Christmas cards 2019

 Getting a group shot on Thanksgiving Day, to use in our Christmas cards, was a bust.  So I took it upon myself to wrangle Hubby into some selfies for our own pics for our own cards.

 

 

One of these made it to the Christmas card - the others are just plain fun.  And full circle we have come, back to our first Christmas card with just the two of us.  

And it doesn't make me feel sad at all!

Gina

We came, we saw, we gave thanks - 2019

Thanksgiving has come and gone.

We snacked, then we feasted. We each said what we were thankful for, and it made our hearts full.

We enjoyed adult bevvies out by the firepit.

We caught up on news, rekindled memories, and just relaxed.

We got Bubbie to sit out there with us for hours.

We braved the crowds and the fog to cut a tree.

And we enjoyed time spent with all of our peeps, furry or not. 

{and Christmas is 3 weeks away - can it be so?} 

Gina

Empty Nest Menu #15

Menus will be very simple until we get to Christmas week.

Monday - Tilapia, sauteed fresh veggie {grocery shop, pull winter scrubs out}
Tuesday - Pork Stir Fry with potstickers {pick up Mother in Brenham and bring her to Austin for follow up eye appointment, sewing in the p.m.}
Wednesday - Crockpot of pinto beans with chili meat, corn muffins
Thursday - Grilled Chicken, sauteed veggie {need to order sink and fridge filters}
Friday - Butternut Squash Soup and Grilled Cheesers
Saturday - OUT {morning putseying at home, pick up party at 7 Creeks at lunchtime, Hubby's office Christmas party in the evening}
Sunday - Creamed Turkey and Toast with peas and carrots {pick up party at Perissos at noon, pick up wines at Torr Na Lochs on the way home}

Gina

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