Swam...

14 laps today.  Just saying...

Agave leaves

Remember the agave leaves I saw in the supermarket?

I've been doing a bit of googling...

Agave Leaves
1. The agave leaves are harvested in the winter or spring when the sap content is the highest.  The leaves are cut into large chunks and roasted or baked. The roasted leaves have a rich caramel flavor but are highly fibrous so the leaves are chewed and the left-over fibers are thrown out.

2. After the leaves were cut off, the heart of the plant (imaging a giant artichoke) was roasted yielding a sweet nutritious food that is slightly slimy and  tastes like molasses.  This food could be wrapped in the skin of the leaves and stored. Cooking is essential because otherwise the heart of the agave is very poisonous.  Flower stalks were also eaten but could not be stored.

3. The leaves contain saponins and are rich in sap in the winter and spring. They can be roasted. You chew them then spit out the fiber.  The leaves can also be boiled and the juice used as a soup but test a little first. The leaves and juice can be too bitter to eat. There are over 200 agave species so make sure you have an edible one. Spine arrangement, length and shape help tell the species apart. The leaves of most make good cordage.

Mm.  Not sure I'll bother!  There's a lot that can go wrong and the spitting out bit could be messy! 

Flu shot

Had my flu shot yesterday (injection to the rest of you!), extra strength dose on account of my advanced age!  I was very brave and got a Bugs Bunny plaster!

It's lying on the table, not on my arm.  Just in case you thought I was overdoing the tanning! Ha!

I want my money back!

Well...a glass of wine is going someway to restore my calm...but not far enough.

We have just got back from a concert at the university which was billed as an 'intimate gathering' and for which we paid $42 each for our tickets.  When we booked, five months ago, the advertising just billed the artists as 2 Cellists, no other clue about the sort of music they played.   We were expecting standard cello repertoire...and what we got was a huge auditorium, lights, smoke, electric cellos, showmanship, crowd pleasing heavy metal.  Ouch!  It was dreadful.  Discordant, noisy and thoroughly unpleasant.  And their credentials as classical musicians are great.


I lasted an hour and left and Peter followed soon after.   We were not alone in leaving early and the people we spoke to outside were similarly surprised.  I suspect they didn't know what to expect when they booked them but obviously they have become popular.  The programme is peppered with Elton John and the names of other pop musicians and the shift to a much larger venue hints at a change of gear!  That sort of information would certainly have jumped out at us and the moody photographs would also have been a give-away!  Here's a taste...though there is a moment in this video where they actually play a tune!

Of course I have just penned an email to the managing director of the music programme and wait with interest to see what she says.    Yes, I know we are being old fogeys, but we likes what we likes!


In sharp contrast the FREE concert on Monday night was delightful.

Peter's birthday part 2

Happy campers! Well, walkers...

We had a very successful walk today in Huntsville State Park.  Weather perfect, humidity not too bad and only 6 people encountered on the trail and a small group of cyclists who whizzed past.  

A bit worrying to read about the alligators...

Lunch stop by the lake

Alligators?

Colours of moss

Swamp viewed from boardwalk

Various bits of fungus

No idea! 

A bit of autumn colour

View over the lake

Chef Peter

Back home, a bit stiff, we sunk our teeth into a couple of rib eye steaks, cooked by the maestro!  We couldn't actually finish them, they were so big, but steak salad is a treat to look forward to!

Peter's birthday

Very nice pre-birthday lunch with Bob and Mary at Maddens in Bryan on Friday.

From Bob and Mary - Peter will be
wearing his apron tonight when he cooks the steaks!

From Bob and Mary. Tastes good! 

Today we are setting off for a 7 mile walk on the Chinquapin Trail in Huntsville State Park.  The weather looks perfect.  74F and a bit of cloud to shade us now and then.  The picnic is packed...now to get the birthday boy moving!

Lunch at Leona

Pecan Grove Café, Leona TX
Scarecrow to scare off customers? On the right!

Today Carol and I set off on one of our explorations.  She is dedicated to providing me with experiences in and around College Station.    Our destination was the Pecan Grove Cafe in Leona TX.  Why?  Well, there's an interesting story.  We were looking round a house to rent and were shown round the former parental home by a couple who's surname was House.  Turned out that Mr. House and his brother were running restaurants in Leona which had been started by their father.  Full story here.   Carol and I headed off across country on small roads to see what it was all about.

Homely interior - design feature, white painted corrugated iron

A corner of the restaurant

Filling up

 I had a hamburger - my first for years!

Dropped into the grocery store on my way home.
These are agave leaves. Don't know what to do
with them yet...

The amazing resurrection of the late Queen Victoria

Patricia who kindly invited us to join her, collected us, drove us
and came back to the house afterwards for a well earned glass of wine or two...

A Victorian Tea Party at Calvert, north of College Station.  The tea was held on the lawn of a large house which occupied an entire block.  Many ladies and gentlemen came in Victorian costume.  As you can see we did not go that far.   Tea included sandwiches, cakes, scones, cream and jam.   On the way we picked up Fran whom we assumed was a close friend of Patricia's.  Fran talked non-stop about everything and anything.  Her family were founders of Bryan (the town at the north end of College Station) and she knew who had lived in every house.

The extraordinary woman, Fran, who came with us.
She reminded me of  Helena Bonham Carter playing Elizabeth Taylor.
This picture taken before the sandwiches and cakes arrived.

