Views of the Neighborhood – Mail Box Topper Visit

~ John W. Howell

Well, today, gang, we will go out into the Lakeway neighborhood to see if there are any new and different mailbox toppers. It has been over a year since we checked them out, so it is about time. We are being catered by Café No Sé in Austin. Since I still have not figured out how to post a YouTube video in the Classic editor mode of WP, our entertainment will be all of us humming Bohemian Rhapsody in five-part harmony. No, I’m not going to Block.

Menu

avocado toast

soft boiled egg, crème fraîche, arugula, aleppo carrots

smoked salmon bagel

salmon, hard-boiled egg, pickled onion, tomato, caper scallion cream cheese, everything bagel

lemon-ricotta hotcakes

apple-thyme chutney, pecan butter, maple syrup

café scramble

roasted wild mushrooms, Fresno pepper, spinach, fresh ricotta, sourdough toast

sweet potato hash

two sunny eggs, crispy pork belly, kimchi, mustard greens, jalapeño, kale

cowboy breakfast

two sunny eggs, bacon, confit pork, borracho beans, tomato, roasted jalapeño, cilantro butter

Picture of an old time school bus

So what are we waiting for? Let’s go.

Views of the neighborhood

Our first is this cute smiling snail. Lots of color.

I thought this blue bowl was attractive. The sun was in the wrong place for this photo.

A colorful turtle who is not too pleased to have his photo taken.

Totally realistic-looking tortoise.

A casual frog who looks like he made friends with a tagger.

This colorful plant and blue bowl made a nice combo.

I thought a lamp with a topiary inside was a bit unusual.

Views of the Neighborhood

A rusty bird. You have to zoom in to see the three feathers on the left side of his head. His beak is on the right.

I call this the Wimbelton frog. He’s making a fist as if he just got a match point.

A comfy bunny.

Old world pot with daisy.

Loving frogs with umbrella. Looks like the rain has stopped.

Little tiny bird with a chick.

92 thoughts on “Views of the Neighborhood – Mail Box Topper Visit”

  1. If these are your Mail Box Toppers you have an impressive collection John. I’m very taken with your realistic tortoise, and the blue bowl colourful plant. So is it the Cowboy breakfast today?
    Hugs

    Liked by 2 people

  4. I give them all a high score. Will I enjoy my café scramble, I’ll try to decide between the tortoise and the old world pot. That plant inside the bird, we called ‘hens and chickens’ when I was a kid.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. These are some serious mailbox toppers. I think I like the frog the best, but it’s a hard choice.

    Looks lie someone hit the chef with a fancy-stick. I’m going to try those hot cakes. Maybe I’ll see if he can put two eggs over medium on the side.

    Enjoy the day, John.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. I’ll come back to look at the toppers, but let’s see if I can do this. For embedding YouTube vids, just use brackets: [ and ]. Inside them, put youtube= and then the copied link from your video’s address bar between double quotes. You’d have . I just checked a couple of my blogs, and that’s still working for me.

    (If this gets garbled, I have it copied so I can email it.)

    Liked by 1 person

  15. I think those blue planters and bowls really stand out because the flowers and leaves inside aren’t that color. I’m fond of the Wimbledon frog and the grinning snail. As for the Block Editor, I’m with you — Classic rules!

    Liked by 1 person

  17. So many cute ones! I think the snail and the frogs with the umbrella are my favorites. 🙂

    John, if you’re using Classic editor, another way to insert a YouTube vid (I saw what you where trying above) is:

    On YouTube, Click the SHARE button, then select EMBED
    Copy the code
    In your editor, click where you want to insert the vid
    Switch from VISUAL editor to HTML editor
    Paste the code
    Switch back
    PRESTO! Vid should be inserted

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Thank you for the suggestion. I’m thinking there might be an arrangement with some artists that the only place their videos can be watched is on YouTube. I’ll keep trying to get a solution.

      Liked by 1 person

  19. I love your stubbornness, John. 🙂 “No, I’m not going to block.” That made me chuckle. Great mailbox toppers! Actually, my favorite is the one you said the sun was wrong. Nice rainbow effect!

    Liked by 1 person

  21. What a delicious breakfast…
    And the toppers are so cool. Both blue bowl and pot are lovely.

    To insert a video: Go to YouTube video, click on share, then copy and go back to your blog and right click to paste (or Command-V) wherever you want to insert it. Easy peasy!

    Lemme know if this works 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  25. I wonder if this is just a Texas tradition. Either I haven’t been paying attention, or these aren’t a thing where we live.

    Liked by 1 person

  28. I love the blue pots and the tortoise. Has it really been a year since we last looked at mailbox toppers? On the YouTube thingy, I go to YouTube, and there is typically an option to share the video. I click on that link, then copy and paste it into my blog post. In the ‘olden days’ the media link gave writers a choice of YouTube or photos from their media gallery. That feature seems to have gone away, which is why I go directly to YouTube and then put it into my post. Yes, I use the Classical Editor.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. That’s my problem, too. Have you had the ‘white screen’ when typing a post on Safari? I’m trying to remember why I switched to Chrome, because Firefox was my #2. Hmm… keep that as a backup if Firefox doesn’t work.

        Liked by 1 person

  33. Yanno, your Sunday menus are spectacular. And as far as the Mail Box Toppers, I started off with a favorite- The Tagger Frog, very groovy- but that soon turned into having several favorites, from the iridescent blue bowl and colorful flowers to the topiary lamp to Love Couple . . . you made it impossible to choose.

    Liked by 1 person

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