Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: Belle

  • Call me BiBi (Have I mentioned I’m a grandmother?)

        Yes, yes. I know I've already mentioned it, but hey, I'm a grandmother now, so you'll probably hear about it a lot!  It's hard for me to believe, but my grandson will soon celebrate his 1 month birthday. He is still mostly just eating and sleeping and growing, but it's so amazing to…

  • A Post-Florida / Pre-Grandbaby “Sweet” and “First” Update…

    "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." ~Jack Layton     When I headed to Florida with Tom last weekend, weather forecasts indicated we could be meeting up with a mini-hurricane. Ever-hopeful,…

  • Italy flashback, time capsules … and other sweet!s

      "The next best thing to the enjoyment of a good time, is the recollection of it." ~James Lendall Basford      For someone who has a zillion photo albums collected on shelves all over her house, it amazes even me that I rarely print photos anymore. But I didn't want my memories of Italy…

  • Happy birthday, Belle! (and other sweet!s)

        Eight years ago, while we were mourning the loss of our sweet Charly, a litter of puppies was born in east Texas.  Whether the mom was a pure-bred who had a wild fling with a stray, or she was a mixed breed stray herself, we'll never know.  We do know that a few…

  • December Sweets on a Christmas Eve…

        It's Christmas Eve. I spent most of the afternoon baking cookies and making fudge. It was my first attempt at baking gluten-free, and I have to admit, my Cyclops Cookies turned out as fabulous as ever. God bless who ever developed the 1-to-1 gluten-free flour!  I finished up just in time to make…

  • Postcards from Greece, Dragonflies, and other sweet!s

     Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragonflyHangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky. ~Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Silent Noon   This morning as Belle and I finished our walk, a dragonfly buzzed close, circling and circling. It even hovered about a foot from me for a few seconds, providing me a good look at its…

  • Harvey’s blowing us a kiss… (and a few recent sweet!s)

        Name the season’s first hurricane Zelda and fool Mother Nature into calling it a year. ~Robert Brault   Throughout the night I woke several times to the sound of heavy rain outside my window. And this afternoon on my back deck, I watched as the wind swooped hard through the hollow every few…

  • Florida, Family, the Fourth… and other not-quite-forgotten “sweet!”s

        This is the post I intended to write back in June, when I returned from a glorious two weeks in Florida, visiting my mother-in-law. I've had the intention just about every day since.  So enough is enough. I've decided "Today's the Day"! (Click on that to hear the awesome Shake Russell song that is…

  • He’s still here… and other sweet!s

    Tom and I once spent a week in a downtown Austin high-rise which had fabulous views of the city. It was especially beautiful at night, with the Texas State Capitol and other downtown buildings all lit up. Unfortunately, that high-rise was Brackenridge Hospital, and Tom wasn't in any shape to appreciate those gorgeous views. He was recovering from…

  • Mother’s Day, Husband’s Day, and other May Sweet!s

    About 50 years ago, this little cutie was collecting turtles near the Magothy River …pretty much having a Tom-Sawyer-like childhood in the Maryland woods where he grew up with his 8 brothers. He just turned 60, but still loves playing in the woods around our house, discovering and observing wildlife, and he still looks pretty dang cute…