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. {as am I} 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 whole Secret Santa and Potluck Luncheon plans at work.  Since Rad Tech week was lame, I didn't want the holidays to be the same.  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, gonna live here 'til I die". (name that song)  I took Thursday and Friday off, just to get a break from the crazies at work.  Well, and 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.  It turns out soooo good! 

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 {I'm pretty sure the aroma was driving he and his helper crazy} 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.  We went to Chi'lantro for a quick meal to go and Netflixed it for the evening.

The next day, I strained out the crockpot of bones and now have some wonderful soup stock in the freezer!  We headed to Brenham, stopping to pick up some smoked pork for sammies on the way.  We helped my mother run a couple of errands and do some odds and ends chores.  {there always seems to be a long list of things we need to do there, just not enough time to do it all!} On the way home, we stopped at Rohan for some mead and wine.  After another couple left, we were the only ones there.

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.  The breakfast was HUGE but we figured we would skip lunch.  {And it turned out that we were happy we ate a hearty breakfast}

 

 We stopped at Highlands to check on it.  Yep, its still there...

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.  I don't know why we don't stop in there more often.  Its such a cozy spot - smells great, has friendly people, serves delightful 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.  We will not be able to attend the pick-up party, so we made our own party.  They had live music and it was beautiful weather.

 We picked up some gyros from a food trailer along the way.  We must have been starving - we inhaled them.  So good!  We will definitely stop there again the future.

Teddy enjoyed some breezes and some down time, too.

We got a bottle of wine signed by one of the owners as a Christmas gift to Hubby's boss, 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?  Crazy!

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.  And now, the week's Menu:

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

Corks

Months ago Hubby brought home 3000+ corks.  I am not kidding.  THREE THOUSAND.

They are from a co-worker of his who used to be a bartender.

One of my putsey-ing activities on Sunday was to sort through the bags of them, pulling the plastic ones out for recycling and putting the rest in a box.  What in the world am I going to do with all of them!?

I already have them in various places around my house.  
In a giant IKEA vase in the kitchen...

...a smaller vase in Scout's old room...

...in the china cabinet...

...and, in a few of my potted plants.  {Which I like the looks of, but let's just see if the squirrels will let them be.}

And while I love the organic look of corks, I am growing weary of trying to find ways to use them.  I have already done a couple of crafts with them, and I kind of feel over it.  I might use some of them for place card holders on the Thanksgiving table if I can dig out my glue gun in time to do that.  I offered a bag to my sister, but I really have no idea what to do with the rest!  P.S. my collection grows a little every weekend...

Gina

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

Much to Hubby's disgust, I was on call this last weekend.  It always means I pretty much cocoon in my home (which is lovely) and get a lot of productive putsey-ing done, just waiting for the phone to ring. This last go-round, I didn't get called in.  Which is actually too bad, since we have an expensive two months ahead of us.

By 7 p.m. on Saturday we were rarin' to go.  It had been a looong time since our pizza for 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.

We each got one taco and split an order of chips and queso.  And although we totally could have eaten twice that, we saved some calories for beer to follow.

It was an absolutely delicious meal and we will return if we are ever in the neighborhood again. But my goodness, Manchaca is far away!

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 - the wrong color - and I just went ahead and put it down.  Smells great, looks great, who cares.  Life is too short.

I also set up the Thanksgiving table.  Now that thats done, I can focus on the menu.  {I will share a little about it on Monday.}  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.  Since I work Thanksgiving evening, I want to be organized so that I can enjoy the morning and lunch with my peeps!

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 with ground turkey*, 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 to check on my mother, then to Highlands in the evening}
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}
{Tomorrow we'll eat Taco Salads and Tuesday I will shop for the rest of the Thanksgiving holiday}

******

*the working mom's friend: A pound of ground beef or turkey, cooked with half a chopped onion and some garlic, simmered with a can of BBQ beans.  Serve with cornbread and a smile.

Gina

I made my kitchen bigger this morning!

You know how one change in your home generally leads to another?  And another.  And another.  I mean, there are so many improvements we could be making here since all of the "kids" are pretty much gone.  Things we put off for a long time.  Getting my own creative space, for one.

{This used to be Firstborn's room, then later it was The Lounge.}  I got the desks in.  Got the closet organized.  Ish.  Got the carpets clean, the walls fresh.  But now I have no tabletop space to spread a project out.  So that's what is happening in here on the floor.

 Unless you count the ironing board as a crafting space.  Meanwhile...in the kitchen...gee, its dark in here.

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, mopped the floors and went on living my life.  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.  And maybe, just maybe, I will finally spruce up that table and chairs with some paint, which I have wanted to do for years!

Gina