Rock Stacking Competition

Who thinks up these things?

It’s actually the Rock Stacking World Championship.

Did you know that there are internationally renowned rock artists?

Did you know that Llano, Texas is the Home of the World Rock Stacking Championship?

The Llano Earth Art Fest (LEAF) was this past weekend.  From what I could find this was the second year for the rock stacking championship.

While Mark was participating in the first ever disc golf competition in Llano, I hoofed it over to the park on the beautiful Llano river to check out all the festival had to offer.

Other than the rock stacking part everything else was pretty typical of a local festival.  There were booths (about 60% food, 30% jewelry, and 10% other stuff), face painting, a climbing wall, live music, etc. 

Carving sand castles.

And, of course, there was rock stacking.  It took me a while to figure it out.  There were little piles of stacked rock everywhere.

Hum... it didn’t seem all that hard, I didn’t get it. 

Turns out anyone could grab a handful of the free rocks and make a little stack. 

But then, after walking around for a while, I saw a few stacks that were obviously “professionally” stacked.  These had signs next to them that said they were entered in the contest and not to disturb them.

The Llano uplift provides the beautiful granite rock but it was acceptable for the contestants to bring their own rocks to enhance the appearance of a particular stack.

This is LEAF (Llano Earth Art Fest, get it?).  I had just walked up and snapped this picture when he started unzipping his outfit.  I guess the show was over.  I never did find out what LEAF was all about. 

There are always a few characters at these things:
  Nice hat!

This is a 3 day event with even more things happening after dark (fire spinners, star gazing, etc.).

With all the rain we have had this past week the Llano river was really rocking. 

Teri

Planning The Next Move

We’ve started our 4th, and final, month here at Inks Lake!  Neither of us can believe how fast the time has gone. 

Even though our days are full from morning till evening, we haven’t been blogging much.  Our volunteer work here is the same as 2 years ago (cabin host).  Mark has flown his planes a few times, when he can find a day that isn’t too windy, and he has hooked up with a few guys that play disc golf several times a week.  We’re still working out at the YMCA 5 times a week and have really been enjoying it.  My Kindle has been smoking with all the books I’ve read this Winter and I’m still crocheting as much as ever.

It’s been a while since I posted pictures of my afghans so I thought I would show a few of my latest.  Last year I donated 22 afghans to charity (Linus Connection).  This year, who knows?  I’ve gotten a good start.  

We’ll be leaving Inks Lake at the end of the month and spending a few weeks in Medina, then it’s on to the next adventure.  We know we’ll be in Leadville, CO for the summer, we just have to decide on a route: Davis Mountains, Southern New Mexico, SE Arizona?  We’ll have several weeks for sightseeing and want to get the most out of them.

Teri  

Pecan Flats Trail

Teri and I are finishing our second month at Inks Lake State Park. Time really flies!

The park has about 8 miles of hiking trails, but the trails have been closed during much of our stay because of controlled hunts in the park. Now that the hunts are over we decided to check out the 3.5 mile Pecan Flats Trail. The trail features 28 interpretive points and a nicely done booklet describing each point.

Cedar Waxwing Flock

We immediately encountered several large flocks of Cedar Waxwings. They seemed to be enjoying Mistletoe berries, and Teri spotted this pair feeding one another.

It was sunny and unseasonably warm. Male Northern Cardinals were singing like it was Springtime!

Northern Cardinal

While much of the trail was along a creek and featured large Pecan trees, some of the walking was on exposed Gneiss and Granite. There were some interesting rock formations along the way.

This trail provides access to a small primitive camping area. The area is far away from the lake and seldom used. We were tickled by this sign at one of the sites. Clearly no cocktails, but what about beer??

Campsite Sign

Sparrows tend to be drab, but I think the Black-throated Sparrow is a sharp-looking little bird.

Black-throated Sparrow

There are many types of cactus in the park. We think that this is Lace Cactus but are not sure. Anybody know?

Lace Cactus?

We saw a few common butterflies, which is a surprise in late January. We have had many freezing mornings, but these guys were out enjoying the sunshine just like we were.

Common Buckeye

Variegated Fritillary

Mark

Balcones Canyonlands NWR

Teri and I have been enjoying our time at Inks Lake State Park in the Texas Hill Country. Today was cool and drizzly, but we decided to get out and do some exploring at the nearby Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge.

Balcones Canyonlands is made up dozens of different tracts of land set aside as habitat for Golden-cheeked Warblers and Black-capped Vireos. Most of the areas are closed to the public, but the Doeskin Ranch tract has about 6 miles of public trails and we decided to try them out.

The forecast was for rain so we stuck to a couple of the shorter trails. The Creek Trail follows a beautiful clear creek and has several interpretive stops and a trail guide. Doeskin Ranch was a working cattle ranch up until 1992, so there were several old buildings, fences and roads to see as we walked.

Creekside

With the wet year we've had the creek and springs were flowing well. In dry years the creek apparently dries up, leaving only a couple of water holes for the wildlife.

Small Waterfall

We also hiked the Pond and Prairie Trail, and saw a small group of Ring-necked Ducks that flushed before we got close enough for pictures.

Our visit was shortened today by rain, but we'll return once the weather improves to hike the more extensive Rimrock and Indiangrass trails on more elevated areas of the refuge.

Hillside

Perhaps we will look into volunteering at this refuge in the future.

Mark

Back in the Texas Hill Country

After spending a few relaxing weeks at our park model home in Medina, Texas, we have moved the 100+ miles north to Inks Lake State Park. We volunteered here two years ago and really love this area. It is close to the towns of Marble Falls, Burnet, and Llano so we have plenty of restaurants to enjoy, and it is close enough to Austin to make visits to family and friends convenient.

