5 thing Friday - Fall sights, Mother, The Girl, craftin', fun at work

 The view looking down the road from the entrance to Highlands:

Mostly it is green up there, from all of the cedar, but occasionally you will see some Fall color.  And usually Stubby runs up to us the minute we pull in.  Fall is a close second to being the prettiest season in Central Texas.  We are out playing in it today, cutting our Christmas tree at the tree farm!

My mother's to do list.  Her handwriting is not all that terrible for an almost 90 year old.  I can still read it!  Also, we got all of the things done when we visited.  I go pick her up on Tuesday to bring her to (hopefully) her last eye surgery follow-up visit.

The Girl has been sending me make-up pics, ha ha.  GUESS WHAT?  She is moving back to Austin in the early summer!  She is getting a transfer and a promotion and is super excited. I love that she will be closer to her brothers - 2020 promises to be a great year for us!

 Teddy makes the nicest winery doggie.  The owner gave him lots of treats for being so good. {another fun thing The Girl will be able to do with us!}

I made some cute little jar ornaments for my co-workers.  I spent $4 total since I had all of the things to fill them.  Each one is slightly different with jingle bells, a sprig of berries and greenery, and some fake snow.  I hot-glued the lids on and tied some ribbon scraps on them.  Super frugal and cute!  I am also making them a cookie tray with peppermint chunk topped brownies and some snowballs cookies.

 And for some unknown reason I took on the Secret Santa and Potluck Luncheon plans at work. We all deserve to feel a little festive at a place where we spend so much of our waking time!  I made a cute wreath to hang near a box I gift wrapped for Secret Santa questionnaires.  I typed up the questionnaires and copied them and set them out, then hung a sign-up sheet for the luncheon.  Then I sent out a department-wide email to everyone.  Here's hoping we'll have some fun merry making!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Gina   

Long weekend re-cap: birthday, Brenham, Rohan, Highlands, Westcave

It wasn't a real exciting weekend, but I feel like we "saw miles and miles of Texas". I took Thursday and Friday off - Thursday was my birthday.  Aaannnd we had to get a new water heater installed.

So I figured I may as well cook the turkey early!  I brined it the night before.  I have had good luck with this brine I loosely based on one by Martha Stewart where she adds a cup of bourbon and orange peels to the brine.  

The next morning I  got up early, threw the turkey into the oven, went to Dunkin' and bought some goodies, then barracaded myself in my craft room/office until lunch time.  At which time the plumbers were done and we headed to Pok-e-Jo's for some BBQ.

When we got home, we carved the bird, put it into foil containers in the freezer, separated out the fat and drippings and froze them, then put the carcass and the odds and ends of celery, carrot, and herbs into a crockpot and let it go all night.  I also made a pie to take to my mother's house, and a full pan of dressing for the freezer.  

The next day we headed to Brenham, to help mother run a couple of errands and do some odds and ends chores. On the way home, we stopped at Rohan for some mead and wine.  After another couple left, we had the place to ourselves.

The tasting room is small but cozy and the tasting room lady was really nice.  We ended up getting a growler refill of the Orange Spice mead and a couple of Christmas gifts.

 And I enjoyed a Tempranillo!

The next morning {what day is it?} we headed to the Hill Country with a stop in Liberty Hill to eat at Hobo Junction Cafe.  

 

 We stopped at Highlands to check on it.

I took a little walkabout in my practical trekking shoes and made a note of some deer tracks.  The weather was gorgeous!

 

Then we headed over to Marble Falls to meet up with the owners of Fiesta Winery so I could write a piece about their new-ish tasting room.  And we followed that up by visiting our friends at Save The World.  {I wrote both articles Sunday morning so you may be able to see them on the Texas Wine Lover website sometime in the future}

On the way home we popped into Bent Oak to admire Audreys' mad decorating skillz and enjoy a relaxing glass of wine.  We headed home to meet up with...The Girl!  Yay!  We enjoyed some chicken tacos for dinner and hit the hay early.

 

Sunday morning, I wrote those articles early then we headed over to Westcave Cellars to pick up our December shipment. They had live music and it was beautiful weather.

 We picked up some gyros from a food trailer along the way. 

Teddy enjoyed some breezes and some down time, too.

