Views of the Neighborhood – Spicewood Winery

August 4, 2019August 2, 2019 ~ John W. Howell ~ 71 Comments

A lovely way to spend a Sunday. My two daughters and I visited two wineries. The first is named Spicewood. I’ll show you the second next week.

Here is a blurb from the website.

Since 1992 Spicewood Vineyards has been producing distinguished Texas Hill Country wines that are known for their timeless appeal and exceptional character. Beautifully nestled in the serene surroundings of the Texas Hill Country among 32 acres of vines, our family winery draws on both our Texas roots and our Spanish inspiration.

Spicewood Vineyards

A shot of a metal cluster of grapes and the vineyard.

More vineyards

Six massive live oaks growing together with the vineyard in the background.

Roses

Front patio entrance

Barrel stave chair

The tasting room bar.

Some meat and cheese. I like the sign. Be careful with water.

You know you are in Texas.

Nice paintings

More of the tasting room. That is a slab of granite on top of those barrels.

Lovely little stream outside the tasting room.

Cute fountain.

This is an event center that can be rented.

We sat on the patio of the activity center and shared a bottle of wine.

This is the entrance gate to the folks who used to own Spicewood winery. They sold it in 2007.

Next week, Gaucho Vineyards

Views of the Neighborhood – Visit to Moon Valley Nurseries

July 21, 2019July 20, 2019 ~ John W. Howell ~ 81 Comments

I know the Producer, and I seem to be fixated on nurseries. Last week we had to visit another in the quest for an olive tree and Artichoke Agave. Our landscaper was having a difficult time finding them, so we thought we would help in the search. I hope you enjoy the quest.

Here is the main sign.

Parking lot with big trees.

The entrance.

A sign warning about falling trees Also, check the price of the Italian Cyprus – $12,000.

The greeter. She has to be brushed every night.

Love Hibiscus.

Cute farmhouse-like building.

Pathway through the jungle.

Clearer path.

Trees to go.

High wind victim.

The nursery is on an old putt-putt golf course.

Some Italian Cyprus.

Small utility building.

Lovely roses and Lantana. Moon Valley did have olive trees and Artichoke Agave. We gave the landscaper the Nursery name and location. He knew of that firm and liked that we did the footwork.

Here is the olive.

And the Artichoke Agave

Views of the neighborhood – Visit to Natural Gardener Part II

July 14, 2019July 13, 2019 ~ John W. Howell ~ 52 Comments

Here we are at the Natural Gardener again. If you recall I did part one and then took a Fourth of July parade break. There are a lot of photos but few words. (Thank you, John) I hope you enjoy the stroll.

As a reminder, here is a map of the place – huge.

Natural rainwater station.

Tropical plant hut.

Tropical plant eater.

Herb garden

Babbling brook. (man made)

One kind of reptile habitat.

And a reptile more worrisome than snakes.

Plants to buy.

Lady bug hut.

Goat pen.

Chicken house.

Bird watering hole.

Yard sculpture.

Yellow submarine

Receiving department.

Guitar garden.

Handmade Gazebo.

Rock labyrinth

Interesting words about the labyrinth.

Budda.

Shed with a theme. (employees only)

I hope you enjoyed the walk around. A lot to see and sorry for so many photos.

Views of the Neighborhood – Fourth of July Parade

July 7, 2019July 6, 2019 ~ John W. Howell ~ 58 Comments

Since this week was the Fourth. I thought you would enjoy some of the sights and sounds of the Lakeway Fourth of July parade. There were over 100 entries in the parade so I was forced to edit the numbers of photos. There are still way too many but sometimes it was hard to cut.

Mounted police to begin

The first responder honor guard

The grand marshall Astronaut Navy Captain (Ret) Kenneth Cockrell

Austin Mounted police

Utility float.

A representative of the business floats

The parade honors the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

A bloodmobile

Cub scouts.

Vintage cars.

Hot rods.

Lakeway precision beach chair drill team.

Golf carts with flags from all fifty states

Viet Nam veterans

In honor of the fallen warriors

The Chick-Fil-A cow was there

As was HEB (A Texas Food Store chain).

Band members riding not playing.

We love the bookmobile.

The final picture is a reminder of the Apollo 11 mission.

Views of the Neighborhood – A Visit to The Natural Gardener

June 30, 2019July 13, 2019 ~ John W. Howell ~ 69 Comments

This past week the producer and I visited The Natural Gardener, which is a retail nursery featuring organic plants and shrubs. We were surprised at the size of the grounds and the number of species offered. There was so much to take in, I’m going to use two posts to cover it all. This week is the first, and since next week is the Fourth of July parade, the final will be in two weeks.

Here is a map of the grounds. There is so much to see. Over forty areas of interest.

You know you are in a retail place when you see a big selection of pots

There is a revival tent which Teagan Geneviene would like.

Of course, this tent is for learning to save plants, not souls.

Next is the butterfly garden

With guess what? A butterfly.

And another.

Beautiful flowers to attract butterflies.

More.

A little spot to sit with a butterfly theme.

Another view of the garden.

Sunflowers that reach the sky.

Purple coneflowers.

Lovely assortment. Brazilian Rockrose on the left.

Leaving the Butterfly garden on the left. A delightful path to follow.

A funky shed with a painted scene leads us into other areas. We’ll be back.

