Fiesta:Part Tres

Fiesta Part Tres
(No. 87: Go to Fiesta in San Antonio
(for Parts Uno and Dos go here and here.)

Saturday in San Antonio, after our full day Friday of judging and partying, was thankfully duty free.
Left to our own devices, Liddy and I grabbed another Uber and headed to the King William Fair.

A nineteenth century residential area located on the south side of the San Antonio River, the King William district is a feast of gorgeous old homes. The fair is the major fundraiser for the King William  Association, a non-profit organization whose goal is to preserve and protect the oldest historic district in Texas.

I didn't get a lot of pics because a) it was crowded and b) it was hot.   When it's hot, I get cranky.  

Lots of people, lots of booths.

But we met up with Felicia and Tom from Thursday night and visited Felicia's sister's booth, the Champagne Mermaid. Sandi of Champagne Mermaid learned her jewelry skills at my old school, the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende. I took that same silver working class but obviously did not get as much out of it. It is on my list though to refresh my silver soldering skills. (No.27: Jewelry making- refresh the silver soldering skills)

Then we moved on, walking the district and stopping occasionally to shop. My big purchase of the day (weekend) was a Mexican shirt. Haven't had one in ages and I was super happy with this one. 

Love all the embroidery

We wandered the streets admiring the  old houses until our stomachs started rumbling and I needed air conditioning. 

One of the gorgeous old houses. 

Wish we could have seen inside some of them. 

Another Uber ride (with, amazingly, the same driver who had brought us there) got me and Liddy back to the hotel and our cars. A quick drive down Broadway took us to an air conditioned, uncrowded Mexican restaurant where I'm pretty sure I downed a full gallon of iced tea. 

For Saturday night we were lucky enough to have the use of a house from a friend who happened to be out of town.  Right in Olmos Park, it was the perfect spot to rest and cool down. We finished up our evening with snackies at the Broadway 50 50, once again meeting up with Tom and Felicia and their family. What a welcoming group.  

The whole weekend was a blast.  I felt like we really got the feel of San Antonio and especially Fiesta. 

Again many many thanks to all of my friends who made it possible for us to experience this fabulous weekend. I am beyond blessed to have such wonderful, supportive friends. Y'all are the best!

•••••••••••

And now I am packing and packing and purging and cleaning. Putting the house we've lived in for 17 years on the market. Do you know how much stuff a house accumulates in 17 years?? A LOT.

A surprise arrival from Florida of Belle and her little dog- for the summer- made my day but complicated my cleaning. I thought I was going to be able to store stuff in her empty room.  Wrong! And then last night Bunny got home with yet another car full of stuff. 

Carlos, Dakota and Belle. 

Dakota is a Tri-pawed dog. 

He's missing one of his front legs. 

And where are we moving to? Don't know yet. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. 

Definitely it will be an adventure. 

Fiesta: Part Dos

Fiesta: Part Dos
(No. 87: Go to Fiesta in San Antonio)
( See Part Uno here.)


Friday dawned bright and early for me and Liddy...possibly a little too early after all of the margaritas and confetti of the evening before.

But we were up and dressed pronto because we had a job to do: JUDGING!

Second grade friend Melissa had invited me and a Plus One to judge the Battle of the Flowers Parade on the last Friday of Fiesta.  This is a big deal. The Battle of the Flowers Parade is the only parade in the United States produced entirely by women volunteers. Stop and think about that. Organized and planned and hosted by nothing but women. It's a BIG parade. And on parade day, all of these volunteers are out and about dressed in yellow. 

Ladies in yellow, waiting to get the parade started.

The first parade occurred in 1891 to commemorate the battle of the Alamo and the victory at San Jacinto.  The parade organization's goal now is to teach the history of the great state of Texas and help keep alive the many traditions of this state and the city of San Antonio.

All Liddy and I had to do was show up in time for a pre-parade picnic where we were to get our badges and where I got to see Melissa again for the first time since- I think- High School. Janelle and Madeleine, two other friends of Melissa's ( from elementary and college, respectively) joined us and we all sat together for the judging. 

Madeleine, Janelle, Melissa, Juli (our Amusements guide), Me and Liddy Beth

The judging stand was directly across the street from the Alamo; the picnic actually on the Alamo grounds. I am always amazed at how small the actual Alamo is. The history is palpable. 

Remember the Alamo!

