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~~

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves...

I hope your Thanksgiving was good.

Ours was great!

Now, back to the continuing saga of leaves.

This was a couple days ago.

We got those picked up.

This is now.

Not much, actually.

And, fewer seeds.

But, more are coming down.

When the wind blows, it's like a leaf blizzard.

And, the trees still look full.

This is over the back porch.

Which looks like this.

So many leaves.

So little time....and, energy.

But, there will be weeks more leaf clean-up.

And, it's time to pack away the pumpkins....

and, get out the Santas.

Time really flies by when you're having fun.

OK...out to clean up leaves...again.

Hope your garden chores are easy ones...

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

November...

November!

Seems, each month, 

I'm surprised the time had gone by so fast.

I should be used to it, by now.

We made it through a Halloween,

without a flood.

So, I'm smiling today...even though we do need rain.

So...what have we been up to?

Well, mostly this....

It's Fall Leaf Season.

Or, more accurately, Fall SEED Season.

See all those seeds?

They're Cedar Elms.

The best germinating seeds ever!

At least 85%.

And, each one will be a little Cedar Elm tree,

if it falls onto soil.

I try to keep as many as possible out of the soil.

Come spring, I'll be out there pulling them all up.

So, every day is seed clean up day.

Next...when the seeds are done...every day,

will be LEAF clean up day.

Such fun.

But, we can at least use the seed-free leaves for mulch.

And, of course...there is always fun with deer.

They took the core out of the Spanish Dagger Yucca.

There is a REASON this is called a dagger.

Sorry to be mean, 

but I hope it really hurt.

There's already a new center growing back, though.

So, on a happier note...

the Big Muhly has really taken off, this year.

And, the Gulf Muhly is trying hard.

They're both really pretty, with the sun shining through. 

Oh, and we went to Oregon.

Tell you about that next time.

Hope your November is starting out good.  

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

That's Pretty Seedy...

We've been busy around here,

taking down the holidays, and getting back to normal...

or what we call normal.

One busy chore we've had is seeds.

Millions and millions of seeds.

You see, we live under a lot of Cedar Elms.

Usually, I'm whining about all the leaves.  Usually, the fall brings TONS of

LEAVES.

We sweep them up and pile them in the beds as mulch and in the compost bin...

which is really a 'leaf rotting' bin.  

The deer don't leave green stuff in there long enough to compost. 

Yeah, I know...we could wire it off...but....

Anyway...the trees also have seeds. Those seeds usually fall in October.

Not this year.

This year they started falling in late November.

And, we have a bumper crop.

They can't be put in the beds or compost.

All of those seeds will turn into little Cedar Elms.

Millions and millions of Cedar Elms.

We'll have enough that will have to be dug up, 

just from the ones that fall into the beds.

So, we sweep them up and carry them to the Deer Grove.

The deer like them, and so do the squirrels.

Those in these photos fell in one day.

That's the porch and deck.

Didn't get a photo of the driveway...

But, it's almost over.

We'll have a short leaf break, and then the Live Oaks will start

doing their thing.

I still love the trees...

*****************

By the way...

Can you believe January is almost half over?

Me either...

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

We're Still Here....

I haven't been keeping up with this blog too well lately,

it seems

We've had some health issues around here this summer.

So, not much gardening has been going on.

In fact, we're way behind finishing even some Spring projects.

But, we've kept most things alive. 

After the wet spring, the rain faucet was completely turned off.

We've had a third of an inch of rain, since June.

But, things aren't too bad.

On this side of the yard, anyway.

Even a few things blooming.

The Hummers love the Firecracker Fern.

Pots of succulents are pretty easy.

There are signs of fall.

Seed heads turning on the Inland Seaoats.

Sedum blooming.

Even a new pumpkin showed up.

She's pretty, coming and going.

Then, there are the leaves. 

Yep...it's that time again.

And, with that tiny bit of rain we had, stains have set into our nice, clean

power washed driveway and deck.

It's always something.

But....life is good.

Hope all is good where you are.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

'Tis the Season....

Leaf Season.

There is a lot of beautiful fall color here, this year.

Maybe it's because of the early cold weather we've had.

This Oak is out by the Veggie Garden.

The sun through the leaves yesterday, made me grab my

camera and make this my 

365 Project Photo of the Day.

I think it's a Spanish Oak.

Then, there's this.

I love the trees, but.....

Keep in mind....I swept these up yesterday...twice.

Looks like it'll be twice today, too.

I have to do that, so the inside of the house doesn't look like this.

And, the driveway is just as bad.

half a pile

We're past the 'seed stage'.  So, I can put these in the flower beds, for mulch.

Some 'people' just like to lay around,

watching other people do all the work.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

April....Already?....

We moved out of March.

March was busy, here.

Beautiful days.

Which means....no rain.

Glad to have plants that can handle some dry.

We enjoyed a visit to the winery, to pick up our 'shipment'.

If you join Driftwood Estate Winery's Spur Club,

you promise to buy a package of wine, every quarter.

Tough job....but, someone has to do it.

Miss Maggie made it to the beauty parlor.

We found a new groomer, and we really like her.

A dog needs to look good, when she's chasing squirrels.

We had a visit from these guys, again.

Another deer down.

We took a break from cleaning up, pruning back, and hauling rocks, dirt, and mulch,

to meet up with some friends, in Mississippi.

And, came home to more work.

Leaves!

Lots and lots of leaves.

The Live Oaks dropped most of their leaves, while we were gone.

So, raking and hauling ensued.

With more to come.

The weatherman says we have a good chance for rain, this weekend.

I sure hope he's right, this time.

So, I'll be donning my Spring fashions,

and getting more work done in the garden.

A garden is never 'done'.

***********

'Til later...

Take Care...

~~Linda~~