Bucket List: Item Number 55

Seven wrinkled shirts are beckoning for my attention in the laundry room and I should make sure they get done before the dinner bell tolls but I just can't seem to find the gumption to pull out the iron and do this chore.  I'm not very good at it although I should be, my Grandpa Koch owned Band-Box Cleaners, a dry cleaning store and my Mom ran the place in high school, you would think that skill would have rubbed off on me at some point growing up. So here I am skirting my duties to play in my own thought world for a few minutes.

Recently I had to listen to myself and take my own advice and I am glad to say it was good advice and I was right.  I wrote a post a long time ago about not letting circumstances get in the way of a possible passionate adventure and my word came back to haunt me, or maybe I should say, taunt me into casting care to the wind and just go with the flow.

A dear friend of Nathan's presented him with an outing that was right up his alley. The tickets for the outing were free, the only catch was the parking, food and babysitter for the day. Nathan was excited, I could tell, with the light dancing in his big brown eyes as he told me about this fun day. I got excited because I was going to be included; a date with the hubs is like winning the raffle at the fair for me. We don't get out much with work and school schedules.

Pace Car leading the racers after the crash
Formula One Austin 2014
Photo By: Chandra Brown

We were excited and grateful at the amazing thoughtfulness of 'Fat Jon' and his wife Teresa for inviting us to the Formula One race here in Austin. They won the tickets through their Combat Vet Association and of all their friends, they asked us.

For those who know,  Formula One is not your typical venue. It wreaks with money and the ticket prices alone, in my humble opinion, should cause mini-heart palpitations. Well, when you research the parking lot tickets a massive heart attack should follow. A general ticket runs about $139 per person. Parking, according to the website was anywhere from $95 to $200 buckaroos. Although I survived the initial sticker shock, I did find that element of crazy to laugh about. I envisioned pulling up to the parking lot in our falling apart VW Passat, that we don't spend a dime on because the old gal just isn't worth it anymore, dole out a $100 dollars and in James Bond bravado tell the parking attendant not to scratch the baby.

The parking tickets got me thinking about the food prices and that's when I went ballistic. If parking is that much, food has to be horrendous and it's probably BAD food. I was threatening to wear baggy clothes and store food in my not so conspicuous parts in order to thwart the food cart scammers.

Then the battle of the babysitter came tumbling down the thought stairs hitting me square in the back of the head. It has not been our luck solidifying babysitters, all of the ones we use are amazing but they tend to be so good they are too busy and we end up not winning the scheduling battle, even when we pay premium prices and have an easy kid to watch. So I try, knowing the end result ends back at square one.  I'll just say, the whole dating scene living here in Texas for the Browns is easily summed up in the Myth of Sisyphus.

Nathan and Chandra Brown
'Kicking Sisyphus in the Nuts'
Photo by: Chandra Brown

Admittedly, we could deal with the monetary problem, eating beans isn't beneath us but finding the child care was looming in our face.  I called two babysitters and to no avail. We were stalled out at this point moving forward.

Now this part is where it gets interesting. Our lovely, generous parents (in-laws) were in town when we were discussing this event. They know we are frugal and responsible and don't do things that are rash, like spend $100 on a parking spot. We chatted about the pros and cons and their over 50 years of wedded wisdom was much appreciated; they said GO! Little did we know they left a little advantage in the form of money to tip the event in our favor which I found in a Bible after they had gone back home. Sneaky, sweet parents!

Problem solved, right? Not really, and here is where the interesting part begins. The part many may not understand and I still am grasping it myself but I know the lesson has to do with obedience and sacrifice and testing. This is where passion may begin to have a deeper meaning for me. I don't like being vulnerable and telling it like it is to the www or to strangers or even people I know for that matter, but this lesson hopefully will show God is in control (something He specifically has said to me, but that's another story)

Even with all the initial hurdles seemingly taken out of the way, there was one last dilemma to encounter. It had to do with loyalty. We were both excited to finally have a date and one that was on our bucket list. Nathan's birthday was around the same time and he tends to take the back seat for celebrations because he has to work or we are a little tight in the budget. This event was beginning to pan out perfectly, when the thought occurred to me, "You forgot to tithe this month."

