5 thing Friday - Texas Exits, yogurt, cell phone tool, the den, art

Last time I was in Bertram I found a new-to-me winery, called Texas Exits Winery. 

The co-owner and her mother were pouring and both very friendly ladies. The other visitors were very friendly, too, as in small towns people often are. I enjoyed a tasting (first time in a loooong time) and bought their sparkling rose to enjoy this week.

Exit 1431 - do you know where that leads?*

I have a hard time eating yogurt, even though I need the probiotics.  I think its mostly a texture thing, although Greek yogurt is kind of tart as well.  But if I swirl in some chunky peanut butter, and top with granola, its like eating a dessert.  Supposedly, full fat Greek yogurt is better for you. (less sugar, higher in nutrients, healthy fats)

I was telling someone else on their blog that I use my phone as a tool more often lately.  Case in point is documenting things round the house that I want to address - like low spots in the yard that need some filler dirt. (I notice it when it rains!) I go through my photos fairly often and come across the photo and its a great reminder.  Do you use your phone like that, too?

The art that was hanging in here was huge, dated, kind of ugly.

(you'll see it in a minute)

On a whim I went over to Hob Lob while I was doing errands and as their art was 40% off, I grabbed these three framed prints.  If nothing else, they keep it from being a giant expanse of just wall. (and I promise, this shade of green-blue is the same on both walls!)

They are companion art to the one a friend gave me.  I'm not going to decorate the whole house with Hobby Lobby, pinky swear.  But anything is better than this:

Very dated and not my taste.  I think I paid $20 for the large one about 15 years or so ago.  Both of these canvases are up for grabs if any of my peeps want them for their apartment.  Maybe they will do something artsy with them.

Speaking of art, I am still slowly gathering mostly thrift store art for the mini gallery in the front room.  This is an actual oldie I am re-purposing - I might have paid $2 for it at Salvation Army years ago.  It used to live in my laundry room.

I picked it up and couldn't bear to set it back down.  Esther was born in 1896 in Missouri, and outlived her parents and 3 siblings.  She died at 92 years old; 16 years after her husband Ralph.  And I own something she stitched as a child.  As my mother would say, "I wouldn't take a nickel for it!".

Gina

*Marble Falls, Texas!

5 thing Friday - weatherstripping, cobbler, El Rancho, KFire Winery, mornings

 I finally got around to changing out the weatherstripping on the attic door in the hall ceiling.  Took me an hour or so.

One package of this stuff was just enough - about $3.

I also used these small detail sanders to help smoothe out the wood so the adhesive sticks better.

It was painstaking work - someone before had not only used adhesive weatherstripping, but bolstered it with a power stapler.  I scraped and sanded and made a huge mess on the carpet.

But I think I did a good job.

There are a couple of spots that I may add staples to - we'll see.

I made a peach cobbler from an old recipe card of Mom's - I will post it on Monday.  It was so good and really hit the spot!  I enjoyed it with butter pecan ice cream and man, was it good.

On my "empty day" I took myself to Burnet and Bertram - just a short drive from Austin.

I ate at a restaurant that Mark and I visited often, and had an amazing $10 breakfast of barbacoa, beans, eggs, potatoes, and corn tortillas.  It held me throughout the day.

Then in the afternoon I visited a winery in nearby Bertram and joined their wine club!  It has been years since I have visited this particular one.  The wine is good, priced reasonably,  and the owners are very friendly.

It being in the middle of nowhere is a PLUS.  Its time to reclaim things I once enjoyed doing.

I have been heading out to my deck each morning to catch the sunrise.  I get there just after it breaks, and I light a candle and enjoy my coffee, sans creamer.  Its been a very pleasant 5 days off and now I am recharged for the weekend!

Gina

5 thing Friday - Georgian wine, Reel Science, We Are Blood, Turkey Trot, pipes

{I'm a little late posting today!}

This week I attended another wine tasting at Total Wine - this one with wines from Georgia (the country, not the state!) 

