§ Country Roads....

I mentioned our drive through the farm land recently. This is some of the scenery from the car's interior. All the green in the fields is Sorghum.   Originally the crop was used for flour and human use.  But, now-a-days it's mainly a crop for livestock feed...

Just a couple of weeks ago, the sorghum fields had little but sprouts popping out of the ground. Now, it's about two feet high already. In about another month, these that are now becoming close to mature, they will be harvested and a 2nd crop will come...

We left home early in the morning. The traffic was nearly non-existent, which I really liked. I could enjoy the scenery without having to do the 70MPH speed limit and watch for other vehicles. Eerie in a way, but oh so nice to see the country side in a whole new perspective. But once off the main county road, and onto farm to market roads, the vehicles are always few and far between...

A farmer was working another section of land. I'm sure they do a certain amount of acreage, before moving onto another area so they can keep up with the harvesting; not coming all at once within the season. In another area, another farmer was spraying the land, I didn't get a photo of that tho, I wanted to make sure my car windows were closed...

As Ella and I drove along the back roads, at a very far distance I spotted large, dark, "mounds" out in the crops! What were they? I slowed down to a stop and looked through the camera lens...Javelinas! [ha, vah, LEEN, ahs] Wild animals of the pig family I believe...

At the end of one gravel road, the only way out is to make a u-turn and head back the way we had come. It is a dead end, with chaparral on either side. Wildlife is seen here quite often. One year, during the flooding, the fields were full of standing water, creating ponds for waterfowl...that year, a rare flock of Hudsonian Godwits arrived and stayed around a few days! But on this day, the meadowlarks were singing and doves cooing their melancholy songs.

As I started backing up to get heading for the return trip, I noticed a couple of white tailed deer on the posted land. I got out and took some photos. There is an abundance of deer in South Texas. Early morning is the best time to spot them when they're most active. Not only a beautiful creature, but so quiet and trusting sometimes. Unless of course they're threatened. But these two stopped and watched me watch them. Their curiosity was evident as they eyed me with that big black lens...

§ Ella Phantz-Gerald on a day out....

She begged to go along with me!! I wasn't sure if it was wise for her to be out and about because of her long snout and the virus spreading thru the droplets of humans into the nasal cavities!! But, she convinced me being protected in the car, she was safe...We took a long drive on the ranch land the other day! We did some birding; Ella was elated to use her own set of binoculars for viewing. Bud stayed home...he didn't want to be caught with an elephant in the car if we were stopped for being out and about; just driving.  We weren't with anyone else, so we weren't going against the rules set by the Texas Governor.  The two of US figured it was best without Bud complaining anyway.  We saw not only hawks, kestrels, doves, red-winged blackbirds, sandpipers, killdeer, cardinals, not forgetting farmers working their land for crops, meadowlarks, shrikes and sparrows.  We spotted a couple of species I haven't seen in a few years, so that was exciting for me. A pair of Roadrunners ran across the gravel road in front of the car [by the time I realized they were roadrunners, they were in the barrow ditch and out of sight of the one with the camera]. And the elusive, ever-so-hard-to-find because of the camouflaged plumage...the Upland Sandpipers. We saw two in a newly plowed field before they flew off. By that time, Ella was getting bored and she climbed into the back seat and snoozed the rest of the way home.  Party-pooper!  The next day of staying at home, she helped us work a bit on the jigsaw puzzle we have set up.  I guess that was more her forté.

PS...don't forget to take a bit of fun with our national "Lock Up and Staying Inside"...play along with the Scavenger Hunt...the link to the hunt items to be found is at the top of my blog!!  Y'all have until the 15th of April before it's closed down.  We have a few participating, and they're doing a bang up job of it!!  Come see.

§ Hearts Galore ...Plus

I'm late in getting started for the day in blogging...If you have visited here in the past, you already know that I stop and take a picture of something I find that is heart shaped. Sometimes, I've been known to backtrack when it dawns on me that I missed one. My photos are usually something that is outdoors, as I walk trails, but...

...they could be something indoors too. For instance this one:

Did you find the heart? In any case, I also mentioned in the last blog post that I may begin to use props for new entries here at Hootin' Anni's. So, without further adieu, let me introduce the crowd pleasing, celebrated, Ella Phantz-Gerald. She's quite old as far as age goes, but she can be quite active. She's small for her species; only 4 feet in length, but she has a soft side! And every once in a while, you'll see her lurking at this location! Stay tuned.

Ps...the heart on Ella is at the tip of her trunk.