On Sunday, we had the pleasure of attending a fish fry at their country place over the Fourth and per usual – everything was out of this world. We sat in lawn chairs out under the trees and just enjoyed the day. It was like a mini-reunion in that all the family living close by came – cousins, their grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc.   You can see there was a lot of visiting going on and it was nice to get caught up with what everyone is doing.  Wasn’t too hot and surprisingly there were no mosquitoes and no flies!

Of course, the food was great – fried fish, chicken, hush puppies, coleslaw, french fries, garden tomatoes, watermelon, two apple cakes . . . and some very interesting cucumber pickles. At first we thought they were pickled beets but after one bite you knew you’d eaten a cucumber – a red cucumber! Judy’s sister – Janice – had made them and they were wonderful. I’d not ever even seen any.  They crunched just like a pickle and tasted faintly of  those little cinnamon red hot candies. I looked the recipe up on the Net and found several variations… all of them lots of work. Don’t think we’ll be having any of those around here. When it comes to cooking, my motto is “quick and easy”.

Saw this beautiful sunset on the way home.

Since Monday was a holiday – I got caught up on picking peaches, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes and peas. David kept busy cleaning the goldfish pond pump which is always a bit of a pain but since we planted the Iris plants in the biological filter doesn’t seem we clean it quite as often. The iris plants thrive on the ‘enriched’ pond water.

David also replaced the bakers rack we had on the deck with a barn wood shelf that looks and fits in much better with the rustic look. It’s an old one we bought at auction. It’s kind of wobbly and not exactly square but we like it. It has lots of character along with brands burned on it so it goes well with rest of the stuff out there.

David had to raise the shelf up a little off the floor so that air could circulate and hopefully help keep the rain from puddling under it and rotting the boards. He then screwed it to the deck floor so that it wouldn’t blow over. He used his DeWalt 18V power screwdriver for that – makes quick work of anything. Those battery operated tools (drills, saws, etc.) are really nice for working away from the house where there’s no electricity – but, you need more than one battery. David had a couple of the batteries but one died.    (I’m not so sure it totally died – just wouldn’t hold a charge long enough.)

The 18V batteries are not cheap if you’re out shopping – but we found them online at Amazon.com – DeWalt Batteries for about $65.00 and we got free shipping! What a deal!! That’s a far cry from the $100+ at some of the stores where we priced them. In fact some of the stores were so expensive, we could buy two from Amazon for the price of one store battery. 

The battery arrived yesterday via UPS and is just exactly the same as the higher priced ones at the stores. We’re thrilled. Until we moved to the country, we never did much ordering online but have found that in most cases we can get the exact same item for less money and get free shipping to boot. Nothing wrong with that.

Please take a moment to share the joy of “Troops Returning Home to Surprised Loved Ones” . . .

We next went to visit my brother-in-law in Buda. Had to drive via I-35 to get there. The Austin traffic was terrible and much worse than I could remember – even for a Friday. We later found out that part of the problem was because they were having the South-by-Southwest festival. If you have not heard of this event, it is a major festival showcasing over 1,800 musical acts from around the globe. All taking place on over 80 stages scattered throughout the downtown area. If you are into music, acting and the like – you definitely need to check this out for next year.  My cousin Amanda always goes.  I’m not sure if her participation had anything to do with her getting a part in a movie – but I know ‘schmoozing’ is the name of the game – and we were all excited for her. 

Our last stop coming home was to visit our friend Frank at his new Round Top antique venue. He has been working on his property for about 2 years getting ready for the grand-opening of his Old Henry Farm for the upcoming antique fair held twice a year.  Round Top is a major antique event here in Texas and dealers from all over the country come to set-up and sell  in the otherwise small, rural communities of Round Top/Warrenton.   If you enjoy antiques, rides in the country and good food – plan a trip to Round Top to see the spring or fall show.  And, if you want to set-up as a dealer, give Frank a call – his venue is ‘First Class’. For more information on the dates and times for all the shows check out the Texas Antique Mall show page.