the flowerweaver

A Murmuration of Starlings

2011-11-03T15:35:00.001-06:00

Nature is just so fascinatingly beautiful. What an awesome experience this must have been!

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

It's National Hug a Sheep Day! (and a heart-warming story)

2011-10-29T19:44:00.001-05:00

In case you were not aware, today is National Hug a Sheep Day! Finley, however, prefers skritching since hugging is much too confining (as in uh-oh the wormer must be coming next). He suggested I tell his story.

Five years ago I rescued Finley's mother, Phoebe, off the highway where she stood motionless for four days. I had no idea what kind of animal she was, all black with beaten up horns and white for eyes. She was emaciated and blind from a case of pinkeye that had obviously gone long untreated. She was, at the very least, frightening looking.

There were no other similar animals around, nor could I locate an owner, so I convinced Farmer Rick to help me bring her home. She could only run in circles, so we were able to grab her, and after much struggling, got her into the back of the SUV. We put on a head harness and basically had to drag her to back to the pen.

My vet identified her as a Barbados Blackbelly (hair) sheep with possibly some Rambouillet (wool) sheep mixed in and said the animal had neurological damage. Perhaps she had been hit by a car. At first Phoebe was wary of us, but she really liked having a steady supply of water and nutritional sheep kibble. For a wild sheep, she was full of personality. We got rid of the pinkeye, but she was still blind. Her eyes looked like large blue Earths. She started putting on weight.

A lot of weight. In about three weeks she had become more friendly and almost doubled in size. Then one morning she swished her tail and I saw them. Milk bags! I called my knowledgeable shepherding friend over at Punkin's Patch and she said ewes usually lamb in February. So I ordered a book about ewe and lamb care.

Finley arrived before the book! We had a rooster named Avo living with Phoebe (he's featured in my masthead). He had been a little rough with the hens so we built him an apartment on the side of the sheep shed. Little did we know that he would fall in love with the blind sheep, who became his "fuzzy hen". He would mount her and ride her around, and would tidbit at her food dish so she could find her food. They grazed together. It was very sweet.

The day Finley arrived I knew something was up, because Avo was pacing frantically back and forth at the gate and Phoebe was nowhere in sight. Just as I looked behind the shed, there was Finley popping out! The vet did not think either of them would live. Phoebe lived another three years, and considering her former abused life, lived to be an old lady. Finley is a strapping lad. I hope someday to get a few more sheep and learn to spin.

Be sure to hug a sheep!

Sunday Stills: The Letter B

2011-08-21T22:16:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all of you who have expressed concern over my absence. First, I should say something about where I've been.

It's very difficult to find inspiration for photography when the natural world around me is dying. Most of the photos I've taken lately are documentary and pretty grim. If you've kept up with the news you'll know our area has been surrounded by wildfires, scorched by high temperatures, and dry as a bone. We've received something like 2 inches of rain in the last 12 months. The river is just a pile of rocks. Animals are dying and the vultures don't even bother them.

Barren and Broken

This was taken near our house. One little Parralena blooming by an unfortunate armadillo (not Patches, but he's not been seen in months).

Our well has been dry for five months and most of my time is taken up finding water and hauling it. The garden, our fruit trees, the lawn, and just about everything else we've planted in the last decade is dead. Fortunately, we've been able to keep most of our animals alive, although we lost some older chickens (Stefania, Kitty Hawk, and Sumo) to heat exhaustion. Since we live in a remote place and can no longer grow our own food we're having to make more frequent trips into the city. It's all very exhausting.

Trying to keep positive about the situation, I'm painting pictures of water. Here's a 24" x 48" canvas on which I've just started working in oils.

Brushwork

I also took a three week trip and followed the rain around wherever I could find it. That made me happy.

Beams of light in a rain storm over New Orleans

It's also been a time to focus on the inside of the house. We usually spend so much time outside we sort of neglect the interior. For instance, we've lived without flooring for five years now and sort of just noticed. Everyone thinks the black mastic that once held down the 50's linoleum IS our choice of flooring...

So, I'm getting ready to repaint all the walls and put in flooring. To make room for this work I'm putting things into storage. Some of the first things to go have been my books and shelving. I don't know why this has been so nostalgic, but it's like packing little pieces of myself away. I took this today as the last light illuminated them.

Books

Know that I'm thinking of everyone even if time does not presently allow me to visit or post on your blogs. For more images of the Letter B, visit Sunday Stills.

Sunday Stills: Doors and Doorknobs

2011-05-08T19:10:00.000-05:00

Short on time, I photographed these doorknobs and handle all from one of our old farm sheds this afternoon. I tried to look for the abstract in line and composition.

For more images of doors and doorknobs, visit Sunday Stills.

Farm Friend Friday: Hummingbirds

2011-05-06T08:30:00.003-05:00

Dozens of hummingbirds at a time visit our feeders

One of the animals we consider family on our farm is the humminbird. Black Chins and Ruby Throats begin showing up in early March. I put out a couple of quart sized syrup feeders for them. We use a 1 sugar : 4 water ratio and we don't heat it as it becomes too time consuming as the weeks advance.

They don't seem to mind my presence

In April the males are flying their daredevil J dances, taking nosedives zzzzzzz zzzzzzz zzzzz to impress the right girl. I have seen a perched female with her head going up and down, back and forth as if she were watching a tennis match.

As mating season begins, the females start coming to my office window to remove spiderwebs which they use to bind the lichen together to form their nests. They will lay only two small eggs in these tiny nests no bigger than a golf ball. Once the ladies begin sitting on nests activity at the feeders will suddenly decrease by half; after the babies are born in the summer it will greatly increase again.

One of the nests I discovered a couple years ago, photographed without a zoom lens

Over the years I've taken part in many area hummingbird banding projects. What we've learned is that these birds are very territorial, that the same birds will patronize the same feeder on the same day each year. Birds at one feeder are likely related. As the different families have grown, so has my need for lager feeders. Currently they are consuming two gallons a day! I've also had occasion to rescue a few.

This bird got stuck in the grape jelly set out for the Oriole, was cleaned and released

Tired of filling quart feeders 2-3 times a day, I recently decided to hang chicken waterers to make my life easier. These have been ideal. They are inexpensive, unbreakable, easily cleaned, and red. I just measure four cups of sugar and fill the rest with water. The generous lip allows for a couple dozen birds to feed simultaneously.

Throughout my life wild (and domestic) animals have trusted me, but I do seem to have a special relationship with these birds. Here are a couple videos I hope you'll watch and know you will enjoy. The first one Farmer Rick took of me hanging the feeder. Amazingly they even land on my hands. The second one I took holding the camera in front of my face, so you can experience what I do when I feed them. Be sure to have the sound turned up on that one to hear their chirps and the whirring of their wings!

I even enjoy painting them.

For more animals friends, be sure to visit Farm Friend Friday!

Sunday Stills: Rust

2011-05-01T13:25:00.001-05:00

First, I should say something about the obvious lack of recent posts.

We've only received a half inch of rain in the past ten months and are under the highest level of drought. Our well went dry at the beginning of Spring and we are currently surrounded by smoke and wildfires burning up hundreds of thousands of acres in west Texas, some as close as an hour away. Hauling water for our farm and planning for the possible evacuation of ourselves and 67 animals has become more than a full time job.

Rust--we have plenty of it. On a farm it's always working, even while we sleep. I've learned to appreciate it's artistic efforts and use it to justify my tetanus shot. I've tried to pick some of the more interesting cases for this photography challenge. I can imagine myself making a series of abstract quilts based on these images. Which one do you like best?

For more images of rust, visit Sunday Stills.

Farm Friend Friday--Peeps!

2011-03-25T19:38:00.001-06:00

Tuesday night we heard the unmistakable sound of a peep! Adelka, the Buff Lace Poland, has been dutifully sitting on a dozen eggs and Wednesday morning a little one appeared from under her.

Peekaboo!

It's extremely rare for this breed to hatch their own chicks, and these are the first to be born on our farm, so it's pretty exciting! I bought an incubator for the task, but there was no need for it.

Look at me!

By yesterday afternoon there were eight little balls of fluff!

Peeps!

I was hoping some of the offspring might be Karina's, but her untimely passing was 25 days before first hatch and chicken eggs hatch in 21 days, so I'm suspecting they are all Adelka's.

Kryzsztof and gal

Prior to hatching, the father Kryzsztof had been moved into his own apartment, and has been steadily pacing around in his loneliness since. Today I carried him over to view them through the hardware cloth. His head shot up like a muppet in astonishment at seeing all his peeps, and Adelka gave a soft purr of contentment.

