5 thing Friday: muffins, tote, nails, flowers, letter board

I had no less than seven brown bananas in the fruit bowl. So, following a recipe from The Frugal Girl, I made muffins on Tuesday night for us to enjoy for breakfasts.  Mine have Ghirardelli mini chocolate chips!

They came out nicely - much like a recipe I used to follow when my peeps were small that called for mayo.  I have no idea what happened to that recipe card, though, so this was a good substitute.

The Girl bought me a cute tote bag for Mother's Day!  I think I will use it as a shopping tote for non-grocery items.  Or as a book bag.  Or for overnight trips to Highlands. Or...

Somewhat blurry pic of my nails in their on-going recovery from winter dehydration.  I bought some Barielle nail cream I rub into them daily, and I have a Barielle oil I paint on and rub into them in the evenings.  Every now and then I paint them.  But I feel like the nail polish remover does them no favors. 

The wildflowers at Highlands this year were insane.  ARE insane - its still going on.  We even still have some bluebonnets up there which is unheard of in late May.

All along the road on the way to the property there are flowers.  I want to use my plant app to identify them before they wane. 

I'm having fun with the letter board in the guest room.  I took down Scout's framed photography in black and white, then re-hung the color canvases in here.

It makes for a fun collage and I wonder if anyone will notice that the sign keeps changing its message?  Ha! Happy last day of May!

Gina

Michief managed in the garage

The Girl returned home from Atlanta last Friday.  I hadn't meant to rope her into helping with this monstrosity on Saturday morning:

But there were a lot of her things out there, too. The pool?  Teddy's.  And also a dog crate, some files of hers, all of her childhood memory boxes, Barbies, and Beanie Babies.  After making my volunteers breakfast, we got started.  And I think we made a good start.

Firstborn still needs to come get his things.  We hung some paintings we got from Hubby's late sister, found some charcoal we didn't know we had, moved that Christmas tree and all the lights off to the side.

We made space for my crafts and tools (the white dresser), stored all of the coolers and scout camping equipment, even created a spot to place the "stuff basket" that goes up to Highlands each weekend.  

We made the tools and lawnmower a little easier to access, too.  You can actually move around in here a bit more safely and find what you need.

The Girl and I laughed over the "super valuable scrap wood" that Hubby insists on keeping.  I mean wood doesn't grow on trees or anything.  Ha!

You can actually get to these ladders now.  And we got rid of a lot - either through donating or putting in the trash, but either way, we have a little more room to breathe in here. And that's good enough for now.

 I took my two helpers to Fairweather for a cold hard cider and some down time.  And not a moment too soon as the Texas heat is on its way.

Gina

Mealplan Monday #247

 Itty bitty Austin up ahead!

Monday - Italian Spiced Chicken Bites, Mediterranean Pilaf, kale
Tuesday - Reubens, veggie chips, apple slices
Wednesday - Pacific Cod with lemon and tarragon, zucchini
Thursday - Turkey Patties with onions and peppers, smashed reds
Friday - Pot Sticker Stir Fry with pork and broccoli
Saturday - YOYO
Sunday - One Pot Spaghetti, salad, garlic rolls

Gina

Weekend re-cap: beer and snooty people

We found ourselves in an Empty Nest situation for dinner on Friday night - Bubbie was at a friend's house - so we put dinner in the oven then left the house for Austin Beerworks.

In addition to some tasty Harry Potter-looking beer we enjoyed chicken tacos and a brat on a bun, with some chips and queso on the side.  When we got home, I set the dinner out to cool and stashed it for the next night!  Mischief managed!  The next day we endured a soggy pick-up brunch at a winery with unfriendly tablemates...we picked up our wine and split, intending to enjoy a bottle at Highlands.

 

 We were there about 5 minutes when I heard Hubby yelling from the front of the barn.

We had left a mouse trap set up inside and I noticed the bait was gone but the trap was unsprung.  Looks like the snake found the mouse...  Unfortunately, we can't have rattlenakes hanging out around the barn looking for mice.  So he was dispatched same as the one before.  But I tell you, its nerve-wracking.

