The Nana Second

One of the neat things about living in a small town is that you get to do small town things such as what we enjoyed today.  It is a glorious, blue sky, Texas day here in Chappell Hill, albeit hot – 101 on the thermometer.  However, the heat didn’t deter us from getting out and enjoying some of the events going on around town.  We attended the first annual Chappell Hill Lavender Fest .  I had been out to the Lavender Farm last year with my garden club and enjoyed meeting the owner, Debbie McDowell.  Here is a picture of the farm and one of a few of the ladies who attended the tour last October.

She told us all about how they planted, harvested, etc.  Very interesting.  Then we got to cut some lavender to take home.  To me, there is nothing that comes close to that smell – just heavenly.  It was a little hot to be out there in the lavender field today, so Owen and I visited the gift shop instead and came home with some wonderful smelling soap and hand lotion.  We are both “suckers” for that sort of thing.   

Another stop on the festival trail was the Independence Coffee Co., owned by Christie and Ragan Bond.  They just purchased a building located on Hwy. 105 between Navasota and Brenham.  You can read all about them on their web site.  Their coffee is fabulous.  I tasted the “Jet Fuel” and “Madalyn’s Backyard Pecan”.  The first will wake you up for sure and “Madalyn’s” has a smooth but robust taste with the flavor of real pecans in it.  We brought home “Madalyn’s” beans, which has fresh pecan pieces mixed in it.  I can’t wait to grind some here at home and see if I can brew it the way they did this morning.  There is an interesting process to roasting coffee beans and to taste the coffee that has just been roasted and ground is a really incredible experience for coffee connoisseurs.  

We also made a stop at Chappell Hill’s only (Owen would say there are two – the other being my kitchen. HA!) gourmet restaurant in this community, Inn at Dos Brisas.  Again, too hot for a tour of the organic vegetable gardens and herb gardens, but just the drive onto the 320 acre property was a treat.  The inn itself was not open to tours today, but we decided to check it out during the week sometime.  I have heard that the food and service is excellent – if a bit on the expensive side…

Our Saturday outing would not have been complete without a stop at Southern Flyer Restaurant at the Brenham Airport where we had a great hamburger and french fries!  And I’ll tell on Owen – he added a chocolate malt to his meal.  I kept my mouth half-shut – LOL – and then had to taste it when it was brought to the table.  O.K….so we weren’t watching our diet/cholesterol today, but it was fun and good.  I brought half the hamburger home in a to-go box – it is that big!  Sorry no pictures today!!

Now, as I sit here journaling away, Owen is sleeping in the chair in the bedroom.  We were up late last night, having gone to dinner with friends at a little place in Industry called The Feed Barn – good food.   Having had such a great time with great people and great food and conversation, we were so wound up by the time we got home that we had a difficult time going to sleep until after midnight.  I know, I know Brad —-you are just getting your second wind by then, but not so for us.  Anyway, Owen still got up early and decided that he’d better nap before tonight as we are having dinner at the home of friends tonight. 

What a wonderful Saturday for us in the country.  I remarked to Owen on the way home that this is so serene and beautiful - even driving to eat at the airport – why would anyone want to live in the city.  We are blessed beyond measure and I am so thankful to be right where I am.  I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend as well. 

Now don’t forget to stop and smell the roses – or lavender - as the case may be. Catch you later…

I had a little adventure this weekend that I would like to share with you all.  Angela, a friend from my Bunko group, invited several of us to join her and her husband to harvest grapes at Pleasant Hill Winery in Brenham.  Yes!, we do have a winery – believe it or not!  Bob and Jeanne Cottle own this little winery and they are delightful folks.  Jeanne prepared a very nice breakfast of quiche, danishes and fruit for us before we headed to the vines.  There were eight of us in all, plus a few “pickers” the Cottles had hired.  We were out there from 8:30 – 10:30.  It was blazing hot!  It’s a good thing that the harvesting is not a difficult.  You just go down the row, cut the clump of grapes off the vine and throw it in the bin.  There is a larger bin that is set on a pallet and then picked up with a tractor to take back to the crusher.  

I mentioned to another friend that I just love picking vegetables and all kinds of fruit and berries.  He said it was probably in the genes – my ancestors must have been cotton pickers.  He thought that his were, too.  LOL  Though the heat was not very pleasant, I still enjoyed myself.  We worked in pairs and were able to find out lots more about one another and solve lots of the world’s problems in those two hours.  The time just flew by!  We finished up and headed to the area where Bob and the rest of his hired crew dumped the grapes into a device where the grapes are separated from the stems, then pushed through a large hose into the crusher and strained through a sieve.  As the juice comes out from the sieve, it is collected in the bottom sauce of the sieve and sent through yet another hose and finally into the large tank in the cellar, which is kept at 64 degrees.  So interesting! 

Jeanne served us a light lunch and then we headed upstairs to the gift shop to sample the wine.  But as my son would remark, “Which I may or may not have sampled.” I report…You decide!  So thanks to the Cottles at Pleasant Hill Winery for a fun Saturday morning.  We had fun and they got the grapes off of the vines.

A few pictures to share… 

Jodi, Liz, and Bob

Me…

I wish I could remember the name of the grapes – I’ll find out…

Now…I ask you, is this fun or what?