Yet another moving day

The husband and I have been back in the hill country all week prepping for a last big push to finish cleaning out the house and barn so we can hand over the keys to our realtor and get it listed. Plus I needed to return for a final round of annual health checks. Fun stuff like a mammogram and EKG. We had left the husband's little SUV here at the hill country house for the past couple months, so we also needed to get that to the lake. We made final visits to a few of our favorite local restaurants. I kinda thought I'd be sad about this final goodbye, but I've already closed the door on our life here in the hill country. And I can hardly wait to get back to the lake to all of my new friends and activities.

A spin on the lake

The law student and her boyfriend came for a visit last weekend. The countdown has started to her graduation in May, and we're so excited for her to complete her legal education. Oh sure, we're proud of all her hard work to earn her JD. But we're especially happy thinking about the "raise" we'll be getting as we ease her off the parent payroll once she takes the bar exam and starts working. But I digress.

We were having some really pretty weather, so we took the pontoon boat out for a spin. Opting for a morning ride, it was a bit chilly when we picked up speed. The daughter, with her 2% body fat, ended up snuggled down on the front cushions to get out of the wind. I think our highlight of the ride was spying some white pelicans on the water. Since we only see the occasional stray gray pelican from the Texas coast (the Gulf of Mexico is about 200 miles from us), I think these white pelicans were just migrating through and took a rest stop on our lake.

Soup season on the wane

I knew it was just a matter of time before I pulled out the shorts. Sure enough, when we took the boat for a spin this afternoon our temps were in the low 80s. I'm not quite ready to do the biannual shoe swap since my feet are scary scaly and dry, with unpainted dragon toenails that could probably dig taters (as my granny used to say). So I threw on a pair of what I've called boat shoes my whole life instead of the old flip flops I keep out year round in my closet.

Now that the husband is retired and we've got his parents moved into our neighborhood, we've been trying out new-to-us restaurants. He chose a local Italian place recently where we really enjoyed their fresh, warm bread with seasoned dipping oil and the caprese salad. After a really good start, I was disappointed that my chicken piccata and his pizza were bland. 

I'm not one of those gals that loves to cook. I can cook, and don't mind doing it. But I mean seriously, is there anything wrong with eating out once a day if you can afford it??? (Don't answer that!) This week I whipped up a big pot of beef and vegetable soup to share with the husband's parents. That's mostly healthy. But then I made some cheesy jalapeño cornbread to accompany it. Not so healthy. Especially when I brushed it with hot honey butter after I pulled it out of the oven. Calories schmalories, y'all.

Texas' season within a season

We've settled into milder temps lately, which is pretty common for Texas. We'll usually have a few serious cold snaps, but always return to the moderate temps. Calling this time of year winter is really kinda lost on us. But I digress. In the last few days we've had several mornings begin with clouds and/or fog, but then it eventually lifts for afternoon sun. In the video below, you can see the obvious line where the clouds were being blown out to make way for clear skies.

With these comfortable temps, I've found myself sitting on the back porch to read or work on my laptop most afternoons. And thus I've enjoyed the parade of boats on the water. In chilly weather, it's just the hardy fishing folks out doing their thing. But yesterday, I spied the trifecta of a pontoon, wake boat and fishing boat when the Fahrenheit climbed well into the 70s. Unfortunately no sailboats have been spotted this week, because they're my favorite.

With the nice weather, I've been able to take our dogs on longer walks through the neighborhood. When we were passing by a little canal-inlet sort of area recently, I looked out and saw ducks on the water. No surprise there. But upon closer inspection, I realized that what at first glance appeared to be a duck off by itself was actually a nutria paddling towards open water. 

For those of you who aren't familiar with nutria, they're an invasive species. Initially imported from South America in the late 1800s for the fur trade, they're now found across large swaths of the US. Nutria are considered pests/nuisances here in Texas since they undermine the banks of ponds and lakes with their destructive burrowing. When the husband was growing up, his pawpaw would turn him and his friends loose to help weed out the nutria population on their farm so they wouldn't destroy the ponds for their cattle.

