Under The YaYa Tree

Hello blog buddies.  I’m topping off my week of getting absolutely nothing productive done by doing a blog post to avoid anything that might possibly be viewed as constructive! It’s taken me all week to recover from this past weekend celebrating our three YaYa April birthdays.

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We met at Barbara and Judy’s Rio Star Ranch. (Sisters as opposed to a couple…not that there’s anything wrong with that as Seinfeld would say)  That’s my Arbor Mist on the right…nothing but the finest for me while the others drink their Texas wines.

We started off with a toast…or two or three….and some hors d’oeuvres.

It’s true – the stars at night are big and bright…deep in the heart of Texas and that’s where we dined. The sisters had the most beautiful table laid under the Palapa.

LaVerne and I gave the girls their presents all pink and ‘50s related!

And we had our gluten free cupcakes with those cute tiny spoons and stayed up too late for five old YaYa’s  who had to get up early to head west to visit the

LBJ ranch and the Texas White House.  Don’t you love Lady Bird who made us so aware of our state and country’s natural beauty?

We had a lovely breakfast and about two hours later an old fashioned picnic.  Pimento cheese sandwiches, deviled eggs, fritos, and cream cheese stuffed celery. Stuffed celery? Why yes – it was the epitome of fancy if you grew up in the ‘50s!

 

And a root beer in a glass bottle. Guess what – I ate that sandwich – I never ever thought about it and nearly choked when I realized what I’d done.  Apparently my mind was in the ‘50s that day, too, as it’s been almost a year since I’ve had anything with gluten.  Anyway, I survived and we headed over to the Johnson’s Ranch.  We’ll actually it belongs to all of us now – you and me and the rest of the U.S. as it was left as a national treasure.

Here we are  under the giant oak in the front yard of the ranch.  I share this with you even though I always detest having my picture taken anymore (i.e. food consumption above!).  Patty’s sister and her friend joined us and our tour guide, Randolph, took this pic for us. LaVerne(LBJ herself as that’s her initials and her dog’s name) me, Patty, Patty’s sister and her friend, Judy and Barbara.

We weren’t allowed to take pics inside but it was not fancy or elegant but a really homey, comfortable home except for an itty bitty plane outside the back door.

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I was able to find some online pictures and this was my favorite room – Ladybird’s bedroom.   It was just a small room with a sitting area and a desk just out of view  and a small bathroom but isn’t it so cozy?

We then headed back to the other ranch, dropped off the  three of whom two  were now one year older and headed up to Austin.  After leaving Patty, on my way home we were blessed with some much needed rain and then this…beautiful rainbow.

Happy Birthday to the April girls – I am so grateful to have these four friendships of over 50 years!  I hope you all have longtime girlfriends who celebrate each other – it’s one of life’s greatest blessings.

Be sure and visit Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday.