she's everywhere

cat in the bag

Sue,  there's cat hair on your towels.

hooked

in the ladies room at The Little Fleet

and of course...the food

tempura fried green beans with Sriracha mayo

and ricotta filled ravioli in carrot sauce at the stunning Contigo

 the outdoor dining room at Contigo

Bánh mì at Elizabethtown Cafe

Tex-mex "Migas" is egg scramble with crushed up tortilla chips mixed in - delicious!

Blackberry pancakes at Magnolia Cafe

tourists and proud

big mosaic of Texas on the floor at the airport

Amy with a fresh Sugar Daddy at Big Top Candy Shop

Boots a plenty at Allens Boots

We spent an evening exploring Rainey Street, which is a residential part of town where all the historic houses are bars and restaurants.  We had never seen anything like it and it was one of our favorites

They are all separately owned and each has it's own theme or style, and most have back gardens

We had a drink at the beautiful Lustre Pearl

Barton Springs & Zilker Park

Barton Springs is a naturally fed spring in Zilker Park that has miles and miles of trails, activities, plus you can swim in it.  We spent half a day exploring the grounds and discovering lots of amazing things

The art deco changing house at the pool

everything was built in this heavy, tan brick and the whole place looked like a retro movie set

they were doing lots of landscaping

University of Texas rowing teams

their training rowing machines

You can rent a canoe or paddle board

These ones looked like Bomb Pops

Tex me up

The vintage shopping was first class in Austin.  I will be getting my Clint Eastwood on with not one, but TWO wool ponchos

Polyester tiered disco dress and, why yes, that is a tie-dye leotard

vintage snake-skin sandals - maybe a Texan wrassled a snake to make these?

Austin smells really good

trail at Ladybird Lake, Austin,TX

I'll be writing about my amazing trip to Austin this week.  The whole city has a fresh, verdant scent.  It smells of cedar and juniper and earth, which I was so pleasantly surprised to discover

There are great tailed grackles everywhere, and they have a crazy, exotic call, which you hear everywhere you go.  I found them very beautiful. 

The landscape of Austin felt like a mix of California, Hawaii and Mexico. There were palm trees and lush flora, like these trees, which were full of little tangles of branches

There is a large colony of Mexican bats that nest underneath the Congress Bridge, which was near our hotel

They hadn't migrated back yet, but we talked to locals that said you can watch them every evening going out to hunt

TX

I am headed to Austin for a few days so will post when I return!

like butter, baby

apricot butter

I love Steve

I got this e-mail from my brother Steve the other day.  It was probably intended to be a stupid forum post, but he is a great writer and I like his forthright style and self aware honesty.   He's talking about the show True Detective. Love you, Beeb!

"Just finished last night. Can't get the season's soundtrack out of my head.  Here's link if you want lonesome guitar, wailing vocals, or clap/stomp gospel and much more --  Boogie Down Productions stuff,  the Melvin's. Great collection. The deep south continues to fascinate/scare me -- charming yet creepy.

The sketchiness vibe about the deep south True Detective gave me is similar to the fear of swimming in open water Jaws gave me as a kid -  unreasonable suspicion and fear. heh.  But wow, Great show..."

Happy St. Patrick's Day

how cool is this

Jimi Forever!

LFF

Little Fleet Forever!

The plates at their spectacular beer & cheese pairing night Thursday, March 13th.  Terra Firma Brewery and Boss Mouse tasted great together at The Little Fleet

Cheese & Beer Pairings

Cheese Curds and Little Fleet’s St. Sue Cocktail
Rosemary Montasio* w/ Little Honey Ale
Chive Montasio w/ Once Upon a Tyne Brown Ale
Black Peppercorn Montasio with Tai Chi Seven Spice Stout
Sweet Swiss with Soul Butter Triple IPA
Aged Ricotta w/ Marmalade with Hoodwink Orange Marmalade Wheat

http://eatdrinktc.com/beer-cheese/

it's even too cold for my TV

best bulk

The weirdest selection from Dylan's Candy Bar bulk candy department

bird's eye frozen view

Sunset from the top of the Grand Traverse Resort overlooking the frozen solid East Grand Traverse Bay

sky study #105

Sunrise March 5th, 2014 - it was -8 degrees that morning

what are you doing Thursday?

Come join us at The Little Fleet for an evening of beer & cheese tasting

spice graveyard

My Mom & Dad cleaned out their spice cabinet of "things they didn't use" and gave them to 

spice-oholic me, to adopt or discard.  Some of these are from our house in Detroit, for real:  check out "Frank's Rubbed Sage" (bottom row, 3rd from right), the Spice Islands Coriander, and the vintage tin of Durkee Turmeric.   I kept all of it.

hooray for March 8th

It's a great day to be a Pisces

You know how the famous people you share your birthday are usually old presidents or obscure TV actors?  Amongst those folks, I also get Cyd Charisse...

and Kat von D

-18 below

And Winter slumbering in the open air,

Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!

- Samuel Coleridge

An aurora of birds I have dreamt of

tracks on the deck Sunday, March 2nd

 

Happy Lent!

cozy Cozy

nestled in the pillows

the float

I never, ever get sick of watching Animal House