Putting our fears that Tater Tot might be allergic to lavender, we packed up and headed to Blanco for Father's Day... and the Blanco Lavender Festival. There we met up with The Godfather and his lovely wife, Godmother, at Texas Lavender Hills Farm, which was profiled recently in Martha Stewart Living (oooh... ahhh). It was beautiful in that rugged, Central-Texas-in-Summer way. The farm's lavender is planted in concentric circles around a hill, up which the farm provided off-road transport vehicles. At the base of the hill, not visible from the road, there's a cluster of trees and market selling artful, high-end home & garden stuff, cool t-shirts and aromatic goodies made on site. For the festival, there was all manner of lavender-infused food (I liked the lemonade), chair massages and kiddie activities. Godmother and Tater Tot rocked some unusually squishy lavender-scented purple play dough (with sparkles... oooh, ahhh!).
Later, we picnicked at Blanco State Park...encountered a goose with striking markings...and headed into the town square for the market. Pickings were good...local food and wine...nice artwork...great plants...and with the heat index topping 100, plenty o' sweat. We grabbed more lemonade and headed home. (No allergic reaction, either!)
Now if I can find that play dough recipe... someone said something about jello as a key ingredient?
Explore More:
• Read this Austin American Statesman article about Jeannie Ralston's Blanco lavender farm-themed bestseller: "Jeannie Ralston's Memoir Recalls Days on Blanco Lavender Farm" (12 June 2008). She's since moved to San Miguel d'Allende, Mexico. Sigh. I so wanna go there...
