This and That....

It's been a while, since I posted.

It's been busy around here.

Lots of weeding and cleaning up, getting ready for Spring.

We had some out-of-town guests, and took them over to see 

The Painted Churches.

Then we ended up in Gruene, for an early dinner.
Can't go there, without going to Gruene Hall.

We had this little guy come into the yard, one morning.
He was acting a bit strange.  Not aggressive...just like he felt bad.
He rested a while and then went off.  We thought he was ok.
Later, Animal Control (I wasn't even aware we HAD Animal Control here) came.
They went down to the creek with a cage.  Then they came back up with him inside.
I'm hoping they helped him.

We got the privilege of replacing the water heater.
Luckily, it only flooded the front porch, through the overflow pipe.

I couldn't help myself, and after a few days of 70s and 80s,
my daughter and I went to some garden centers, and I planted.
Mostly some 'Color Guard' Yuccas and some rosemary.
But, also some geraniums.

Silly me!
I forgot to cover the geraniums, and they froze.
So, I can buy and plant them again.

Such pretty, warm days, make you feel like the cold is over for good.

The Red admirals were flitting around everywhere.

We had some dense fog, the first day of March.
It was warm and humid.

Then, ANOTHER cold front.
We went from 75F to 25F, in just a few hours.

Out on the porch,
we have a fountain, that the birds love to come to.

Standing there, looking out into the Grove,
this little Titmouse came for a drink...not two feet away.
He didn't notice when I moved to take his picture.
They're usually very timid.

We were lucky enough to miss the ice that they got to the east and north of us.
We did get some hail, and sleet, and enough rain to bring us to .75 inches, for the year.

All in all, except for this yo-yo weather, it's been a good year, so far.

I've been doing good, with my
Project 365....so far.
The photos here, are for that.  I've been posting them on my
Photo Blog, and Flickr feed.

That takes up a bit of time, editing, etc.

So, that's what's happening here.
Have you been getting ready for Spring?
It is coming.
I promise.

***********
'Til later...
Take care...
~~Linda~~

Signs of Fall....

As predicted...the heat returned this last week.

Not many triple digit days, but the humidity was BAD.

Despite that, Mr. P and I took a little trip over to the 

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Seems more than heat has returned.

The banks of Gregg's Mistflower were swarming with Monarch Butterflies.

They seemed to be ignoring any other blooms.

A beautiful sight.  And, worth enduring the hot, humid morning.

~~~~~~~

And yet another sign of fall......

College Football!

Time to get your Horns Up!!

HOOK 'EM HORNS!!

HAVE A GREAT (AND SAFE) HOLIDAY WEEKEND...

~~Linda~~

All Gone...

Remember when I told you about all the verbena in Elli's Meadow?

Remember I told you the butterflies were swarming around, loving the display?

Well....Elli's grandsons showed up to mow.  They mowed and they mowed.
Before anyone noticed, the whole meadow was mowed.
The flowers are all gone.

The butterflies are unhappy, we're unhappy, and I think it's safe to say...Elli is unhappy.
But hey.....the boys did a thorough job.

It'll all come back.  Just maybe not this year.

Also all gone, is the water in the creek and this catch pond.
We're now less than half an inch of rain, for this month.
And, the temperatures are heating up.

We're hoping the rain in not all gone!


The mulching is mostly done.  Thank goodness....it's really warm out there.

Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~

Flutter Bies.....

I wanted a few verbenas, for a small bouquet in an antique bottle on the kitchen window sill.

So, I headed out to Elli's Meadow, where there are lots of Prairie Verbena blooming.

A Blogger doesn't go anywhere, without a camera.  So, I could show you this lone Mexican Hat blooming among the many verbenas.

But, standing in the midst of all these blooms, I realized there were swarms of butterflies.

A few of these orange ones.  What are they?

Lots of Red Admirals.

And, this hard-to-photograph moth.  Very big and very pretty.

It was amazing.

We're off to the Wine and Wildflower Trail, again this year.

I think we're not doing so many as last year.

But, there will be way more of the Wildflower part.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Have a Great Weekend...

~~Linda~~