One word Wednesday #52

Tacos!

Gina
 

Empty Nest Menu #96

Last week's Red, White, and Blue Salad, paired with teriyaki marinated and "grilled" chicken was delightful!  Full on summer, so no more oven.

Monday - yesterday's dinner of Skillet Meatballs and Beans that I was too tired to cook, carrots

Tuesday - Skillet Tilapia, couscous, sauteed peppers and onion

Wednesday - Stovetop Cheese Enchiladas (making this up as I go along), brussels sprouts

Thursday - (freezer) Taco Spaghetti, salad {morning dentist appt}

Friday - Dill Shrimp Salad on Toast, low salt chips, fresh fruit

Saturday - TBD {Gina to a baby shower}

Sunday - Easiest Italian Chicken (stovetop) {Gina works 7-1]

 

Gina

5 thing Friday - pizza, beer, wreath, pancakes, chair

Last Friday we ventured over to Pinthouse, which was a favorite pizza place pre-pandemic.  It probably would have continued to be so, but we had a less than stellar  experience there last summer and pretty much quit going there.

It was a beautiful thing to see all of the long picnic tables back in place with happy, smiling, mask-free people enjoying their freedom, their health, and their pizza.

And I have discovered that I love a cold, juicy hazy IPA, in particular this one.

I bought a $6 bunch of flowers at Wal-Mart to update my front door wreath for summer.  I'm not over-thinking this stuff, clearly.  I think it looks very pretty, though! (I still so love my chocolate brown door) 

I make pancakes once in a blue moon.  These were last Saturday's version - made with banana slices and topped with plenty o' butter, syrup, and BACON.  I made up for it by eating oatmeal twice this week.

Hubby and I saw these cute rocking chairs while were in Blanco recently.  But at $128 each, no thank you.  I am sure the mark-up on them is about $75 more than they were bought for.  So now I am on the hunt for them.  Look at the built in cup holder!

Another place to get pizza and beer, this one featured live music by this guy.

We stopped by on Father's Day to enjoy their new location and have a snack of these:

Garlic knots with marinara for dipping.

Once again, the place was full of happy people living their lives.  It makes me look forward to a fun summer of going and doing!

Gina

One word Wednesday #51

One word Wednesday is back. Maybe temporarily until I have some free time to work on other projects to show and tell.  I mean, there is that Cricut gathering dust next to my desk...

Summertime

Gina

Empty Nest Menu #95

Isn't this a pretty pathway?  There were several at a brewpub we stopped at in Dripping Springs, intending to listen to Spicy Loops and enjoy an early dinner al fresco.  He had played early and left, so we had one beer and left.  But I would love to go back here and just sit and admire these arches.

I think I could do one or more of these at Highlands. 

Monday - Butter Chicken Tacos with guacamole, pico de gallo, and queso fresco

Tuesday - Shrimp Fettucine Alfredo, green beans

Wednesday - Polenta and Eggplant Parm, Caesar salad {Gina on call}

Thursday - Coney Islands, red cabbage and apple slaw

Friday - Grilled Chicken with Red, White, and Blue Salad

Saturday - Sippin' on the Edge for lunch, Pesto Gnocci Skillet with Salmon for dinner

Sunday - Meatballs and Beans, garlic toast

*I have some fairly high calorie meals this go round, but I will keep portions on the smaller side

Bed pads for Darby

Slowly but surely I am getting Darby situated.  Next on my list was making bed pads, covered by a long pillowcase made out of sheet fabric, so that we aren't sleeping directly on the upholstery.  I started out with this egg crate pad we had on top of the memory foam mattress in Mabel:

When I cut it in half lengthwise, it was a perfect fit in Darby.  The sheet/duvet I had made for Mabel was deconstructed, then re-sewn into two long pillowcases that the foam pad slips into.

Voila!  Now we can slip it off to wash it easily and it provides just a tad bit more padding on the bed bunks.  On my side I rolled it up so Hubby could see what I meant by it being a bolster - I could not for the life of me get him to understand what I was doing...it cost me nothing more than an hour to make both of them, including cutting the foam.  My favorite kind of sewing project!

