Welcome, 2018!...

~~Linda~~

Merry Christmas!...

~~Linda~~

Let It Snow!!....

It's been ten days ago, now.

But, something that very rarely happens in this area, happened.

IT SNOWED!!!

Enough to stick.

That was a Thursday night.

On Monday of that week, we hit 84 degrees.

Welcome to Texas weather.

It kept on snowing...

And, snowing...

Wet, heavy snow...

The next morning dawned bright and sunny.

The snow was already beginning to melt.

But, it was beautiful, while it lasted.

I worried about some things.

But, they came through ok.

They's no telling when we'll ever see this again.

It was SO fun!

When you live with Texas weather...

you just never know what you'll get.

Hope the weather's just the way you want it,

wherever you are.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Happy Thanksgiving....

Happy Thanksgiving...

Have  a safe and happy day.

~~Linda~~

Thank You, to All of Our Veterans...

Viet Nam Memorial

Washington D. C.

Happy Veteran's Day...

~~Linda~~

Mother Nature....

Whew!

Mother Nature's been pitching quite the

Hissy Fit, lately.

Fires in the West and Northwest.

Earthquakes in Mexico.

And, hurricane's....lots of hurricanes.

It's been years, since we were in Mexico City 

or San Juan, Puerto Rico.

But, just his last spring, we were in 

St. Thomas and Dominica.

We took back to back Caribbean cruises.

We went to St. Thomas on each cruise.

It's a fairly dry island.  There are no natural rivers, and it might not rain for months.

Ironically named, Water Island sits in the middle of the bay.  See the big cacti?

Magan's Bay

The island depends on desalinization of sea water,

which supports a bigger population, as well as the 

vital tourist industry.

More people means more buildings.  And, when hurricanes come, 

more things to damage.

Photos I've seen show major damage....and, almost no green left.

Trees completely stripped.

Very sad...

Dominica was on our second cruise...the one where Mr. P had the flu.

So, we didn't tour the island.

We did get off, and shopped right at the port.

Back on the ship, we could see quaint, colorful houses, along the water.

Colorful, but not very sturdy.

I'm thinking these houses are no longer standing.

Dominica took a direct hit from Category Five Maria.

There is massive destruction there.

We were told that it rains somewhere on the island, every day.

This was our view as we sailed away.

These islands depend on tourism for their living.

Let's hope they can get back up and running very soon.

I know they'll give it a great try...

just like here in the States...Texas, Louisiana and Florida.

The fire ravaged West.

And, people in Mexico.

We have hope...and, faith.

We've booked a cruise next fall, to go back to these islands

Mr. P missed.

It's time for Mother Nature to settle herself down.

Have a good, and safe weekend.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Stormy Weather...

We've had some stormy weather, here in Texas.

Brought to us by a guy named Harvey.

We had some wind...

and 18 inches of rain!

But, it was slow...over two days...so no flooding here.

A lot of it soaked into our SO-DRY soil.

But, enough ran off to make the creek flow again.

That's a lot of water.

Our daughter lives a little over 100 miles southeast of us.

They were inside the center circulation, for three days.

LOTS of wind.  They lost a few trees.

And, over 30 inches of rain!

The trash can saved the fence.

But, miraculously, they had no damage to their 100+ year old house.

And, there was beauty, under the debris.

They've gathered up supplies, and have a pallet of water, to take to those less fortunate.

The jeep looked worse than this...

with MOSQUITOES...

before they got back from the first trip over to Corpus Christi.  

Horrible monsters, making things even more miserable.

We've greened up here.  Amazing how fast we've gone from dead,

to back to life again.

There are people whose lives will never be the same again.

Towns all along the Texas Coast, almost wiped away.

Towns who don't make the news.

But, Texans are tough...

and, stubborn.

They don't give up easily.

Another monster is bearing down on America.

Let's all pray for the people in it's path...

and hope it doesn't make it all the way.

Stay safe....

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Summer Winding Down....

Well...

we haven't had anymore rain,

since a couple weeks ago,

when we had the six inches.

But, things are still happy.

The back, which is mostly Horse Herb, 

is greening up.

The Lantana is finally blooming.

The Ruellia is finally blooming, too.

I was beginning to think they'd just skip this summer.

And, the Plumbago is putting on a show.

The heat has returned.

There have been a lot of triple digit days here.

But, the forecast is for cooler and wetter days ahead.

We just cross our fingers, when we hear these forecasts.

But our Texas Sage, which is always reluctant to bloom,

is putting on a blooming show.

It's suppose to be a good omen for rain.

Let's hope the sage, and the weather guys,

are right.

We're certainly ready for some rain again.

And, cooler weather would be even more welcome.

Hope all is good in your garden.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

It Rained!...

We FINALLY had some rain.

Six inches of rain!

We really, really needed it.

It made everybody happy.

The planter we made in this old fountain,

was happy.  

The Periwinkle loved the rain.

It loves the heat, too.

The Plumbago is beginning to really bloom.

They love the heat, too.

And, a little water from heaven doesn't hurt.

Even the Prickly Pear loved the rain.

We're heating back up,

and we have a whole lot of sun.

But, it was nice while it lasted.

Hope you're having good weather,

wherever you are.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

A Little of This, and A Little of That....

I could have named this post the same as the last one...

Summertime Blues.

It's been HOT.

And, DRY.

I'm really hoping this thermometer is not right.

It's pretty close to the one on the other side of the house, though.

The heat, and no rain, is taking a toll on the whole place.

The trees are dropping leaves almost as bad as fall.

Only good thing...less to pick up in fall.

Not much to eat, for these guys. 

Well....except for our landscapes.

Since it's so dry...

...why do I need so much of these?

I don't dare go out without it.

The mosquitoes LOVE me.

It's not all bad, though.

The early morning light still looks good.

Willow enjoys hanging out on the bridge...

as long as the sprinkler's not going.

Sweet Potato loves the heat.

And, so does the Firecracker Fern.

And, some of our recent sunsets, have been very nice.

I was worried about some fungus looking things on this

Golden Barrel Cactus.

It turns out it's new growth!

Yay!

And, this could be good or bad...

Our son-in-law is a safety consultant in the oil and gas industry.

The workers were clearing a site, and plowing up these.

If I read the photo right, they're Sotols of some kind.

He asked if I wanted some.  I said, of course.

So, he's bringing me some.

I hear there are ten..

I need to do some research to see how long they can stay out of the ground.

They live a distance away from us.

So, that's what's going on here.

Trying to keep things alive,

and staying out of the heat.

Tomorrow is supposed to be extra hot.

Then we have a "cold front" coming in.

We could be all the way down to 99!!

Hey...it's all relative.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~