stuff we heard on the greenbelt...

"it's an Aggie Airedale!...WHOOP!!!"



"look at the size of it..."
(inside joke for the three of us present)

"i think it's shallow enough here."




"take a good picture so i can paint it later"


and my favorite of the day....

"is that a show dog?"

365 + 1

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

today is one year and one day that Ben and I have been married. we made it!!! ;)
we have been so blessed and we look forward to the next 100 more years...

wine: phase II

well, it's a tad overdue but here is the second phase of the wine making process. we started with the grapes we crushed 7 days before (possibly too long...maybe 5 days of fermentation would have worked as the juice is pretty dry) regardless, there was plenty of juice coming out of the grapes!



we pour the grapes in batches into the wine press and turn the handle to press out every last drop of juicy goodness from the grapes.
in total, we got about 15 gallons of liquid from the pressings. we even re-pressed the grapes, which i highly reccommend as that yielded another gallon or so. we poured the liquid into the glass jugs through a sieve to strain out any bits that escaped.







wally helped with the whole thing, supervising from the patio :)

new generation of wine makers...

well kids, with the economy in the slumps still we have resorted to making our own hooch!!
just kidding!!
we are just partaking in one of ben's family traditions...making wine. we started with about 150 pounds of some beautiful cabernet grapes and went to work crushing them to bits to start the fermentation process.





sweeten the pot...





check out our flickr stream for more pics...we are letting the crushed grapes ferment for about 7 days, then the reall work begins with the wine press. stay tuned...for the next step in the wine process!!
peace out

raindrops keep falling on my head...

...Drip drip the trees for all the country round,
And richness rare distills from every bough;
The wind alone it is makes every sound,
Shaking down crystals on the leaves below...
-Henry David Thoreau

yay for the rain in TX!!

some wally...

just some pics of the Wally...enjoy!


a close up...


wally and his girlfriend Mia


oooohhh the sleepy baby!!!!

Dining in Style

i have gotten my wish...we have a fancy schmancy new dining room table. we can now entertain more than 4 people comfortably in our home!! we found the table at a sale, it was considered damaged by the store so we got a heck of a deal. with ben's handiness and some elbow grease

,

the solid teak table has been restored to it's full glory, Wally can attest to that :)



...so once we get chairs come on over!!
ciao

the rise

i have embarked on another adventure....

MAKING BREAD

this is the real deal, the whole kit and kaboodle....not killing the yeast (weird but true), pounding the dough--nicely of course, waiting for it to double, etc., etc.
while it was a great endeavor, time consuming and slightly frustrating...i succeeded and produced 3 loaves of 'crusty italian bread' guaranteed "just like your grandma made" according to my recipe. i didn't take any pics of the dough process but here's how wally and i coped with the stress of whether my bread would turn out or not:



here's a peak at how my loaves turned out...they smelled delicious but i have to work on the actual taste a bit. but i'll be sure to keep trying!

Fun Outdoors...

so the hubby and i had a busy weekend full of exciting happenings outdoors. Ben got called up for the men's softball tournament on saturday, they had a good run won 2 lost 2 in the end. he played well and showed his mad skills at 2nd base!!

while he was doing an excellent job, the softball thought differently and decided to give him a fresh one...the ball won...see the evidence.
OUCH!!

i also finally got some pics of my newest venture...rowing or "sculling" on Town Lake. it's incredibly fun and so enjoyable after a day in the office. we are learning so much and it's exciting to really get some speed up on the water!
that's me in bow position (the last in the boat)
these pics are from this past sunday 8/9. enjoy!!!

