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?!

We’ve been home just over a week and… well… we like it. The trailer is only partly unpacked and everywhere we look there are projects, projects and more projects. But, unlike our previous visits, we have time. As thrilling as our first day home was, day 2 was a bit frightening. This is no visit. This is the real deal. We live here. What will that be like? Will we be happy here? Only time will tell but the fear has faded and all of us, animals included, are settling in quite nicely. Our first projects were to buy the flat screen television that Steve has been patiently waiting for, and a piece of furniture to put it on. That’s accomplished and just like coming home, it is even better than expected. The picture is beautiful and when there’s nothing on TV, it serves as “wall art”, displaying photos of people and places we love in a slideshow. Grace and Emmett live and in person would be much preferred, but seeing them larger than life on the living room wall is sweet too!

As much as we’re loving being home, we love camping. So, it seems right to make our house the most comfy campsite yet. Washing machine fire pits are “the thing” at Seacliff Beach and when I noticed an old washing machine drum outside the shop at Helen and Bob’s I was excited. Helen said it “came with the ranch” and promptly gave it to us. Then in Montana we hit the mother lode of vintage tractor seats, treasures that I had been lusting after ever since sitting on an old plow at Beanie and Jim’s property over a year ago. We dragged those, and some old milk jugs, home too. Some might find it odd to have a camp fire ring in your front yard but it feels just right to us.

But what’s missing in our campsite? Could it be you? Visitors, please!