Austin Houses

This morning started late again, although I was in fairly good shape after pacing my alcohol intake last night. Rich had been invited to his neighbours’ across the road for brunch, so Brett and I tagged along. They were a group of lovely people and we chatted happily with several of them. I was surprised to run into a girl from Cheltenham whose accent sounded so wonderfully familiar, but so totally out of place. The food spread was not extensive, but it was tasty and filling and there was plenty of it. Best of all, it included a fresh-fruit salad and, spotting a tasty source of dietary fibre for the first time in what seems like weeks, I promptly leapt at it! (I must admit I didn’t stint on the French Toast baked with syrup either…) (Think bread-and-butter pudding with syrup instead of raisins.) (I am going to eat healthily this year. I am! I am!)

After we had eaten our fill and drunk as much coffee as anyone could ever want, we took a stroll around the block for Brett to show me one of the houses that he had lived in for a while. (It was empty and being renovated.) Then we went on to the house next door where the former landlord and his partner live. Austin is a small town; the partner (Peter) of the former landlord (Jack) sings with the Capital City Men’s Chorus and I had actually been introduced to him in Montreal last year!

Their house, while relatively regular looking from the outside, was a revelation when we got inside. I’m not sure quite how to describe it; it had a clearly Victorian ambiance without the weight and clutter that the Victorians loved and it worked really well; being both antique and formal, while having easy chairs and modern conveniences. One of the things which amazed me the most were the portraits; proper framed, oil-on-canvas of Peter’s ancestors – seven generations of them and all painted sitting in the same chair. (Brett teased me a bit about it, reminding me that America has ‘history’ as well as Britain.) Certainly most Brits can’t name their ancestors back through seven generations, let alone hang pictures of them on the walls of their house.

Peter also invited us up to their attic conversion which they had apparently been talking about when Brett was still around. At the top of the stairs, in what had previously been a vast empty space, they had recently constructed a soaring Georgian master bedroom. I suppose I was most surprised by the amount of space that had been left empty in the roof space, but what they had done with the space was certainly excellent work.

I think the houses are going to be my lasting memory of Austin; we have moved in perhaps more elevated circles than usual here and so have seen more expensive houses than we normally would elsewhere, but they have certainly been very impressive. I’m getting yearnings to dig out the floor-plan software again and design my ideal house to build…

When we left Jack & Peter’s we headed back to Rich’s to do the packing, hung out some more and then finally departed early afternoon. It’s been fun visiting with Rich and I would hope to do it again in future. He’s planning to come to the UK in March and we have tentatively arranged time in Edinburgh so we shall see him again soon.

Before setting out for the Interstate Highway we swung by the Texas State History Museum, which was closed, and then the State Capitol, which was closed also. So I took some photos and we left Austin to return once more to Dallas.

One point of interest on the road: They sell fireworks in roadside shacks along the highway, typically fairly far from other buildings (I’m guessing as a safety precaution.) But the hot weather and drought they have been experiencing in Texas this winter has resulted in a ‘Burn Ban’ being imposed. People are asked not to do anything that may cause a bush fire. One of these things is lighting fireworks. For New Year there were two government organised displays in Austin and that was it.

The curiosity I noticed on the road was the sign on one of these firework shacks: “Buy 1 Get 11 Free!”

You wonder how they can possibly survive!?

We headed over to Susan’s for dinner and then played Scrabble. I won – but then it’s a lot easier when you can use the dictionary before you play your word. I found words that I didn’t even know existed to make the best use of my Z and my X…