Outside Angle

We all seem to have a place we like to hang out.  Ours is The Porch.  Our porch even has a name.

It's The Outside Angle~on the porch of indecision.

Up at the old house, when the granddaughters came to visit, they liked to play 'restaurant'.  One time, two of them decided the name of the restaurant was 'The Outside Angle'. 

Now, the Porch of Indecision part comes from a trip last summer to Las Vegas.  Mr. P and I are big Jimmy Buffett fans, so we went on down to the local Margaritaville store.  Upstairs, there's  a deck bar they call the porch of indecision.  Seeing that we're always having trouble making decisions, we thought this was a perfect name for our porch.  But, no sign could be found. 

So, for Christmas, our daughter-in-law had this sign made for us.  It's perfect for our 'new' porch in Wimberley.  This porch is what sold this house to us.

As you can see, it's a comfortable place to be.  I have my rocking chair and Mr. P has his.  Plus, there is plenty of seating for visitors. 

The view is really nice.  This is from the living room door.

This is through the bedroom door.

Out across this way, is the cart path and the tenth tee box.

Out there is the Deer Grove, the Meadow behind our neighbor's house, and beyond that is the dry creek.

Our kids have always said that all we needed was a porch, with a bedroom and bathroom attached.  If we're home, you're likely to find us out here.

Luckily, there is plenty of room for plants...that protects them from our 'friendly' little deer friends.  I do believe, if it wasn't for the rail on this porch, these 'friends' would come right up and take a seat.  I know they'd find some tasty snacks.

Soon, there will be a fenced area to help with that.

So, if you're ever in the neighborhood, drop by and sit a spell.  We're bound to be out enjoying the

Outside Angle.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day September 2009

There isn't much to show on this bloom day.  Up until a few days ago, there had been almost no rain here at this house in two months.  There are always the old standbys....the pots on the porch, who get shade and extra attention.  Pots with blue plumbago...

a pretty, deep pink begonia....

a new bougainvillea...

and, some more periwinkle.

The Purpleheart has finally bloomed again.

And, we can always depend on the yellow Bulbine.

It must like being crowded into this pot.

Out in the yard, the Salvia 'Indigo Spires' is beginning to bloom again.

As is the yellow Lantana....

and the red Autumn sage, salvia greggii.

A week ago, this area was dry and pretty bare.  Then the rains came....

and, seemingly overnight, all these little sprouts showed up.

I think it's Horseherb, calyptocarpus vialis.  It's everywhere.

And, there are Rain Lilies, cooperia pedunculata....a big name for this delicate little flower.  They pop up out of nowhere, after a rain...thus the common name. 

So, that's it for this time.  Hopefully, more things will perk up.  We're having a bit of cooler weather and the rain we've had the last week has given things a new lease on life...that includes the gardener.

Time to get out there and work in the garden again.

If you'd like to see other Garden Bloggers Bloomday posts, head on over to May Dreams Garden.

The Sage in Bloom, Is Like Perfume

The Texas Sage, cenizo, has been putting on quite the show this week.

We finally have been getting some wonderful, glorious rain.

Some call this a barometer plant....it predicts rain, or will burst into bloom after a rain.  Strangely, the ones in our neighborhood have been blooming most of the summer.....the hot, very dry summer.  Not ours, though.  They only bloomed once, and it wasn't quite the show I expected.  I'm not sure why the others bloomed, without a hint of rain.

But, this week the rains came.  And, the sage bloomed.

This one is kind of scraggly.  It really needs to be pruned back quite a bit.  It's in the southwest bed, along the side of the house.  A bed in much need of work. 

The heat and my laziness this summer has kept me from doing much more than the watering chores.... just keeping things alive.

But, these sage bushes thrive on hot and dry.  And then, when they get some humidity and rain, they show their gratitude by giving us these wonderful blooms.

The rain weighed the limbs down....

And, scattered purple petals...making a colorful carpet over the ground.

We got several days of rain.  I'd like to tell you our total, but the batteries in the digital rain gauge went out the first day.  So, we can only guess the amount it missed.  What was recorded was about 5 inches.  And, there was more that didn't get recorded.

We were lucky to have just a steady, gentle rain.  Other parts of the area had some flash flooding.  That's Texas for you....drought and flood.

Of course, the drought isn't near over.  We'll need a lot more rain to get things back to where they need to be.  But, we're all happy to have the rains this week.  It made life much more liveable here.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

 

Hurray!!!

Yes!!!  That's RAIN on the driveway!

RAIN on the deck!

RAIN on the roof!

Two plus inches, and it's still coming down....ever so gently.

You can almost see the trees smiling.

Thank you....Thank you....Thank you.

Wordless Wednesday~~Pot Paradise~~