What I Know for Sure

.....it's SUMMER in Texas and that means HOT. The rains that we had earlier in July are a faint memory and the grass is turning brown and everything else is wilting. It's not as bad as last year & I will hope for an early & cool fall. There are a few brave blooms that make me smile. The first one I spied in Austin and is new to me. The plant looks a bit like a lily. Would love to know what it is and if deer would leave it alone.

I KNOW Progress is slow but is being made on the house.  The picture below isn't very exciting but this is where we are today. Those piles of rock on the left will go inside the forms, hopefully tomorrow. The house will set farther back from the BIG trees than I'd hoped due to the slope from the front left corner to the back right. The porch will be 10' instead of 12' and wood rather than concrete to hopefully save trees on the front left. I KNOW trees are important. 

I KNOW I am missing art, making it, seeing it, talking about it. This transition is harder than I'd expected.  This small piece for the Studio group challenge is all I've accomplished in the last few weeks along with some fabric beads. Doesn't feel like much.

I know it feels strange to me not to have anyone left in the generation before me. Does that make me a "Matriarch"? I don't feel like one. We said goodbye Friday to my last aunt. Aunt Nathalee was my father's sister and they were very much alike: frugal, lively, inventive, hard headed, fun loving, & generous.  She was the Queen of garage sales and recycled before it was cool. She was quite a style maven into her 90's and I have no doubt that had she lived in New York she would have made it to Advanced Style. I am proud that some time my "Ashley-ness" shows & I smile to see the attitude carried forward with Karlie.