Another Hot Day

Yeah, it's about 107 degrees fahrenheit here.

That means it's really, really hot. We're not quite as dry as Phoenix, so the heat is a wee bit more intense here. We're coping by pretending not to notice the heat. Going about daily business the same as usual, but finding we're exhausted before bedtime.

These are some photos taken around the house the past few days. I'm very excited about our lime tree. Although, this is the only lime that's done any growing.

This wild sunflower just took off growing next to the driveway - it looks like there'll be some others as well. It's about 5 feet tall now.

I was watering the garden last night and just happened to see how beautiful all the flowers looked with the setting sun and the water together. I do love my roses.

We opted to grow our tomatoes upside down this year. So far, so good. They're just a little too far from the house to get enough water though.

And it's baby time! It's time for the babies to go to some new homes. If you're in the DFW area, and would like a female kitten, let us know. We'll probably keep one and adopt out the other two. See more pictures of them at: Andi-Tim's Smug.

This morning Hutson and I were using technology to giggle together - and these are a couple of photos of the two of us talking on Skype. You can see me in the lower left corners taking the photos. Such fun! And what a great way to stay in communication!

My (new) famous handmade, gluten-free peach pie. Never taken a photo of a pie before. Not easy to make it look good - hence it doesn't look like pie from a magazine. Took a lot of shots that I threw away (thanks goodness for digital!).

Today, what are you doing that you've never done before?

Walking the dogs

Today I took the dogs for a walk on the 26. Abner decided to join us. He's 14 years old now, eyes full of cataracts and we think he's almost completely deaf (every once in a while he seems to hear us, which is why I say "almost" deaf).

Abner's been looking pretty mangy lately though. His hair has just gotten way too long. I didn't want to clip him while he had the cone on his head - just thought it would make him crazy. This is his 'before' shot:

And, this is his 'after' shot. I always think the clipping makes him look younger. I do the clipping myself with a scissors - although I should be using the clippers. When his hair is particularly snarly, the scissors work much better. Needless to say, I'd let his trimming go and his hair was very bad.

This is Sherman out walking in the fields on the 26. He's such a happy dog. (And a BIG dog - he's weighing a bit over a hundred pounds now. When he stands on his hind legs he's about 5.5 feet tall!)

This is Humphrey with Sherman in the far background - our two Great Pyr's. Humphrey is not too happy (but doesn't he look like he's smiling in this photo?). I've put him back into training. So he's got to be on the leash now whenever he's outside. He had gotten very righteous about what commands he will and will not obey - and in the meantime, gotten very skinny and is irritating his skin by scraping it under the barbed-wire fences and by not eating well. In addition, he'd started roughing up the cats when they came near the house - and keeping his brother, Sherman, away from the house when it was time to eat (not good because then Sherman would get hungry and go eat the neighbors carefully tended goose and duck eggs). So, it's back to the leash we go until he's better behaved.

It's dragonfly time again! I have several more excellent dragonfly shots in the gallery on smugmug that I uploaded from my photos today. You can see the other shots at: www.andi-tim.smugmug.com/Flowers/809938.

These boots are made for walkin'... these are my Fatbaby boots. A must-have for the spring ranch dudette fashion season. Can't walk amongst all the flowers and weeds and muddy ground without them. Must empty them out upon returning to the house as well (or I won't know what to expect to find in them the next day. Okay - that's true whether I empty them or not!)

Our property borders the Corps of Army Engineers' property. This is their fence - I always have found it funny that the sign says "no hunting" - and is full of holes from a BB gun (and not one of ours!).

Enjoy Father's Day tomorrow!

Death in the Garden

Happy Friday!

Every day I examine the garden for new blooms, new growth, and new weeds or anything else obnoxious that's suddenly found it's way into the garden.

Today, I noticed how regularly things die in the garden. I mean, that's totally obvious, but I don't notice it that much - there's just so much else growing, so unless it's my prized ___ (whatever), I don't see it.

But there it is - death in the garden. And, normally, I don't like to look at the dead things in the garden. I don't like seeing the yellowed or dried leaves. I like them when they are at their lushest.




But today, I said to myself - look for what you don't normally see in the garden. And what I saw was how much death is there. And how something, when looked at with fresh eyes, can seem quite beautiful - dried or yellowed leaves not withstanding.

Funny, I was thinking that not all of it is a "natural" death - that some of the death may be because I did something "unnatural" to the plant (overwatered it or put something on it that it didn't like) - but really, even the "unnatural" deaths are still natural.




I like looking at all of the garden. Including all the cycles each of the members of my garden community may be in.

But isn't it interesting that when we look at the photo below, all that's present is all the life?

Wildflower Fields

Tim and I took the dogs over the our 26 acres this morning for a run. Yes. We did take the golf cart (and didn't walk). However - I have a really good excuse for doing that - Tim has hurt his knee and it's very swollen. So he can't do the walk right now. See - that's makes taking the cart completely okay, right?