Liddy and I were to judge the "Amusements" section of the parade. We were both a little confused as to what exactly "Amusements" were, but quickly got into the spirit of the day and judged away. Apologies to those in the category if you were unhappy with the results...it was difficult to judge entries that were so disparate. We had dancers, bicyclers, a Chinese dragon and a few other entries- no two were even remotely similar! 

\

Our official judging forms!

The parade was long and the weather was hot. Fortunately there were lovely women that brought us water bottles while we were judging.  About 3 hours and 213 (!) entries later, we were done. Floats, gorgeous dresses, a Queen, a Princess and numerous Duchesses, two Kings, our Mustang from the night before (with the actual Grand Marshal), bands and horses all had passed before us in a visual feast.

 Look at these dresses! 

Duchesses

In amazing dresses. 

 Chinese dragon float

 My friends, The Budweiser Clydesdales

 Nothing says Texas traditions like bagpipes. 

Charros- riding side saddle! 

Even Wells Fargo showed up.

BUT! Our day was not done!

After a quick walk back to our hotel (again, thanks to Liddy's husband for booking us into La Mansion del Rio...so convenient to the parade and to both of them for treating me to the room)  and much needed showers, we were off again.
This time dressed in formal wear!!!

We met Melissa and her amazingly patient and sweet husband, Bob, along with Janelle and Madeleine, all at a gorgeous garden party at a private home in Terrell Hills.  (Terrell Hills along with Olmos Park and Alamo Heights are three tiny cities within San Antonio.)  Gorgeous dresses, men in tuxedos, ancient oak trees dripping with decorations and waiters passing hor's deouvres started our evening.

We clean up nice I think. 

A gorgeous yard, gorgeous house, wonderful party.

Love the streamers hanging from the trees.

(O! And I got to experience my first Uber ride!  Not on the list but probably should have been.)

 Between Party One and Dinner, look where we stopped!

Our gracious

hosts for the evening, Bob and Melissa.

Next up was dinner at the Argyle, a private club with a purpose, for our little group of six. Club membership helps support the Texas Biomedical Research Institute. The air conditioning was a nice break. 

Happily fed, we were off to our next stop, the San Antonio Country Club for another garden party. We arrived a little later than we expected but still found the party going full blast. We were greeted by the Queen and Princess of Fiesta's dress trains...gorgeous works of art that can take up to six months to create. More beautiful women in long dresses, dashing men in tuxedos, piñatas hanging from the giant oaks plus a dance floor packed to the brim and a live band backing it all up made for one grand party. Amazingly I did not see one dress repeat the entire night and the first party had about 250 attendees while the second was closer to 1000.

The Queen's train...

(The Order of the Alamo is responsible for choosing the Queen,etc.)

and the Princess's

(a bit of history on the Queen's dress here)

At midnight, the party was over, our chariot awaited us and Liddy and I were driven exhausted but happy back to the hotel. The whole evening (Hell! The WHOLE DAY!) was such an experience. It was a treat to see the people behind Fiesta exhibiting so much tradition and pride in their city and in this unique celebration. The parties weren't too bad, either!

We had one more day in San Antonio and I'll share that next.    Hopefully quicker than I got this post done.  I am in the throes of moving and Man! the house is a mess. I can barely get into the office to reach my computer. Patience with me please. 

Fiesta!

Fiesta!
(No. 87) 

fi·es·ta

fēˈestə/

noun

1. 
   

   (in Spanish-speaking regions) a religious festival

   • 
     

     an event marked by festivities or celebration.

     
     

     
     

     
     

O my.
What can I say?
I went to Fiesta in San Antonio over the weekend.

The Official Fiesta Poster-2017

It was marvelous.

First I'd like to talk about anticipation. How delicious it is to look forward to something, plan and prepare and then actually experience whatever it is you were anticipating.
Think back to High School and that first date with the guy/girl you had a crush on forever that finally came to their senses and asked you out. The plotting...what do I wear? Where are we going? What are they going to be like one on one?

As an adult, you don't get much of that.  Maybe when you have a baby, although knowing the gender beforehand takes some of the suspense out of that these days.  Christmas is fun but usually the anticipation is not there because...hello...as an adult you are the one doing the shopping and planning.

So I had been anticipating this trip to San Antonio for Fiesta for a few months. The build up was fun. I had to find a formal dress! Find a place to stay! Find someone to go with me!

And how did this trip even come about? I mentioned to a friend in San Antonio last year, after seeing her Fiesta pics, how I have always wanted to go but forget every year until it is too late.   That sweet friend just happens to be on one of the big parade volunteer committees and she came up with a plan.   Invite me to help judge the parade and then I will have to come.