Don't we know it!
Photo by: Chandra Brown

I did the quick bank check and realized if we went to the event even with the gifted money we would be cutting it extremely close, and mortgage is in the beginning of the month, leaving us with virtually zero in the account. The hounding thought of not giving our first fruit to God nagged me, we've been faithful even during these hard years of struggling financially. I had to be honest with Nathan and be the bearer of not so fun news and make a decision from there.

We would forgo the event and be obedient to God instead.  I sent the tithe check and we went about the next couple of days in our usual way. No complaining, no boo hooing.

Then our friend sent a link he found for parking that was only $20 for motorcycles. This renewed information put that light back in my husband's eyes and got me to put out the S.O.S to my very busy neighbors. Two angels heard the call and said they could split the day and take care of Alex. It looked like we were going to have that long awaited date after all.

Bugatti
A step or 100 up from the VW Passat
Photo by: Chandra Brown

Mama Mia-Ferrari
Photo by: Chandra Brown

Highlights of Race Day:

The first lap of the race a Formula One car crashed and had to be lifted off the track by a crew and a crane. Nathan and I were glad the driver was not hurt but it brought an exhilarating adrenaline rush knowing 2.6 million dollars was put out of commission right before our eyes and we didn't have to care about it.

We made out like bandits, the Formula One event cost us $42 dollars when all was said and done.

Nathan and I got to see so many beautiful cars. One of our favorite at home date nights is to sit and watch Top Gear together. We actually got to see many of the cars Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and the Stig drive.

I say this was opportunity executed with SUCCESS, we totally scored in the passion adventure factor! 

Re-Purposed Shovel Head

The end of Summer is the time for yard projects here in Austin, Texas. Recently, my Dad visited and helped me accomplish some goals in the yard. When you are completing projects you are bound to run into problems.

Our dilemma occurred early on, literally the first dig of dirt delayed any further progress because the handle on the flat head shovel busted under the pressure. We laughed over the ironic nature of the problem. How could we proceed to dig out gnarly roots and accomplish our plan without the correct tool?

We had a razorback shovel hiding in the garage to keep the project moving forward and mid way through the day the neck bent due to those darn, gnarly Nandina roots. We took that as our cue to take a break and succumb to buying brand new shovels.

Instead of chucking the old broken shovels in the trash bin, my creative Dad hatched a brilliant idea. See the fun yard art he came up with involving the flat head shovel below. This new piece of Texas art now hangs on my back fence gate. I can see it from my kitchen window and it looks fabulous!

I have some quirky ideas for the razorback shovel, it definitely has an Austin feel to it. The bent neck gives way to the famous city slogan, "Keep Austin Weird". I have a bunch of bottle caps saved up for a craft project, maybe I'll meld the two together and see if I can make it weird enough to pass the Austin standards.

"Use it up

Wear it out

Make it Do

Or Do without"

Front Yard Facelift

Our landscape has gone through drastic changes over the years. When we first moved in it was a jungle with weeds so we rectified the problem and made it into a lush, clean, green scape. Years fly by and the Bradford Pear tree was threatening our neighbors car and our windows; not to mention crowding out our Live Oak tree so my husband felled the Bradford Pear almost by himself. (What a man!) This left a bare area in the middle of the yard with a years worth of new runners to constantly pull up.  The Nandina's planted by the electrical box were out of control and looked more like anorexic weeds than a beautiful bush. 

An update was due but what do you do when your budget is less than two nickels to rub together and your spent from all the other life issues pulling at you? You call in the re-claim, re-purpose, landscape extraordinaire, John Debee. 

I wanted a change, something eye catching, yet drought resistant and easy to take care of. My dad knew exactly what plant to buy, how big it was going to get, and where to plant it.  My hero! 

John Debee and his helper making a re-purposed screen from scrap wood

Working in the yard on my small project brought back childhood memories of helping Dad accomplish his vision for his little piece of heaven in Colorado. Moving bricks, shoveling out grass to make way for raised garden beds, filling wheelbarrows with rocks for dry stream beds all came to the forefront of my mind. He's been fine tuning and tweaking his Colorado paradise for years and every time I go home to visit he has something wonderful planned in his ever changing utopia. It is a place of beauty and relaxation with an enchanting Japanese element to the design. 

