GOOD LORD AUNT SOPHIE! I can't believe it's been three months since the last post. Well, actually, I can. We're back in the USA as most everybody now is aware. We're living in the far western corner of the city of Austin on the banks of beautiful Lake Austin. As the crow flies we're not that far from the downtown, but in driving time it takes a little less than a half and hour to get there. 20 minutes if its clear. The new banner on the blog is the view off of our boat slip of one of the fickle and suddenly-appearing fogs that shroud the cold lake. The picture was taken near sunset about two weeks ago.

We love our house and our jobs. Asenath is working at Lake Austin Spa Resort and I am working at the Lost Parrot Bed and Breakfast. Houndog is still unemployed. Our little house has a nice backyard with a big ol' live oak stretching across abundant (and currently unmown) horse herb. But, we like it that way: a little shaggy. It's really quiet down here and across the water is protected bird habitat (the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler for those interested ornithologists out there). The lake valley blocks out the city lights so the star gazing is pretty good on clear nights, which have been in precious short supply of late, what with all the rain. The old timers tell me this is the rainiest spring they can remember. I love the cooler, wetter weather, but I'm sure that's because I know the summer heat is just around the corner.

We've got a garden and its doing pretty good despite all of the tall trees blocking out some of our sunshine. Asenath seems to have saved our squash plants from the devilish and ubiquitous squash bug. Aside from that we have several types of green beans, cucumbers, watermelons, jalapenos, bell peppers, 8 different kinds of tomatoes, various herbs, eggplants, cantaloupes, and some stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting. Its my first garden, so I'm quite excited about it. Once its really going, we'll be producing a decent percentage of our own food (much higher than our previous 0% at least!), especially if we can reliably get bass and trout out of the lake.

Asenath's job is great, and she loves it. I'll leave it to her to blog a bit about it if she wishes. But, I don't think you can do much better for yourself as a massage therapist around here. As for me, I'm earning my keep as a handyman of sorts. I'm just starting to get the 'handy' part of the equation down, but I have helped build a road, chainsaw lots of juniper trees, clean cabins, dig ditches, drain springs, and so forth. I really like my bosses Cliff and Cat, and the place is very cool and beautiful. Here's their website. I've cleaned just about everything pictured on there multiple times.

We've still got a bunch of pictures from the rest of our trip to India, so I want to keep posting those bit by bit. But, I also want to get up to speed with new stuff. So, I'll be going back and forth a little bit.