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~~

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~~

Beautiful Visitor....

I posted this over on my photo blog, for one of my

Project 365 photos.

But, thought I'd share with my garden friends.

He's a Red-shouldered Hawk.

Just beautiful.

I'd just set down on the porch, after pulling a few million weeds.

He flew threw the Deer Grove, and up into a tree.

I'm glad I had my camera at hand.

He posed quite nicely, and the sun setting on him 

added to the beauty.

Have a great weekend.

***********

'Til later...

Take care...

~~Linda~~

Another New Feeder...

This crazy winter continues.

After cold and damp and temperatures not out of the 30sF,

we had a day of sun and almost 80F!

We spent the day outside, working in the garden.

There is a lot to do out there.

The new bird feeder arrived.

Not all that pretty, but maybe it will last.

It rotates when something heavy gets on it.

So, squirrels are thrown off.

And, large doves.

I kind of like the doves.  I prefer the small ones, but we seem to have 

mostly Whitewing Doves.  They can empty a feeder, almost as

fast as the squirrels.

This one just couldn't understand why he couldn't get that seed.

There was some thrown on the ground,

so they got something, after all.

The feeder is attached with a clip, on a long chain.

If raccoons can get this one down,

they can have it.

The day was so nice,

the moon decided to show up early, to enjoy it.

We ended the day, on the porch,

watching the sunset through the trees.

We're having another one of those days, today.

More work in the garden.

Then, tomorrow we're forecast another round of 

cold and damp.

Ugh....

Hope you're having a good day,

wherever you are.

**********

'Til later...

Take care...

~~Linda~~

Sunset, Sunrise...

Hello December...

We've had some beautiful weather, the last few days

Last night, the sunset was beautiful.

Pinks and purples and golds...

looking out across the creek, from the back deck.

Then, by the time I got out to the front, there were deeper purples and golds.

Then, when I went out this morning for the paper...

another beautiful sky.

Nature IS the best artist.

We're forecast to be in the 80s the next couple days,

then, another Arctic Blast.

Freezing weather, and maybe more rain, by the weekend.

*****

Speaking of harsh weather...

our son-in-law hasn't found a new job yet here.

His old boss called and asked him to come back up north.

This time, North Dakota!  

They lived there before, so he knows what to expect.

He got there yesterday....just in time to get the beginning of our 

Arctic Blast.

In North Dakota, Arctic Blasts are MUCH more serious than here.

So, when we're whining this weekend about the cold,

we'll keep in mind that cold is another one of those things in nature that are

relative to place.

*****

Now, I need to go get the pumpkins put away, and get out the 

Christmas decorations.  

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

The Greatest Painter...

After the storms moved through on Wednesday, the skies were cloudy most of the day.

Late in the day, the clouds parted, just in time for a beautiful sunset.  

The sun painted the fairway across the street, with shades of gold.

Nature is the Greatest Painter.

Have a Great Weekend...

~~Linda~~

Taking a Walk....

Yesterday, I showed you the beautiful moon peeking through the trees, on a cold, crisp morning.

The day ended in the 70s.  So, we decided a nice walk was in order.

Come along....

A little off the regular path, I went to see how the Small Pond was looking.

This pond was completely dry, all last summer.  But, look!  Water!

The small bit of rain we've had over the last couple months has paid off.

Ducks were enjoying the water.
I have several bird books.  But, I couldn't find this guy in any of them.

Down the road a bit, you get a pretty good view of Old Baldy.

Now, I'm not sure how this hill with trees can be Old Baldy...but, that's what they tell me it is.

It's also called Prayer Mountain.  It's owned by a religious group.  They've put in a stairway to the top.  

We haven't done that, yet.  The view must be wonderful from there.

Along the road, we can get a better view of the sunset, than in our tree covered yard.

It was quite a nice one, even without many clouds.

Back home, and we're greeted by one of our ever present visitors.

Look at how green we are.  Funny...this was brown and dry all summer.

Now, winter and a little rain has brought out the grasses.

We had a cold front slam in overnight.  

Today is blustery and cold....25-30 degrees colder than yesterday.
Don't you just love good old Texas weather?

Good thing we took that walk yesterday.

Have a Great Day...
~~Linda~~