It's not a long trip from Austin to our little weekend house on the north shore of Lake Travis - less than an hour's drive - but it seems a world away: big skies, long views, and oak woods interspersed with open fields which are filled with wildflowers in the spring and summer.
 |
| Springtime flowers |
 |
| Lake Travis sunset |
We spend most of our time there outdoors, walking, running, biking, swimming, bird-watching, and clearing the land of all the spiny and prickly plants that took hold in the years when the native grasses were depleted by over-grazing. Our work boots get a lot of wear!
We also frequently cook and sleep outdoors, the latter either on the sleeping porch or in a screened cabin, and this Thanksgiving was no exception. As usual, we put the turkey - plus a brisket and some sausages for good measure - on the smoker. That yielded a deliciously smoky flavored turkey and left the oven available for all the yummy side dishes.
In spite of the generally mild central Texas climate, it can get quite chilly sleeping outside, and a good pile of warm bedding is called for. Right now we rely on a rather rag-tag collection of blankets and old sleeping bags so I am working, slowly, on making quilts for each of the beds. Here is one I just finished hand-quilting for Cabin II. The wool batting I used to make it extra cozy shrunk quite a bit in the wash so the overall texture is very crinkly, but I think will age nicely.
Steve's mother, Winifred, hand-stitched the flowered whole-cloth quilt at the bottom of the bed. I am guessing it is from some time during the 1960s.
This little butterfly kept Steve and me company while we were clearing some brush the other day and is a perfect color match for the new quilt. Maybe someone can help me to identify it. A clouded sulphur, perhaps?
No comments:
Post a Comment