 |
| With the onset of fall weather, it was time to harvest the rest of the basil. We had about 8 cups of leaves, so made and froze pesto. |
 |
| The easy pesto recipe includes basil, olive oil, garlic cloves, walnuts, Parmesan cheese, and salt. So far, we've made pesto baked chicken. Delicious! |
 |
| Rather than participate in the plain red Starbucks cup controversy, I kept right on taking cold brewed coffee from home to work in my ceramic Starbucks cup, from the original location in Seattle. You'll notice that the original mermaid (on this cup) has had a corporate makeover. |
 |
| It was kind of chilly (okay, in the 60s) last Sunday (November 8). Fox arrived home from Anjanette's in some cozy footie pajamas just in time for some shenanigans before the bedtime story. |
 |
Girls' Auxiliary Queen-with-a-Scepter coronation at Oak Park Baptist Church, New Orleans, around 1967 (judging by my Twiggy haircut). Happy Birthday on November 8 to my sweet Sista Martha. Can't remember what was in the basket: flower petals? I'm guessing Sista Donna, who's not as appropriately adoring of me as Martha is ;-), carried the crown or scepter.
|
 |
Little brother Charles and me, Christmas 1956 (ages 3 and 2). Happy 61 on November 10, Charles!
|
 |
When I tried to wish Otis a Happy Redhead Day on November 2, I was reminded that he considers his hair to be orange, not red. Maybe he'll be a Longhorn someday?
|
 |
We drove to Waco on Saturday to see Emma sing with the All-Region Choir in Jones Hall at Baylor University. Students from about two dozen area high schools audition to be part of either the Ninth and Tenth Grade Mixed Choir or the High School Mixed Choir. Emma was chosen to sing soprano with the High School Mixed Choir, which performed mostly classical pieces; the men in the choir pondered "What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor?," a sea shanty I'd never heard before. Afterwards, we had dinner with our favorite soprano and Al and Joyce at the Olive Garden.
|
 |
The wooden hand railing had rotted through and pulled away after 7 years in the rain, heat, and cold. Time for a metal hand railing. Papa Tom did the installation.
|
 |
| Voila! Back up to code, ready for the one or two days of icy steps this winter. |
 |
After gymnastics class on Monday, Amon took Jade to get the new hair style she'd been asking for. She chose the length herself. No more tangles!
|
 |
OK, Amon, you're cute too!
|
 |
Using Papa Tom's Whataburger coupon before the midnight expiration date
|
 |
| Okay, this post is self-explanatory, right? Thought you might enjoy seeing some of the costumed revelers. |
 |
| Chainsaw and The Scream |
 |
| Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top? |
 |
| A king and his queen |
 |
| Pretend cops |
 |
| The Viking struck a pose with his sword |
 |
| Scared of the . . . Austin bat? |
 |
A little bit of Portland is now in Austin.
|
 |
| Yes, you can have Fruit Loops on your doughnut. |
 |
But it was Halloween. So I opted for the chocolate voodoo doll doughnut with raspberry filling and a pretzel pin in its heart.
|
 |
| That was a ton of sugar for someone who doesn't ordinarily eat doughnuts. |
 |
| Papa Tom tried the apple fritter. |
 |
| Hello, my pretties! My magic broom and I are ready to fly! |
 |
| Papa Tom was a very scary zombie! |
 |
What? Not even on Halloween? And why did they choose the Jason mask?
|
 |
So this must be like posting a "No Dumping" sign, which always guarantees there'll be dumping at a site.
|
 |
So many fresh and delicious options at the Asian market! We found turmeric root, which we got for juicing, due to its health benefits. Will dilute it with TopoChico for a tasty drink, as we've been doing with ginger we've juiced.
|
 |
Okay, look no more. This is the source!
|
 |
Have never tried one. They're not very big. Do you eat them like chicken eggs?
|
 |
Fresh fish, indeed. But would be hard to choose one for dinner.
|
 |
We don't know where Einar was during all the storming. He showed up on the front porch for breakfast during the deluge, then disappeared. After the rain stopped, he surveyed his world from the porch railing.
|
 |
Austin airport received 14.5 inches of rain by 5 p.m. that Friday and was forced to close when the air traffic controller tower (tower?) flooded. Our neighborhood sits fairly high so houses aren't prone to flooding. But houses flooded elsewhere in Austin. The flood stage for Onion Creek is 17 feet; it reached 39 feet. At any rate, when I picked Jade up from school on Wednesday, she insisted that we scramble through this ditch, which was completely dry, to get to the Zoomer. Not on Friday!
|
 |
In front of Jade's school on Friday afternoon.
|
 |
A safe way across the arroyo. (The street name is Arroyo Seco, which means "dry ditch.") Not so much that day!
|
 |
We hardly ever use the garbage disposal because we compost almost everything. Sometimes I send lemon or lime down the disposal to keep it fresh. Even so, it stopped working after 7 years. Papa Tom installed a new one. Should be good to go for another 7 years, right?
|
 |
Connie flew in from El Paso to visit with Sharon, who lives in Georgetown. They drove into Austin to have lunch with Papa Tom, Amon, and me at the Flying Saucer.
|
 |
Connie brought a berry cake for us to share in remembrance of Mom. Thanks, Connie. My Mom would have loved this.
|
 |
I was so sure that the poster at Spec's (near our house) was of Richard Simmons. Doesn't that outfit look like something Richard Simmons would wear? Papa Tom remembered correctly: it's Liberace. Had a bet riding on it; I lost!
|
 |
Yep, it's Liberace.
|
 |
| Mom and Dad's wedding photo: October 20, 1950 |
 |
Our passport photo for move to Peru, in 1957. Not sure what time of year it was, but I would have turned 4 and Martin would have turned 1 in July; Charles would have been 3 in November. Children traveled on their mother's passport. I wonder if that's still how it works?
|
