one exhibit and children made "fairy dust" necklaces in the party area. |
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| Fox played the mischievous orphan Chisler in a summer camp production of "Annie." Anjanette, Lala, Papa Jay, Auntie Liz, Amon, Tom, and I all attended the show. |
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| Chisler aka Fox with Amon |
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| Our 23rd anniversary present to ourselves is Zephyr, who we took home on June 10, 2018. She was born on a farm an hour outside Austin. Three Mama cats had 15 kittens! We like that she was raised outdoors with three mamas and lots of other kittens. She's very sociable and has a lot of "cat sense." |
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| Don't bother me while I'm napping! |
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| Tired of lawn work? Tap into Otis's natural weed-killing bamboo! |
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| That's some voracious weed-killing bamboo! |
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| High school friend Germaine Odenheimer stopped by to visit on her way back from NOLA to Oklahoma City, where she lives. Dr. Odenheimer, a gerontologist and neurologist, retired in December and celebrated by going with pink and teal hair. She taught at Harvard for 8 years and continues to lecture on dementia. We cooled our feet in Barton Springs, always 68 degrees. |
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| We laughed at this version of a "no parking" sign. |
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| Had lunch at Guero's with my former co-worker Sarah Ramos, who leads weekend workshops on spirituality for the Catholic church. |
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| Germaine wanted a cutting from our Little Shop of Horrors plant. |
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| Three tablespoons of tea, a cup of sugar, water, and SCOBY. How hard can it be to brew your own kombucha (fermented tea)? A SCOBY is a zoogleal mat--that is, a mass of bacteria and yeast, tied together with cellulose nanofibers. |
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| The first batch is going through a second fermentation in 16-ounce bottles to add carbonation. You add a half teaspoon of sugar to each of the bottles before pouring in the first fermentation. Brewing on the floor of the closet in my office. I'd been buying kombucha, as you can see from the boxes, at about $2 per bottle. You can brew a gallon at home for about 80 cents. |
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| Zucchini! We'll use the spiralizer to create zucchini pasta and sautee it with onions, garlic, and basil pesto. |
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| I spread wildflower seeds among the rose bushes to protect them from the heat over the summer. Do you see Einar? And our Christmas tree on the front porch? We take it back inside each December and decorate it. |
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| Coriander surprise. I let the cilantro go to seed so we can have more plants. We eat a lot of cilantro! Had forgotten that cilantro seeds are coriander, used in Indian and Mexican food. Very flavorful! |
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| Showtime for Fox! |
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| Anjanette, Fox, and Amon following the show. |
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| Poor little moon flower in May. Fighting off bugs, putting down roots in a crack in the sidewalk. We watered it daily to nurse it along. |
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| Look at all the moon flowers in bloom! We still water it daily. We've had hot, hot days and I'm sure the sidewalk is baking the leaves from the underside. Passersby often stop to admire and even take photos of the plant. |
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| At the end of May, I thought I saw a hummingbird in the garden. But it was an Eastern Swallowtail butterfly, with black wings and blue markings. She laid eggs on our dill plants, one of three types of plants the caterpillars will eat. The butterflies are good pollinators and the caterpillars don't eat eggplants, tomatoes, bell peppers, etc., so we want to keep them around. |
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| Caterpillar on dill. We use the dill to make homemade ranch dressing. |
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| I think there are seven caterpillars in this photo. I only see six. |
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| Papa Tom plucked a big fat horned tomato worm off one of our tomato plants a few weeks ago. Fat and happy because he'd completely stripped the leaves off one of the plants! We placed him in the butterfly habitat with some tomato leaves. A few days later, he spun his cocoon. He emerged on May 31, and we released him at the Bull Creek watershed, far, far away from any tomato gardens but hopefully close to something else he likes to eat and that doesn't like to eat him. |
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| On May 26, 2018, Emma was one of more than 600 Midway High School graduating seniors at the Ferrell Center on Baylor's campus. |
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| Thank goodness for the big screen televisions! |
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| After the graduation ceremony, family and friends celebrated at a reception. Joyce and I roamed around taking photos, of course. In the background, Papa Tom visits with Emma and friends. Emma's cousins Riker and Jaden flank sister Piper, who arrived all the way from Perth, Australia, with parents Chelle and Al Weedn. |
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| Joyce, Emma, Chelle, and Al |
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| Emma and her grandmothers. Wanda Bean (Chelle's Mom); me; Emma; and Mary Horn (Al's Mom). |