 

We bopped over to Georgetown soon after to enjoy some lunch at 600 Degrees Pizza.  Sadly, I did not get a pic of the pizza - it was gone in a flash.  It featured sliced meatballs, pepperoni, marinated tomatoes, red onions, and garlic and was fantastic.  Even if we were very hungry - snake slaying is hard work - it was a ridiculously good pizza.

They had a friendly bartender and some nice beer.  But it was a little on the pricey side, so it won't be a regular stop for us.  We went by a winery on the square and decided that wouldn't be a regular stop either - snooty tasting lady pushing the wine club hard and expensive marginal wine.  Pass.  We did stop by Georgetown Winery again, but the experience this time around was pretty lackluster.  I don't know if it was the rain, the snake, or just interactions with multiple unfriendly folks.  We were done for the day.

The Girl arrived home Saturday night and we enjoyed the aforementioned dinner which involved Chicken Mole (my favorite thing!), Spanish rice, and steamed carrots.  She will be in Atlanta for a week so we are Ted-sitting.  Since were going to be close to home the next day, we explored a new-to-us draught house that is not new to Austin.  There was a friendly guy out front grilling "for tips only" so we split a fresh grilled brat with sauerkraut.  He says he is out there most Sundays and you can bring something from home for him to throw on the grill.  Delightful!

After that, we headed over to Central Market for more snooty people interactions and some salmon patties to grill for dinner.  We hit the hay early - jury duty for me the next day and work for Hubby.  Hopefully, this coming weekend will be more productive - and friendly.  There's the garage clean-out to do and a new release at Save the World.

Mealplan Monday #246

Monday - Lemon Garlic chicken breast cubes, roasted red pepper quinoa, shredded and sauteed brussel sprouts
Tuesday - White beans with ham and no complaints*, corn muffins
Wednesday - Salmon with scampi splash seasoning, red bell peppers and corn
Thursday - Tacos al Pastor with all of the fixins', maybe some leftover beans
Friday - Heat and Eat Green Chile Chicken Rice Bowls (using up leftover veggies, too)
*Hubby wasn't on board with having beans as a main dish once a week, so we are compromising.  Every other week we will have sammies of some sort - tuna, chicken salad, grilled cheese and turkey...just something I don't have to slave over.

PS - Hubby has lost 7 pounds!

5 thing Friday - firepit, Mother's Day, Perisso's, green smoothie, necklace

A 3 day Mother's Day weekend was fun, but as usual, I was worn out on Monday.

We left our volunteer gig at the winery and headed to Burnet, intending to stop at the same place we had the Highlands sign made to purchase one of their firepits.  But after mulling the price for about 30 minutes, we decided to check the local hardware store.  Found an almost identical pit for over $300 less.  SOLD.

The bowl is a little less deep, and the foot rail and swing out top were reinforced.  And the lady at the hardware store said she thought it was made by the same people at the welding shop.  We got it offloaded and fired it right up!  Friday evening was misting and 50 degrees - perfect firepit weather.

 We used it all weekend and even woke up to it on Sunday.  Delightful.

On Sunday we had a wine club pick-up at Perissos.

   We enjoyed pulled pork sammies, live music, and  Dolcetto.

 You could not have asked for a more lovely day.  

Texas weather - cold one day, warm the next.

The place was packed with all sorts of mamas enjoying the beautiful day.  We stayed a couple of hours, picked up our wine, then headed home to grill burgers.

Scout and Dutch came!  They are back from a week on the coast enjoying a much-needed vacay.  Both of them looked relaxed and happy.  We ate our burgers al fresco and enjoyed them with some baked beans and sangria.  Firstborn and Bubbie even played a game with me while Hubby grilled!  It was a relaxing evening.

On Wednesday I got my teeth cleaned and is usually the case, I hadn't had time for breakfast.  Since I schedule early appointments,  I've been running through this nearby shop and grabbing a protein smoothie afterwards.  It makes my mouth and my tummy feel much better.  I should get one of those Ninja blenders - we would use it often.

I cannot get a decent pic of the Mother's Day necklace Hubby got me, but I love it.  the main pendant is a charm holder that you can switch out charms on whenever you like.  It came with a bluebonnet charm and calcedony bead.  The bluebonnet charm is detailed and the bead is an amazing shade of blue.  I know I will wear it and love it for years to come.

