Sunflowers for Ukraine and bees (June 2025)

 Sunflower sentinels

Our sunflowers are in support of Ukraine and the neighborhood bees. A long time ago, Austin's monk parrots would stop by for the sunflower seeds. We haven't seen them in years though.

We stand with Ukraine!

Landlord and renter 30 years later (June 10, 2025)

 Papa and I met when I rented a room in the House of Light and Joy to study for the bar exam in the summer of 1994. The boys stayed with their Dad while I studied. Papa lived at his Mom's but would come over to check his mail. Two things that made a favorable impression on him: (1) I paid three months rent up front; and (2) when the plumbing in the bathroom backed up, I saved the wooden floors by stuffing towels under the door. Maybe TMI, but when he went shirtless to dig up the sewer line in the front yard, I couldn't help but notice his glistening muscles. Sigh. Plus he's a very sweet guy who's into yoga and cats. Only after we were married did I find out about the football hotline and a garage full of tools. All good! We exchanged vows on the deck of the House of Light and Joy on June 10, 1995. The spot is now at the end of the kitchen island, thanks to our 2008 remodel.

Some of you have shared our entire journey. Some of you have joined us along the way. Some have left us too soon, with sweet memories.

Evelyn wouldn't let Papa wear blue jeans. She hemmed some khaki slacks for him. We would have been just as married either way. But he did wear his desert boots! 

Micah put wire rim glasses on Papa for the bride and groom pinata.

What's a wedding without a chance to somersault out of the elm tree onto a trampoline?

Martin and Ramzi, skateboarder/snowboarder

Thirty years later. Same spot, same clothes, same bride and groom. The glass door in the 1995 photo is now the opening between the living room and kitchen.

Tangle of tomatoes (June 8, 2025)

 A forest of sunflowers protect the tomatoes and peppers from scorching Austin sun.

TC aka Big Boy aka Bubby (June 4, 2025)

 Can't you see I'm trying to sleep here?

Let the sun shine! (May 28, 2025)

The May 28th microburst pummeled us with marble-sized hail (baseball-sized 2 miles away); 85 mph wind gusts that toppled trees (we saw a giant elm limb crack off a neighbor's tree when we were outside parking Max in the garage); and 2-3 inches of rain in 30 minutes. Then, sunshine!
 

DNA information for my descendants, in case you're wondering (Monday, May 19, 2025)

 I was excited to see at least some French in there. I like the Breton heritage even better because I think I would have been at home in Celtic culture. Bretons are Celts who live in northwest France. Some 25% of Europeans have Neanderthal DNA. If y'all have it, it isn't from me. 

Papa's green thumb (May 11, 2025)

 Let the harvest begin! Papa nurtured the pepper plants in the greenhouse all winter. Our reward? Crisp, sweet bells!

First tomatoes and carmen pepper on May 22. June's going to be like the multiplying buckets of water in Fantasia.

Big Boy caught a mouse (May 9, 2025)

 Sorry little mouse! Guessing Big Boy found you in the garden? RIP! That makes two mice two days in a row.

A few days later, he hopped over the 6-foot fence into the front yard with this little wren in his mouth. Papa rescued it. Because it had two puncture wounds, Animal Control recommended we take it to Wildlife Rescue for antibiotic treatment.

I swear Colette was nowhere nearby when I brought the wren inside. She immediately darted in to check out the box. I had to lock the wren in its box in the master bath overnight until Wildlife Rescue opened. Meanwhile, the wren worked its way out of the box and was flying around the bathroom, banging into the window trying to escape. I have a feeling it recovered just fine at Wildlife Rescue.

Dead & Company at the Sphere (April 24, 2025)

The venue is huge and mesmerizing. Color! Lights! Sound!

Founding Grateful Dead member Bob Weir, age 77. He was with GD from 1965 until they disbanded in 1995 when Jerry Garcia died. Dead & Company came together in 2015 with former GD members and world-class guitarist John Mayer, now 47. I wasn't a fan of GD and I'm still not a fan. All their music sounds alike to me. I did like "Death Don't Have No Mercy," an old gospel blues song recorded by Blind Gary Davis in 1960, featuring Mayer's smoking solo. 

