Lady Bird's flowers

 In a lovely serendipitous moment, Sunday was a free admittance day to this outing I had on my summer list o' field trips.

 I am very much enjoying all the architecture around here crafted out of Texas limestone.

Guess in case your eyesight is bad and you need an enlarged version of said flower?

 Gorgeous little entrance pond.

 Also am loving all the light-strung courtyards around here.  Perhaps when it gets below 100 degrees, I will also enjoy hanging out in them.

The formal gardens.

Wish this blog site came with sound effects, so that you could hear the cicadas and the trickling, gurgling water.

Fun shade designs.

 The pond, upon leaving.

The State Bird (?!)

poetry on a plaque

Made it to the very cool Umlauf Sculpture Gardens yesterday.

 An eclectic mix of war refuges, religious icons, nudes, and whimsical animals.

 

 

 In honor of JJ's imminent arrival!

The Poetess

 

The Rooster--my Chinese symbol

More Texas wildflowers.  One of my field trips this weekend is to the centennial celebration of flowers at Lady Bird Gardens--hoping to actually learn some names of the native plants.

Springs of Barton

 Why yes, it is another view of my favorite building (Frost Bank).

 One of my views for the afternoon.

 The well-known Zilker Park with Barton Springs lives up to it's chilly reputation.  Thoroughly delightful on a hot summer's day.

The train tunnel & tracks awaiting a certain nephew's visit.

And yay!  We finally got our gate fobs, so I may park inside the fence.

delighted, delighting

Experimented with making injera this week.  One needs a fairly strong stomach to have fermenting flour in one's summer kitchen.

It didn't turn out so well--it was either greasy or doughy.  Must figure out a better way of baking it.  Or simply go out for Ethiopian food.

Have seed pods now, for this native shrubbery--looking forward to growing it on my balcony.

Other food experiments included using millet for the first time.  It's not bad as a base for Greek salad, but I still prefer quinoa.

 It's going to take me a couple of years to work my way through the aisles of sauces at the Asian Market.  So far this month, they've all been winners!

 A fun little box o' sunshine arrived from Virginia.

Bogart's little throne.  Haven't seen him this happy since kittenhood; he's lost weight, he zips around all over, does his little writhe of joy on the carpet and just purrs around his day.  Pretty sure he had SAD while dwelling in Seattle.

out/about

have created a happy little nook for a desk; used old curtains to cover the stack of empty crates for a perfect little bench

had to snicker that these 'shrooms are a 'product of China' and yet come from Half Moon Bay

 Yay!  Another penny added to the coffers.

Went to the Austin Museum of Art and have to say that the stairwell was the best bit of it.  Plus?  It's super small--more like a private gallery than an actual museum.  Ah well, it was free AND it had stellar a/c.  Which in this unrelenting heat, is valuable.

time for something poetic

Not really enamored with this poem--but the final lines grabbed my attention.  Happy Friday! 

 Out of the bunch grass
              out of the cheat grass
              a bunch of grass waddles
                    my way.

Quill-tips bleached by winter four
              inches down: crown of glory dark
              at the roots: a halo
                           
catching the sun's
                            final song:

No way could such steady
              oblivion possibly live
              up to legend, whatever
                            fear I might have had
                            is gone, but still I stop

Short on my after-dinner walk, no
              collision course if I
              can help it, thinking
                            at first it's the wind,
                            nudging a path out of the field

Or one of a covey of tumbleweed
              lost like those today on the freeway,
              racing ahead of my car that whole long drive
              here to the banks of the Snake, to friends
                            so close they know
                            when to leave me alone.

As though I were nowhere around, the porcupine
              shuffles the edge of the road,
              in five minutes crosses
                            a distance I could have covered
                            in less than one

And disappears at last into cattails
              and rushes, sunset, a vespers
              of waterbirds, leaving me
                            still unwilling to move.

I am a sucker for scenes like this.
              The slowest beauty can rush me.
              And here I am,
                            all of my defenses down.

"Porcupine at Dusk" by Ingrid Wendt, from Surgeon Fish. © WordTech Editions, 2005.

4th panoramic

The Symphony just posted this awesome photo of the crowd gathered for the fireworks.  Can you see me?