§ Come around thru the Gate to our Yard...

As I type this up for pre-scheduled posting, it's a dark and stormy day! Earlier, we had buckets of rainfall. The thunder is still rumbling in the distance, and the sky is black on the horizon. I was sure the power would be off any minute, but it never went off. Which was surprising. What is more surprising is the weatherman the night before -his forecast- was humid but dry [meaning no rain. Ha. I wish I would've continued my college education and majored in meteorology....90% of the time wrong, and still get paid a six figure income! [jk] Anyway, I am using my laptop in case the electricity goes out still, and will share my photos from the other day. A trip around the piece of property we call home....

...a little bit of our back yard:

Top left to bottom right:  1-cement bird bath I use for bird seed [the water pump is real, but only for decoration]  2-off the patio, the feeder station 3-my pelican island [and ducks] with crepe myrtle and indoor palm.  4-our pomegranate tree

Both front and back are full  of blooms:

Top left to right: 1-Ixora and Don Juan Climbing rose 2-Rose and hot pink crepe myrtle 3-lavender crepe myrtle and orange/yellow lantana 4-duranta [purple cluster] and yellow and pink lantana 5-my prized hybrid variegated hibiscus and close-up  6-pink crepe myrtle.

One of several wind chimes and a small sparrow sized bird  house

§ How Cold is It?

Okay, on Wednesday this week, I checked weather bug app and we were sitting in a warm tropical zone compared to where my sister lives in Colorado and where our daughter lives in Missouri. Why, even the Sonoran Desert [where we lived for a decade after retiring]; in Tucson....they got snow!!!! But, shiver me timbers, it was bone chillin' cold on the western slope of the Rockies. MINUS nine with the windchill MINUS TWENTY-TWO!!!! I'd be movin' out. There's a reason the app shows an igloo graphic!!! lol Here in Corpus, it's been damp and cold too [mid 40s to high 30s at night], but nothing I would compare to the rest of the country. So, I thought a lot around the US of A is blizzardy, why not show off our green back yard?

[except for the epiphylum in the series - it's indoors, but goes outdoors when temp reaches 50 again]

lantana and Christmas cactus


rose and geranimum



juniper and Christmas cactus bud

turtle wind chime and a new yellow blooming epiphylum shoot I planted in the potting soil just a few weeks ago.  A woman that lives near a park offered me a cutting and I gladly accepted...it is getting a shoot on top.

Here are pictures of HER plant!  She has two...and both are humongous...they are planted at the base of two  [est. 30 ft.] mesquite trees...and outdoors in the ground year 'round.

§ Mishmash...

Old wooden window panes on a house built in the late 1800s early 1900s and a rusted, twisted windchime that has seen better days...





When I have camera in hand and it's on and the battery is primed and readied...it's not always birds I focus on. Especially when it's a quiet day for bird sightings---

These two collages are of wildflowers, roses, holly, water lily, ships, alligators, farley boats that are found all over the village, Port Aransas, Texas, wasps' nests, holly growing wild, fungus and dragonflies on the radio antenna [and below, a couple of good fences]....

Of course most times, it's all about birding, and birds!! And sometimes spotting a feather floating on the water's surface now and then. While other times the word 'birdwatching' is a completely different concept. A bird watching me...

Finding an old weathered fence is always good, it's good luck at times to find some wildlife and bright red flora adding a bit of charm to an otherwise plain barbed wire fence giving the barbs  a dash of color...

§ Sisters, Springtime and Hummers...

Wild Bird Wednesday photo this week:

Note: I also painted this very same hummer, and framed it. SHOWN HERE

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Joyce has these questions for us to answer this week:

1. March 20th is the first day of spring...is she a lion or a lamb in your part of the world? It's lambing season here!!! In other words...We've had unbelievably warm temperatures. More like early Summer temperatures. The high's are in the mid to upper 80s [Fahrenheit], just a bit of humidity, cloudy in the morning and then the blanket of grayness thins out and the sky opens up to a deep blue with puffy cotton ball clouds drifting all too quickly to the northeast. I was talking to our son the other day and he told me they're getting rains [Houston]...from OUR drifting clouds. Figures.

2. What's the most dreaded task on your spring clean to-do list? Do you have a 'plan of attack'? Trimming. Most everything in our yard has thorns. Nasty, sometimes well-hidden thorns. That's the only reason the task is a dreaded task. Otherwise, I LOVE working in the yard, I love cleaning and gutting out the interior of the house...it's just a Spring ritual. I know I can ignore it all, but the idea of having a clean house/yard moves me to motion. As for 'plan of attack' ... it's the quicker I get it done [I should say "WE" 'cause Bud does his fair share of work], the quicker we have leisure time to go places and do things for pleasure.