We were immersed in graphic images on three sides plus the ceiling. 4D effects? Kind of like 3D too, where images appear to leave the screen. Our seats shook when the motorcycle rumbled. Compare the image size to the band on the stage.

Dead & Company music lends itself to psychedelic graphics. The Eagles will play the Sphere in September. I wonder what their graphics will be like?

 

Good times before the Dead & Company Concert (April 24, 2025)

Sharon and Connie in the Bellagio conservatory

Live music in Chinatown

Hula hooping on the Strip. Connie says I was supposed to give her money in exchange for her photo. Oops! I didn't know.

 

Wildlife habitat at the Flamingo hotel (April 24, 2025)

 Yes, those are real flamingos.

Connie and me

We stayed at The Flamingo but visited the Bellagio (April 23, 2025)

Connie with Dale Chihuly's glasswork on the ceiling in the Bellagio lobby. 

The Bellagio botanical gardens inside the hotel. Our bees would love this hive made of flowers.

Giant Easter eggs in the garden.

Guinness recognizes the Bellagio Patisserie chocolate fountain as the largest in the world at 26 feet 3 inches high. The fountain circulates 4, 409 pounds of chocolate at a rate of 120 quarts per minute. 

Outside the other Bellagio fountains dance to music in a water show.
 

Viva Las Vegas (April 23, 2025)

Sharon Reed, Connie Hayes, and I have been friends since 1986, when we worked together at the Williamson County Sun. The two Texas Sharons met Connie in Las Vegas, where she lives, for the Dead & Company concert to be held at the Sphere. 

The Sphere has immersive video and audio capabilities, which a wraparound interior LED screen, speakers with beamforming and wave field synthesis technologies, and 4D physical effects. The venue's exterior also features 580,000 sq ft of LED displays. The Sphere measures 366 feet high and 516 feet wide. 
 

Hooked on WordWow (April 21, 2025)

 Tom's high school friend introduced us to WordWow. More addictive than Solitaire. I don't dare start on video games. Notice the third column down! 

Happy birthday, Jan! (Saturday, April 19)

 Jan's birthday is April 14, but we celebrated on April 19. She's one of the loveliest, most kind and thoughtful people I know!

We qualify for the ag exemption! (Saturday, April 19, 2025)

To qualify for a property tax ag exemption via beekeeping, you must keep bees for 5 of 7 consecutive years. We're in our sixth consecutive year. With 7.5 acres, we must have at least 7 hives. We have 8 hives. The pay off? Property taxes on Cornerstone should drop from $6500/year to about $150/year. Plus, we love our bees and love what they do for pollinating the planet!
 

Poor Costco Bevo! (Sunday, April 13, 2025)

 Leeloo's tuckered out after making short work of Costco Bevo!

A Sunday afternoon (April 6, 2025)

 Finally smoking one of the Key West cigars. Amon had to show me how to use the cigar cutter. Kind of like Daddy had to show Martha, Donna, and me how to use the unusual corkscrew he brought home from Den Haag. I guess engineer genes skipped a generation. 

Nachos for Fox.

Peanut butter for Leeloo. Good girl!

Hands Off! protest (April 5, 2025)

I might be a child of the '60s, but this was my first time ever to protest. BTW, a cockwomble is a person, usually male, who is prone to making outrageously stupid statements and-or inappropriate behavior while having a very high opinion of their own wisdom and importance.  And "yes" to the Gulf of Mexico!

Several Handmaids were at the rally demanding that The Cockwomble and Congress work for "we the people." Some 1500 rallies were held in all 50 states with an estimated 3-5 million of us protesting the administration's policies.

Protestors of all ages were there. 

Some protesters prayed. 

It's said that fascism will arrive wrapped in an American flag and carrying a cross. I somehow don't think this guy is pro-authoritarianism. I wish I could read his red hat and sign though.

Drummers drummed. Dancers danced.

Ride the Cyclone (April 4, 2025)

Danny as Ricky Potts, his dream role, in Ride the Cyclone. Synopsis: Choir members have perished The Cyclone roller coaster. Each tells their story, in song form, to win the reward from a mechanical fortune teller: the chance to return to life. And, yes, he's on a planet of cats.

Before the show, we played carnival games such as ring toss.

We had to guess who the mime was miming.

Every carnival needs a strong man. Luckily we didn't have to arm wrestle him.

Or be as flexible as the dancer!