I decided to go with a letter “B” theme for this post since December has been filled with good things that start with the letter “B”. First…

Birds. Our dining room has become a bird blind with the addition of multiple feeding stations outside the windows in all directions. It is fun to sit inside on a cold day with the Christmas lights and decorations, watching our own little nature channel right outside. So far we’ve attracted a good variety of regular visitors: Carolina Chickadees, Tufted (Black-Crested) Titmice, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Scrub Jays, White Winged Doves, House Finches, American Goldfinches, Bewick’s and Carolina Wrens, Chipping Sparrows, Yellow Throated and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, and Ruby-Crowned Kinglets. Oh and squirrels. Active, agile, cute-as-a-button, orange-bellied squirrels (Eastern Fox Squirrels, to be accurate). I’ve heard them described as “cute tree rats”. Oh well, we like them anyway.

We have seen a Greater Road Runner out front but not since putting up feeders. We’d like to see it again. I wonder how one attracts a Road Runner? Hmmmm… National Geographic’s “Birds of America” states they eat “insects, lizards, snakes, rodents, and small birds”. With all the small birds at our feeders, maybe we just need to wait and be patient! I know there are lizards too as Grayson brings them in and lets them go. If Dottie is barking and whining madly under the bed, we’re likely to find one there!

Our most exciting sighting wasn’t at home. We were almost to Rockport on Christmas Day when I spied a couple dozen cranes in a flooded field next to the road. We were really stoked as the majority of endangered Whooping Cranes, about 250 birds, winter on the Texas coast. People come from all over the world to see them. And there they just were. Merry Christmas to us! Well, upon further investigation, they were Sandhill Cranes, not the rare Whooping Cranes, but oh well… like the squirrels… we liked them anyway.

Babies. Won’t be able to use the “B” word for the twins much longer. Grace and Emmett are 1 year old now. And they toddle. Not without a little support quite yet but they are speedy as it is. It won’t be long before they’re doing it fully on their own. I flew to California for the birthday event. I hadn’t seen them in three months and wow … they changed. Imagine how grown up they’ll be when I see them again in June! It’s hard to really believe how it was this time last year, with both of them still in the hospital. They’ve come so far. We are forever grateful for the blessing of Grace and Emmett.

Boat. We bought a boat this week! It’s raining and cold so it has only sat in the driveway so far symbolizing fun to come! It’s a 1997 22′ Parti Kraft pontoon boat, not pristine but we had a budget! It’s intended to be our “living room on the lake” and we can’t wait to get out on the water. Some sun and temps over 40 degrees would sure make it more inviting and … good news on the weather forecast just now … sunny and warmer coming right up for New Year’s Eve. And we have sparklers too!

My fingers are crossed it will be nice the first week in February when Judi comes to visit. Our first out-of-state visitor, I’m so excited! For the rest of you… you know you’re welcome. We’ll leave the lights on!

Though our-house-with-wheels did roll its way to the Gulf Coast for a couple of days last week, mostly we are homebodies in our sweet, wonderful, but decidedly non-mobile, Texas house. What to do, what to do, about a website named ourhousehaswheels? It just doesn’t seem right. Gigglefern doesn’t really suit the local terrain or climate so we’re going to have to dream up something new. Maybe homeiswhereweare.com? For now, this site will have to do … that is, if there is anyone out there who still looks at it, given our lapses in posting.

This week has been rather momentous. The longhorn pictured above has presided over our living room for a couple of weeks but the Texas license plates are brand-spanking new. There isn’t a breeze today to make our flags fly but our pole now sports the Lone Star under the Stars and Stripes. Who knew we’d be so enamored with flying flags? Certainly not us! Today’s exciting event was the installation of phone cable to our property for a DSL line. For the first time ever, we have a fast, stable (we hope) internet connection for a reasonable price!

We happily accepted an invite last Saturday to join in a BBQ at Gwen and J.R.’s shop during the local Halloween event. The merchants hand out candy to trick-or-treaters and it’s quite a to-do. Folks came out in droves and hundreds of dollars in candy disappeared quickly. When we went on a candy (and beer) run, we found the grocery store parking lot packed with people listening to a heavy metal grunge band playing on a stage, singing about Jesus and salvation. That’s different for us! On the way there, a crowd of kids ran across the street in front of us. One kid sang out this not-so-sage advice: “The best way to cross the street is to just jump in front of the cars… like the deer do!” Given the ubiquitous hoofed roadkill, I’d say this strategy is lacking in merit. Hopefully this little buck, photographed in our yard, will fare better. The rut is getting underway and, if we put the dogs inside, we can watch the action from our deck.

Gwen and J.R.’s friends, Will and Cindy, brought their custom outfitted truck/BBQ/smoker to the festivities. It is coated from top-to-bottom with spray-on truck bed liner (seems like something Steve would do, doesn’t it?) and it features dual flame throwers, just for the fun of it. Have I mentioned that BBQ is BIG in Texas? Mmmm … the venison sausage was yummy. It’s hard to believe I was a vegetarian for a dozen years! The other memorable quote from the evening was “Hey, JR… got a beer for me?” This, from a mom trick-or-treating with her children. He did, of course, and off she went down the street with her kids, and her beer. “Toto, we are not in Santa Cruz anymore!”

But we ARE in Texas. And truthfully, we love it. The fall weather has been just perfect. Crisp nights, sunny warm days. Our Spanish Oaks are even starting to turn red. Of course, we still need more rain to fill up the lake. It has risen 4 feet since September so it’s on the way… only 13.5 feet more to go to be full! When we’re not putting down roots (literally… we have plants in the ground now and Steve built me a beautiful new potting bench with a cold frame this weekend), we’re walking dogs down to the lake or shopping for a boat. Life is good AND we miss our friends, and our family. Emmett and Gracie look like toddlers rather than babies already and we can hardly bear it. Fortunately, I’m flying to California for their first birthday in December, and we just bought Grandpa Steve a plane ticket to spend a week with them the last week in January. One of the week’s highlights was a message from Judi, calling to talk about coming to Texas in February. I did a happy dance for the rest of the evening after that call came in!

So, y’all … come and visit, ya hear?!