We admired the sleeping vines a bit, then headed home to eat crockpot soup.  And once again we all hit the hay early.  It was a fun weekend and I finally felt rested and ready to tackle the week ahead.  Can you believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we are less than one month away from Christmas?

Gina

Fuller nest menu and Thanksgiving table

Last Sunday I dragged out all of the stuff I had bought at Hob Lob to decorate the Thanksgiving table.  I didn't spend a whole lot of money, but I did want to create a table that I could use into the Christmas holidays with a few minor changes.

I started by using one of my older tablecloths that fits when you put two extra leafs in the table!

I placed a swag of magnolia-like leaves into the center of the table, bending it into curves.  The leaves have a lovely blue-ish sheen on them that will go well with this room. 

I dug around and found these mercury glass votive holders I got from the Target Dollar Spot years ago.  They had some melted wax in the bottoms, so I just ran very hot water in them, let them sit, and they were easily wiped out.  Note to self: use the little tea lights in them from now on!

I wove some burlap ribbon in along the swag, then and added in a taller votive holder, my blue velvet pumpkin stems, some white pumpkin picks, and a few large pinecones.

It needed something, I thought.

So a little moss from Dollar Tree was placed here and there.

I went ahead and set out the gold chargers and the wine glasses.  I kind of wish I had just bought plain white napkins, but I'm not going to worry about that tiny detail!  We will use the white plates from last year and I will get the silverware down.  I plan on serving buffet style.  

And later in the week, I found these  rustic glam gift tags at Target and used a Dollar Tree marker to write names on them before tying them onto the wine glass stem. 

Monday - Taco Salads {grocery shopping super early, if I didn't do it Sunday}
Tuesday - Beef Stew Crockpot, corn muffins {Bubbie home!}
Wednesday - Order pizza {getting Bubbie's car serviced}
Thursday - The usual turkey feast, and my peeps are bringing the desserts
Friday - Pulled Pork on buns, Jalapeno Corn Popper Salad, Ranch beans {tree farm day!}
Saturday - Leftovers {decorating the tree, maybe going to a winery}
Sunday - Turkey Soup {Christmas movies}

It's going to be a great week!

Gina

Weekend re-cap: Valentina's BBQ, SABG, 4th Tap, Camp Rustown

Much to Hubby's disgust, I was on call this last weekend.  

By 7 p.m. on Saturday we were rarin' to go.  It had been a long time since lunch.

We checked out a BBQ place in South Austin that we had been wanting to try, mainly because the guy at Young's in San Saba told us how much HE loved it.

It absolutely did not disappoint.

Just down the road was South Austin Beer Garden.

We sat at their chimenea outside and enjoyed a beer with some friendly people.

The next day, I slept in, made us a good breakfast, then set about finishing up my list of things to do around the house.  Hubby bought mulch - a different color, but who cares?  Smells great, looks great.

I also set up the Thanksgiving table.  Now I can focus on the menu.  Hubby grilled up some chicken I had marinating and we had a baked potato and veggie as go-withs.  We ran over to 4th Tap and had our growler filled with some delightful coffee beer, then proceeded to drink it by the firepit on our back patio.

A perfectly lovely evening and I was all rested up for the week, which is good - the hospital is cranking into high gear for respiratory season.

Gina

Empty Nest Menu #14

Last week's un-menu was a success as I used up almost all of the things I did not want to waste, got all of the Thanksgiving menu plans made, and will go grocery shopping tomorrow. 

Monday - (Last of the freezer meals) Hoisin Chicken, rice, peas {dentist appointment}
Tuesday - Mississippi Pot Roast, mashed potatoes, carrots {start crock on my way to store}
Wednesday - Baked Beans Skillet, kale {give carpets a quick once over with the steam cleaner}
Thursday - Kitchen closed - eat at Pok-e-Joe's  {Getting a new water heater today, and cutting Firstborn's hair at lunchtime AND It's my birthday and I'm off for the next 4 days!}
Friday - Leftover roast served open-faced style on garlic toast with red onion and cheese slice {going to Brenham, then to Highlands}
Saturday - Chicken Tacos {to Fiesta Winery tasting room in Marble Falls, then STW to interview the owners and have a birthday beer, then home.  The Girl and Teddy arrive!}
Sunday - Rest of the Tilapia, rest of the pot stickers, rest of the kale {roasting the turkey today}

Gina

I made my kitchen bigger this morning!

