Originally uploaded by coolhousesaustin

This group of photos was taken just as the sun was starting to illuminate the Texas Hill Country with golden light…We had had a rainstorm the night before and the oaks were still covered in water which sparkled like diamonds in the early light….To see the rest, check out the link to coolhousesaustin on Flickr….

Even if you miss out on ACL, Donavon is currently on his “Pass It Around” Tour so check out his site and do yourself a favor and get to one of his shows!  You will write and thank me later for turning you onto this incredibly talented young artist! Check out our picks too of some of the local “Cool” Artists–My favorite as totally representative of the Austin Hot Music Scene was Michael Babyak’s incredible guitar painting!  See more of his work at www.babyakart.com

Just what is biodiesel? It is simply diesel fuel made from farm products. This can be anything from special crops like the jatropha fruit which the University of Florida is currently working on to develop strains which produce more than the current 1 gallon of oil per plant or biodiesel can be made from recycled products like vegetable oil. Yes, french fries can actually be good for the planet! Just ask Willie who runs his personal cars and his tour buses on biodiesel when he can find it. This is one man who walks the walk. “As soon as you admit to yourself that everything good you do comes back to you twenty times over, then your life will change in incredible ways,” Willie Nelson in The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart (2006) by Willie Nelson with Turk Pipkin.

As Willie writes in The Tao of Willie, “we’re all going to the same place my friends–a place called the future—and we’re all going to get there at the same time. Only some of us are going to get there by having had a smile on our faces for much of our lives”….I am sure that Willie smiles most of the time and so does those fortunate foks who are lucky enough to get to hang out with him….or run into him at “Willie’s Place” on one of his visits to check out his favorite truck stop or to perform there as he did recently on July 3, 2008, along with a few of his buddies, like Ray Wylie Hubbard, Ray Price, and Merle Haggard. Talk about a way to spend the 4th!

And yes, if you are driving on I-35 in late November 2008, you just might be there for the Grand Re-opening of “Willie’s Place”. Expect incredible music, great healthy food, superb coffee and wonderful vibes from all the memorabilia on the walls….and if you drive a diesel, then try out Willie’s biodiesel. And do pick up a copy of his book…it is a wonderful read and you will feel as if you spent the day with the legend himself…For more on Willie, check out his site: www.willienelson.com For more on biodiesel, go to www.biodiesel.com

And when a rancher shows you the ranch, they show you all 118 acres of it! Also, what they consider “a road” looks like something you should only attempt after making sure your will is in order and that you have left money and food for any children left behind at home! Actually, when I got over the sheer terror of the cliffs( Brian insisted we go over these as he was looking for his missing horse and donkey), the vistas were incredible….And I learned that a “tank” is not a metal enclosure but instead is a man-made formation dug out between two cliffs, so that rainwater collects at the bottom and then the cattle and wildlife (and missing horses) have water to drink. This particular ranch had something like seven tanks spread out over the 100+ acres….One of them was actually a very small tank that was spring fed by a big pipe that years ago, he and his dad had simply pushed into a huge hill that he said “was just full of springs because of the dampness and moss on the hill and all the green grass up there”. And yes, I personally saw the spring running and even took a picture of it! We even saw the elusive Axis deer on the big exotic ranch next door….It is a 2500 acre spread and( I am very relieved that my client is just needing 100 or so acres)! It took us about two hours to see the whole ranch land and for Brian to find the missing horse and donkey… Take a look at the photos and you will see why the Hill Country ranch life is an absolute must for those longing for a piece of history and some solitude…The land out here has an incredible, magical, irresistable draw that overcomes even city girls like me. The beauty is simply breath-taking. What an unexpected delightful day this ride to the ranch turned out to be in the Hill Country of Central Texas. By the way, the music above and on video below is by Austin’s own, Jimmy LaFave from his Blue Highway CD available through www.redhouserecords.com.

For more pictures of the ranch, click on the video here: riding-the-ranch-2

Note: “Way Cool” Ranch doggie, Libby, in the back of her owner’s pick-up (Baird, Tx. cattle rancher, Sam Diller III) riding the range  out west of Abilene…Isn’t she  a cutie?  A  special thank-you  to his daughter Andrea (www.MissBrittsPerfectFit.com) for  emailing me the photo to use…

This past Sunday, I saw the new Indiana Jones movie in the comfort of my very own sling chair. I lelt like a kid again as a cool breeze right off the Blanco caressed my face and arms while I munched on hot popcorn for a buck, and took in ice cold swigs of soda for another buck. Everything at the snack bar is $1. Yes, that’s right, a dollar! And admission was finally raised this year to $5. Much to Miss Mary’s dismay, she has finally had to raise her ticket price from the decades of 2.50-4$ range…But she cites the fact that it does cost her more for the movies “nowadays” and in her words, “I do get all the Disney new releases on their nationwide opening week-end release date”. Yep, it’s true, Disney it seems has a sweet spot for Miss Mary and who wouldn’t? She is there at the Corral to meet and greet the locals, and see to it that the teens working the concession, taking tickets, and helping out with the seating are all doing their jobs. And they do a fine job, too. It was just perfect, sitting there watching all the action on that big screen, which seemed suspended amidst the heavens. All you could see was a seamless screen projected against a blue-black sky with the stars and a perfect crescent moon shining down as Harrison Ford explored a lost city in the Peruvian jungle. It was and is perfection at the movies…so if you are a local, you probably already go there.  If you are a visitor to the Hill Country, please do yourself a huge favor and bring a lawn chair( or a cushion for the chairs Miss Mary provides although those fill up fast). You might want to bring your own folding one as I did. Oh yes, and you will get to meet lots of us local folks. Miss Mary reported that for Jurassic Park and the Lion King week-ends, she had a sell-out crowd of 500! Wow! Muvico, AMC, etc. eat your heart out! Miss Mary and The Corral have all of you beat!

So from Memorial Day to Labor Day on every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, Miss Mary will be there to make sure you are having a perfect evening at the movies!