Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: Critters

  • 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…

  • I had no idea…

    I had no idea, when I decided to lug the recycling up to the bin tonight, that a full moon was waiting for me at the top of our winding path. It peeked at me from between the trees, but then BOO! there it was, resting just above the silhouetted hill in front of our house, shining bold and bright and…

  • Memories, and other sweet!s

      "…remember someone said that God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December…." ~J.M. Barrie, "Courage" (The Rectorial Address Delivered at St. Andrews University, 1922 May 3rd)   There are some days when the not-so-sweet! seems to overshadow the sweet! Yesterday was one of those days. First, I heard of the passing of…

  • Rain. A sweet! for me… a curse for others.

        Our rain started last night. A determined, confident rain that would match any long-distance runner in the Olympics… persistent and focused. I can hear it even now, picking up a second wind, stepping up its pace.  However, except for a few low-water crossings, and unlike poor Louisiana, thank the good Lord there haven't…