3. Peas...love 'em or hate 'em? What's a favorite dish you make using peas? I really like peas. Fresh picked from the garden, right out of the pod...frozen, or even canned. Actually to be honest, I like the canned best. And pea salad is delicious. REAL mayonnaise, chopped onion, cubed cheddar cheese a dash of ground black pepper and a great side dish evolves. I also like snow peas in stir fry combos! Oh, and Split Pea Soup with Ham!! Yum. I drool.

photo courtesy of Google Search

4. Do you feel under appreciated? At my age, no. I don't linger on that emotion at all. Why bother? I know I'm doing my best, that is what counts.

5. Have you been using Google Reader? If so, what are you switching to now that GR has announced retirement? If not, how do you read your favorite blogs? I posted about this the other day just recently. I use Firefox as my default Browser, so I got the add-on extension, Feedly, and I actually like it better than Google Reader. At least for now.

6. Anne Bradstreet is credited with the following quote~ "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." Agree or Disagree? Why? I'm one who likes a change of seasons, but for the most part we don't have a heavy winter here. We do have trees that turn the golden autumn colors [later than most of the country] and we do have more or less a dormant season, but it's short lived and Spring comes in with vigor. But you ask if I agree or disagree...well, I think of Hawai'i where the mean temp is around 70 year long. All I know is, I love the islands, and I could live with that. Yes, Spring is a pleasant re-awakening of Earth, but do I need winter to enjoy Spring more? I don't think so.

7. When did you last 'spring for something'? What was it? Normally, I don't 'do' ice cream. But, when I do it's always the Texas Brand...Blue Bell. It's the most creamy, most tasty, most delicious ice cream I've ever consumed. In fact, years ago, when I first had some, I was totally hooked on it. When we lived in Tucson, Bud had some of my favorite flavor shipped to me for a special occasion. And I savored every spoonful. Trust me. Even down here in its 'native land', it's on the costly side. $6 plus for just a half gallon!!! In comparing to $3.50 for a gallon of gasoline for the car, gas is cheap!! LOL But, in my mind, it's worth every cent. So, the other day, while outdoors in the extreme heat of the day [too early for such hot temps], I said "I'd need some ice cream!" Naturally, we showered and went to the store in hopes they had some of my kind in the freezer department at the store...Bud found his favorite flavor Chocolate Chip Mint, and I was lucky enough to find mine also....

photo courtesy of Google Search

...the content is so full of HUGE pieces of Black Walnuts, in each spoonful you taste the sweetness of maple flavored ice cream with literally dozens of walnuts. They don't skimp on the nuts. Of which I am really, really grateful. Oh and if you're ever in the Hill Country of Texas, take a side trip to Brenham, Texas. That's where this heavenly concoction is produced. Tours are daily, except for holidays....well worth it. Oh and you get a free tasting on the tour. LOL

8. Insert your own random thought here? Another Sister's Day annual celebration came and went on the 18th. First thing in the morning, I opened the parcel that was on our doorstep. From Sharon, my sister. She knows me all too well.

This year her little gift to me was a beautiful windchime. With a Ruby Throated Hummingbird clapper. Now, this was new to me, I did not know you could register a windchime...but yes, this one can be registered. And for being such a beauty that it is, I hung it indoors by the vent....so when the A/C is on, it will tinkle delightfully for me and remind me of my big sister!!! [I don't want it outdoors because of the strong winds we get so very often...no breakage for this special chimer!!] We call each other and are on the phone as we open each other's gifts that were shipped, squeal and giggle with delight...then, continue to chit chat a while. And at 8 PM [in time zone sync, we use our special fluted champagne glasses and go outdoors no matter the weather...and salute sisterhood; facing each other [I raise my glass of champagne to the northwest] "Here's to Sisters"!!! If you're curious as to what I shipped her...a crystal pair of bunny rabbit candle holders, some special tea blend, imported chocolates, and a coral bead necklace from India that I found at World Market. [she left all her jewelry behind in a motel this past Christmas and some of her necklace collection needs replacing ...lol]

§ the answer is blowing in the wind...

[very old] SHADOWED WIND CHIME - Backyard corner under pyracantha bush. When the sea breezes blow [which is almost a constant this far south, and so near the gulf....], I never tire of hearing its musical tones.






