If, like me, you're all about the food, and consider the kitchen to be the center of the home, you'll want to stop in at some of these "foodie" events in Central Texas in late November and December.
Hairson Creek Farm's Annual Open Farm and Potluck. Farm Tour, Music (bring your own instrument), food (bring a potluck dish). Saturday, November 15.
The Austin Empty Bowl Project. Help raise funds for the Austin Area Food Bank's Kids Cafe Program while enjoying good soup and purchasing beautiful bowls, for yourself or for Christmas presents. We still use the ones we bought many years ago at the first event. Well worth attending. Saturday, November 23.
Edible Austin Eat Local Week. Eat local, support your purveyors of local foods, and raise funds for Urban Roots, to boot! Sunday, December 6-13.
Keep in mind that just about every event in Austin and Central Texas does have food involved in some way; it's just the way things are done here!
I was driving home from Austin this afternoon, listening to KUT (our local PBS station) on the radio.
Since the Texas Book Festival is this weekend, Folkways was playing songs related in some way to books. I heard a song that I had never heard before, and it struck such a chord that hours later, after going to the grocery store, running errands, and feeding critters, I had to look it up. I only had a couple of phrases out of it; finally thought to check the KUT playlist, and there it was.
The song is Closing the Bookstore Down by John McCutcheon. It describes eloquently what's happening to so many beautiful small towns in our country, and why the loss is greater than what we gain. Our independent bookstores, hardware stores, grocery stores, and more are being replaced by chains that you can find anywhere.
I can't find a recording where you can play it online (unless perhaps Pandora has it), but it's worth seeking out to listen to - and think about. While you're thinking, go down to your local bookstore and buy a book, or to your local hardware store and buy a hammer, or to your local music store and buy a John McCutheon CD. Vote with your dollar to preserve the distinct personalities of our small towns; if you don't, who will?
Lots and lots of events going on in Central Texas over the next couple of months. Of course, there's always lots and lots of events going on in Central Texas. Here's a smattering to help in your planning.
Nov 1-2 - 12th Annual Austin Celtic Festival Fiesta Gardens, Lady Bird Lake, Austin
- Texas Book Festival State Capitol Building, Austin
- Austin Powwow and American Indian Heritage Festival Tony Burger Center, Sunset Valley
(Saturday only, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.)
- Austin State Fair (through Nov. 2) Travis County Expo Center, Austin
- Wimberley Market Days Lions Field, Wimberley
- 25th Annual Dias De Los Muertos Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin (Saturday only, 2-10 p.m.
Nov 2 - Central Texas Arabian Horse Club Open Fun Show Travis County Exposition Center
Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Auditorium Shores, Austin
Las Manitas is - was - is - a downtown Austin landmark for the last 25 yeras. "Was" because it closed its doors yesterday to make way for an oh-so-Austin Marriott. "Is" for two reasons - one, we don't know yet for sure that they won't re-open in a new location, though it won't be the same, not being able to walk through to the back patio, and, two, because just as other Austin landmarks lost to us (Armadillo World Headquarters comes to mind), it will always be with us in our hearts, a little bit of Austin's soul, a little bit of what made Austin a place we want to live. We're slowly losing more and more of those as people love Austin, move to Austin, then change Austin to make it less what they moved here to experience and more the very places they moved from. What's next? Filling in Barton Springs Pool and building a swimming pool in its place?
There's been quite a bit of talk about the closing. Some of it is shared here
Texas Monthly Eat My Words: End of an Era: Austin's Las Manitas: Closed.
HotelChatter: Austin's Las Manitas Shuttered to Make Way for Marriott
ValleyWag: SXSW Hangover Joint Closes
Stevey: R.I.P. Las Manitas in Austin, TX
Austin Business Journal: Las Manitas Closes
Of course, this isn't the only time that Las Manitas has been covered by blogs and media. Some past reviews:
And the list goes on. We'll hope that they'll open in a new location - but it won't be the same.
The sign said it best, and it applies not only to Las Manitas, but to so many local treasures, buildings, businesses, countryside, that made (and make) Austin the desirable place to live that it is, things that have given way to replacements that could be found in any city anywhere in this country:
“Here was fought the battle for Austin’s soul. Austin lost.”
Las Manitas is, granted, just one. How many more can we afford to lose before we become Anywhere, U.S.A.?
Every year (this will be the 11th), the Austin Museum Partnership and member museum in the Austin area hold a city-wide, discover (or rediscover) Austin Museums Day - for free!
This is a great chance to get out and explore the numerous museums in the Austin area, ones you've seen before, ones you didn't know existed. You certainly can't beat the price!
This year, the date is September 14, 2008.
Museums participating are:
Austin Museum of Art - Downtown (I prefer Laguna Gloria, myself, but it's not on the tour)
Austin Nature & Science Center
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
Butridge Gallery at the Dougherty Arts Center
George Washington Carver Museum
The German Free School (German-Texas Heritage Society)
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
Mexican American Cultural Center
Beverly S. Sheffield Education Center
South Austin Museum of Popular Culture
Susanna Dickenson Museum
Texas Folklife Gallery - Downtown
Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum
Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve
The links above are to the actual websites. The link to the Austin Museums Day at top will show you what activities are going on at each museum to celebrate the day, and when.
This is by no means a complete listing of Austin museums, just the ones that are participating in this event. This should, however, certainly be enough to keep anyone busy for the day! Hope to run into you there!
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"The Agent With Horse Sense" On your side whether you're buying or selling, whether it's a horse property or a house in town.
With a background raising Morgan horses and as a personal chef (among a myriad of other things, including legal assistant, small business owner, mother, middle management for a state agency, and several more), "The Agent With Horse Sense" is well-suited to find that perfect (or potentially perfect) horse property, find the perfect kitchen for the cooking enthusiast, and everything in between. My strong point for Buyers is that I listen - I don't try to sell you what's available, I strive to understand what you truly want and find that for you, whatever that might be.
For Sellers, I can give advice on how to best prepare your property to appeal to buyers (for example, I understand that, for most horse people, "The barn is more important than the house"), how to price it, negotiations, and all the other details involved in a successful sale, from the time you list until the last t is crossed and the last i is dotted at closing. In addition to the usual exposure offered by most agents, I know the special places where your property needs to be highlighted to appeal to the market that is seeking exactly that property. I try to look ahead and predict what bumps are likely to be in the road and know how to avoid/smooth them before we get there. Marketing unique properties requires thinking outside the box, as well as in it (you never know where you'll find that special buyer for your special property), and that's another area where I put my past experiences to work.
While I handle a wide variety of properties, some touch my heartstrings just a little extra.
Among those is rural properties, especially those for horses - I know the difference between "horse suitable" and "acres". Having not only helped clients find their perfect horse property, but searched for and purchased my own, I know how important fencing, horse shelters, access to water, kinds of soil and grasses, distance to the local feed store, agricultural exemptions, and such are. When you're looking for a horse property specialist, you want someone who understands these things - and, most especially, who knows what your horses need and understands that they are a part of the family.
Another interest is in helping to see that our world is just as beautiful and inhabitable for our grandchildren as it is today. To that end, I've attained my EcoBroker® certification and am constantly studying and learning ways to make homes not only more friendly ecologically but more comfortable and economical at the same time, thus serving today and the future.
Do you have any good testimonials that clients have provided you in the past? Be sure to add them here.
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