What's with this blog?

I usually garden in my blog. I mean, it is a means of recording what is going on in my garden, what is blooming, what I am planting., etc. etc,. etc.

But I am not in my garden right now. It is so hot.....

I know, terrible excuse.

BUT.....

It is and has been over 100 degrees every day for weeks. Heat indices are 108-110 average and this is by 9:30. By 8:00am, it is like a blast furnace, with no breeze. Stifling...

On top of that, we are in the worst area for drought in the country. My yard is green, because I am watering, but if we start rationing, it could be different. I am just trying to keep things alive at this point.

Things are about to get better though. I am soon to be in the garden again- wait! make that the greenhouse. I am going to start seeds in pots for the vegetable garden; tomatoes and peppers mostly, but maybe a few other things too. It will be a great leap of faith, but I know we will get rain soon.

And I am going to sow my seeds of poppy, larkspur, calendula, viola, and snapdragons. Even if I have to water, cooler weather will help a lot.

Looking forward to cooler weather!

Better run through the jungle....

While in Wimberly, we shopped. Of course...with my sisters, Aunt, cousin, and SIL, who are ALL Shoppers of the First Magnitude......, that is always on the agenda! They hold "Show and Tell" at the end of each shopping day, and they are very proficient at shopping for anything and everything!

I am not one to just shop; I need a reason, or a desire to own something, and many categories of "shopping stuff" just are not interesting to me. Instead, I wander around while they are shopping. I love to watch people; people are most interesting.

Every once in a while, I find something so unexpected that I am just tickled, and I want to record it. So it is with what I am calling "the jungle of Wimberly, Texas".

I just kind of walked up on these critters. I found them by accident, for I sure wasn't expecting this! I was so surprised......What fun!

The Battle of the Big Cats

Sabre-toothed Tiger

It is not a large space. Maybe 30' x 50', and tucked in behind the street front buildings. I am surprised I found it.

Would these be crocodiles or alligators?

These prehistoric fantastic animals are made of wood and metal. I asked about who made them, and was told that a rather elderly gentleman makes them, but that these are probably the last he will make, as he is now ill. What a shame.

When you look at these animals, (at least it applies to me), you can see movement in them. They are just amazing, and so fun to look at.

Famous Texas Jackalopes

Our Texas State flag provides the background for the giraffe and the mastodon. Who would think of the two of them together in the same setting?

These last two pictures include a trellis of rough wood, bark on, that provides support for a

Lady Banks rose. I do love this trellis. The rose is appropriate for this setting, as it is a

thornless rose. It is a shame that it blooms only in early spring.

Click on any picture to enlarge.

Enjoy!

Here then there...

Texas Hill Country, from the deck...
I spent so much time on the road this spring, but it was so much fun!

After the trip to Marshall, my sisters, Aunt, and cousin took our annual "girls get-away'. This year it was Wimberly, Texas. I want to go back to Wimberly!

We rented a house that sits on top of a hill, on 12 acres, so it is pretty much away from it all.

The house was beautiful, fully furnished, and easy to find. It came equipped with everything from a blender to a hot tub! We loved it!

Wimberly in in the Texas Hill Country, and it is quite rugged, by our standards. Lots of rocks, (and our landowners gave us permission to bring some home with us, so I did), lots of cedar trees. Lots of hills. Lots of wildlife. Not so many people

I was amazed, astonished by the native plants! So many of the plants we buy in the nurseries today grow wild in the Texas Hill country, and that is where Dr. Jerry Parsons, Greg Grant, and so many others started the work on putting them on the market. AND we are thankful that they did! This is where many of our Texas SuperStars came from!

I saw esperanza, hairy wedelia, salvia- so many salvias- agave, rock rose, agarita, Texas sage; ALL growing wild! My sisters were starting to worry about me, because I was just delirious- thrilled no end!

This the front of the house. Landscaping is easy in the Hill Country...

This blue agave was growing by the front entrance. The landowners let us dig pups from this plant. It was more than 6 feet tall, and very beautiful

We had visitors. I was on the phone on Friday evening, when Cousin started hollering about the 'varmit' -lemming was the only name she could think of, and we knew lemmings don't live here. We couldn't see it at first, and it was just standing there, looking at us.

A Grey Fox. He was very pretty, and very savvy. He stood there for the longest time, then finally went back and laid on a big rock about 50' away.

I finally figured out that people feed

him from this deck, so I got some ham slices

from the fridge and threw them down.

He was there like a shot to get them .

The first he ate immediately, the second

he took somewhere. He came back a little later for the third.

This last picture says it all about wildlife here. The stockade is not to keep livestock in. This is the landowner's vegetable garden!

Capitalism at it's best!

On our way home from Marshall, we found a marvelous example of the capitalistic spirit that built our country. Birdhouse Sellers!

On the side of the road was a place where they had birdhouses on tables out by the road. Each birdhouse was priced, and we were directed to put the money for payment into a box attached to the fence.

The sellers had faith that you would not run off with the birdhouses, I think or maybe they knew what we all know. A sign asked that we not steal the birdhouses, and warned that "Jesus is watching!" Don't I know it!

Security was taken care of by these most capable fellas. Both did their jobs well, woofing for awhile, then retreating to the shade to watch us silently.

Sonja did buy a nice big birdhouse, and it was only $20.00. Having been on the building end of many birdhouses, I thought that was a very good price.

I'm here.......

.....and I have not been having too good a time to post. It just seemed like I couldn't get here from where I was.

When we went to Marshall back when it was cool, we saw a lot of interesting things on the way up and and on the way back.

Going up, we traveled Highway 59, which goes from the southern most parts of Texas all the way North to Texarkana, and from there I know not where it goes, but I am sure it does go on....

We stopped at "Ralph and Kacoos" resturant in Lufkin, Texas. It is a really nice place, and if you get the chance, I would urge you to try it! I want to go back!

(Check it out.. http://www.ralphandkacoos.com/locations/lufkin)

Anyway, we somehow missed our Hwy 59 when we left there and traveled on Hwy 69 for many miles before we realized it! We wound up at Hearn, Texas and cut across the countryside to get back to our origional route. On this roundabout route, we saw a lot of stuff that we were meant to see, I do believe.

BWI, wholesale supplier of garden supplies has a big operation there, and the country is covered with greenhouses! We drove for miles looking at greenhouses on either side of the road! This excited and interested us, I guarantee that!

When we approached Tatum, Texas, (which sets in the intersection of 4 Texas counties) we whizzed by this:

We were so excited we had to turn around to get a better look! It was absolutely amazing, and a little bitty man was running the whole thing!

It was just off the side of the road. We stayed and watched it work for the longest time. It amazes me at the things that amuse us.