Everyone eating from my hand

Today she let me handle the chicks, watching carefully to see that I was gentle with them and returned them to her. They were all eating out of my hand, so the co-parenting has begun! I like to be able to handle my adult chickens and for them to be gentle around people.

Nap time (click to biggify!)

When she feels nap time is over she starts barking a repetitive sound and they all scurry out from underneath her fluffiness. She begins the tidbitting process until several are eating at the feeder. They all seemed happy to eat from my hand. When she feels they’ve had enough recess she emits a low growl and they all run back under her breast held up like a garage door. She uses her beak to tuck the last little cute tushie back underneath. Adelka is a great mom!

Visit more Farm Friends at Farm Friend Friday!

Sunday Stills: Old Churches and Graveyards

2011-02-20T11:00:00.001-06:00

This morning it was misty, which set an ethereal background for photographing our local cemetery, which dates back to the pioneers that settled this area of the Southwest Texas hill country in the mid-1800's.

Perhaps you can tell something about a town by its graveyard. Our ghost town, population 49, has more dead than living. As a rural ranching and farming community there isn't a lot of money for fancy edifices. Some graves are incomplete but not forgotten.

This is my good friend Geno's grave. He and I shared a pet coyote. He lived a healthy lifestyle and could ride a bicycle 50 miles a day, but liver cancer took him unexpectedly and too soon. We buried him on what would have been our (Farmer Rick and I) wedding day. Farmer Rick and I sang Ave Maria at the grave site. One day I will put a marker up with a bicycle or coyote. Or both.

The wind and animals scatter the fake flowers. Many wash down the creek and end up at our place. They seem to symbolize the impermanence of a human life.

Some people decorate more than others. Anything goes. It shows the diversity of this small populace.

I dedicate this post to my mother whom I buried 34 years ago today, and to Laurie, the former owner of my house here for 31 years. She was buried in this cemetery a couple weeks ago in an unmarked grave decorated only by a cross made of white and purple flowers.

For more images of old churches and graveyards, visit Sunday Stills.

Farm Friend Friday: Creatures are stirring

2011-02-18T22:08:00.002-06:00

Bruno Bratanter on the gate

With the daytime temperatures back up into the 70's all life was stirring again. I felt like I was coming out of hibernation this week, slowly resuming life as we know it. The chickens were glad to be back outside scratching in the creek.

Bruno is our only rooster that can fly to the tops of trees (and has on occasion required me standing on the top of a tall ladder to retrieve him at nightfall). His beak is in need of a trim. I love his black 'beard' and mullet like 'do. The Brabanters come from Belgium and are very personable. The hens fly to my shoulder when I enter the coop, and would happily ride around there like a pirate's parrot all day if I would let them!

This week I noticed one of the neighbor's Mallard ducks sitting in the hedgerow not far from our front door.

Farmer Rick was certain it was just a bag that had blown down there. On closer inspection, we were both correct: It was a tan plastic bag neatly camouflaging a female mallard presumably sitting on eggs.

You can't see me! (Click to biggify!)

Last year one of the ducks hatched 19 ducklings in a flowerbed closer to our driveway. This nest is just a few feet from our door!

I also noticed the bluebird nest box in the Short Grass Prairie has a bluebird nest in it. They are unmistakable, made of soft green moss lined with feathers. I've seen her going in and out, so hopefully I will be able to photograph the babies soon. It's been a couple years since we had bluebirds; last year the box was home to Tufted Titmice.

Tiger Girl

The beautifully marked wild cat Tiger Girl showed up to accompany me on my walk. She's a good mouser and I hope she will make this her home. We see her once or twice a week, and have not found anyone who claims her.

Moon over the prairie

Interestingly, the honeybees have been making a beeline to the 5 gallon buckets filled with coffee grounds I pick up at coffee shops in town. They must be getting some sustenance out of it. Or a buzz! Will our honey be caffeinated?

Patches

Patches, our resident armadillo has been out and about snooting through the grasses and digging for grubs. I was able to follow him at a close distance in this video taken a couple days ago. You'll see early on he detects me by smell, but continues about his business. It is only at the end I crunch something underfoot that he goes bounding away.