We arrived early at the house and took our seats.  There were about seven tables which slowly filled up.   We sipped our tea and ate our sandwiches and cakes and heard Fran's life story while a quartet played gently in the gazebo.

After Queen Victoria arrived there was a parade of hats and prizes and then a royal trivia quiz!!  No, we didn't win any prizes.   The questions were so obvious we assumed they were trick questions!

Ladies at the next table.

Victorians arrive...

Queen Victoria arrives...

Genteel conversation

Judging the hats

We set off back to Bryan to drop off Fran, but she insisted on a detour round Hearne to show us a restaurant, a grave and a house or two.  We arrived back in Bryan but before we stopped at her house, she ordered Patricia to drive here and there in order to point out businesses and houses that had been owned by her family or forebears.  Eventually, she allowed us to stop at her house.  When she shut the car door we could see Patricia visibly relax - almost crumble!  Turns out it was the first time she had met Fran!!  She's the friend of a friend and Patricia had offered to take her today.  Apparently it's a Texan thing...instant familiarity.  Anyway, she completely exhausted us all!

Galveston

On our way round Houston en route for Galveston...heavy, scary traffic!

Houston skyline

First night, dinner on Pier 21 and then back to the Hotel Galvez

Galveston docks at night

Hotel Galvez at night

On the Gulf coast (not the golf course!)


On Friday, while Peter was at a meeting, I walked around the historic district, or some of it, looking at beautiful houses until I was lured into the Mosquito Cafe for lunch.

Strange dog statue

Historic home

Nice bit of planting

House with widow's walk - the gallery on the roof
from which the wife of a sea captain gazed
 out to sea wondering if she was a widow or not? 

On Saturday,  our planned walk was curtailed because I had pulled a muscle in my back...no idea how!  After a night spent writhing in discomfort we began Saturday with a trip to a pharmacy then had breakfast in a cafe and decided to take a long way round back to College Station to avoid the Houston nightmare.

We took the ferry to Port Bolivar where the Pelicans gathered to greet us

Pelicans

and then drove along a spit of land where all the houses are on stilts to avoid high water/flooding when the hurricanes blow.   I wondered what it must be like to be on the top floor with a hurricane coming in and then realised that the roads are marked 'Hurricane Evacuation Route' so nobody stays around to see how much it shakes.

We saw some interesting things on our way back including a road that thought it was a roller coaster
and some real cowboys.

Up, up and away! 

Cowboys!

My very own...

...ant bites!  I noticed the other day that the mail box had water in it leading to soggy letters so I decided to straighten it up a bit so that any water would drain out.  I grabbed hold of the post, braced my foot on the ground at the bottom and heaved.  Unfortunately I had not spotted the whopping fire ant nest at the foot of the post, disguised as a shrub.  Looking down I saw ants on my feet.  Vigorous fire dance ensued and much brushing, stamping and cursing!  I have made the discovery though that I am not allergic to fire ant bites, but they do itch and, apparently,
the secret to rapid healing is not to scratch.  Fancy that!   I'm not exactly covered, as you can see, but I've learned a useful lesson.  Look before you step!   P.S. please notice the tan!

Water madness!

This morning the temperature dropped to 59F/15C - shock horror!  I gritted my teeth and set off for water fitness.  By the time I arrived at the pool, the rain was pouring down but five other ladies plus the tutor turned up and we spent an hour doing our exercises getting wet from above as well as below.  The young lifeguards who take it in turns to watch over us put a brave face on it, but you could tell they would much rather we hadn't turned up!

By the time I got home I was more than ready for a hot shower, but felt on top of the world!

In the afternoon friend Carol introduced me to another supermarket which is close by the house and better than others I have tried.  What excitement!

Tomorrow off to Galveston on the Gulf coast for a couple of days - armed with camera...

Garden tour

Pomegranite

Today 4 gardens were open to the public, organised by the Master Gardeners of Bryan College Station.    The first time they have done this apparently.  The gardens were located to the 4 winds across College Station so there was some driving, navigating and arguing involved!   But, we made it round the circuit.  People have managed to carve out gardens from wooded plots, unfavourable soil and very dry conditions...so no herbaceous borders English style, but some interesting adaptations to the climate and a lot of dedicated watering.  In one garden the vegetables, grown on raised beds, were protected by an electric fence.  Poor Peter Rabbit...no chance of a lettuce here and plenty of shotguns to enforce the point!

Interesting use for empty wine bottles

Unexpected sight on way to first garden...

Can't get away from them! 

Wish my basil grew like this! 

Garden owner and fat cat (on the right!)

Superior nesting box

Calm corner

Use of mirrors

Chillies galore! 

After the gardens, a quick lunch in Bryan and then off to the pool for 10 laps...both of us!

Rain water collection! 

Back home, the sky darkened and the rain started falling.  The tap water is so saline here that it kills plants so I've been buying bottled water for the daisies by the front door.  Today though I was in time to put my large bucket out and within a few minutes I had collected several gallons of rain water!

There are no gutters round three sides of this house, so the water falls off the roof in sheets and puddles around the building.  We assumed this was a mistake but apparently the subsoil is hard clay which threatens to dry out and crack causing shifting of the foundations so a good soaking around the house walls whenever it rains is positively desirable.   We live and learn!