I Did It Again...

April is this blog's anniversary month.

And, I almost let it slip by, again.

With all that went on last year,

it slipped right by.

But, I'm catching it this year,

just in time.

Seven years.

This all started in April, of 2009.

There has been progress, along the way.

I wanted this to be a garden journal.

It has been more.

I've talked about travel, and family, and friends.

I've met some really great people,

both online, and in person.

I've learned so much from those people.

I've "walked" through their gardens, 

and taken them through mine.

So far, it's been a fun journey.

And, I hope it keeps on going.

So...here's to anniversary number seven.

Thank you for taking the journey with me.

Now....back to more clean-up.

(Yes...it's still going on.)

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

August!?!!......

Since last we met, we've been busy.

We did some traveling.

Back to Mississippi, to visit friends.

We go through Luling, TX, to get to I-10.

This time we stopped, so I could stand in the street and take a picture of this sign.

It's hard to tell in the photo, but it's 3 dimensional.

One of our friends retired, and he wanted to celebrate in Biloxi.

So, we went....again.

Back home, you can see we have been missed by the summer rains,

that have hit other areas around us.

The Grass Bed is doing ok.

Not as much growth as I'd like.

The Hyacinth Bean and zinnias are doing good.

The Pride of Barbados is finally blooming.

Love those blooms.  And, inside the fence, the deer can't get to them.

The tomatoes are blooming.

But, not setting fruit.  There are some that set earlier.  

Taking their time getting ripe.

For the first time, we had ripe figs.

Not many, and not big....but, they tasted good.

This Agave Lophantha had been chomped by the deer.

I took it out of the planter it was in, and put it in the ground.

Then, it started developing two crowns.  Very interesting.

We turned this firepit into a planter.

We put in a Soft-leaf Yucca.

Looks better than a bunch of limbs piled in there.

It's being protected by this resin Horned Toad.

So far, so good.

We'll soon put some wire up.  The bucks have lots of velvet to rub of their antlers.

And, last but not least.

Yesterday, my daughter and I went to Market Day, here 

in Wimberley.

I got two plants.

 A Dyckia 'Burgundy Ice'

And, a variegated agave.  I think Agave American 'Mediopicta Alba'.

There were no labels.  The seller just knew they were an agave and a dyckia.

Hope my research is right.

Now to find containers for them.

So...that's what I've been up to.

How about you?

Hope your summer is going well.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Welcome to June....

It's been a while since I posted.

We've been away.

It's the time of year, for my 'Girls Group' to get together.

Panama City Beach again.

We're still a good group.

And, we always have fun.

We caught a lot of good sunsets this year.

Afterward, Mr. P & I went to one of our group's home.

Spent a couple days, relaxing on their back porch, overlooking the small

lake, behind their house.  Lots of geese and ducks.

Then, the four of us went to San Augustine for a few days.

We stayed at the Bayfront Westcott House.

A lovely b&b, in an old house, right on the bay.

We did all the tourist things.

Above is Flagler College.  It was built as an exclusive hotel.

I took a lot of photos, and I'll post about San Augustine soon.

Back at home, the grapes are filling out.

We had a BIG rain.  One of those that make me nervous.

And, the creek started flowing again.  Lots of water over the waterfall.

The main thing blooming is the Monarda 'Peter's Purple'.

I love it.  It's supposed to be a bully.  But, that's ok with me.

Thanks Bob, for this pass along.

It's been a busy week, back at home.

But, I did manage to get by the garden center, for those annuals I didn't 

want to plant before we left.

A gardener's gotta do, what a gardener's gotta do.

I think my family believes they need to start intervention.

So, that's the news from Patchwork Garden.

***********

'Til later...

Take care...

~~Linda~~

Excited...

You might not get as excited as we have, 

about something like this.

Some gardeners, though, will totally understand.

A few years ago...2011...we went on the

Texas Hill Country Wine and Wildflower Trail Tour,

with some dear friends.

We did eleven wineries on the first day.

Two on the second day....for obvious reasons.

Each couple...I thought it should be EACH TICKET...received

a bare root grapevine.

We were the ones who had a garden.  So, we planted both.

Only one made it.

It did well.
Had nice leaves.  No grapes.

We finally pruned it, early this year.

And, these showed up.
Cute, huh?

These are the buds.

These are the blooms.
So cool!

Hopefully, those little green things will turn into grapes.

We'll never have a 'vineyard' to overlook,
like we do at Driftwood Estate Winery,
when we pick up our wine.

But, we're still excited to maybe have the chance for some grapes.

I'll keep you posted.

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

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~~

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity, Jig....

It's that time of year again.

May is when the wildflowers bloom here.

Just a week or so ago, I was lamenting that none were blooming here.

I return from a trip, and the Mexican Hats are in full bloom.

The prickly pear are putting on quite a show.

The ones I've moved from the Grove, to the house, seem really happy.

Then there are these guys.

They're showing up all over the neighborhood.

It's no secret, there will be more mouths to feed.

It's also that time of year, when I get together with some dear friends.

This year, we went back to Florida.

One of our group has a beach condo, in Panama City Beach.

We sat on the beach.

We enjoyed beautiful sunsets.

(the blue is due to a tungsten white balance setting)

I stayed a couple extra days.  My hostess and I went for dinner across the bay.

We drove by the house above.  Is that garden amazing, or what?

This gentleman ran past us on the beach each day.

I'm betting he's a veteran.

So, I'm letting his image help me wish you a happy, and safe

Memorial Day.

Have a great weekend...

~~Linda~~