I felt like an armadillo paparazza! This week I've also potted up hundreds of Salvias, Mulleins, Jewels of Opar, and Coneflowers and moved them from the propagation room into the greenhouse. There are so many more still to do! Here's a photo of the greenhouse at night, glowing like a beacon.

For more views of farm life, visit Farm Friend Friday!

Nature's stamp of approval

2011-02-15T22:02:00.003-06:00

Beautiful stained glass lobby window portraying the Alamo

Last week Farmer Rick and I had the pleasure of attending the largest music educator conference in San Antonio, Texas and hearing the Swingle Singers perform. I remember hearing them on the radio when I was growing up in the 1960's, and was delighted to know the a capella vocal octet--now with much younger members--was still around.

Their performance was probably one of the top one’s we’ve ever heard (and we’ve been to a lot of concerts). If you want to hear what eight people can do with their voices (including making all the instrument and percussion sounds in addition to complex harmony) check out this music video.

As usual, we stayed at one of the participating conference hotels downtown, which are usually nice but generic. We had no idea the one we were booked at had formerly been the opulent Alamo National Bank.

Every inch of the building had elegant detail seldom seen in architecture today

It was 25 degrees which is very unusual for this city. Sadly, many of the mature tropical landscape plants along the Riverwalk had been killed by the extended Arctic temperatures.

The Flowerweaver bundled up!

During one of the business meetings I decided to escape to photograph the Convention Center’s plaza—one of my favorite landscapes created by humans—to share with you. It connects up with the famous Riverwalk.

Not only is it a delight to the eye, and a pleasure to experience with all the gurgling and rushing sounds of water, but the attention to detail and craftsmanship is incredible.

Entrance to the plaza

You see, all these ‘rocks’ are hollow concrete forms that perfectly mimic the limestone—both the solid bedrock and the permeable conglomerate—of the Texas Hill Country where we live. It’s like faux bois only faux stone.

Human-made creek of faux stone in the plaza

Whoever designed and created this has spent a lot of time in the area where we live!

Plaza waterfall--click to biggify!

This time I discovered two white egrets hanging out there! (If I hadn’t seen them land I might have thought they were faux birds). That says a lot when you can design something so natural as to attract this kind of wildlife to a Convention Center.

Egrets at home in this urban landscape...

unfazed by the passing river taxis

Looking back at the Convention Center

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all cities had public spaces this close to Nature?

Sunday Stills: Spring Preview

2011-02-13T17:36:00.000-06:00

Preview?! Nope--our first flower of Spring 2011 opened up today! No need for digging in the archives.

Last year the Wind Flowers (Anemone heterophylla) opened eight days earlier. Perhaps they have been waiting out the extreme cold temperatures we've been experiencing. Usually around eight inches tall, the lack of winter rains has cetainly stunted these, which barely have stems!

The Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) which usually begin blooming around the end of March are dwarfed as well. They should be at least three times this size by now. It doesn't seem to matter how much I water them, only a good rain will make them grow!

This week in an effort to create more positive drainage (not that we get much rain), the county road workers scraped about 2-3 inches of topsoil, wildflower sprouts, and the wildflower seed bank from in front of our house and all the surrounding areas.

Of course all of this makes me worry about my honeybees, seeing their list of future provisions reduced. One of my goals this year is to propagate 10,000 flowers for them! I've already started 700 Salvias, Mints, Coneflowers, Mulleins, and Lavenders from seed.

Aren't these Fearnleaf Lavenders cute? I hope your Spring is not long in coming, and I'm happy to say Spring officially began here in Southwest Texas today! For more previews of Spring, visit Sunday Stills.

Farm Friend Friday: Some Serendipitous Finds and Farm Style

2011-02-10T21:50:00.000-06:00

Isn't he lovely?

A few years ago I saw a precious vintage rooster tablecloth on eBay, but the bidding got so high I had to let it go. It was The One That Got Away.

So, fast forward to Tuesday when I was in the Big City on errands with a few minutes to spare. I spied a thrift store I'd never been in, and --like any frugal farm girl would do--I went in. There I discovered four curtain panels and two valances in the exact pattern of The One That Got Away for the mere sum of $1.50!

Something to crow about!

Not only is our kitchen this color of split pea soup on a cold Winter's day (aka 'Avocado' in the 1970's), I've been looking for two window coverings for this room!