Eggplant Wot...

just got back from a truly random and unique experience in pflugerville of all places...we ate with some friends at 'The Taste of Ethiopia'. it was very good food that we got to eat with our hands!!!! all of it....utensil free!! yay!!! the service was good, very friendly. after eating family style from woven bowls (2 hours) the owner invited us to the patio where her family was sitting to watch the coffee ceremony (could possibly have been an ethiopian mafia...but who knows)
we had coffee and listened to her story about africa and how she started the restaurant. incense (sp?) was burning, the coffee (ethiopian version of espresso after sunday dinner) was good and strong...it was a good time.
can't wait to go back.

lesson: go try your local ethiopian diner and see what you find.
peace out.

happy july 4th!!

well kids, july 4th came and went in a pleasant blur. our friends from louisiana trekked over and celebrated the holiday with us. we had an awesome time hanging out all over austin and eating tons of good food! we miss them dearly and always enjoy a good visit...hello homeslice reunion!!!
the holiday also marked a HUGE milestone for our household. we have officially had Sir Wallace-Tiberius-Sacchamono-Dryden-DeBellis for one whole year!!!! yay!! he's been a joy to live with...it's like he's been here forever. :)
the weekend also marked my first foray into racing cardboard boats...i was part of a team of lovely ladies in the Round Rock Cardboard Boat Regatta. it was soooo very interesting. we built the boat over many weeks during our lunches and after work toward the end. it was a labor of love, and the end product is mighty pretty in my opinion! we took the theme of Top Gun and ran with it...we had wings, tail fins, a boom box playing the soundtrack...matching uniforms with our nick-names.
we felt the need for speed...and got 2nd place!! and the july 4th crowds voted us people's choice award - prettiest boat. hell yeah! (see more pics)
it was a great time and lots of fun on the race day....could have done without the 100* heat but we survived.

no summer shows...

there are no good tv shows on in the summer, so we decided to re-roof the house!
actually, the roof was leaking so we definatly had to get the roof...it looks soooo awesome. we are very pleased with it. wally did not really enjoy the large group of people on the roof pounding away, so he stayed next door with the neighbor and fenway (thank you!)

wally did enjoy the many visitors we had in the month of june...friends from baltimore mary and myke. wally could have been instrumental in showing myke how cool dogs are! yay! he also enjoyed having my parents and cousin mariah in town for a brief visit.

in another vein
how is that billy mays dies and the stupid sham wow guy is still around?!!?!

The Danger Zone

well, our cardboard boat, the "Danger Zone" did not get the chance to blow people away with its speed, awesome handling, good looks, or amount of tape...the regatta was cancelled :(
but, rest easy folks, it is rescheduled for july 4th. yay!
i'll post a pic soon.

a ransom for a lawn!!

we have a real yard!!! woo-hoo!! it is so exciting to see a green carpet out the back window instead of dirt and exposed tree roots. it's gorgeous and lush and...still alive (1 week after installation).
see the photos here.
the project was part of a 2 weekend production. after 11 yards of landscape mix (wheel barrowed in...ouch!) and 3 pallets of zoysia sod (green side up) we are go for lawn.
you'll see in the pics that wally was acting supervisor for much of the "fun". our backs were sore and our hands throbbed with blisters....but oh the lawn is a beautiful sight!

we made it!

we made it back...in one piece.
i have a new best friend, Fiona the mule. we touched noses and played chase through a fence. it counts for something. don't know what would happen if i was in the pen with her, but that probably won't ever happen.
i was pretty good about not being on a leash, staying with mom and dad in the general area at least.

on the road...

reporting from the FN Ranch...
yes, you read that correctly :) we are here for easter and i was stuck in a car for 3 hours driving up to the middle of nowhere. (see pic once mom puts it up)
i played with Fiona the very large and lovely mule...we played chase, through the fence. got stickers in my feet and limped around until my slaves/parents cleaned them out.
we'll keep you updated on our easter weekend events.
(probably won't be much b/c mom is getting over strep throat)
ciao

first timer...

hello!
this is Wally's page but sometimes his mom and dad post stuff too...hopefully they'll keep this thing updated with pics and interesting tid-bits on what we are up to down here in tx.
currently: laying in the corner of the living room wondering when someone will play with the rope