Catering tasting

I'm not a foodie, and yet I did enjoy the tasting our engaged daughter's wedding caterer hosted for us a couple weeks ago. I made the drive to Austin to spend the day with our CPA to make some wedding decisions with her vendors. And deposits. The checkbook was open, y'all, when she chose cranberry velvet draping to be installed behind the band's stage at the reception venue. Next we visited with the baker at her shop where the future bride designed a lovely five tier wedding caked based on this simply elegant inspiration pic below.

 

 

Then we were off to the tasting with her caterer, where we spent almost two hours sampling and discussing what they're considering for the final menu. This included everything from signature drinks and passed appetizers, to a couple of the entree offerings as well as desserts that will be available in the patisserie lounge. As much as I adore wedding cake, I'm also looking forward to seeing the croquembouche. Since the daughter wanted French inspirations for her wedding, she included this eye catching dessert as the centerpiece of her pastry table. In case you're not sure what I'm talking about, it's a cone shaped tower of cream puffs bound together by caramel - see sample pic above. Since it's the star of the dessert offerings, the croquembouche is merely decoration and there will be individual cream puffs available to actually eat. The sweets selection will also include creme brulee, flourless chocolate cake, strawberry napoleon, and pavlovas. That's in addition to three different flavored layers of wedding cake. My life long sweet tooth is already looking forward to sampling this display of decadent desserts. Sounds like I'll need to be sure I'm poured into the serious shapewear under my mother-of-the-bride dress if I'm gonna be enjoying all of this rich food and drink!

 

Wrapping up our John study

As I turned the page in my old school spiral planner to May this morning, I got a bit sad. This month always heralds the end of our current Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) study. Since early fall I've been immersed in the Gospel of John, breaking it down verse by verse, with a wonderful group of ladies that range in age from late 30s to early 80s. We've shared insights from the Holy Spirit, pondered applications of God's eternal truths, and prayed with and over each other through the struggles of life. 

Above is probably my all-time favorite commentary to read with my BSF study materials. Warren Wiersbe breaks down God's word in a way that's both revelatory and easily understood. I've purchased Wiersbe's commentaries for every study we've done, and I just ordered the one for the new study that will begin in September. If you aren't familiar with Wiersbe, I highly recommend his BE series.

Though I'll miss our weekly lecture and discussions, I'm already looking forward to our next study of the book of Revelation that kicks off in a few months. In the meantime, I look forward to finishing the book I've been reading on and off since the first of the year, how to deepen my prayer life. I'll also be diving into a few books I've purchased this spring, working to improve my memorization of Bible verses as well as one about politics and the Lord as we head further into presidential election season. 

In the past I've tended to let the lazy days of summer run away with me. I tell myself I'm going to commit to reading books I've purchased, and then the next thing you know it's August and I've made little progress. Last year I had the excuse of ongoing house updates and a new puppy. This year I'm going to pray about improved focus and discipline to let the Lord show me what I need to see. With my lovely office all put together this summer, I've got the perfect spot to lean into God's word and grow my faith. What a wonderful Creator we serve, that He never strays even when I wander away from Him. 

What the beasts are up to these days

We got to see the grand doggy earlier this month when the older daughter and her fiance drove over for the weekend. He's sassy as ever, and yet that fuzzy face, big old donkey ears and snaggled teeth are hard to resist.

I sent our own Finn and Pepper to the vet for their spring clip last month and the groomer really went to town on them. For the first couple weeks I called them my naked mole rats, for obvious reasons. Silver lining to their new look is that they don't smell as much, and certainly no knots to worry about in their fur. Or the need to brush them. 

Our neighbor's down the road have a large pasture that's covered in yellow spring flowers and their longhorns have been posing for pictures lately. So I decided to stop and snap a few to share with you. I swear they're almost frameworthy. 

