I received very nice responses to my Father's Day blog! The overwhelming consensus is that my mother's letter was extremely touching. I had several people tell me they cried....and these are not the typical "cry-ers!" So, nice job, Mom! To be honest...some of the elements of the letter were a surprise to me. It was really sweet to read about their special memories...memories that actually did not include me. (Hard to imagine but apparently there was a time my mom and dad did not have me in their lives!)
Here is a photo of mom, dad and I at The Grill at Leon Springs. We celebrated Father's Day with a late lunch. Once again I was most pleased by this restaurant. Once October rolls around I can not wait to have happy hours on their new patio! In addition, they have "Economic Stimulus Wednesdays" where they offer about five to six meals for roughly 11 dollars each. I know the reviews are mixed but I have always enjoyed my meals at The Grill and I highly recommend it.
Several weeks ago I picked up the latest edition of Scene in SA magazine. (I'll admit I like to thumb through the periodical from time to time to check out all the "party pics" of various social events in San Antonio.) I noticed the Lavender Festival in Blanco was fast approaching. I immediately sent a text to my "Sandbar '08/Round Top '09" crew to see if we might add "Lavender '09" to our ever growing list of weekend debacles, fiascos and getaways. Miraculously we were all available and agreed to leave very early as the mercury is SERIOUSLY rising and FAST! We arrived in Blanco at about 10am. Parking was tricky but we find a semi-shady spot and a very nice gentlemen picked us up in his John Deere golf-cart-like vehicle and dropped us right at the front gate! The girls made me ride shotgun. I am still unsure how I won that distinct privilege. They asked me to take their photograph. I was happy to oblige but I was quite afraid I was going to fall out of the cart. It was a major contortionist act to grab this picture. Not bad, huh? Immediately upon arrival we purchased "Lavender Lizzies!" Think mimosa...but with lavender margarita mix instead of orange juice. They were tasty!
Unfortunately Jace's "Lavender Lizzie" went straight to her head and she ended up in a bit of legal trouble.....
About twenty minutes into our lively lavender libations we realized the heat was unbearable. Each one of us kept quiet about it until we couldn't stand it any longer. We were quickly in agreement. We would sprint through the Blanco town square, find a cool place for lunch and then suffer through a tour of one of the various lavender farms in the area. We simply were not going to leave the lavender festival without visiting one of the participating farms. Despite our well developed plans we still tucked into the courthouse. It was the only place with air conditioning. And we got a chance to sit down for a bit.
Ironically we chose to eat at a bar-b-que joint just off the town square. Guess what....air conditioning was BARELY functional and the smoke was so thick we could hardly see each other across the table. But I digress. We headed out FM 165 to Heron's Nest Herb Farm. Lavender, echinacea and various other herbs are grown here. Guests of the festival were invited to tour the entire farm...including the owner's home and private gardens.
This is a photo of the private gardens off the farmhouse.
The owner had various pieces of metal art displayed throughout her private gardens.
I realize the following two photos are VERY similar, however I wanted to post them both to showcase just how lovely the private garden was.
Part of the festivities included making our own lavender products to take away with us. Each one of us made a "mister" with lavender as our base essential oil and then layered various other oils on top in order to create different aroma combinations that also serve specific restorative functions. We also created a sea salt scrub for our friend Valerie. We thought it would be a perfect birthday gift for her.
Below are various photos I took of the grounds. 
This was a wonderful festival. HOWEVER it would be a more pleasant experience in ANY OTHER EARLY JUNE or in early spring or late autumn. As it turns out this is the "harvesting" season of lavender and the festival MUST take place during this time of the year. If you "can stand the heat" then by all means check it out next year. If you do not like to be hot and sweaty then this festival is not for you! Grab a lavender soap bar and lavender candle instead!
I actually have been loving these two Wes Anderson films for quite some time. I JUST scanned these graphics in so I am sharing them with you now. I love, love, love, love, love these two films...and to a lesser extent...The Darjeeling Limited and Rushmore. The merits and attributes of these films are extensive and I can hardly list them all right now. I will share the "top three reasons I love these films:" 1) the overall visual asthetic of these films very much appeals to my eye (I do not know how he achieves this), 2) the soundtracks (especially of The Royal Tenenbaums) and 3) Bill Murray (who I believe has made AT LEAST one appearance in all Wes Anderson's films except Bottle Rocket.) I am not a fan of watching movies over and over....but I could watch these two movies time and again and laugh out loud each time. If you like "quirky" then pick these up. If you don't....then do not waste your time. You will HATE these! And then you will tell me and I will be very upset and have to yell at you and defend the movies and really...do we want to go there?
Rory: I am sure you will have fun at your Cotillion.
Charlotte: I am looking forward to it.
Lorelai: Oh, don't get too excited. Cotillions are not fun parties. They are boring rituals to train a whole new generations of snobs.
Emily: And how exactly would you know? Lorelai never attended a Cotillion.
Lorelai: You don't have to jump off the Empire State building to know it is going to hurt.
Goodnight friends!
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