My painting 'The Emerson' above the sofa with potential dog bed material

I also found a bedspread and two pillow shams of a wonderful Jacobean print in all the oddball colors I'm using in several other rooms: coffee brown, mint green and persimmon for $7. Jacobean prints with their bold branches, fruits, flowers and birds remind me of the kind of in-your-face nature I experience on a daily basis. I've been looking for something from which I could make several dog beds. (Why is it all dog bed manufacturers assume hunter green and navy will work with everyone's decor?)

Although my style sensibility (if you could ever call it that) is best described as Atomic Ranch meets Martha Stewart Living at Pier One--and would likely give an interior designer nightmares--Farmer Rick and I are at home with this kind of eclecticism.

How about you? What's your farm style?

For more Farm Friendly features, visit Farm Friend Friday.

Sunday Stills: Emotions

2011-02-06T16:57:00.000-06:00

This Sunday's challenge is an image that's supposed to evoke an emotion in the viewer. It's very gusty here today and I liked the way our colorful flag was backlit by the sun and blowing in the wind, seemingly reaching up towards the trees and sky while dancing in and out of the shadows. It struck me as a metaphor.

It brings out a lot of different emotions in me. It reminds me of my father's life of service to this country, and a beautiful land that is being damaged by big ag, fossil fuel consumption, and rampant development. It reminds me of the many freedoms I am privileged to enjoy and yet my frustration with a political system of two sides always fighting each other. It reminds me of the foods, songs, and culture uniquely American and also our need to teach tolerance of others different than us and seeing ourselves as citizens of Earth.

For more emotional images, visit Sunday Stills.

Farm Friend Friday: After the Freeze

2011-02-04T08:52:00.004-06:00

Amy over at Verde Farm is starting Farm Friend Friday. I became acquainted with her when we both participated in National Hug a Sheep Day hosted by my friend Sara over at Punkin's Patch at Equinox Farm. I've been looking for something like this to feature our small farm.

She says "Farm Friend Friday will be about: house, cooking, crafting, animals, gardening, photography and more. It will be a great way to meet new farm friends and see lots of different views and perspectives on farm life." How cool is that?

If you've been watching the strange weather (which I call Wonky World Weather) you'll know that Texas has been briefly plunged back into the Ice Age. Even down here in the semi-arid desert Southwest, an hour as the crow (or, in our case, the Cara Cara) flies from Mexico, we had three days solidly frozen at 12 degrees.

Ribbons of sap being extruded from our Frostweed (Verbesina virginica)

I'm sure to many of you this doesn't sound so terrible as you deal with this every Winter. However, we live three months of the year over 100 degrees, even attaining 117 degrees one day last summer. Truth be told, in our diurnal climate Winter consists of freezing temperatures most nights, and 60 plus degrees each day. You could say Winter only comes at night--the rest of the time we are running around in t-shirts!

The things we call coats most people would probably consider windbreakers. We have been wearing three at a time just to stay warm in this old farmhouse. Built over 70 years ago--before air conditioning was the mode--our house has little insulation and is 50% single pane glass operable windows for catching those breezes.

This Fall photo gives you an idea how much glass we are talking about.

Fortunately we have a fireplace, because Wednesday our electricity (and thus our heat) went out for the arctic day! Living remotely as we do we are in an electric co-op. Mostly we experience outages from electrical storms that come in more temperate seasons and those don't generally last more than a couple hours, if that.

Farmer Rick took the tractor down to the creek to load kindling, but the icy hill proved too steep for traction and the wood had to be carried armload by armload. While he was laying in firewood, I made the decision to move all the seedlings from the rapidly cooling greenhouse into the living room.

Living room scene on a 12 degree day with no heat.

So, snuggled around the fire with us were four dogs, four cats, one rooster (Junior's been recuperating) and 439 plants! I feel bad that I was unable to bring in the remaining 49 chickens who usually stay warm with heat lamps, but that would have been total chaos. Unfortunately several of our roosters in Coop Two appear to have suffered some frostbite. (This morning it's looking a little better--fingers crossed).

Marco Marans showing some frostbite on the tips of his comb.

Finley the sheep is lame in a foreleg. I suspect he's been watching me break his trough ice with the sledgehammer and has perhaps tried this himself.

But I don't like snow cones!

Amazingly our lettuce which had been covered with clear plastic withstood the ordeal.

Butterhead lettuce makes it through!