You know how one change in your home generally leads to another?   

When we first moved in, the kitchen seemed large.  Our peeps were small (there were only three) and we actually had a leaf in this kitchen table which took up the entirety of the breakfast nook.

Thinking back,  I don't even know how we did that!

But over the past few years, even removing the leaf  didn't make it feel roomier in here and with the dishwasher open it was impossible to get around.  So, I made a brilliant plan to move the table into my craft/office space to solve two problems.  Then I attempted to move it.  Nope.  That circa 1970 table is wider and heavier than it looks.

Then I thought:  there's only two people living here, why do I need 4 chairs in here.  It was a real duh moment.

I moved them out, re-positioned the chairs, and now the kitchen seems a tad bit bigger.  I still have to find some sort of crafting table for my craft room, but I think I am going to look into a folding one, and we actually have two of those at Highlands.

Gina

Weekend re-cap: on-call, Highlands, Wedding Oak, 7 Creeks, home

 This is going to be short and sweet I guess, because I didn't take a lot of photos.

 All I need are boots and a shawl!

I was on call Saturday and I did get called in for about 2 hours, but I also got a lot done.  I bought groceries, shopped at Kohl's to find a dress to wear to Hubby's work Christmas party ($9!), trimmed up the wandering jew in the backyard, did some Thanksgiving planning, did some filing, went as far as I could on Bubbie's FAFSA, and did some odds and ends housework.  At 6:30p I figured I was safe to leave town, so I headed to Highlands where we enjoyed fondue and steak bites at the campsite until very late.

The next day we went to Wedding Oak's pick-up party, which featured live music and wood fired pizza - yum!

 

The weather was perfect, the patio filled up with friendly people and we met a nice couple who had just moved to Burnet from California.

That pizza oven was like a gigantic BBQ pit on wheels and turned out some of the best wood fired pizza I've had in a long time.  We stopped by 7 Creeks on our way home, chatted under the oaks for a while, then headed home to enjoy some salmon for dinner.  And the weekend ended all too soon.  

Gina

Empty Nest Un-Menu #13

For Lucky #13 on the Empty Nest meal plan I have things in the freezer that I need to use so that I can clean it up and get it ready for the holidays.

*two Grilled Honey Dijon Pork Chops
*Tater Tot Casserole
*assorted frozen veggies
*half a bag of potstickers
*several Tilapia filets
*one pound ground beef
*a roll of breakfast sausage
*2 small twice baked potatoes
*half a jar of TJ's Autumnal Pasta Sauce
*half a pound of Elgin sausage links
*Hamburger Soup

Additionally I have these things in the pantry to use up:
*a package of linguini
*jar of Sun Dried Tomato Alfredo
*1 can butternut squash soup
*a box of Red Beans and Rice mix
*potatoes
*a LOT of rice
*pancake mix
*2 boxes mac and cheese
*Asiago cheese croutons
*Italian breadcrumbs

So what I'm going to do is get creative and use these things up!  It will help my grocery budget and avoid waste.  Plus its fun to figure out what to make - kind of like that cooking show where they give you unrelated items and you have to figure it out.  What's on the menu this week at your house?  

Gina

5 thing Friday - knobs, blankets, dining, decor, harvest decor

I bought some knobs at Hob Lob to switch out with the ones on my extended desk:

 I bought 5 of them  each one different and beautiful. The one above - so pretty!

You can still see the small holes left by the previous knobs on this mid-century desk.  Someday, I will fill those holes, sand, and re-stain and seal...some day.  For now, I love the beautiful knobs - all ceramic with brass, some with gold paint.

 At 7 Creeks, there is a basket near the back door full of folded Mexican blankets for you to wrap around yourself out on the patio.  I loved the idea so much that I bought a collection of them to place by the backdoor at Camp Rustown.  They are destined for fire pit sittin' and wine sippin' and stayin' cozy.

I thoroughly cleaned the floors and put two leafs in the dining table.  We are having EIGHT of our peeps and significant others for Thanksgiving!  Plans are already in the works for the menu.  When it gets a little closer I am going to work on my tablescape.

I bought these blue velvet pumpkin sprigs, some magnolia garland, and some pinecones, all on clearance.

 I finally got around to getting some mums and some gourds.

 When they bloom a little more they will be beautiful!

I so love Fall in general!  

Gina