Gina

Bottling helpers

On Friday, Hubby and I both took a day off to work at a local winery that we enjoy.  They were bottling reds - Barbera, Tempranillo, Petit Verdot, and Mourvedre, to name a few.  Over 12,000 bottles of wine.

 

 Its safe to say we have zero experience doing anything at a winery besides drinking wine.  But we enjoy getting to know the winemakers and learning new things so we figured "why not?"  Plus, it was fun to meet other wine club members.

 

 This particular winery doesn't own their own bottling line, so a big rig pulls right up to the winery.  It was our job to label the boxes of empty bottles, stack them close to the line, flip the bottle over on the conveyor belt, re-load the full and corked bottles, tape the boxes up, stack them on pallets, and store them in the warehouse.  WHEW!  

Very hard work! 

Once the line got going, we were working at record speed - the production line was cranked up to high.  Thank  goodness for cooler weather and no rain!

Cases of empty bottles, stamped and ready to go.

 The bottles, ready to be flipped over on to the conveyor belt and filled.

 The winemaker, John, getting ready to lift filled pallets to be stored in the warehouse.

Hubby and I worked several job rotations - here he is helping to make sure all of the bottles are fully filled at the end of that particular varietal run. We helped them bottle almost 1100 cases of wine - everything you see below, shrink-wrapped in green.

 If you ever get a chance to work at a winery - bottling, picking grapes - do it!  Its fun to see how the winery works from the inside even though it is super hard work.  The owners paid us in wine, tee shirts, and pizza, and we met some fun folks and got to know the winery employees a little more.  We even recognized some people we had met here at another winery on Mother's Day - small world - and found that we were members of some of the same wineries.

Fun for sure - but I think I will keep my Monday through Friday job!

Mealplan Monday #245

Monday - Indian Spiced Chicken Breast, Superfood Salad, smashed red potatoes
Tuesday - Pintos with brisket onion and cilantro, corn muffins
Wednesday - Crock Pot Ribs, corn on the cob, leftover beans
Thursday - Tuna Salad on Toast, red pepper strips, fresh fruit
Friday - Mole Chicken Tacos, sauteed zucchini
Saturday - YOYO
Sunday - Take-out night

Gina

5 thing Friday - garage, nurses, front door, edging, paintings

About twice a year when I go out to the garage I feel like shrieking, so I then spend a couple hours cleaning it all up.  It makes Hubby super suspicious and edgy as he thinks I am throwing away or donating stuff.

Which of course I do. All of Firstborn's stuff is going to his apartment, the van seats are going back into the van, all of the kids' memory boxes are going to be moved out of way so I can have space for my craft storage, the scout stuff is going away - I can hardly wait.  I have already set the date - May 25.

It's Nurse's Week at work and I made a cute thing for them.  HEB had various flavors of M&M in these big bags at 2 for 1.  So I bought ten of them, put them into an Amazon box I covered in gift wrap, and taped a note on the front flap.

Each lady gets her own bag, and there were some really fun flavors.  I left them in the charge nurse office for them to find - so fun to do!  

I feel like this door project was anticlimactic.  I bought the paint, made my plans, and the rains came.  Every. Single. Weekend.  When Hubby asked me last Saturday "how long does it take the paint to dry?" I knew the day had finally come when I could get 'er done.  We got the hardware off and cleaned up, and the thing sanded and painted in no time.

 

 The color is Sincere by Modern Masters.

 A very pretty chocolate brown against the cream trim and red brick of the house.

 Above is the best pic I could find of the round edging under the front yard oak.  As you can see, the tree has grown quite a lot and the circle looked puny underneath it.  We had some random edging in the garage from Hubby's old BBQ patio so it cost us nothing to expand it.

We decided on a wavy pattern that complements the curves of the edging close to the house.  We filled it in with soil and topped it with mulch.  All that's left to do is wait for the wandering jew to spread out and fill in.  A one hour project and I love it so much better than the small circle that was there before.  

 

 I have a co-worker who makes these very pretty acrylic paintings.  She had a giveaway on Instagram and I won two smallish ones in black and white!

I added them to my floating shelves in the bedroom.  So simple and pretty - I love them!

Gina