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We usually try to catch this festival of potters in Gruene, as it has some high quality potters showing their creations. Roger Allen's potters from the Chicken Farm Studio are usually present and we always enjoy talking with them. We have a few of their plates already, so we were not planning on buying anything more from them, but then dang, they had a new version of their decorative plate, this time a departure from the Moonwalker theme.  So we bought it: Here is a photo of the scene in a general area of the show.  We got there at the opening minute, so there were not a lot of people milling around (and getting in our way). An older fellow is usually at the show, and doing demonstrations of firing a kiln.  I liked his homemade gas-fired kiln and so this is a photo of it.  The shell is just steel angle iron and the ceramic insulation comes from distribution international.  All the propane equipment comes from Tractor Supply. Ron Boling is...

One gets so used to driving in the proximity of other cars that it becomes second nature. In order to keep safety up front, one has to be reminded of the laws for traffic, your own driving habits, and of course the "other guy". A good way to do  that is to get a dash camera---and then play it back after a trip. Seeing how you drive, and the presence of other cars is a stark reminder of the risks to be managed in driving a car.

We had never been to the Lutheran Church picnic in Yoakum until this year.  We were glad we did go this far for lunch as it was a different experience.  First off, it was in the Community Center, the building where the Tourist Bureau has its welcoming office. The meal was not as good as some of the other picnics.  It consisted of boiled potatoes, stew (again, just meat, no vegetables), sausage, sauerkraut, and green beans. Hey, but we missed the canned peaches. It was serve yourself, but that was no risky. Except for the sausage, everything was awash in liquid, the liquid in which it was prepared on the stove.  Sausage was not your typical German nor Czech style, more like HEB. There was a band playing throughout the mealtime, and it played only religious songs---something we never experienced before. We looked around the town for a bit, but being Sunday, it was pretty much shut down.  We came home through Shiner, and there, they were having some sort of...

Dee has begun a new blog for day trip records and so these day trips that once were on this blog will only be mentioned with something very special.  It can be found at awayfortheday .blogspot.com.

We have missed quite a few of the church picnics this year for one reason or another, but we did go to the Moulton picnic.  As recalled, this is one church picnic that we have never attended, so it was a good treat to go to this one. N sent us a news release from the Weimar paper that indicated the picnic (food) would begin at 10:30, so we decided to aim for that time, and we did, arriving at about 10:45. Parking was easy at the KC hall grounds, and we walked right on into the serving line.  Food consisted of beef stew (sans vegetables) fried chicken, the ever present green beans, sauerkraut, cooked potatoes, (on the variety of german potato salad, but not quite-no vinegar), tea, and bread.  Got it all for $9.  Oh, and tea and dessert too. By the time we were finished with our meal, the hall was pretty much filled up as lots of people arrived from having finished their church services in the adjoining communities. Inside the hall, besides all the seati...

Almost a year ago to the day, Leopard Frog has taken up residence in the water tub underneath the front window.  I noted that on August 3rd it showed up, and now its August 7th and it has been here several days.   How they come out of the dryness of the surrounding area and find this water tub which surface is a foot or more above ground level, we do not know. Then, as was the case last year, it will sit on the rim, overlooking the yard, then disappear for a day, but then finds its way back to the comfort of the water. What a deal!

We always remember Llano as a neat small town, and so we ventured off to renew our acquaintance with the town. We arrived just in time for lunch (as always planned) and so we chose Cooper's Barbeque as the place to dine, er, have lunch. It was okay, but most of its fame comes from the style, not from the value of the food served.  One places an order for meat at the grill, outside the building, at the entrance way.  The meat is passed on into the eating area where you can choose side dishes.  We opted for half chicken and enough brisket for a make-it-yourself sandwich, plus one serving of slaw, one serving of potato salad and one serving of peach cobbler.  The beans, pickles, and onion rings are no charge.  We opted for water to drink.  The tab turned out to be $30.73.   The big disappointment was the brisket.  There was hardly enough for one sandwich as so much of it was fat that counted in the weighing and pricing.  So, it turned out ...