CONNECTING TO:





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SUNDAY'S SUMMARY

If you've been visiting here this past week, you know that I've done not much at all throughout the week. Just a bit of yard work on Monday [then, half finished, it rained so that put the hipper dipper to anything getting completed 'cause everything was too wet to work with 'til Thursday...we then finished the two yards]. I've been reading, and quickly finished the book: Hitler's Last Secretary written in memoir style by Ms. Junge who was one of Adolf Hitler's secretaries during the Russian/American Invasions during WWII. I am not one to read non-fiction [when I see a book and thumb to the last section and find an index in the back of the book, a light bulb immediately goes off telling me it's boring!! lol]. So novels are my preference. But, for the most part, after seeing the movie in German, The Downfall, I was very interested in finding the book she had published about her days in the bunker with the "Fuehrer". I highly recommend the book. On the 4th, I stopped at Wal Mart after our short birding expedition [short, because of the extreme heat index], and bought some new throw rugs for the kitchen and master bathroom. Also, been working on the Norwegian genealogy for my brother in law and I'm learning a lot of family cultures. Not only HIS family but how a 'law' back long ago was in effect on naming families' children. Which makes it most confusing for a genealogist who has nothing to go on in the beginning. Did you know that if a couple had a son, they were to name him for his father...the father's first name and add 'sen' to the end of it? And if they had a daughter....they had to name her for the father again and add datter on the end. For instance, if the father was named Lars, the daughter would be then named Mari Larsdatter...Larsdatter was her SURNAME for life; even after marriage. Oh boy, talk about a gazillion Larsdatters in research!!! Whoa, and who's to know which Mari Larsdatter is relation? Same with the boy child...for example, birth, naming....father's name with sen behind it... etc, etc, etc. Thankfully in the late 20th century, the country changed the law and allows them to name their children Bob, Henry, Jake...so on and so forth. Interesting bit of culture, but not good for those who are doing research online and can't speak the language well. Let's see, that about sums up my week. It's been a quiet week. Too quiet. I didn't even cook anything for a 3 course meal...we just made sandwiches and ate chips and veggies for the most part... I don't like just sitting around idly like that for long....I start gettin' antsy. Coming back to the book, Hitler's Last Secretary, I still for the life of me can't see the infatuation of the man....so many women flocked to him...what was it?

Oh, I wanted to share this with y'all. Irene, our daughter, shared this with me. Now what surprised the heck out of me...she is NO DOMESTIC Goddess to be sure. And here she comes up with posting this!!?!!! I can't get over it for the fact that she actually earmarked something of this nature. But, I loved the idea after I picked myself up off the floor from shock:

§ Dedication to mom....

[click HERE to join]


THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO MY MOTHER
...SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN 100 TODAY!!...
she passed away at 79.


Long ago, just after we relocated here in Texas from Arizona, I took a jaunt to one of the plant nurseries here in town. I was taken aback at all the 'cool' yard things they had besides just plants and flowers and trees. Yes, I tend to buy things not needed. I guess that's the American Way [insert wink here]. Well, around the yard fixtures area of the nursery, among the bird baths and yard statues...just above it all, they had wind chimes. There happened to be an air vent blowing at a good clip and the sounds reverberating was a little overwhelming. At first. Then, I spied this creature. Not only were the bamboo 'chimes' making a muted sound, but the bird was bobbing up and down and all around...twisting, turning, ---yep a bobble head heron. I said, "Why not? This'll make Bud shake his head in disbelief that I'd buy such a creature?" He of course thought it was a waste of money. Oh, I'm sure it is...but it's still fun to watch. It hangs from the ceiling right near the air vent. And the strings are long enough that the continual tinkle isn't annoying. But he'll dance for us. [I do apologize for the quality of the photos....from cellphone]



CAMERA CRITTERS






WEEKEND FUNNIES


Speaking of shopping---


I wanted to buy a candle holder, but the store didn't have one. So, I bought a cake.

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I put a new pair of underwear on, I feel like a million bucks. I buy the Jockey ones because they're 100% cotton. You can breathe. You don't buy those Victoria's Secret things. Those things ought to come with a tube of Monistat™.

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They sell book lights now, a little spotlight you attach to your book. You know, I actually thought about buying one of these, and then Bud reminded me; I own a lamp.

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Then, think ---shopping can make one hungry:

"7 days without pizza makes one weak."

...and as you drive around the freeways from one shopping area to the next:

"Keep your eyes on the road and stop reading those billboard signs."