Tricia Jumonville, EcoBroker®, ASP®

So, yesterday I was on desk duty at my office in Georgetown, Texas. It was a very quiet Saturday (hot, muggy day, one of the first of the year, most folks just wanted to stay inside in air conditioning, I think). A good day to get paperwork caught up.

About mid-afternoon, I decided to step out the back door to our Coke machine and get some caffeine to keep myself perky.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this little fellow waiting for me.

This is a Gray Tree Frog (I now know, having looked him up as soon as I got to google images). He sat quietly, didn't seem perturbed by the camera flash, didn't seem perturbed by the clatter-clatter-rumble-THUMPITY-THUMP of the Dr Pepper making its journey through the innards of the Coke machine, din'dt seem perturbed by much of anything. There was much speculation as to how he'd gotten there, before we discovered his tree frog origins (sticky suction pad toesies good for climbing).

The mystery remains - WHY did he get there? "Because it's there"? Because he was thirsty and wanted a drink? It certainly wasn't to take advantage of the camouflage.

Whatever his reasons, I'm glad he did, it was a delightful diversion in a quiet day. And I've already informed the other agents, if he shows up again wanting to buy a house, this is MY walk-in!

A few weeks back, one of the agents in our office introduced me to this little jewel tucked into a strip center on Williams Drive in Georgetown, Texas. When we first moved here, this location was a Chinese restaurant at which we ate a couple of times, but that closed long ago. Some time back, I noticed that Mariarchis de Jalisco had moved in, but somehow had never stopped in.

Casting about for a good place close by to eat lunch one day, Sherri Revier recommended Mariachis. By, am I glad she did!

That first lunch, I tried their green chicken enchiladas, and was very pleased.

A few days ago, my daughter and I went there for lunch - I had their chicken flautas (my test for a Mexican restaurant that offers them, it's not easy to make really good flautas). They passed that test with flying colors. (I rarely finish an entire plate at restaurants, being full long before. I knew this was something special when I looked down and I was assiduously scraping the plate to make sure I didn't miss ANY of the beans and rice.)

I'd been told by Sherry that their breakfasts were exceptional, so I suggested to my husband that we try them for lunch this past weekend.

He had the Migas Rancheras; I had the Huevos con Chorizo plate. The food was plentiful and delicious. Once again, I found myself eating three times as much as usual, because it would have been such a shame to waste anly of it. My husband was equally pleased.

The hot sauce is unique, both in that it is served warm, and one of the varieties tastes remarkably like charro beans (and is addictive, I should add).

If you're in Georgetown and looking for good Mexican food, there's quite a selection, but I highly recommend that you try Mariachis de Jalisco. You can't go wrong. I'd even say it's worth the drive from Austin for a weekend breakfast.

Going green in the country is nothing new – country folk have been doing it for centuries. However, they haven’t done it alone – those of us who live in the country have partners in living the green rural lifestyle, and I thought I’d introduce you to a few of them.

Our organic pest control managers are pictured at right. That’s right, chickens. Free range chickens on our place most years cut the fly population down to, oh, four or five house flies a year. And that’s considering that we have horses and cows! (More on them later.) They run around and take care of the fly larvae before they have a chance to turn into flying menaces.

Our cats and dogs are also members of this team. The dogs keep predator pests such as raccoons and possums away; the cats are on rodent and rabbit patrol and do an excellent job of keeping the place vermin-free. (The only rats or mice I've seen in a decade are those that the cats bring to me to demonstrate what a good job they're doing to earn their keep.)

Other members of our organic pest control squad are goldfish. We keep the watering tanks stocked with goldfish, who not only keep them algae free, but also assure that no mosquito larvae escapes to drink our blood. Native fish in the creek and pond serve a similar function.

Our cows and horses and donkeys are our mowing and fertilization team. Because of them, we don’t often have to shred the fields, using precious diesel, and they daily produce fertilizer for those same fields. They are aided by the chickens, of course, when we clean out the coop and use the contents to improve the soil for the vegetable garden. (Amazing stuff – plants grow twice as large, sometimes, when that fertilizer is used to enhance the soil. The cows of others also contribute when we have our hay pasture fertilized using soil biology through Sustainable Growth Texas, and we’ve found that weedkilling with chemicals is no longer necessary using soil biology.

These are just a few of the partners we have in going green in the country. When moving to your place in the country, don't forget your partners!

We may sometimes seem like a sleepy little Texas town to some, but there's a lot going on underneath the surface! Fortune has named Georgetown #2 in its list of Best Places to Live and Launch because they've discovered what's going on here.

Georgetown is a great place to live because of the beauty, the variety of homes available from Old Town to Sun City to new subdivisions to country estates just out of town, our historical district, our trail system for hiking and biking, golf courses, Lake Georgetown, the San Gabriel River, Southwestern University, and much, much more. But it's also a great place for business and for entrepreneurs.

If you're in Central Texas and looking for a place to live and start a business, don't just stick to Austin. Drive north just a little bit (as the owner of one of our local businesses used to say, we're "just a conversation away" from Austin) and check out this little Central Texas jewel. I think you'll be pleased by what you find. And if you do, drop by and have a cup of coffee and I'll give you the Grand Tour.

Spring is definitely, finally, here in Central Texas. The first hint was that Memory, she who never sheds until the last frost has definitely come and gone, started releasing her winter coat.

Then hints of green peeked through the brown grass, with promise of thing to come.

Today, walking down the drive with the dogs to pick up the mail, I took quick pictures of the flowers that have appeared, as if by magic, in the last day or so.

First were the little purple flowers under the old plum tree outside our back door.

Next, the beautiful yellow Iris blooming at the edge of the woods.

As we rounded the corner, the young volunteer plum trees, daughters of the old one, were dressed in their finest spring white and green.

Further along the side of the drive, we ran across some of the dewberry vines that are blooming, and dreamed of berries to come in weeks ahead.

Approaching the mailbox, there were the little white wild onions that I remember picking in bouquets for my mother when I was a child. They bring back fond memories every spring.

And, finally, tucked into the protection of the side of the ditch, a tiny, delicate, pink buttercup, the first I've seen this spring.

In every season, we are surrounded by beauty, living here in the country. This time of year just nudges us to notice a little bit more.