And finally, I finished updating what I now call my Dutch shelf in the family room. As you can see, I've got quite a few shelves that hold mementos from our travels. China, Peru, Egypt, Israel, Germany, Jordan and England were already represented. I used my two mini blue delft houses I got on my recent flights via KLM as inspiration to build a little collection of the houses thanks to eBay. Directly in front of the #27 house that is a likeness of Anne Frank's hiding place in Amsterdam, I put the copy of "My Friend Anne Frank" by Hannah Pick-Goslar that I finished reading while in Holland last month. I also had a copy of Mirjam Bolle's "Letters Never Sent" that I placed next to it. Mirjam was a young Jewish woman working in Amsterdam who was deported to Westerbork and Bergen-Belsen, just like Anne and Hannah.

 

An afternoon on Broadway in SA

The older daughter and her fiance saw the musical comedy "The Book of Mormon" back in the fall. They were highly amused by this exceedingly successful Broadway show and so we heard all about it. I had actually contemplated seeing it in London's West End since it premiered there several months before we moved back to Texas in 2013. Alas, we never made it and thus I figured it was time to remedy that after hearing such glowing reviews from our girl. As luck would have it, "The Book of Mormon" came to town for a limited long weekend recently and so I purchased five tickets for us. 

Unfortunately, the law student daughter in Dallas was unable to make it for the show. So we told the older daughter she could invite a friend to join us so the seat wouldn't be wasted. We all trekked to the historic Majestic Theater downtown for the matinee, strolling past the picturesque riverwalk and lots of tourists. 

The show was really funny, not to mention irreverent, controversial and R-rated at times. But I imagine that's why it has received so many accolades since its premiere on Broadway in 2011. The actor portraying Elder Cunningham for our show was sincerely talented in that role. As I read through my playbill, I saw that "Les Miserables" is in the line up for next year, and so I'm already looking forward to getting tickets for a command performance of that classic.

 

Redolent delivery

Several years ago I was gifted with a lovely reed diffuser and that sold me on an easy way to keep the eau de cairn terrier aroma at bay, particularly in the warmer months. I recently ordered several diffusers from Williams Sonoma, a personal favorite place to get them that is more reasonably priced compared to other options like Nest and Voluspa. I thought it curious when I spied the delivery box enclosed in a plastic bag blowing in the breeze at my front gate. Sure enough, when I walked out to retrieve it I immediately understood what had happened.

Upon opening the scent-saturated outer box and getting to the diffuser, I discovered the lid had come loose on the scent and it had completely leaked out. And thus my fingertips smelled really good for the next 24 hours even though I washed them multiple times to remove the scented oils they use in their formulation. Thankfully, my call to Williams Sonoma produced an immediate promise of replacement, which was handy. It's always nice to run across companies that still believe in providing excellent customer service for folks loyal to the brand like I am with their quality diffusers that last months.

Cloudy sky eclipse on 4/8/24

Geez, we had all this buildup for a once-in-a-lifetime eclipse in the path of totality and I only caught glimpses of it through our rolling cloud cover here in the Texas hill country. There was no real need to use my eclipse viewing glasses, dang it. As the sky began to darken, I waited outside to see what might be visible. Sure enough, our dusk to dawn lights on the back patio turned on. I snapped a few pics, but it was honestly so disappointing a viewing with the clouds blocking out the sky that I found myself more excited about dark falling ever so briefly than what the sun looked like. I wish I'd been fast enough to get a pic when a confused bat flapped out of his daytime resting spot and flew across the backyard thinking it was night once again. 

 

Dipped over to Dallas

After our lakes tour, the husband and I strolled down memory lane in Fort Worth on our way to spend several days with the law student in Dallas. We made a side trip through our old neighborhood and stopped by the very first home we purchased when the older daughter was about three years old. It appeared to be well-kept. That tree out front was a fraction of its current size when we lived there back in the day. My how time flies.

With the law student in a two bedroom apartment, we enjoyed the fact that we got to stay with her instead of in a hotel. We ate at a couple wonderful local restaurants. Susie Cakes was also a stop for us, because who doesn't love some tasty sugary treats.

Saturday afternoon was gorgeous, so the daughter and I decided to walk off some of those yummy calories. The scenery was lovely, with spring flowers in bloom and folks out sunning themselves in hammocks. We saw dogs romping at the dog park. And we even spied koi and turtles in the decorative ponds on the walking trails around her place.