Business and Pleasure

I guess we all have been missing our day trips this summer. Even my homebody daughter has made comments that indicate she misses our outings.

I surely was overdue a change in routine so I decided we would mix a little pleasure with business. On our agenda for the week was to head to the smaller towns East of us to pass out flyers, business cards, and to generally get our name out, so I pulled my resources together and found some interesting sights to check out along the way.

Our first stop was the  Wendish Museum in Serbin, Texas. It was certainly nothing to call home about - unless you are a Texas history buff - but they had simple but yet very informative and interesting visual displays. The older folks running the place were friendly and helpful also....

LOVE these painted eggs

This room reminded me of my deceased grandparents antique decor

Next, we crossed the graveyard to the Lutheran Church. It was blazing-ass hot but we still enjoyed looking at the old gravestones....

I was glad the church was nice and cool when we reached it because I was beyond weak from the extreme heat. (105 degrees to be exact...and that's without heat index)

Being raised up in the church I often wonder what my un-indoctrinated children think about them upon entering. I have so many memories linked to churches and my kids are probably just like..."um, yeah so it's just this huge, ornate building with a bunch of crosses."...

This is a building that was used as a church, school, and meeting room in the 1800's by the Wends. I was the only one who felt the desire to walk the 100 ft in the heat to take a gander at it. Toby and Skye roosted on a bench underneath a shade tree....

Next we headed a few miles east to Giddings, Texas. We have been through Giddings several times on our way to Houston but never have carved out the time to stop and visit.

We checked out the old Union Station Transportation Museum...

Next, we walked across the street to Blast From The Past. It was interesting place. I also learned something new while I was there. I never knew where the band REO Speedwagon got their name from - not that I ever really thought about it - but apparently it was a firetruck...

Apparently this dog, Ben, is an important animal friend of the shop....

We also walked out of there with $15 worth of yummy fudge.

On the way home we saw smoke in the distance. We kept our eyes on it as we drove closer to the source. It was a car on fire and rights as we drove by it it exploded. I think that was the highlight of Skye's day. She talked about that dang car exploding all the way home....

It was a successful day in both business and pleasure.

July Passing By

Aside from my birthday, the month of July slipped by without me hardly even noticing. The memory maker within myself did manage to capture a few stolen moments throughout the month...

Nothing beats a Texas sunset and I happen to be lucky enough to have a great view of them each and every evening right in my own backyard. Not long ago we had entertained the thought of moving closer into the city. Every house we looked at  had nice views of it's neighbors windows and roof tops. I couldn't bear to part with my sunset and sky views so here we stay...for now....

Not a sunset, but nice cloud formation

I finally finished a crocheted afghan I had worked on for a few months....

We put some red in Skye's hair..per her request....

Mixing a little pleasure with business at Central Texas Harley Davidson.....

These mannequin's in the fixture store appealed to the funky side of me.....

The Boss....

Goodbye July...

Happy Birthday To Me

On July 23 I turned 49 years young. When Toby told me that we could do ANYTHING I wanted for my birthday I have to admit I got a little excited. Opening the shop has taken up most of our time with all work and no play for the past couple of months so when I was given free reign to pick something fun to do for a day a million ideas popped into my head at once....thrifting, going to see The Conjuring at the movie theatre, a local winery, etc.

Even though it was MY birthday I wanted to do something Toby and Skye would enjoy also. If other people around me aren't having fun then I'm not either...one of my weird idiosyncrasies.

So after careful thought I decided on Barton Creek. I had just recently received a new map I had ordered of the hiking trail along the creek and I wanted to check out some areas of the creek we have not hiked. I love the outdoors, hiking, and the creek and so does Toby...and Skye can always be lured to the creek as long as we have drinking water and snacks, and it has rained recently enough for the water to be flowing in the creek. And of course Bo is always happy to jump in the car no matter where we are going.

First we stopped at Taco Cabana for lunch. When we go to the creek and have Bo we always eat at Taco Cabana because they have an outdoor patio that is pet friendly....

We parked in an access spot that we had never parked before. The hike down to the creek was about a half mile or so. When I say DOWN I do mean DOWN. The whole way I was thinking what a workout that hill was going to be going back up....and it was!!!!! It was called the "Hill of Life" on my handy dandy map...I think it should have been called the "Hill of Death"...lol

Resting on the creek side...

This was such a peaceful spot....

Bo catching fish

Rocks in the water are very slippery...be careful!!

Toby relaxing on the falls

Even though I immensely missed Lucas being here this year we did spend some time on Facetime together in the evening hours.

I have good memories to look back on for my 49th birthday. It's always the simplest things that make my heart happy.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Monday night "Bling"from the Bling Johnson Show came over to help us out with some commercial advertising. Toby and Bling have a bartering relationship when it comes to business.... really, Toby has a bartering relationship with most all his "hired help".

In a rare occurrence it rained all day Monday so we had only two volunteers out of the many that volunteered brave enough to get out and battle Austin traffic in a rain storm...or that's what I'm attributing it to anyway.

I'm sure "Bling" will make it work. I hope he doesn't think I didn't notice that he inconspicuously lured me into a couple of  the scenes. I am soooooo not photogenic or T.V. personality. I am much more comfortable behind the scenes....

Toby is not fashion savvy in the least. He doesn't realize that his pants are now 3 sizes too big, 10 years out of date,  and that white socks and black shoes are an unacceptable way to present yourself unless you are wearing black Patton and a  five year old girl headed to Sunday School. I am going to have a serious conversation with him about this very soon.

Never a dull day lately......