Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Last post was getting stinky....

Well, the truth is that I was gone for many of the days since my last post.

I am having a terrible problem with my new computer. It has Vista on it, and I really do like it, but I get confused by it at the same time. I have 2 digital cameras, both Kodak EasyShares, and I have not been able to transfer my pictures from either camera to the computer. I have loaded the software in the computer, but I have been told that my 6.0 software may not be compatible with Vista, so I am going to check that out this afternoon. I have AT LEAST 200 great pictures to share!

We went to Marshall, Texas, way up in East Texas. East Texas is a place in Texas. I don't know if it is the same in other states, but here we are very regional. East Texas, West Texas, The Panhandle, The Valley, Down on the Coast, Central Texas.....

So, we went to East Texas, and had a great time. You would not believe how beautifully green it is there! Just every shade of green you can imagine! They didn't seem to have the wildflowers we have further South, but I am wondering if the ground is too cool still. They still have gorgeous pansy beds there.

We went to a fantastic plant nursery there. I think the name of it was Coopers, and it was close to Marshall Pottery- which we visited also. Marshall Pottery has been making pots for over 100 years, and I bought my share on this trip. Nice big azalea pots, but not plain at all. Bee-UTE- full! Anyway, this plant nursery had a bougainvillia 'tree' in the middle of one of their greenhouses! I was impressed.

I was also impressed (although not favorable) with the landscape maintenance people at the Golden Corral in Marshall, Texas. They had many motor-driven tools. Hedge clippers, weed whackers, etc., etc. They whacked everything, right before our eyes. They used their tools to chop one lovely Japanese maple into a boxwood square shape, and another into a tight mushroom shape. I was apopletic! Complaining bitterly to whoever would listen, and snapping pics as fast as I could. I had never seen as many Japanese maples in one place as East Texas, and they were selling small ones for $250.00 EACH. The ones that were butchered were NOT little.

I have written a letter to the owner/manager of the GC. For what it's worth, just so they know.....

I am going to work on my cameras.....
I want you to see these pictures.....

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Derned Skunk!

So... I walked Bobby out to his truck this morning, and I wandered through my garden before coming back into the house. This is always a favorite time for me in the garden. Imagine my horror at being met by a skunk! He (the skunk) was just outside of the border, on the grass between the flowerbed and the street. Bobby had already gone to work.....Grrr...lol

So, I called the Sheriff, and a Deputy came out to dispatch the skunk. I will never get used to seeing the Sheriff in a pick-up truck, but it was a good thing he had the truck. He shot the skunk with a big gun that was LOUD and deadly.

The skunk was 'acting funny'. He/she would be real still, and I thought it was a small skunk at first. But then he unfurled himself, and he was big! That thing had a tail about 2' long, at least!

The deputy shot it, then rode around about 15 minutes to let everything calm down before he came back and picked it up. It was good he had the truck, as it could have been difficult to carry the stinky skunk in the trunk of a car. He took it away to Animal Control, to let them do whatever they have to do with it.

I am not for the sensless killing of animals, but here in Texas, the skunk is a prime carrier of rabies, along with coyotes. I am not going to mess with a skunk that is not acting normally.

Bobby is going to have to get our hot wire back up, as dogs have been running amuck lately, and now we have a skunk! He needs to get that done today! lol

That kind of put me off my schedule for this morning. I have planned to plant zinnia and cosmos in the area where the skunk was last, and I have several amaryllis that I wanted to put in the ground in that area too. Maybe I can work in the vegetable garden...

I do have some young cardoon plants to transplant out there. That might be a good job for me this morning......