Sunday morning and I'm missing church today because I said I'd take my son to the airport.  He has vacation days which must be used (or lost) and he wants to powwow about which trails we loved, the downlow on what to do & what to miss in the Boulder area.  I really love visiting in Boulder.  The pictures from our most recent trip up there to share some time with III have not been transferred from my phone to the laptop yet - maybe today.

These are the last few pictures I found already on PHOTOS.

The first one, a collage, was taken at Austin's Stiles Switch BBQ.  Texas Monthly puts together a TOP 50 BBQ list and reposts as they see fit to.  Remember in 2014 L and I started collecting TOP 50 stops?  Well, this year (2017) they updated their list, dropping a few, adding a few, and to make serious matters even more amusing, they have collaborated with YETI offering BBQ games with serious party favors.  For example, when you collect a "sticker" from each of the four corners of Texas (Pecos, Amarillo, Jefferson, Brownsville (the one with the cow eyeballs)), you qualify to win a YETI Hopper, which having been to all four of those places I'll assert, you need the Hopper before  making that jaunt. Anyway, we are revisiting to collect our passport stamps/stickers and enjoying some fine brisket along the way.  Next - same deal - 'kept, Tyler and Stanley's (also has about 50 different Bourbon's, but that for a different day).

The trees in our back yard. The trees are absolutely a gift.  This is the smallest lot we have lived on.  It's been so long since I heard traffic noise that it still grabs my ear when I'm outside ... but the trees, scare over much of Texas, the trees make the backyard wonderful.  Filter - PRISMA/mosiac.  

The sanctuary at our church.  This year we are visiting Sunday school classes - yeah, there are that many!  I know I'd already be plugged in some where, but my husband likes to make well informed and duly considered choices.  

We'll skip that next one and move on to those solid bronze doors.  $6,500.00 for the pair.  They are beautiful and you can pick them up at Southern Accents in Cullman, Alabama.  They are amazingly well crafted.  

One of the great things about our new house is it has a pass through room from the garage to the main house.  There's also an outside side entrance to the side yard. The room measures about 20'x12'.  The washer and dryer are in there but the rest is shelving and counter space.  I think it's the coolest room ever missing from our other homes.  So that picture is of the stemware racks I just installed in a repurposed IKEA wardrobe/armoire.  There are three in there and I love them for organizing my kitchen things.  I have recently noticed that knowing where stuff belongs/can be found is a huge deal to me.  It makes me feel like I am home which to me feels awesome.  (I almost never use that word.)

That chair.  I hesitate to say it because it's so much money, but that chair is the exact "right" chair that I really really want.  We need four.  I sure would love to find good "generously" sized chairs for much less! (Can you believe it's just setting outside in the boneyard at the outlet warehouse/showroom for Southern Classics ?!)

Next up - the crumbs and jagged pieces from the bottom of a couple of cracker boxes and a bunch of yummy stuff = a quick dinner.

That last pic is layers and layers of paint on doors again at Southern Accents.  L was giving a professional talk and I went along to just play in and around B'ham.  We rented a car and put around five thousand miles on in driving from Austin to B'ham and back, then down to Edinburg where a friend needed a little emotional support as she tends to her aging parents ... it was actually tamale therapy ... back up to Austin then over to Santa Fe via Pecos (BBQ) on to Boulder for  a few days then home again (with two rock strikes from 18 wheelers - replacement cost added to our total bill).  We finish a book on tape (Michener's TEXAS) and started another one (BIG RICH - about Texas Oilmen).  I love books on tape.

Did I mention that all five of our kids will be in for Christmas this year?  I am so happy about that.  Today we decided to cook really amazing Mexican food from our two new cookbooks for the big Christmas feast.  Today we, Five and I, cooked an amarillo mole, three salsas and a big batch of tamales.  The house smells so good that I don't want to open the doors!

Colorado pics asap... .


I think I mentioned a doctor's visit ... maybe something about my thyroid which turns out to be fine.