Morning has Broken

I was out of the 5er before the sun came up to do a Volksmarch in Universal City, Texas. Taco Cabana was the start point for this Randolph Roadrunner Club's sponsored event in the U.S. Volkssport headquarters town.

Another gentleman and I started out walking together at 6:45 a.m. and followed the start directions. We were half-way down the road when a red pickup truck pulled up directly in front of us. A man jumped out and said we were going the wrong way and he would give us a ride back to the corner where we were "supposed" to have turned. This completely bamboozled us because the directions were quite clear where we they wanted us to go. When he told us to go the way HE said, we skipped instructions 2-7 and were now at #8. Nonetheless, we went the direction he told us to go, only to see the road where we SHOULD have been connecting up in instruction #7 to the road we were on. I still can't figure out why he did that. He had about ten people very confused during the first light of day. (You're probably scratching your heads by now too!)

The rest of the walk went smoothly. I walked very fast and passed a number of people who had started before me. It was a pleasant walk, although quite warm and humid. We meandered back and forth through the neighborhoods.

Here are photos from the walk.

Purple martin houses.

Mural on an elementary school.

Another mural on the same school.

In the San Antonio area there are many run-off areas for heavy rainfall.

Universal City neighborhood.

Another neighborhood we walked in.

It's fitting that the AVA club we're walking with today is Randolph Roadrunners. I had to triple check that the bird on someone's roof truly was a roadrunner. First, roadrunners are usually on the ground and, second, I didn't expect to see one in the heart of a neighborhood, falsely assuming they liked being out in the desert or scrub. The roadrunner looked like it was just waking up. Kind of like I felt. (The wires in the background look pretty cool, like a musical staff.)

Rumpled feathers upon waking up.

Eyes not quite open yet.

Big ballet stretch.

The 10K (6.2 miles) walk took one hour and 35 minutes today. My best guess for the temperature at 8:20 a.m. was 88 degrees.

A couple of days ago, I watched another bird take a bath in the water puddle on our neighbor's slide out. Can anyone help me identify this bird? I looked in my Audubon Society Field Guide but didn't find it. Thank you, Betty, this is a Texas Blue jay.

Texas Blue jay

Texas Blue jay

Texas Blue jay.

When I got home, the cats wanted to play so I turned on the new SmartKitty HotPursuit toy. Bowie had a blast with it. He had already dragged the toy from the living room to the kitchen and rumpled the kitchen rugs with his skittering across the floor. Very exhuberant cat.







Then he collapsed into a deep sleep.





That's what I'm going to do now. I need a nap.

Travel Bug out.

My House

Yeah!  I uploaded photos from my digital camera onto my computer and posted one of them here to my blog.  Who knew it would be so easy?  Not me! Now I'll be able to take photos of my house, gardens, and lands and show ya'll where I live.
These walls are on the landing going up the stairs.  The wall with the window is my landscape wall.  The other one has our family portraits and some miscellaneous personal things such as handprints cast in plaster and my Daddy's reading certificate from grammar school.  
The window is a old leaded glass antique one I found in Savannah.  I don't know where it came from originally.  I really wanted a gothic window there, but my contractor said there wasn't room.  I still think there was enough height for a small one.  I love gothic architecture.  
My style of  house is a Carpenter Gothic from the 1830's.  I want to add more 'gingerbread' to the outside soon.  I was afraid to add too much lest it be too decorative, but I've decided that there's not enough.  I'll take a picture outside tomorrow and show you what I mean.  Until then....
 

I Know How to Have a Good Time + An Apology

Image borrowed - I believe this is Scotland's first female

chimney sweep.

We have three chimney's on our house, one at either end and a flue in the middle. This week was designated the week we would tackle the chimney-sweeping. Eeek! Run for the hills, it is a filthy job.
However, some things have to be faced, and this is one of them. We don't want to have to call out the wonderful volunteers of Alford Fire Brigade again, handsome though they may be...