This sweet friend, Melissa, was my BFF in first and second grade when I briefly lived in San Antonio. We had not seen each other in 40 years. But through the magic of Facebook, we had reconnected.  O! And she has a daughter named after my daughter. Isn't that a fun connection?

Woodridge Elementary

First grade? Second? 

Melissa is on the bottom row third from the left,

I'm bottom row, third from the right.

(I'm digging the kid's boots next to me.)

So I grabbed my other friend Liddy as my Plus One and off we went. A special shout out to her husband that loves to find hotel rooms as he managed to get us a lovely room at my most favorite hotel, La Mansion del Rio. Right on the Riverwalk, it was the perfect location for our weekend.


Our first night was free so Liddy called another friend and somehow we were off to a party. A big party. A Cascarones Party. With live music and dancing in the grass and a THOUSAND cascarones and enchiladas a la plancha.  We arrived in style, sneaking the Parade Grand Marshall's Mustang out for a quick run through the neighborhood. No, we weren't supposed to be in it. We definitely were not supposed to be leaving confetti all over it. But. Things happen.

Felicia, Liddy, Me

The Grand Marshall's Mustang

(Shhhh. Don't tell.)

Pre-Confetti

 On the way we HAD to stop at this corner house's display for a photo op. Isn't that nice? The homeowner decorates for every holiday so people make it a tradition to stop and have their pic taken.

New friends!

El Rey Feo, Pascal, Me, Tom, King Antonio

Liddy and Felicia 

Isn't it nice that this corner is decorated for the all the holidays? 

Liddy and I feeling frisky and it's just the beginning of the night. 

The party itself was big and loud with interesting people and good music and plenty of margaritas. Just like a party should be. Not knowing anyone going in, Liddy and I both found connections through out the night. Person A knew Person B. Person B knew Person C. There was a house in San Miguel. A friend of a friend. It was fun finding the common grounds.

The next morning I woke up with confetti in my bed. I'm pretty sure that's a sign of a good night.

And we hadn't even gotten to the Fiesta part yet.


Stay tuned for the rest of the story weekend.....

No.1: Big 60th Birthday Trip and No. 64: South Padre Island

No. 1: Big 60th Birthday Trip plus No. 64: South Padre Island/ A Two-Fer!


Again, sorry for the silence.  In the past month I've helped my mom move, been out of town, and started a new job. Lots of little adjustments. But now, I'm back.....

Just came back from a weekend in Terrell, Tx with my high school friends and realized, What?!, I never did a post on last year's 60th birthday trip to S. Padre.

February 2016. I am really late on this one!

Friend Ann had been a bit under the weather and overwhelmed (metastatic breast cancer will do that to you) so we decided to keep the 60th Birthday Trip a little closer to home. Some of us (okay, me) had never been to S. Padre Island, others had been and loved it. Being driving distance away was the icing on the cake.

M. Anne found us a lovely condo on the beach complete with pool that was supposed to heat up. I'm sure it would have gotten warm if the owners had turned the heater on about a week before we showed up. As it was, the weather was a little cool, and so was the pool.

That pool started to get warm the last day we were there. 

Too little, too late.

And too sad, since M. Anne really worked hard to find us a heated pool.

S. Padre Island was...an island. With pretty white sand. And row after row after row of condos.  I've been now, no need to go back. Yes, the sand was gorgeous but I was raised going to Galveston and Surfside where the sand isn't always so pretty and I still love those beaches. Between the distance we drove and the abundance of condos, I would be just as happy staying closer to home and living with non-white sand.

However, put six women, an abundance of champagne and wine, lots of excellent food and an opportunity to shop together for a weekend and happiness is guaranteed.

Every trip we do a bottle photo. 

Sometimes it's a little embarrassing. 

And, for the record, I'm mostly a beer drinker. 

We did a tour of the sea turtle rescue center and hit the convention center for a craft's fair.

Liddy, Peggy and Allison getting their turtle on.

The sea turtle rescue center was a little rag-tag but still fun. They could use some donations. (In case you have some money you need to get rid of...)

Help me!

I swim in circles. 

Sweet rescue turtle...

We walked the beach and listened to live music at Clayton's,  the largest beach bar in Texas. The music was good, the daiquiris were better and the array of dancers was the best.  I firmly believe that no matter how old you are on the outside, we all feel our best age on the inside when we cut loose.  Apparently that age was somewhere between 18 and 22 for the majority of the 55+ aged dancers.