As you can see above and below, nutria look like the ugly cousin of a muskrat or beaver. They're often called swamp rats or river rats. The term rat is appropriate because they have these long, skinny rat-like tails. And get a load of those bright orange front teeth. That's the stuff of nightmares, y'all. I read that these teeth grow continuously throughout the nutria's life. It certainly provides a horrific visual for that idiom "long in the tooth". Poor guy could use a good whitening toothpaste and some of those bleach strips to get his chompers presentable. But I guess the lady nutrias don't mind.

Old school covered dish supper

Back when I was a kid, potluck suppers were a thing. And I recall them at church most vividly. When you attend a small town church, then you get to enjoy what we called "covered dish meals", or "lunch on the grounds". My granny and mother's generations were more about lunch on the grounds after church in the days before air conditioning found its way to Texas. I recall my generation always gathering in the fellowship hall to enjoy covered dish meals, because everyone appreciates a climate controlled environment that's bug-free.

Today a lot of folks fix their food in those silver disposable pans you can find at the grocery store. I'll admit I sometimes use them. But back in the day, all of the church ladies would haul out their Sunday best serving dishes to whip up a favorite family recipe. In my opinion, the most outstanding thing about those gatherings was always the great variety of made-from-scratch dishes presented.

Fast forward to our new lake community. I really enjoy the sweet little nondenominational church that's located here in the gates of our neighborhood. In the fall they hosted a spaghetti supper. Then this week they scheduled a bring your favorite recipe potluck dinner. I whipped up my great aunt Jodie's cheesy squash casserole, as well as my mother's yummy chicken and rice dish, as you see below. 

Now I'm gonna tattle on myself with a little story from the fall spaghetti supper. I made a pasta salad and dessert to share for that gathering. I had offered my elderly neighbor a ride. So when I was getting her into my SUV, I sat my food on the hood since I still had it in my hands and wanted to be sure she didn't trip on the running board. We quickly discovered the hood was more sloped than it appeared. Because dontcha know, the salad and cake slid off the front and landed with a PLOP on the  driveway. Oh the horror, y'all! The pasta salad was in a plastic airtight container and none the worse for its fall. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the lemon pound cake. Over at the church we were able to salvage some pieces to put out for the crowd. But the rest of it looked like it had weathered a beating and come out the loser. Lesson learned. No more putting anything on the hood of my SUV that I don't want tumbling off it.

Parents in the 'hood

It's an exciting week around here, y'all. The husband's parents are moving to our neighborhood tomorrow. We purchased them a home several months ago so they could be close to us now that the husband has retired. At 88 and 89, Nena and Poppy have gotten to a point where they need help, and we're happy to provide it. The husband and I have been over there doing some prep and spruce work in anticipation of their arrival. I made sure to get a spring wreath and welcome mat in place. More details to come, so stay tuned!

Winter warm up today

What they say about Texas weather is so true. If you don't like it, just give it a minute and it will change. A week ago we had ice on the roof and in the front yard. This afternoon I'm lounging in shorts on the back patio, running the ceiling fan because temps are in the mid 80s. I even spied one of our local sail boaters out on the water.

The husband and I ate our first casual lunch together at the club earlier this week. I enjoyed the weekly salad special, while the husband dined on that Texas staple, chicken fried steak. We washed down our meal by splitting a slice of brownie pie. Talk about rich, y'all. It's so convenient to be able to hop in the golf cart and zip over about a half mile to the clubhouse for a meal or happy hour. 

My resolution for the year is to learn more about Judaism and the history of the Jews, God's chosen people. I ordered a couple books that were well rated and recommended. Unfortunately, the first one I started was way too esoteric for me. So I switched over to A History of the Jews by Paul Johnson and am really enjoying it. I think that's mainly because my preference is a straightforward, organized approach that engages and holds my attention. I'm really hoping to get back to Israel for another tour next year so I can see the places I'm learning about in this book and my Bible.