PROBLEM: This part of the side yard was gnarled with Nandina roots, and dogs loved to use it as their bathroom. The media box, telephone cable containers and water meter covers were overgrown and hard to access. 

SOLUTION: We found a few fence pickets laying around the garage and a few 2x4 boards from our recent deck repair project. We got out Nathan's trusty table saw and ripped down the boards to the correct size and Voila, a wood screen was created to cover the boxes and act as a backdrop for the plants. We purchases Mexican Feather Grass and Maiden Hair Adagio to give texture and color to the area. We found a few stray, white rocks behind our house in the pipeline and decided to use them as decorative fillers. We added Texas Native Black Mulch as the finishing component and now this corner has design quality I can be proud of.

BEFORE

AFTER: View 1

AFTER: View 2

PROBLEM: Nandina was covering this electrical box but it was UGLY! Leaves and weeds loved this area and made it difficult to clean out.

SOLUTION: We removed the offending plants and prepared the soil. We planted one Maiden Hair grass that will get 5 feet tall and act as a backdrop to Purple Fountain grass.  I could also make a wood screen for this area but the grasses and plumes should grow to cover this box in a short time.

BEFORE

AFTER: View 1

AFTER: View 2

OVERALL: Removing the tall, scraggly Nandina plants helped open the view of our front yard, making it feel bigger than what it really is.  The new plants also helps tie all our other landscape elements together by adding texture and color variation. This is good for the exterior curb appeal and looking at the new and improved areas bring a smile to the soul.

Flowers make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul."- Luther Burbank

“Gardens are the result of a collaboration between art and nature.” – Penelope Hobhouse

Stay tuned for a future blog about a re-purposed project inspired by a mis-hap during this one involving yard tools. 

Natures' Amusement Park

Mom: "So, Alex what did you think of today's adventure at the 360 Trail?"

Alex: "I discovered a free passage to mother natures amusement park but you may have to pay at the end of the day. Mother nature will give you a bill of foot sores."

Mom: "Yes, there were a few pebbles that made me wonder if our trek was worth it, but I had a ton of fun arriving at our water destination. The water was chilly at first but I got used to it quickly. What did you think of the water?"

Alex: "One of the strongest forces of nature for sure. I  got dragged off a rock just because I was in a
certain position."

Mom: " I saw that, I heard you kind of squeal in a scared voice at first, then you landed in the pool below and I could tell you thought it was fun. That was why I was laughing. I thought the water looked menacing but once we got in and started interacting with the rocks and water it was a piece of cake. We conquered this day and had fun doing it. Do you want to do it again?'

Alex: "Yes although I skinned my butt and bumped it on rocks a few times I still had a blast!"

Mom: "Those are natures' kisses. We will take dad next time, he will love the adventure too. You can be his tour guide. I love you and love spending time with you."

Alex: "More like natures' bites.Thank you for interviewing me."

Mom: "You are welcome!"

Blowing Wish Weeds

Walking down a bluebonnet path...

Yellow, blue and orange accompany our feet





But then,

In mid sight a spec of white...

I rush over to pick its stem,

Running free with my mom by my side

I pick the wish weed with pride.


"Look at my flower mom, what is its name?'

"It is a wish weed, so it seems;

A wish weed you blow to grant your dreams."

I filled up my lungs;

Got ready to blow,

so I could watch the wish seeds flow.


Ever so lightly the air passed my lips,

as my breath sent my wish drifting

along grass blade tips.

I quietly gazed at my wish carried in the breeze,

knowing that someday God will reveal His plan for me.


Written By: Alex and Chandra Brown

Inspired by the Brown family adventures in nature.
A true story.

Spring In Texas

Yellow Pom Pom

Lupinus Texensis

Photos By: Chandra Brown

Periwinkle pettles

propogate profusely

promulgating proof of God's handiwork

Circlets of sunbursts dotted along a branch

radiating bright and warm

upon the meadows patch.

Blossoms bloom, colors announce

life is regenerating.

Spring; 

picture perfect illustration of God's

promise to mankind on Earth.

By: Chandra Brown