100309
2 little white shacks : “East End” Austin TX
oops.
have i not written here since returning from Texas? i guess not! i guess i haven’t been “around” online too much - only in the office one day and well … it has been too COLD to try to get a connection on the bootlegging porch. and the library? hmmmm… it is hard to be in the mood to ramble there. but here i am! writing in text edit, playing with pictures. perhaps i will put them together into a proper post later today.
the trip was GREAT. a true whirlwind. 11 hours of driving, a peanut butter/banana sandwich, an apple and a turkey sandwich later, i arrived on the UT campus to find little blonde Margaret crossing the intersection to be picked up. squeal! it seems like we did an errand or *something*, but i know we ended up at the Magnolia Cafe for dinner. we did LOTS of errands and it was all fun, but they have sort of begun to run together in my frail little mind now.
next day she had class, so i took this, what i knew would be my One Chance, to wander around alone and make pictures. i used the time well, visiting an old eastside neighborhood, that is being gentrified into the “East End”. sigh … so many little white shacks were boarded up, ready to be disappeared and their spaces transformed into colorful po-mo habitats. rather sad. where do these people go, who are pushed away? i did like exploring new neighborhoods, and i like them when they are still balanced, the shabby and the new - but i don’t think i like what was going on here…
more errands, more Margaret, then off to the country for Family Time. it was so busy and good! the weather was excellent, with the only day it felt too hot for me, being the day/night i spent with my mother, who HATES her noisy window A/C, so would not use it. i managed with a ceiling fan! because there was *finally* some rain, in the past month, there was much green and so many wildflowers!
back to Austin for (more errands!) and a celebratory dinner at Vivo (the whole weekend was back-to-back birthdays), then up at 5:30 am to leave - a long dull lonely drive, return to exile in Kansas. i keep wondering what i am still doing here? and why?
but it was a lovely trip - much visiting, not too much eating, some long walks, a big fix of TV (i still don’t want one!), love. i had artVisions while i was driving and am now trying some new things. not sure about them yet, but i have LOTS of time this weekend to mess around with them. i have also decided to lose lots of weight and get in better shape. i guess i don’t have an October project this year. but i will be making things… and walking. a LOT and FAST.
20091004 1:11 pm
glad you had a good birthday, trip, etc. i imagine someday running into you when we both make a trip to fredericksburg. we could have a cup of tea…or a grilled portobella sandwich at rathskellers…or, whatever
lovely photos in your shop
take care
20091005 6:28 am
Welcome back!
I do love Magnolia Cafe. When my sweet girl was at UT, Mother’s was our regular jaunt. Yum yum. There’s a bakery around the corner that has the most wonderful vegan truffles. Sigh.
Do you ever think of settling in Fredericksburg? I wonder sometimes if it’d be a good place for me. I love Mason, but it’s a bit too far from the job.
j
20091006 12:08 pm
i want to go to lunch with BOTH of you!!!!! what fun that would be.
jennifer, yes, i think often of F-burg. i am not sure how i would live, but my youngest sister lives there, so there is definitely an attraction. plus, i have always had a crush on the town, despite it’s conservatism. but hey, i see lots of older ladies working in the shops on Main St. i could do that!