I am teaching/lecturing for the Austin Quilt Guild beginning tomorrow. I came to Austin a day early to visit my friend, Dory. We met as freshman at the University of Oklahoma in 1974. How can it have been that long ago!?

Dory and her husband, Eric, moved from the Dallas area to an amazing place in the hill country west of Austin. It is built with the native stone that this area is known for.

From her back porch she can see the pool and down the hillside where much of their property lies.

You can't really tell from this photo but the land drops down just beyond the pool into a not-insignificant valley. Where it looks like the hill slopes up beyond the pool it is really the hill on the other side of the valley. Dory and Eric are about 15 minutes from great shopping but you'd never know it when you are at their house.

That's Chopper with Dory. I'm more of a cat person but I admit that Chopper is a cool dog. He's exceptionally well-behaved and has a great personality. And he doesn't smell like a dog.

Dory has done some great things with her house. For one thing, she made sure that all the colors in the house tie together. I like color so much I can have a tendency to flit from one to another which has made my house look a little disjointed in the past (it's better now). And she didn't forget to have a little fun with ceiling color.

Another thing they did was to spray paint all the light fixtures the same almost-black.

When they moved in, all the fixtures were white. Rather than spend a lot of money she chose to buy spray paint. So, so smart. They painted the outside fixtures too – something I don't think I would have thought to do:

They painted the ceiling fans. Every bit of the fans – the blades, motor housing, hardware and even the screws. Looks great!

And, last but not least, Dory helped me get a handle on my life. No small feat. I used to be a good list-maker. I was way organized. In the last few years I started carrying my to do list around in my head and it's not working any more. Dory is a management consultant – we consulted! I've got my list system going, I'm prioritizing, and it is my sincere hope that I can stick with it.

That said, it's time to move on to my next task…

If you've read my blog long, you know that our front yard is not usual. We don't have grass but instead have trees and bushes and flowers and rocks. One of my bushes got big and took over a path. Monday morning Steve and I made it wider. And we cut back the bush.

I need to add the pea gravel between the stones which won't take long, I just need to do it. And I need to scrub the tile around the waterfall in the pool. And you thought all I did was quilt all day!

In other news: Mom has found a house! It is on our street – she and Christy will be 5 houses away. It's cute little house, solidly constructed and in very good shape. That said Steve and I will spend most of July and the first part of August working on it. There are popcorns on all the ceilings that have to go, wallpaper that will come out, new paint because they like new color, and we'll put in laminate flooring throughout. There is some outside work to do, but not a lot. As we work on it I'll post photos.

The lady who owns the house is very nice and has really taken good care of it. She is happy to be moving on with her own adventure. Her house was not even on the market but I knew she was wanting to sell it. All in all I think it was meant to be. I'm not going to show a photo of the house until mom closes on it. I'm only a little superstitious.

I heard about this on All Things Considered this afternoon. It's really fun! I found myself tearing up in parts even while I was smiling. I remember when this song was new, which dates me. However, that's not all bad – at least I remember most of the words!