A last minute pic- no make up, wet hair,  ready to roll. 

Sixty is pretty cute.

B: Me, Allison, Liddy

F: Peggy, M. Anne, and Ann

So we did it. Celebrated our 60th birthdays AND went to the island.

Which brings us to last weekend.

Liddy's first grand baby was born last October, at 25 weeks along and weighing only 11 ounces. She is one of the smallest surviving babies in the world.  Now weighing about 3 pounds, it was time to have a baby shower for her. So all of us ladies descended on Terrell to celebrate Baby Watson.
(Great video of her and her parents here.)

Watson Jean is one teeny tiny baby. 

Ann was under the weather and couldn't make it but Kathleen did come, all the way from Birmingham.  Another weekend away in the company of wonderful friends, another reason to celebrate.

Sixty one is pretty cute, too.

(Although truthfully only Allison and I are there- the rest have later birthdays.)

Liddy, Peggy, Kathleen, M. Anne, Allison and me in front.)

I am all about the celebrations. We need to find our joy where we can.

Yep. We found our joy!

•••••••••••••

And while we were there I got to do a little plumbing. Liddy dropped an earring back down the drain. It was a locking back made especially for her earring, not an easy one to replace.  I assured her that was not a problem. I grew up wearing hard contact lenses. They were always slipping down the drain and my mother taught me many moons ago how to disconnect that pipe under the sink to retrieve lost items.  (She was a contact wearer, also.)  Like mother like daughter like daughter...
Teach your kids how to do stuff, it gives them power.   It's a good thing.

A Celebration

A Celebration of Life...


Monday we had a lovely little Memorial Service for the Daddy-O.

It was at the church where he and my mom were active so very many years. The church where one of my brothers got married. The church where I got married. The church where I grew up. The church where dad was a volunteer and an elder.

My brother, Steve, spoke. Whew. I could never have managed but Steve did Dad proud. And didn't tear up until his very last line. It was interesting to hear his take on my father, being the oldest child and the first boy. We are five years apart in age but six years apart in school so never that close growing up. By the time I was in middle school, he was off to college.  But obviously my father's work ethic that he instilled in me was even more so drilled into Steve.

Dad and Steve

(Dad always said "You are never sick on a Monday. If you are sick, it better be high fever, hospital worthy sick. Otherwise, go to work.  Employers hate people that are sick on Mondays." I've never forgotten it and have tried to impress that on my kids. Big Guy hasn't really gotten it down, though.)

And the service was well attended. You know, once you are in your nineties,  there aren't that many friends left to see you off. But the three that could get out, did.  And friends and neighbors filled the church.

Brother Steve spoke about what a great friend my dad was to all. How good he was about birthdays and anniversaries, always remembering and always sending cards. I've tried to be that way myself although I realized not having a paper calendar makes it harder for me to see birthdays in advance.
Today I bought a paper calendar so I can see a month a time. And maybe do better with the cards.
Because really, everyone loves a little "snail mail".

A lovely little periwinkle calendar to add

to my mess of a desk.

And after the service I went to lunch. With long time friends. And Bunny. Who is a smart girl and volunteered to accompany us because she knows where to find a good time.

And dad would have been so proud.

We celebrated.

And I went to a new restaurant for 2017.  I need to do another twelve new restaurants this year. That's a favorite challenge. (For me, at least!) So, No. 90:Twelve New Restaurants for 2017 has begun.

Allison, Liddy, Peggy, Bunny and I ate at rise no. 2 near the Galleria in Houston. O my! It was so achingly perfect. They serve soufflés in the most adorable little space with all of the exquisitely en  pointe details covered.

We started with salads and then came a cheese course.  The cheeses were on a little cart. We got a quick lesson on our choices and then a board of cheese was deposited on the table along with a tiny bread guillotine!   Bunny had to try it out.

 The beautiful cheese cart

What to choose???

 The bread guillotine

 Bunny doing her best "Price is Right" showing of the bread cutter. 

And Liddy photo bombing. 

That Liddy. 

She puts the "She" in "shenanigans".

Love her. 

It's a miracle Bunny didn't lose a finger she was laughing so hard. 

O my. Then we each got a soufflé.  Yum and yum. 

Mine was sun dried tomato and pesto. Allison had a mushroom with truffle sauce. The rest had Jambon and Gruyere.  We were all groaning in ecstasy. 