The small one in the middle belongs to the Rayburn

So, the chimneys have been swept and prepared for when we begin lighting the fires on those cooler days of autumn.The rooms have to be dust sheeted, floors covered, etc. It is a time consuming and tedious process. Even with these precautions I still have to wash down surfaces, clean away soot and dust. All I can say it is wonderful when it is over. For a few minutes it actually feels as though I live in a clean and tidy house.
Apologies to you all, time has been short this week...this month. I have not managed to keep up with my reading, or commenting. Once we get through the heavy work schedule of harvest and into October I hope things will settle down again.One of the many jobs I did today was to make a more than 80 mile round trip to do shopping for my elderly aunt. She asked whether I thought Harry would like this! It is a beautiful hobby horse. Don't you think he looks quite a bit like Arnold? (see side panel photographs)
If Harry says no, then I know a little girl who would really like it when she is older!

Rising above

Some of the people reading this from colder parts of the world may not appreciate the sentiment, but the heatwave engulfing South East Queensland is now almost four months old. Consequently, it was with some relief last Saturday that I was able to spend a couple of glorious hours riding high on the Beechmont Range, and managing to breathe some cool mountain air, while the surrounding lowlands sweltered.

I've been coming here for a number of years, at times when I've needed a quick getaway, when I've been short of time and just wanted a change of scenery. Of course, the climb up the mountain is also a good way to release the frustrations of the week, and there were plenty of those around last week. As it happened, I was climbing the mountain on about two hours' sleep from the night before, but after a slow start, the mountain air woke me up in it's gentle way.

The other thing that's astonishing on the mountain is the enternal greenery. Astonishing because it's now over five months since the last substantial rain. Yet this area never seems to be affected. It was yet another refreshing realisation as I crossed the plateau en route to Binna Burra, where another would opens up in the rainforests of Lamington National Park. On this day, however time was short, so I had to be content with a detour along the often ignored western spur of the range, where I was able to watch the mountains roll away in the distance.

It was a nice escape for a couple of hours, before returning to the coast, and the heat. It's a 7km descent from Lower Beechmont to Advancetown, and I'm fairly certain the temperature rose by at least 7 degrees during that ride. Sometimes I really wonder about the wisdom of coming home at all.

Where are the Birds... Where are the Bees???

SLO Town View

slo town view, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

It was a stormy day in San Luis Obispo, but that meant for dramatic skies. Indeed, sunset proved to be an amazing time, with fast-moving clouds and beautiful shades of pink and orange. The non-native grasses, which can be seen in the foreground, are already drying up, despite all the late-season rains we've been having.

Mischief...

Momma went to work this morning after we spent an evening preparing a package for a certain Italian duo of pals who either have or had birthdays. It was our first foray into the world of blogging buddies birthday greetings, but I think I got off on the wrong paw. My mom and I found some goodies that we (I) love and on Sunday, we packed them up. Mom was going to mail the package on Monday, but she was running late and left the unopened package behind when she went to work. She forgot that I have an awesome tracking shnoz for all things edible and squeakable. By the time she returned from wherever it is that she goes, I'd consumed my Italian friends' goodies. Mom seemed panicked. I wasn't feeling too good. And, I'd played with my buddies' toys as well! You can imagine the terror I felt when Mom came home! OMD!
Mom loaded me in the car, cause my belly was so swollen, and hauled me off to the V-E-T, who I happen to like a lot, cause he gives me the awesome treats after we're done. Not THIS time! I got something called x-rays, cause Mom told him that I ate Dad's glove as well as everything else, and then got a "SHOT" to "calm" my tummy. Yuck! It seemed like days before Mom came back to get me, so I jumped up on her and the V-E-T said I needed to stop doing that. I've had a good nap now, and Dad just came home and ON LEASH, we walked around the block, as the good V-E-T said we must. No offleash partying for me today and worse, no dinner - ARGGHHHHHHH!!! Be back with you all soon.
Loves and Licks,
xo Sammie



I will be OKay, but feeling a bit under the weather. Love you all.

Welsh Cakes

I fell in love with Welsh Cakes on our trip to the British Isles a couple years ago. You could buy them in any grocery store. I brought several packs home and rationed them until they ran out. I recently tried my hand at making them. They were pretty good but not as good as the bought ones. I'll keep trying though. They are really easy to make. I got some of them too brown.
I like having a little something with my morning or afternoon tea. A graham cracker usually does the trick, but sometimes I get tired of them and want something with a little more substance like a scone or tea cake.
These cakes are perfect with tea. They're not too sweet but have currants in them, so they feel healthier than just plain cakes. Or did I use raisins? Either one is good. Try them with hot tea and see if you don't think they're just right!