Now I need to get some fabric to re-cover the flannel camp pillows.*  Can't wait to stretch out in here for my first nap...

Gina

*Done
two standard pillowcases ($5) made into French fold cushion covers (30 minutes) for those old flannel toss pillows.  Inexpensive, washable, pretty.

Weekend re-cap: Highlands, 7 Creeks, Fiesta, Wreck 'em Right, Roadrunner, 12 Fox, finally HOME

We started out the weekend by mowing our yards at Rustown on Friday evening.  Nevermind that the front yard is mostly weeds and dirt - eventually we will do something about that.  I raked the front mulch back into place (for the third time), swept the drive and sidewalk, cleared the red rocks area a bit up in back.  One hour of outside time for me total and I was starting to feel the heat and humidity.

spoiler: this is not my yard

The next day we worked on a project at Highlands - filling in the driveway ruts with  road fill, neither an easy nor pleasant task.  But we "hard stopped" at noon and headed to 7 Creeks for some live music, cold wine, and a silly selfie.

We're gonna have to get better at this.

We headed home around 4 to let Teddy out to pee, and I have no memory of what else we did or ate, although I know I cooked dinner.  I think we both passed out on the couch afterwards!

The next day it was all systems go for taking Darby on her first road trip.

We headed towards Fredericksberg, for a wine club pick-up.  I had to pause and snap a pic just behind my chair while we were stopped for gas - seems weird to see our little home just behind us.

We had actually never been to Fiesta Winery in F'berg.  It is much the same as the other locations, minus the view at Bend.  Our server was a sweet young thing that didn't know squat about wine.  It did not deter Hubby from making small talk, because he never met a stranger.  

To her, we are decrepit old winos.

  We do not care.

It would have been nice to take a pic of our lunch without having started eating it, but oh. well.  They treated us to a fish taco, chicken avocado eggroll, and chips with pico which we enjoyed with their Tex Way Rose (Tannat and Viognier blend)  It was all delightful, of course.  Bonus: live music!

On the road again!  One of our Darby plans: spend a day off 290 visiting a couple of state parks, including this one.

We were headed back towards Austin, enjoying the drive, and we remembered there is a brewery in Johnson City that we wanted to try.  The beer was great, the barkeep very friendly, the live music fun.  I'm sure we will stop in again sometime, but we were trying to get to a place in Dripping Springs by 4 p.m. to hear Spicy Loops play.

He had just LEFT so we had a cold one in the shade.

Whomp whomp.  So much for his website's show schedule...

I know it looks cool, and green, and shady here but its probably 98 degrees out.  However, we think it might be fun to stop by here again sometime, when we are in the area.  They had cornhole and other yard games, along with lots of trees to sit under.

Last stop was 12 Fox for a burger.  The place looks empty, but there were lots of folks up on the deck and a guy playing guitar on the stage just out of frame to the left.  By then I was just too hot to think about snapping a photo, and we headed back to Austin around 6.  Both of us a little dehydrated perhaps, and very over the heat.  But it was fun to see how Darby handled the roads and get out into the country for a while.  And we are already planning another jaunt in her on Sunday.

Gina

Empty Nest #94

I am really not ready for the weekend to be over! 

Monday - Grilled Chicken with Lemony Basil Arugula Salad

Tuesday - Salmon Burgers with Chile Lime Mayo, sliced Persian cucumbers, sweet potato fries

Wednesday - Carne Asada Stuffed Peppers, green chile mac and cheese

Thursday - Hot Dogs with dill pickle mustard, BBQ beans

Friday - Pineapple BBQ Chicken Thighs, roasted red potatoes, watermelon wine! {Gina on call}

Saturday - Eat Out {Gina on call}

Sunday - Potluck dinner at Esperanza wine club pick-up {taking Darby!}

Gina

5 thing Friday - dinner prep, Wal-Mart, Mexican breakfast, silver foxes, beer

In reverse order, because that's what Blogger wanted and I was too tired to argue...

