Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter 2011 Highlights



A picture speaks a thousand words.  I am so blessed!


Hope you had a happy Easter!
Outside Lisa

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Round Top, TX Spring 2011

Round Top, Texas is a paradise for junk collecting girls like me.  Twice a year they host the greatest open air market in the land.  You can find anything under the sun here.  And, if you like this sort of thing, you can spend days combing through all the goods.  We're talkin' miles of highway lined on each side with tent after tent of antiques, trash, and treasure.  This is the first time I've made it in years and man it did my gypsy soul good!  But my time was limited, and I had my sweet Emerson with me, so I gave myself a set time limit and hit it, stroller and all!  These are some of the interesting things I saw:

I have to be honest.  I was terrified to take her.  It's not that I was put off by the idea of pushing the stroller through the masses for miles in the blazing sun.  I wasn't even worried about the logistics of diaper changes in a land of Skid-O-Cans.  The thing is...
She's two.  She's unpredictable.  She's destructive.  She's very hard-headed (her Daddy's side;))  When she's angry, she's angry at me.  And she's LOUD.  VERY LOUD.  When I imagined her there with me, in that place that's like paradise for a junker like me, all that kept running through my head was a picture of myself zooming through the crowd at break-neck speed, struggling to make it back to my car with all eyes on me as if a deafening noise was blasting impossibly out of the tiny princess in my stroller.  A noise like a firehouse in a three alarm fire blazing a trail back to the safety and serenity of my car.  But, lo and behold, she was awesome.  It was like she was on an adventure and was loving every minute of the strange sights, smells, and sounds.  She was a natural.  A gypsy in training.  So we tore through, never stopping long enough for her to even ask to get out of the stroller.  She even took a nap!

Overall, the trip was a success and I was only there for three hours.  I found a great looking peacock blue bowl

 

and the perfect cabinet for my living room.  It needs a coat of paint to fit my house, but that's easy enough.  I bought a dozen antique glass Christmas ornaments and two square bowls and a vase from someone selling Fiesta.  I am using the bowls to feed and water our dog Maisy.  They are turquoise and green and look great in our laundry room:)  That's all the time I needed to find what I was looking for, load up, and head home.  Score!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Picking Strawberries at Marburger Orchard, Fredericksburg, Texas



     We started our weekend at the strawberry patch!  Strawberries are one of my favorite things about Spring.  Marburger Orchard in Fredericksburg, Texas has an abundance of fresh ripe strawberries starting in mid to late March every year.  They allow you to go out in the field and pick away.  Sampling two or three is okay, but try telling that to a two year old.  My berry eatin' girl couldn't get enough and there was no hiding it.  Her fingers, face, and shirt were stained so badly she might as well have had an "Over the Limit"  sign stamped across her forehead.  I think they may do better by weighing kids in and out and charging by the pounds gained!

     I plan to make preserves and possibly a strawberry pie with our berries this year.  I didn't get around to making my strawberry preserves last year and we sure missed them.  Marburger Orchard is a wonderful place for a family outing.  Just know that for a two year old and five year old the attention span only allowed for about 30 minutes of picking.  For more serious picking for your canning needs, go it alone.  I will be going back by myself one early morning during the week.  They are a cash or check operation and they're only open when there are berries to pick, so make sure you call ahead or check their website before making the drive.

     They also grow blackberries, peaches, and vegetables throughout the Spring and Summer months, so get on their email list to get notifications as things ripen throughout the season!

By the way, I have no affiliation to Marburger Orchard.  I just really like them and want to spread the word about a local farm and encourage you to buy local, eat local, and support your local farms.

Happy strawberry picking,

Outside Lisa