Downtown Dilly Dally

Yesterday we met up with friends to spend a day touring downtown Austin. Even though I have "toured" downtown Austin many times, I never bore of the downtown atmosphere with it's many sights and sounds.

Because all of us hate driving and finding affordable parking downtown, we opted to take the Rail. The kids always get a kick out of it and I enjoy taking advantage of a stress free ride where I don't have to pay attention to the road.

Our first stop was the famous Driskill Hotel. Although we've been there many times and never seen it, we still hunt that elusive ghost every time we go in there...

While Summer and I were outside on the balcony finishing our snack the others got to hear the story of the little girl ghost that still resides in the hotel. We walked up to the floor where her picture is....

Next, we moved on to The Capitol.....

I guess the highlight our our day was the Naked Bike Guy. Naked Bike Guy is an Austin fixture. The very first time we ever saw him we were hiking at Shoal Creek and there he rides right through the park naked as a jaybird. Summer was about 7 years years old and she said..."That man doesn't have any clothes on!".  Actually, he's not really naked but he usually wears a flesh colored thong that makes him look very naked.

As usual it was a sight to see. Angela said, at least he's wearing a hat! This time he was wearing a black thong which made you have to really take a second look from a distance....

We had a good time, but Summer and I headed back to the Rail earlier than the others. We've had a busy few weeks and I think both of us just wanted to be in the comforts of home.

Southern Walnut Creek Hike and Bike Trail

Today Toby and I took our bikes to the Southern Walnut Creek Hike and Bike Trail.

It's everything I'm looking for in a biking trail. Nice paved "roads" and some really good flat stretches with some equally challenging hills, one of which I named "Hell Hill". I also enjoyed the peaceful scenery along the way.

We only traveled about 7 miles of the trail but it's a pretty expansive trail that is in the works to be extended to Manor.

Here are some pictures from our day outdoors.....

Taking a break to check out the creek

ewww...gross

A glimpse of downtown in the distance

Red Bud in bloom

Below is a picture of "Hell Hill". It was soooooo much fun going down!! Unfortunately I had to walk my bike back up a portion of it on the way back. It just felt like it was getting steeper and steeper as I went. Toby dusted me and was at the top waiting on me as I huffed and puffed my way to the end.

If you look closely you can see it spiraling its way down. I'm looking forward to going back and exploring more of the trail.


Lastly, here is a picture of a recent sunset....

At first glance, when I looked out my back window last night the clouds resembled mountains in the distance.....

Lovely Day

I haven't seen the sun much in the past couple of months so I was pretty pleased when Mr. Sun was staring at me upon waking this morning.

We had plans for an after lunch hike on Barton Creek Greenbelt with friends.

It was a little chilly with a little cloud coverage when we first arrived at the trail but it turned out to be a beautiful warm day by the time we finished our two mile hike along the creek.

The creek was running gloriously. It's not often we see it flowing so well. Too bad it wasn't hot enough to take a dip....

We all took some family memories....

Yes, it was a lovely day indeed.

Few and Far Between

I know my posts have been few and far between this year, but there's not been much for me to write home about.

The winter is a miserable time of year as far as I'm concerned so I prefer to spend most my time hibernating.

Aside from running errands with Toby, an occasional outing to the Blue Hanger with Robin, or our weekly get together with our homeschool clan not much else can be said for the past several weeks.

While I'm coiled up under my warm blanket on the sofa I have made use of my time with some crochet projects.

My friend Angela is expecting another little bundle of joy, so I have whipped up a few little items for her. I enjoy working on baby items because they are easy and quick to work up. Angela hasn't even seen them yet, so Angela if you are reading this, SURPRISE! :-)...

This was my very first attempt at a garment of any kind so I was pretty satisfied with myself. This dress will also include a pair of matching booties which I have not yet finished...

I had a request for a neon colored pin cushion from a friend in Alabama so this is what I came up with for her....

I had these hexagons left over from an abandoned project so I turned them into a hotpad....

I whipped this up one evening as a quickie project sparred by boredom. With it's ocean theme maybe I was longing for a little warm weather...

I had been wanting a spring wreath for my front door, but they are so expensive to buy. I also have a black front door so it's hard to find something that will contrast to the black. I got this idea that maybe I could make my own so I perused PINTEREST for ideas and this is what I came up with. I'm thinking of maybe adding a bird or a butterfly.....

This project was so much fun I'm thinking of making one for each season.

One of the few pictures I have been able to get these days of my teen.....

My boy Bo....

My morning green goodness. I attribute my good health to my morning walk/hike/run and one of these green smoothies. It may look gross but I can guarantee you I have perfected them to be quite tasty....or maybe I have just acquired a taste for them....

I snapped a picture of these scene on my way home from the grocery store one day. I loved the way the clouds blanketed the edge of the sky....

Here are a couple of pictures from our bike ride on Shoal Creek near downtown a few weeks ago. Although the scenery was beautiful, I didn't get but these two pictures because the terrain was terrible for my street bike and I struggled to stay steady. This would have been a great hike but I consider not much fun for a bike ride....

I'm patiently waiting for the weather to warm up.