Remember.

The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.
-Calvin Coolidge

Wounded Warriors

Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival.

Amy and Niko and I went to the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie last weekend. It was the first time in costume for Amy and me. We had a great time!



Amy was a Wonderful Wench! (But I knew that before!) (ducks and runs)


The Queen's own Highland Regiment asked me to march with them. Of course I said "Aye!"


The falconry show was marvellous. Great birds; Great cause.


I asked Amy if we could hire a llama girl. You can imagine the answer.

Add another year...

And about due for a haircut too!

The good looks are starting to come in though...

Days of old

I've been lax in my posting, so here's a little trip down memory lane...

Tim at age 1, with Harvey at the Norfolk Botanical gardens...

Beautiful morning ...

This morning was one of the rare foggy mornings...


It was witnessed by one of the local catulary...

Is Your Mama a Llama?

Allison, Shane, Elise, and Adele got us a very special book recently. We hadn't had a chance to read it with the new baby until the extraordinarily nice weather this morning.

I sat down on the porch with a crowd a bit larger than I expected.

First, Pepper (the father) had to check it to make sure the content was suitable for young llamas.


Then baby Angela came over to listen... She thought it was funny.


Then she wanted to see the pictures (she had never seen a bat before) ....


Then she looked back at me as if to say, "Ahem. Aren't you are supposed to be reading aloud to me?!"


Smith clan: Much obliged, your present was a big hit!

Slip slidin' away...

After two days of frozen rain, our driveway is a solid sheet ice, impassible without crampons. The cars are frozen shut, with the doors sealed by a half inch coating...


Everything is iced over...

Llama-sicles...

I made my way down to the llama feeding area yesterday. I risked life and limb to do it, as the icy ground had zero traction, even to my hiking-boot clad feet. Instead of walking down the driveway, I had to climb down through the trees on the hillside, using the branches to keep from sliding all the way down. The llamas did not llook happy.

The weather outside is frightful

We are snug at home, albeit without running water due to frozen pipes.

Smudge

Smudge Lucy Fur Voldemort kitten

4th Cruise Port, Cozumel Mexico.

We tendered to shore, paired up with a nice older couple and caught a taxi to Chankanaab park for a day of snorkeling. The park has a great botanical garden that is rife with lizards, both Basilisks (the Jesus Christ lizard, because it runs on water), and gigantic iguanas.

(NatGeo video--I did see one, but it dashed off too quickly to photograph(on hind legs of course.))








Amy stopped to check what the calendar said…


The lagoon that gives Chankanaab its name. The beach is on the other side of the lagoon.


We had a good view of the cruise ship parking lot from our chairs…


We snorkeled until we were exhausted, then retired to our chairs for some reading…


Amy modeling her “Jungle Chic” fashion…


I had seen some strange tracks on the beach, and finally found out what had made them…


The QM 2 was berthed at the docks. Some lady on our tender complained ad nauseum about how they didn’t use a “Royal” font for the lettering…


After a showering, we watched the sunset from the balcony.


We dressed for a “smart casual” dinner…


This was our second-to-last night on the ship, with all the next day spent at sea…

New Year's Day Ride

Our traditional January 1 ride this year took Lee, Tom, and me on some very small backroads near Fredericksburg, Texas.



The first of the small roads I'd mapped was SO small that it was no longer a public road. Lee rode up the driveway, and saw that it was now private property. Oops! We had better luck on the next one...



We found a cool old stone observation tower and what looks like an ancient hotel out in the middle of nowhere.


















No Super Slab for us, but we did find some Slick Slab!




But it rode just like the rest of the great Hill Country roads...


Then we stopped in to Luckenbach for some coffee, hot chocolate, grilled cheese, and people watching....


Then back home for a quiet evening with the sweetheart...