Second thing is that cart is electric - so it's sorta green, right? But truth be told, we really have fun taking the cart. It's a bit like four-wheeling. Tim takes the corners hard and makes sure to hit all the rocks and potholes. I'm not sure the dogs like their leashes hooked to it when we're driving like maniacs, but oh well.

Yesterday I'd mentioned on FB how much I enjoyed walking the dogs through the field on our property. The fields are covered in wildflowers right now. The flowers are all manner of colors, sizes, textures and bouquets. Gorgeous.

I've posted a mini-album of all the wildflowers at: http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/8543638_kA6kM/1/562617415_Lyrwk#P-1-12. It takes a long time to upload photos to the blog, so I'll be posting most of them now at smugmug.

This is the handcrafted fence Tim is building on the 26 acres. It's really cool.

Because of the heat already here in North Texas, I'll be doing most of my outside activities in the morning - the light's better then anway.

No matter what your weather, get outside today!

Wasps and Men

Well, my daughter Teddi (http://teddiandjerryclayton.blogspot.com/) shamed me into posting today. “It’s been a week” she said. And I thought...well, it doesn’t matter what I thought.

Anyway, as I was pulling weeds in my garden today, I realized that golf isn’t the best metaphor for life or for growth and development. Despite all the books on that topic. Of course, my golfer friends probably wouldn’t agree with me. I think gardening is the best metaphor. It occurred to me today, while on my knees in the heat of the north Texas sun, and my arms stretched out to reach those pesky weeds that are right in the middle of the garden, that gardening is an act of community.

We aren’t out there by or for ourselves. The diversity in the garden (or at least in mine) is staggering. Because it isn’t just the flora, it’s also the fauna in the garden. So, gardening is about my relationship to ‘other’ (whatever ‘other’ may be). And all the ways I relate to ‘other’, and what I think about myself and who I am. (And getting laid-off from one’s job gives lots more room in one’s head for musings such as these).

I notice that I’m angry about the yellow leaf disease my roses just keep getting no matter what I do. And, I’m a little afraid to pick some of the weeds - what if they’re flowers and I’m just not recognizing them?...I’ve got to pay attention while I’m doing anything in the garden so I don’t get bit by something I didn’t see,

like a spider, a wasp, a red ant or even stung by a scorpion,

or poked by a plant with poking apparatus. And, each plant, each section of the garden needs something different. While they all need weeding, and most need their regular hair trims, some also need more talking to and more love than the others. Some need to have no debris at the base, while others thrive with the mess under them. Some need 6 hours of sun and others only want 2-3 hours. Which is just exactly like any community. So, while gardening, I got to examine my relationship to community - each aspect of it. Where I want to quit and where I want to play and where it occurs like hard work and which parts I’ll neglect...And, getting present to my love for nurturing community...

Which brings me to wasps and men. Well, not really, but I’m gonna segue anyway. Today, I realized that both are attracted to provocative clothing. Of course, provocative means different things to different creatures - but it is provocative nonetheless.

For wasps, the provocative clothing seems to be this brightly colored visor. I was constantly swatting away the unwanted attention of the giant yellow-jacket wasps when I was wearing it.

After an annoying amount of attention (although flattering at first, it does get old), I changed hats. This was my second pick. Absolutely not one wasp came near me after the switch. I’ve noticed this same behavior with men....

On another note, the kittens are getting so cute! They’re 5 weeks old now.

And finally, some gratuitous shots of two of the grandkids and their Grimpa Tim.

Black Widow Spiders

Yep - first time I've seen her in my garden. Although I think I have the wasps that like to eat them. I have to say it...isn't she beautiful? I never thought I'd think BW Spiders were beautiful. Even when nature is at her most scary, I think she makes things gorgeous to look at.


I didn't see her eating anything...but I did see a beetle carrying away a dead bee. And - the other day we saw a very rare Texas Large Centipede - 27 sets of legs. Black with orange legs. They are agressive and nasty looking. Took some photos, but must have accidentally erased the ones of the centipede (probably Freudian). The centipedewas up on the deck and the dog was cautiously chasing it around. Apparently though, the bite is kinda painful (for dogs and humans). I didn't like it up on the deck. Good news was that we've been here for 3 years and that's the first time I've seen one around the house.

We're a bit concerned about our Tarantula spiders. We haven't seen any this year. They usually come out to mate sooner than this. We never see them for very long, but they are so elegant.

Saw this guy on my berry bushes this morning,

Trying to catch the inside of his wings, but the breeze shook branch and then he flew away. Interesting coloring. Probably a moth rather than a butterfly.

These flowers are new to our garden. The are green echinacea cone flowers. Pretty, eh? Don't see green flowers often.

These wasp catchers are fabulous! These came from Gardener Supply (http://www.gardeners.com/). My daughter also got some that are a little smaller from Kohls. I put a little bit of lemonade in the bottom of them. We broke the matching stopper, so what you see on top is a rock. Once the wasps get in (attracted by the lemonade), they can't figure out how to get back out. For the next round, I'm just going to put in some hummingbird food. I have some made up in the fridge, and given how many wasps are sitting on my hummingbird feeders right now, I figure they'll go for that food just as well as the lemonade.

Have a great day!