Mostly easy suppers this week!  Tuesday's was salmon with lemon pepper and garlic, two twice bakeds, skillet roasted green beans and purple onion.  DEE-lish. {here it is prepped, ready to cook}

Shopping at Wal-Mart was AMAZING last week, I couldn't believe it.  OK, so I went at 8 a.m., BUT.  The store was clean, uncrowded, no masks required, and I found everything I needed.

It is my least favorite store but that may change.

Mexican breakfasts on Saturdays are what I live for.

This very basic breakfast of eggs with machacado, beans, potatoes, and homemade hot sauce and tortillas was enjoyed at the Palms Restaurant in Seguin.  They were reasonable and very friendly, too.

Happy Hour the night before at Blackstar Co-op.  We got chased inside by the rain.  {remember: we are going backwards in time}

I was trying to very covertly point out this couple to my husband - the woman was my age, but in much trimmer shape, long gorgeous silver hair, a full sleeve tattoo, and was tearing into a cheese burger.

This woman is at least #hairgoals.

Have you ever enjoyed tomato jam?  It was on our cheese plate - so good.

Another day, another brewery.  This one on Sunday.  Wait.  

This is throwing my timeline off.

They had an upright herb garden made out of pallets which I thought was genius.

We enjoyed some loaded fries and some cold beers after working on Darby all day.  The manager of the food truck came out to ask what we thought of the food, and for my honest review of her amazing fresh tomatillo sauce, she bought me another beer.

And with that, poof!, the weekend was over.

Gina

Meet Darby

We picked up our new baby, Darby, {aka Winnebago Travato} last weekend.

Its been raining for what seems like forever here, so it was hard to get a good pic of her when we first bought her.  All the credit of finding her goes to Hubby who has been on the hunt for a travel van for what seems like the last two years.  She is 4 years old and has less than 20,000 miles on her.   She was kept under cover so she is pristine.  The previous owners upgraded her here and there, and she was very gently used.

She takes up most of one side of the driveway and attracted the attention of our neighbors fairly soon after she arrived.  We spent a day, freshening her up and adding on that cargo rack.

Come on in!

She has a nice roomy cab.  All business in the front, party in the back.

(couldn't help myself)

She has the same size cooktop as Mabel, pretty much, but a larger sink, combo microwave/convection oven, and a good size fridge/freezer.

Her bunks are very comfy.  I want to protect the cushion covers, so I  will likely make roll-up mattress pads with sheets, but I'm still working on that design...For now, the blankets are stored in Hubby's overhead compartments; miscellany and cookware on my side.

I bought Hubby a travel journal and some info on Texas state parks, which he has yet to find on his bunk. 

YES.  No more pee funnel or squatty potty.

(Also, do you see my trash can out on the curb?)

I'm going to add another shower curtain so we will have full coverage back here - its a small space but the curtain rod wraps all the way around, held by clips.

She has lots of storage.

I think we will be very comfortable in her.  We can both stand up!

Did I mention all of the storage?  We managed to fit just about all of the stuff we pulled out of Mabel, but admittedly, some of it is not needed.  Live simply is our motto going forward.

Three "silvers"!

For a minute there, I was sad to have lost so much space in our driveway.  Her home base will be Camp Rustown so we can easily jump into her, get on the road,  and slip into the night...

First trip is a mini-excursion to Fredericksberg for a wine club pick-up this weekend!  Fun times ahead, ya'll.

Gina

Empty Nest Menu #93

{One last pic from Mabel}

Summer time fun time is here! 

Hopefully we can do some sight seeing this summer in Darby, aka our new ride!

Monday - Indian-spiced Chicken Bowls (with garlicky spinach over rice)

Tuesday - Salmon, fresh green beans, small twice-baked potato

Wednesday - Tomato Basil Gnocci, garlic toast

Thursday - Turkey Chili Crockpot, low salt Fritos

Friday - Honey Garlic Chicken, corn on the cob, roasted red potatoes

Saturday - TBD

Sunday - TBD as well, but we have a wine club pick-up in Fredericksburg.

*I just noticed how often garlic is mentioned in this week's menus...

Gina