Thursday, September 1, 2016

Summer Adventures with Miss Merri Mac



Welcome to Tales of the Traveling Totes #8

It's been a full summer,

 and Miss Merri Mac and I have lots to share!




J U N E

Author Susan Branch, along with the love of her life, Joe Hall, 

made a two month cross country book tour 

in their A FINE ROMANCE van.

~ 8,000 miles ~ 23 Book Stores ~

 All the way from sea to shining sea and back again.





Lucky us that she chose Austin

as one of her stops.




"Girlfriends" drove in from far and wide across the state, 

and if you know anything about the geography of TX,

you know that nothing is close.

Some drove from as far away as New Mexico.





Susan generously spent most of the afternoon engaged with

the attendees and graciously signed books for all.




My very special "gift" from the very thoughtful,

Susan Branch!




Susan wrote A FINE ROMANCE first,

followed by THE FAIRY TALE GIRL, 

and most recently, ISLE OF DREAMS.

Published in the unique style of her delightful cookbooks

 with handwritten text and exquisite watercolored images,

Susan actually wrote the trilogy out of sequence.

Each is a delightful read, in or out of order.





J U L Y

When I read that Susan would be speaking at an event in 

Brewster, MA, the end of July, 

I set my alarm to be one of the first to secure 

tickets to the special Beatrix Potter 150th Celebration.





Then Miss Merri Mac and I bought a ticket to Boston!

Lucky me, I have a friend who lives on Cape Cod,

and she invited me to visit this summer.




Delightful days spent in this adorable Cape Cod home

that included lunch one day with a special blogging friend, 

Katie @ Preppy Empty Nester.

(Note the smiling face in the center of the mosaic.)





The Beatrix Potter Society's 150th Birthday Celebration

was held in the Brewster Baptist Church.

400 guests were treated to an amazing program.

Betsy Bray, President of the US Beatrix Potter Society,

gave an outstanding presentation on the life

and achievements of Beatrix Potter.

Following her talk, Betsy interviewed Susan about her lifelong 

passion for Beatrix Potter, and then Susan read from

  A FINE ROMANCE,  about her first visit to 

Beatrix Potter's Farm, Hill Top.

The program concluded with birthday cake  

and singing Happy Birthday for Beatrix Potter.





Following the program,

everyone gathered in the fellowship hall 

for birthday cake and a book signing by Susan Branch.

 Susan's latest book is a 30th Anniversary Edition of her first book,

 HEART OF HOME, NOTES FROM A VINEYARD KITCHEN.

Signed copies available HERE.





Next door at the Brewster Library

was a special exhibit of Beatrix Potter items.




Of course the week included other adventures as well.

~ Walks on the Beach ~ Shopping ~ Lobster Roll Lunches ~

~ Lobster Dinners ~ Oklahoma by Community Theatre ~

~ A Day on the Vineyard ~




A U G U S T

We wrapped up the Cape visit with a quick visit to

NYC before flying back to Texas the first week in August.

(More on that trip another time.)




 Our most recent adventure was

a long weekend in NOLA.




As you can see, Miss Merri Mac and I

filled the summer with some fun times, so I'll

save the NOLA details for a future post.

Suffice it to say that we were in town

  to celebrate the nuptials of this darling couple.





You might recall our LA trip in January for 

 a wedding dress search here?

 The winner ~ Iconic Gemma by Vera Wang 

 Isn't she gorgeous?





The Traveling Tote girls will offer a 

MacKenzie-Childs giveaway with each of our next five posts.


will host this month, and to be entered you must

leave a comment on Emily's blog for a chance to win

the gift featured above ~ 2 pkgs of MacKenzie-Childs 

 paper plates and an enamel storage container.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
More Tales of the Traveling Totes
at the links below.

~ Don't Miss the Fun ~






To Visit Previous Miss Merri Mac Adventures

Just click on number links below. 

#1, #2, #3, #4, #5 # 6, #7, and also
here, here, here, and here.



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Sunday, August 21, 2016

The Magic of Rain Lilies




Over 14" of rain in Austin over the past two weeks.

Fortunately we have not experienced flooding

with these recent rains, and the cooler than

normal temperatures have been a welcome relief

from the triple digits that are typical here in August.




What we have experienced,  just like magic,

  the sweet little zephyranthes

are doing what they do after a Texas rain.




Zephranthes, also known as a rain lily, prairie rain lily,

or fairy lily, are in the amaryllis family.

Here in central Texas we see them burst into bloom

after heavy rain storms such as we've recently experienced.





The grass like leaves produce the trumpet shaped flowers

after heavy rains.  The blooms begin to open at dusk and by

morning will be almost two inches across, lasting only a few days.





Rain lilies are native to this region 

and often seen in mass along roadsides

or in grassy meadows of parkland as seen above.  



The rain lilies in our herb garden

get full sun and with a layer of gravel 

above the soil, a well drained bed.

 We get the pleasure of all three of the pastel colors.



More rain is predicted for the coming week.

It may be sometime before we see blue skies again.

Fortunately we have the magic of the rain lilies!
If you live in Zones 8 - 10,  you too can enjoy the magic.

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Sunday, August 14, 2016

How to Eat a Lobster







I recently had a delightful trip

to visit a friend who lives on Cape Cod.

Do you know what that means?




L O B S T E R





You've no idea what a treat 

it is for this Texan to have fresh lobster, and just

in case this "foreigner" needed help eating a lobster dinner,

the place setting came with instructions.  




And all the necessary tools!




The perfect meal!

Fresh Corn on the Cob ~ Green Salad ~ Fresh Lobster





Oh, and I made certain that most of my

lunches out included a lobster roll.  




I have lots of photos to share, so you

can look for more New England delights ahead.

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