2012 October 25th Thursday

            We drove into Austin to visit with Heather.  Mike was at work so we didn’t get to spend time with him.  We had never been to their apartment before.  Heather was a little concerned about how their dog, Lily, would react to us.  Evidently Lily doesn’t like strangers and especially men with deep voices (me).  It wasn’t a problem.  No barking but a lot of licking and jumping.  She was so happy to see us it was if she’d known us all her life and couldn’t believe we hadn’t visited sooner.  We got a tour of the apartment.  It was not very big, but very nice.  They have been talking about trying to buy a house in the area, which is not very far from either of their jobs. 

            We visited there for just a short time before it time to go to lunch at Bartlett’s.  Ella and I had only been there one other time.  And that had been for a hot fudge sundie.  Heather and Arik are both chef/managers there.  Since Arik was working, he came over to say “Hi” and give us a hug.  We had expected to see him there.  However, we had not expect to see Jenny also.  Some friends were taking her to lunch in honor of her birthday. 

            Heathertold us about a gluten-free menu that she had developed for the restaurant andhow well received it had been.  She ordered her desert from the gluten free menu and we got to sample it.  It was inspired by a chocolate pie.  This, however, was served in a small bowl and had no crust.  It was like a mousse with some chocolately  liquor, topped with a huge dollop of whipped cream and candied orange peel.  It was very good (and I’m not a fan of chocolate). 

            Ella and I shared a warm brownie that was more assorted nuts than brownie.  It was three or four inches square and was crowned by a huge scoop (about a cup) of ice cream over which a coffee/caramel syrup had been drizzled.  It was almost more than two of us could eat.

            After lunch we went back to the apartment just long enough to get Lily.  From there we went to a park where we could talk and Lily could run.  She is a high energy dog and the apartment is really too small of an environment for her.  Which is one of the reasons that the kids want to purchase a house with a large, fenced yard.  We stayed at the park until nearly four when I told Heather that Ella and I would need to leave around five so that we could get back to Shady Oaks before dark.  (I’m not comfortable with all the twists and turns and deer and cattle that roam the road, to be driving it at night.