Rainy Tuesday.

The weather wizards predicted sleet for us today, but the temperature warmed up some, so we're only having rain. (I like when the weathermen make mistakes in our favor.) It's about 50 degrees out there, rather than the 38 they predicted, but I'm still sitting here in three layers of clothing. I told my husband yesterday that after all the cold days we've had this month, I am vowing not to complain about the over-100 degree days of summer. As far as I'm concerned, summer can start in twenty minutes, and I'd be perfectly content.

Yesterday, before we went shopping for groceries, we drove to the tiny little airport just outside of town. They have a runway there for small private planes, and there's also a little diner/cafe that looks like it dropped right out of the 1950s and landed here in the Hill Country. The waitresses wear red/black knee-length poodle-skirts with puffy crinolines underneath, white blouses, black and white saddle shoes with white bobby-socks, and their hair is pulled back into pony-tails and tied with a ribbon. The floor of the diner is black/white tiles, the tables and chairs are red vinyl with chrome...... and the music playing is solid 1950s.

The little airport and the diner are tucked back into the hills, with just a few small signs pointing the way-- that you would easily miss if you weren't looking for them. During the time we were sitting there for lunch, four planes came into the airport, and one left.... so apparently, local pilots know it's there and take advantage of both the runway and the diner. (Just where are they all going?)

The diner's specialty is their burgers, so my husband ordered one of those, and I had two side-dishes of homemade vegetable casseroles, along with a slice of their cornbread. Good food, a fun atmosphere, and you can't beat that music. It would be nice to go back for lunch in the warmer weather because they have a huge outdoor screened-in room which overlooks the pond and the runway.

When we got home, my husband happened to turn on the TV and the show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" was on..... and they were showcasing "hamburger joints" around the country. Of course, looking at all those hamburgers can make you hungry for one....... unless you don't like to eat meat. But today at lunchtime, when my husband asked what we had for lunch, I wanted to try making a really good hamburger plate using the vegetable burgers that we get at the supermarket.

So that's what I did-- and tried to make it as delicious as possible. Into a cast-iron pan went some sliced onions, and I cooked those up till they were browned and sweet... then after the frozen veggie-burgers came out of the microwave, I browned those up with the cooked onion... then steamed some of the French bread from the Brazos Belle restaurant... then melted swiss cheese on top of the bread before adding the burger and the cooked onions. I wrapped the whole thing, bread and all, in a large lettuce leaf to make it easier to handle..... and I have to say that it was delicious. It wasn't as good as a real beef hamburger is, but it's as good as I need to have without giving in and eating red meat.

And the rain continues.... perfect day to take down some of the Christmas decorations, which I started this morning. The little table-top trees are now all lined up on a long shelf in the huge walk-in closet off of the TV room.... didn't take the ornaments off them, just lined them up on the shelf. Tomorrow, I will put away the Santas...... then the angels..... then all the holiday china and Santa mugs. Christmas will be going back into the storage closet the same way it all came out-- a little bit at a time. Jingle bells.....