Teri and I have joined the local YMCA and are taking advantage of their brand new workout equipment as well as a few of their classes.

We took a short trip to the nearby Inks Lake Fish Hatchery to do some hiking and bird watching. They built a new bird blind since we last visited, and we got to see a few of the common bird species enjoying the offerings.

Black-crested Titmouse

We saw the very dark "Slate-colored" race of the Dark-eyed Junco. The Juncos in Idaho were much lighter colored.

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal

As we walked toward the first pond, a couple of plump shorebirds took off and landed at the water's edge of an adjacent pond. So we headed over that way to play peek-a-boo with the Wilson's Snipe. Who remembers to good old Snipe Hunts from when we were kids?

Wilson's Snipe

Can you spot them both?

Wilson's Snipe (x2)

This can be a good place to see winter sparrows, but all we found were Song Sparrows.

Song Sparrow

Out in the water we found this rotted Bald Cypress stump with a new Sycamore tree sprouting out of the rotten center.

New Life

And finally, we saw this pretty pair of Mallards enjoying the sunny day.

Mallards

Stay tuned for more from Inks Lake.  

Mark

Fulton Mansion

Teri and I have been visiting the Rockport/Fulton area for over twenty years, yet we'd never taken the time to visit the Fulton Mansion. During our latest visit to the area we had a cool, rainy day that kept us from our planned outdoor activities, and we decided that it was time for that visit.

George Fulton was an engineer, inventor, and ranching entrepreneur. Fulton was married to Harriet Smith, and it was her land inheritance on Aransas Bay that they developed into a ranching and meatpacking empire called the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company.

Fulton Mansion - Front

To symbolize their success they designed and built what was then known as Oakhurst, completing construction in 1877. It is considered one of the finest examples of French Second Empire domestic architecture, and was the only home in the area with gas lighting, central heating, and indoor plumbing.

Fulton Mansion - Rear

For our tour we entered through the back of the mansion, and were immediately impressed by the condition. Everything was freshly painted and in perfect shape. Once inside we learned that the mansion had been closed for the previous two years and had undergone a $3.4 million dollar restoration. It re-opened less than two weeks prior to our visit. How's that for timing?

Many of the original furnishings and fixtures have been returned to the mansion, with other correct period pieces purchased to fill the gaps. The rooms were stuffed full of furniture, which we were told was a sign of affluence at the time. 

Parlor

Hot and cold running water was a unique feature of the home, and the bathroom featured a large copper-lined bathtub. It also had this curious piece of furniture. Care to guess what it is??

Mystery Appliance

A hint:

Onion Skin Toilet Paper

Yes, that is the state-of-the-art indoor toilet. Fancy!!

The Fulton's lived in the home for only 18 years, after which it continued to be used as a private residence, then a restaurant, and finally an RV park. There are some amazing pictures of travel trailers parked on the grounds between the mansion and Aransas Bay, with the dilapidated home standing in the background. Texas Parks & Wildlife acquired the property in 1976, with transfer to the Texas Historic Commission in 2008.

"Original" Room

One of the upstairs rooms was not restored, which allowed us to see damaged and exposed areas of the structure. It was an interesting look at the materials and methods used to build the mansion. You may also note that the plaster walls are covered with signatures. During its "neglected" years the mansion was apparently treated as a curiosity by visitors who explored the rooms and left their signatures on the wall. 

Oyster Shell Insulation

A curious building material used in the home was oyster shell for insulation. I don't know how good the insulating properties are, but there is a trap door that allows you to see oyster shell insulation between the first and second floors. 

Master Bedroom

We are happy that we finally took the time to visit the Fulton Mansion, and that we got to see it after the extensive renovation. An interesting part of Texas History to be sure.

Mark

What Kind Of Cake Do You Like?

Are you visualizing chocolate cake with a rich, creamy frosting?  Or maybe carrot cake with cream cheese frosting or spice cake or angel food cake, or ...

Do you know what my favorite cake is?  Yarn cake!!  Ever heard of it?

We’re having a dreary, misty day so I decided to spend the morning doing one of my favorite past times - getting out all my yarn and organizing it. 

I don’t have nearly enough yarn!

At the beginning of the year I had 5 of these large tubs stuffed full of yarn along with bags of yarn in the closet and underneath the couch.  While in Florida this past winter I had to order quite a bit of yarn to finish up some afghans I was working on.  Now I’m down to 2 full tubs, a tub with ‘scrap yarn’ and a couple of bags with yarn that I’m using right now. 

So, what is a yarn cake?  A few years ago I bought a yarn winder.  It’s great for winding partial skeins of yarn.  It keeps them neat and tidy.  The wound yarn is called a yarn cake! 

I’ve separated all my yarn by color, weighted all my yarn cakes so I know how much of each color I have, made a list of colors and amounts, and got it all back in the tubs.  It was a fun morning!

We’ve got a wonderful craft store in Kerrville that carries all the yarn colors I need.  So, right now, I’m not worried about stocking up, there is yarn close! 

I’m working on a couple of afghans now that I will finish before the end of the year.  That will make 22 afghans that I’ve crocheted and donated this year. 

Here are a few I’ve finished recently: 

Jacob's Ladder - scrap afghan.  

A scrap afghan is an afghan made out of left over bits and pieces of yarn from other projects. 

Shell stitch - also a scrap afghan 

Scooby-Doo.  This is calld a graphghan or picture afghan.

I got a little sidetracked but there will be more "vacation" blogs coming soon!

Teri