These tastings are very affordable - usually around $20 - and often include some culture or history.

And always charcuterie!  I like that they are close to home, on weeknights, and very informal.

One of the winemakers led the discussion in his very beautiful accent and taught us that wine making originated in Georgia and has an 8,000 year history!  He said the Georgian people refer to wine as a gift of the Gods and it is part of their culture. Wine is still being produced there in quevri - underground clay vessels.  I tried several varietals I have never heard of.  The whole thing was fascinating!

On Thursday night I attended a movie at the Rollins Theater at The Long Center in downtown Austin.  Some of the information presented was really over my head, but the film was very good and included a live broadcast from the research vessel which is just off the coast of Uruguay.  It included a Q&A session with the scientists, but it was waaay past my bedtime so I called it a night at 9 something.

When my birthday dawned, the first thought that popped into my head today was I MADE IT TO 65.  Seems like a worthy milestone, frankly.  I have outlived a parent, two siblings, a husband, and my in-laws.  I took myself to Rudy's for breakfast and journaled until time to do donate blood.

Why donate blood on my birthday?

*because I'm healthy

*because it can save a life

*because I can

A nice bonus is that I got a voucher for half a dozen Tiff's Treats, and you know that OF COURSE I picked the Dubai chocolate ones.  I ate two and made myself freeze the rest for my lunches!

I also traveled over to the Honda dealership to pick up my Turkey Trot packet. (the line looked insane but went fairly fast)  As tired as I have been lately and still with shoulder pain, I will be lucky to walk the actual 5 miles Thanksgiving morning, but I will give it my best shot.  I think this makes 6 or 7 times I have done the trot, not every year, and the second one I have done virtually.

These turkeys trotted together in 2020.

As a way to remember Mark at Thanksgiving, we smoke his pipes at the firepit.  I ran over to the tobacco shop and grabbed three different varieties of pipe tobacco and a small new pipe for either me or The Girl to use.  I am looking forward to relaxing on the patio with my peeps and giving thanks for spending time together as a family.  Happy Weekend!

Gina 

Peopling and pouring

Last Friday I volunteered at a wine competition in Buda, Texas.  It was a good peek at behind the scenes operations in one aspect of the wine world.

Basically it involved pulling wines from a list for each flight, scanning them into a computer, inserting them in sleeves, uncorking, and pouring.  When you got back from that, you re-sleeved, re-corked, then put them back in the specific box they came from.  Repeat.  Many steps, lots of opportunities for hiccups.

Sounds easier than it actually was!

Each box was numbered and had various wines, all with specific bottle numbers on them that we were keeping careful track of.  Each table was tasting a specific  and different flight for each round. The corked bottles you see in the boxes have already been judged.

Those silver circles are pouring guides that we slipped into each bottle to help make an easier pour.  I still managed to slosh a couple of times, but my table of judges were very forgiving.  You poured 3-4 bottles each flight and let me tell you - wine is heavy.  I was pretty worn out by the time my 5 hour shift ended.

Each flight had eight glasses.  On one round, I was invited to "guest judge".  The table captain was very gracious and friendly.  She advised me to "spit out the wine - don't swallow. Or do, I'm not your Mother". Ha ha.  There was only one glass of the eight that I would have finished drinking, anyway - a Tannat that won gold.

It was fun, very informational, and a bit nerve-wracking at times.  But I think I'll keep my regular job!

Gina

* here are the results!

5 thing Friday - skinny tree, Thanksgiving prep, cinna dough, giving up habits, Rad Tech Week

 I bought a skinny Christmas tree for my bedroom - I have always wanted one and had no luck finding one at a thrift store.  So I just ordered off Amazon.

It came with just a few lights, which I like.  I think I will give it a wintry theme with crochet snowflakes, little birds, and a ribbon and berry spray topper.