Views of the Neighborhood – Mansfield Dam

June 23, 2019June 22, 2019 ~ John W. Howell ~ 68 Comments

Today we are visiting the Mansfield Dam, which is close to the neighborhood. Mansfield Dam is 278 feet (85 m) high, 7,089 feet (2 km) long, and 213 feet (65 m) thick at the base. The concrete gravity dam was designed to control flooding. Built on the Colorado River by the Lower Colorado River Authority it stores 369 billion US gallons of water and generates 108 megawatts of power. The lake formed by the dam is Lake Travis. The Spillway Elevation is 714 feet above sea level. LCRA begins to open floods gates when water reaches 681 feet above sea level. At 681 feet above MSL, discharge capacity exceeds 130,000 cubic feet per second as the lake rises. Construction was begun in 1937 and completed in 1941. It is named after Joseph Mansfield who was in the house of Representatives for thirty years and chaired the Rivers Committee.

I hope you like the tour.

A monument to Joseph Mansfield.

I had not thought of bringing my drone, but it would have been in vain had I thought of it.

There was a highway that went across the top of the dam. Traffic got too heavy for these two lanes, so another bridge was built.

I would have loved to get a shot up and down the river, but no trespassing.

Razor wire and I don’t get along so I’ll heed the sign.

A shot of the dam, river, and highway bridge.

A little bit of a view of Lake Travis formed by the dam.

A turbine fan on display. It stands about eight feet tall.

A different view of the dam to give you an idea of the expanse.

This is a shot from a road that runs below the Dam. This was as close as I could get.

Here is what the Colorado River looks like downstream from the dam. The water flows out of one spillway and continues down the river. On the banks is a residential area with water access points. That is a group of kayakers in the background.

The river, dam, duck, man, and his dog

I took this shot since it seemed odd to me that that guy had not jumped from the bridge. If you are going to violate one rule, why not break them all?

Thank you for coming along.

Views of the Neighborhood – Book Fair McKinney Texas

June 16, 2019June 16, 2019 ~ John W. Howell ~ 61 Comments

Today’s neighborhood visit is in McKinney, Texas, which is a four and one half hour drive from my neighborhood. The book fair is sponsored by Texas Authors as part of the Texas Author Book Fair Network.

I decided to stay in an AirB@B in McKinney. It was in the country and very quiet. I loved the bench backrest. It was a tailgate.

This is the welcome tray. Made me feel at home.

Other authors and I got together for dinner. Award-winning author Jan Sikes and I got a chance to catch up. She and I are both members of Rave Reviews Book Club. It was great seeing her again.

The auditorium where the event was held.

I thought it would be interesting to take a shot of the room before it was set up. You can see it is a lovely room.

Here is the room almost filled.

Another shot of the floor

A shot of my booth. I had a great location next to the stage.

Views of the Neighborhood – Country Clubs

June 9, 2019June 8, 2019 ~ John W. Howell ~ 66 Comments

This week I thought it would be fun to go and visit the Country Clubs that are in Lakeway. Not that I would join any, but I thought it would be fun to go and see what they looked like.

The first is named Yupon. Here is a shot of a fairway with some golf carts on it.

This is the outdoor eating and drinking area. The practice tees are in the background.

This is a shot of the clubhouse lounge. (A step back to the ’60s for sure.)

Here is the pro shop.

The next is Flintrock Falls. Unfortunately, I was stopped at the gate and couldn’t enter. W. C. Fields comment came to mind. “If a club would have me as a member, it’s not worth joining.” Maybe this one is worth joining.

The next is The Hills of Lakeway. This is a shot of the putting green.

This is a photo of the entrance.

Looks like a wedding later.

A shot of the bar and casual dining area

The fifteenth tee.

This water lies between the 18th fairway and the green. I imagine there are a ton of waterlogged balls in there.

The 18th green.

The 18th Green looking back toward that water.

I hope you enjoyed the little trip.

Views of the Neighborhood – The Sailmaster Waterfall

June 2, 2019June 1, 2019 ~ John W. Howell ~ 62 Comments

We are glad you can join us today. We are going to return to the Hurst Creek/Hamilton Greenbelt again. We are walking to the Sailmaster Waterfall which I have never seen. Have water? Okay let’s go

Here is the entrance.

The wildflowers in June along the way are spectacular.

This a restful little waterfall where I could imagine taking a break and enjoying the sound of the babble of the creek as it cascades over the rocks.

There’s a signpost up ahead. Welcome to the Sailmaster Waterfall zone.

Hurst Creek runs slowly to meet a spillway. These waterlilies had tons of closed yellow blossems waiting for the sun.

You can see the spillway at the right in the background. The waterlilies were to the right of the spillway.

One section of the falls

The same section from a tree framed viewpoint

The Producer took this shot of the falls from a lower viewpoint.

The same viewpoint only closer.

On the way back, we came across a doe.

And two mallard ducks not stopping their grooming.

I hope you enjoyed the View today. Have a great week.

Views of the Neighborhood – The New Lakeway Police Station

May 19, 2019May 19, 2019 ~ John W. Howell ~ 56 Comments

Last weekend the new Lakeway Police headquarters had it’s grand opening. Of course, the Producer and I could not miss the event. The station is a great example of Texas Hill Country architecture. I took tons of photos and culled them down to those presented here. There are still quite a few and I hope you won’t be bored.