 Look at those gorgeous soufflés!

And..ahem... those gorgeous women. 

A toast to Daddy-O. He would have loved joining us. 

He always had a soft spot for "cute young things". 

There was wine, there were dessert soufflés and even a creme brûlée. They practically had to roll me out of there and I did not eat dinner Monday night. I am eternally grateful to my sweet friends for treating us on Monday.  This lunch could not have been a better tribute to my dad. 

He would have loved it all. 

•••••••••

(And -o!- I need to go back and buy some of their napkins. They were luscious.  Along with everything else.)

A Fly Fishing Attempt

No. 58: Fly fishing- take a  lesson. 

I didn't quite get a real professional lesson but I certainly had an experienced fly fisherman try to teach me.  Try being the operative word.

Wynne, my teacher for the day, decked out like a pro.

When I was in Lake City with Liddy, she convinced her patient husband, Wynne,  to take me out on the river and try to teach me to fly fish.
Decked out in all of Liddy's gear, with a pole in hand, I hit the South Fork of the Gunnison River. Wynne wins the prize for patience and determination. We started near a bridge on their property. He instructed me on the proper way to cast. Then he told me just to fling it. He was being pretty realistic about my skills. Trying to keep my wrist straight, I got pretty good at putting the fly close to where I wanted it. 

Wynne was smart and put a bobber on my line, knowing that the trout are pretty quick and by the time I felt one, it would be gone. But guess what? Even SEEING the strike, I missed the fish. 

We tried closer to the bridge, on the other side of the bridge and even through the bushes and upstream to a deeper spot in the river. 

Three or four strikes, no fish. I was too slow. 

Threatening skies and thunder echoing through the mountains cut my lesson short. 

The fish were safe for another day. 

BUT...

I've done it before and I WILL do it again. 

Thirty something years ago I caught this one little trout...also in the South Fork of the Gunnison, also in Lake City. As I know so well, lightning CAN strike twice in the same place. Just not this time. 

A much younger me pretty delighted with myself for catching a fish!

An Update and No. 71: Have a Picnic

No. 71: Have a Picnic and a Fire Update

First the Hayden Pass fire update.

We are breathing easier.  Literally and figuratively. After a week of smoldering skies and whiffs of campfire smoke, the fire is mostly under control and the smoke has been washed away.
We had rain. And lots of firefighters.

The stats for today (Thursday July 21) are 16,414 acres burning or burned. It is still slowly spreading but mostly into the wilderness area. 

There are 589 people working the fire today. 

Fifty percent of the perimeter is contained. I don't think it will ever be 100% until it snows because the back of the fire (away from me) is in wilderness area that cannot be accessed. That just gets to burn until it snows. Or rains for a while.

It is hard to comprehend just how much area is affected.

Maybe these pics can give you an idea:

                          *

From the highway

And a pic from the dump, across the river. 

These pictures are the "under control" version of our fire. 

So, life returns to normal. Or as normal as it gets here at the Western outpost of Green Acres. 

Now, on to  No. 71: Have a Picnic.

To escape the smoke, I visited Liddy's house about 2 1/2 hour west of me, across the Continental Divide, in Lake City.


I love a picnic and my friend Liddy is a pro at them. She learned from the best, her mother. Growing up I have some great memories of picnics with Liddy's family. 

And so we picnicked. At the American Basin near Handie's Peak outside of Lake City. The American Basin is known for its wildflowers and this trip did not disappoint.

We had sandwiches, adult beverages (not for the driver...this was a Jeep trip that required 4 wheel drive) and Oreos. What could be better?

Liddy, me and the picnic basket.

Braids must be my picnic hair do.

                      

Liddy's darling daughter, Emma, who was also our fearless driver,

with her pup, Milly.

Jake, Liddy's Westie, checking out the picnic offerings. 

             

And wouldn't this have been a great pic if someone hadn't accidentally 

put the black and white filter on their phone camera?!

All those flowers behind me....o well.  

The flowers were gorgeous. There were tiny white butterflies everywhere. The dogs frolicked. The people frolicked. There were waterfalls and baby Big Horn Sheep. It was a glorious day. 

                                  

A little waterfall

                 

See why it's called a basin? 

                                 

Wildflowers...

                                 

and more wildflowers....

Mama Big Horn Sheep with Baby (Not So) Big Horn Sheep

            

Fluttering butterflies all over.

No. 71 has had its basket emptied.


* photo by Lauren Murray...thanks! Lauren!