I am done with buying 99% of Christmas. I followed the "something you want/need/wear/read" formula for my peeps and I think I did a good job!  I bought four gift totes and tissue and all I have left to get is some wide ribbon. I stuck to a budget and got it done.  Now I can focus on deciding how to spend some stress-free holiday down time.

I was going to press the easy button on Thanksgiving, but my hours at work changed, so since I will be able to enjoy part of the day at home, I decided to go ahead and roast a turkey, make my own gravy and cranberry sauce, and fix the dressing from scratch.  I know I will have at least three of my peeps here for a late lunch.  The rest of the menu is fairly straightforward: mashed sweet potatoes, seasoned green beans, and a brownie tray for dessert!

I haven't made cinnamon dough ornaments in ages, so I ordered some new cookie cutters and mixed up a batch of the dough.  I don't add anything but unsweet applesauce and cinnamon and I set them on a cookie sheet to dry for days.  I poked holes in most of them, intending for them to be ornaments or package tie on's.  Bonus: my kitchen smells very festive.

What possessed me to buy peppermint mocha creamer - zero out of ten stars.  Mint cancels out coffee and tastes like someone spit toothpaste into your cup.

I guess I should really stop with the creamer altogether.

My life just three short years ago looked so different than it does today.  And as time goes by, I find I am one by one dropping some things from it.  No more wine clubs, no more writing for the wine blog, no need for all of these glasses as I am drinking far less wine.  Someone from the Buy Nothing group came and collected them and it didn't make me feel all that sad.

Happy Rad Tech Week!

My boss gave us sussies, has games and an activity or two planned, and ordered food for us several days this week, including the weekend.

There's a week for every aspect of hospital life now.  Time we can recognize and celebrate the fact that we are all still here in our chosen professions.  Go us!

Gina

5 thing Friday - Mom, driveway, garage, wine fridge, walks

 These are going to be in no particular order because its been one of those weeks.

Please give me your best thoughts on how to write an obituary for someone who is not yet departed from this world.  Because writing obituaries at all is bad (how do you condense a life into a few short paragraphs?), but imagining yourself handing it to someone when the time comes?  Also terrible.

I won't go in to details about the week as it relates to mom.  But I feel like this laundry basket of her things sitting by my front door today should serve as a cryptic reminder to me to keep paddling.  I want to do the right things for her and I think I am.  But that doesn't make it less difficult, even for simple tasks like laundry.

Yes, we are those people who load up the driveway with vehicles.  I need to make a decision soon about the truck and the Baja.  There are only three drivers living here, and although that is a temporary situation, the car rodeo out front is a pain in the neck and I'm sure the neighbors don't love looking at it.  My goal is to park my own car in the garage nightly.

To that end, I am still purging and cleaning the garage occasionally.  I don't know how much longer that will take....when I say it was full, I am not kidding.  At least I won't be bringing any more things from Highlands and as far as I know, Scout and Bubbie won't be adding anything else  Every 6 months or so I haul a bunch of crap out to the curb for Big Trash Day.  Its a dirty, sweaty, stressful chore.

But I like the direction its going.  So I keep going.  I know where 100% of my things are.

What's missing from this photo? (its not a rug, although I do want to add one to this room)  Hint:

The wine fridge is going.

I think I can say now, with certainty - I'm over it.  I no longer write for Texas Wine Lover,  cancelled the last wine club I had, stored the wine away in one of my kitchen cabinets (it can be used for Christmas or birthday gifts), and made a decision to never again buy beer or any hard liquor and keep family holidays completely dry.  It was fun while it lasted, but its not something that will be part of my life going forward.

We have a pretty nice exercise room at work that we can access at any time.  And since my knee is feeling so much better, and since I do far too much sitting at work, I will be visiting it more often when we aren't busy.  When the weather cools I will add neighborhood walks, but its just too hot here for that right now.  I know people do that in the heat, but I'm not one of those people!

So looking forward to Fall...

Gina