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Jun. 26th, 2004
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Jun. 26th, 2004 05:10 pmWe stayed up late last night so did not leap out of bed with the dawn to go to the Hill Country Lavender. But we did eventually get off our butts and get on the road. First, we took hub's car in for tires. He walked out yesterday to go to work, and had a big ol' flat tire (dead as Buffy's dead mom). It was bald on one side and had a screw in it besides, and hub admitted that he has been needing to replace all four tires but putting it off as long as possible because it's so farking expensive. Now it was time. So he took my car to work and looked up prices online. In the meantime, Ellen calls me to chat and continue a conversation we'd had the day before. Then she pops off with "oh, do you need tires? I have this card for 10% over cost at Firestone." Damn, talk about good luck! And there's one like 2 blocks from here so he doesn't have to drive on his donut very far.
So we get the penis car into the shop and head out to the farm. Past Dripping Springs we saw a sign that said 'fresh goat cheese' and lord knows everyone loves goat cheese! So we screeched around the turn and headed for the goaty goodness. We pulled up and a teen girl was trimming a bouquet of marigolds. She went to a little shed that had a fridge in it and got out about 5 different varieties of goat cheese for us to sample. We only had a little cash on us or we would have bought ALL of them, but we settled for the garlic and parsley. Goat cheese! Not that we saw any goats, just cats. That probably doesn't bear thinking about too much.
We got back on the road. The Texas Hill Country is beautiful, beautiful land, and it was a really gorgeous day in an interesting way- there were big thunderheads spaced apart by expanses of blue sky. So we'd be driving in sunshine then torrential rain then sunshine in the space of a few minutes. It gave everything a misty but bright sparkle. There were a million birds, butterflies, and we even saw a spotted fawn by the side of the road crawling into a thicket. We got to the farm a couple of miles outside of Blanco after driving beside the winding (and very swimmable and tubable looking) Blanco river. There were rows and rows of round bushes that looked like rosemary with leaves the color of silver sage, each bush between the size of a basketball and a beachball. We pulled in and grabbed a pail (a deeper but about a fourth as big around as the ones in the picture at the front of the website linked up there) and scissors and started snipping. While the field was not purple with flowers, there was still plenty and I soon had myself a nice little bundle. We 'rolled' it and paid our $4 (for as much as you can tie up in a standard twist tie; I probably could have gotten more). I also allowed myself to be tempted by their soap- they had 5 different flavors but I settled for lavender and patchouli, and lavender and chamomile. I normally hate chamomile, but when combined with lavender it smelled really fresh and wonderful. We also thought we'd try our hand at growing the stuff since the plants were on sale, and I picked up a t-shirt why not.
We headed out of Blanco and were feeling pretty hungry by then. Every time in the past when we've driven out west on 290 we always snicker like 5-year-olds at the 'Nutty Brown Cafe' sign, so we decided it was time to give them a try. They were a bit pricier than I expected, but rather than being a true small-town diner they were more of a funky Austin outpost; apparently they have live bands and KGSR sometimes broadcasts from there. But the food was really top-notch.
( for the foodies (warning: non-vegetarian) )
We picked up hub's car and got some useful electronic trinkets at Fry's such as a switchbox so we don't have to hit 18 different buttons if we want to switch from cable to the VCR to the DVD to the computer. If it stops raining, we might try to plant the lavender- apparently the stuff likes it hot and dry, so there's more than one place in the yard where they'll be happy. Hey, want to see souvenirs? ( course we do! )
So we get the penis car into the shop and head out to the farm. Past Dripping Springs we saw a sign that said 'fresh goat cheese' and lord knows everyone loves goat cheese! So we screeched around the turn and headed for the goaty goodness. We pulled up and a teen girl was trimming a bouquet of marigolds. She went to a little shed that had a fridge in it and got out about 5 different varieties of goat cheese for us to sample. We only had a little cash on us or we would have bought ALL of them, but we settled for the garlic and parsley. Goat cheese! Not that we saw any goats, just cats. That probably doesn't bear thinking about too much.
We got back on the road. The Texas Hill Country is beautiful, beautiful land, and it was a really gorgeous day in an interesting way- there were big thunderheads spaced apart by expanses of blue sky. So we'd be driving in sunshine then torrential rain then sunshine in the space of a few minutes. It gave everything a misty but bright sparkle. There were a million birds, butterflies, and we even saw a spotted fawn by the side of the road crawling into a thicket. We got to the farm a couple of miles outside of Blanco after driving beside the winding (and very swimmable and tubable looking) Blanco river. There were rows and rows of round bushes that looked like rosemary with leaves the color of silver sage, each bush between the size of a basketball and a beachball. We pulled in and grabbed a pail (a deeper but about a fourth as big around as the ones in the picture at the front of the website linked up there) and scissors and started snipping. While the field was not purple with flowers, there was still plenty and I soon had myself a nice little bundle. We 'rolled' it and paid our $4 (for as much as you can tie up in a standard twist tie; I probably could have gotten more). I also allowed myself to be tempted by their soap- they had 5 different flavors but I settled for lavender and patchouli, and lavender and chamomile. I normally hate chamomile, but when combined with lavender it smelled really fresh and wonderful. We also thought we'd try our hand at growing the stuff since the plants were on sale, and I picked up a t-shirt why not.
We headed out of Blanco and were feeling pretty hungry by then. Every time in the past when we've driven out west on 290 we always snicker like 5-year-olds at the 'Nutty Brown Cafe' sign, so we decided it was time to give them a try. They were a bit pricier than I expected, but rather than being a true small-town diner they were more of a funky Austin outpost; apparently they have live bands and KGSR sometimes broadcasts from there. But the food was really top-notch.
( for the foodies (warning: non-vegetarian) )
We picked up hub's car and got some useful electronic trinkets at Fry's such as a switchbox so we don't have to hit 18 different buttons if we want to switch from cable to the VCR to the DVD to the computer. If it stops raining, we might try to plant the lavender- apparently the stuff likes it hot and dry, so there's more than one place in the yard where they'll be happy. Hey, want to see souvenirs? ( course we do! )
(no subject)
Jun. 26th, 2004 08:31 pmOh man- the most beautiful rainbow is out there! I took pics but spent more time just gawking. The Sun is low in the west so the bow is high in the east. Go look! I love rainbows, glurgy things that they are- but I always feel like I've been given a gift when I see one made by nature. This one was so bright you could see the whole reverse rainbow above it too.