I'm sure there were some losses among our honeybees, but the good news is today it's warmed above 50 degrees and the girls are coming and going from both hives and doing housekeeping.

Workers carrying out the dead after three days of freezing temperatures.

What is this object you say? Why it's a frozen cylinder of coffee grounds! No, no, we don't drink that much. We are fortunate enough to have connected with a local coffee shop and are able to compost all their grounds!

Cafe glace!

It's time to take advantage of the sun and get outside to cut back the asparagus. The first spears were already peeking through this time last year. (I hope they held off). We'll be looking forward to eating it soon!

For more farm fun visit Farm Friend Friday. (Say that ten times!)

Sunday Stills: Circles

2011-01-30T10:20:00.002-06:00

(Click to biggify!)

Here are the most interesting circles I could come up with for the challenge this week. This is a large, hand painted wooden collector's button from Russia on top of the over-sprayed metal lid to our hay bin. I do wish I knew the story it tells.

The imagery depicts a crying fish--perhaps because he's been turned into an island?--a woman carrying water over her shoulders to her home, and a beautiful wooden church in the architectural style characteristic from where my ancestors came.

Church in Turza, Poland

(courtesy the wikicommons)

I love all the circles in this architecture. Maybe this is why I designed our chicken coop with curving walls?

Also, yesterday I randomly discovered an online filter that will turn photos into bead art. Using it I altered a photo of a Phoenician Mullein growing in my greenhouse.

For more images of circles, visit Sunday Stills.

Fog on the Divide

2011-01-26T21:31:00.000-06:00

The mornings have been cold and foggy creating an ethereal landscape. I took these up on the watershed divide last week. (click to biggify).

Sunday Stills: The Color Green

2011-01-23T11:33:00.001-06:00

Ed challenged us with green because many participating photographers are currently snowed in! But here in southwest Texas the Live Oaks and Junipers keep us surrounded in green during the Winter. So I decided to challenge myself in other ways of photographing green.

Those of you that follow my blog know it's a rare day you'll see a photo of me on it. So I thought I would try some self-portraits: a green-eyed lady in green glasses and green coat in front of a green mirrored sculpture on the side of our house. I've used some digital manipulation to cut the glare on the mirror and create a dream-like effect.

Perhaps I should have cleaned the mirrors first! On this last one I decided to collage in an old cotton doily. Do you like it?

For more images of green, visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: Macro

2011-01-16T17:12:00.000-06:00

Ed suggested we shoot inside, but the sun finally came out and the landscape begged to be explored after several days of rain and cold. And with great luck, I came across a family of Earth Stars. I just love these little things.

Earth Stars are a relative of the Puffball, and belong to a group of fungi known as Gasteromycetes which means 'stomach fungi'. They have a little 'stomach' filled with spores.

Unlike any other fungus, an Earth Star can move!

When it rains the outer layer splits into many rays, looking like a star. The rays of the star act like legs to raise the stomach above and release the spores.

For more up close photos visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: The letter W

2011-01-09T12:30:00.000-06:00

I am the white wolf, Fransciso, and I'm working on a new performance art piece I'd like to share with you.

Most of my conceptualizations involve the breaking down of barriers, namely white doors. This is my sixth installation showing my mature style. Once I realized this was a steel door, I began concentrating on the wooden frame. I'm still hopeful I can add making it through metal to my artist statement.

This white door has a lot of character. It used to belong on the back door of my former house. It was my first project when I was still a pup. Momma still remembers being on vacation and getting a call from the pet sitter who told her I was half in the house and half outside! He he. You can still see the old boards he used to cover the hole. She's saved it all these years she likes it so much. (I was kind of hoping she might hang it over the sofa).

The white lavatory used to belong in the bathroom of our current house. It's from about the same period as the door. Mom is so style conscious! Both are being repurposed for use in Chicken Coop Two at the moment. It is almost entirely built out of recycled materials.

Those lucky chickens!

Here's Kryzsztof, the white Buff Lace Poland rooster getting groomed by one of his gals. And neat photos of water on plastic in the garden from last night's rain, and water droplets.

For more images of the letter W, visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: Best Shot of 2010

2011-01-02T18:17:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year friends! One of the best shots of the year was recently taken by my husband of me holding our first grandchild, Lily. I love how angelic she looks!

Here are some of the best shots I took in 2010. I'll leave it up to you to choose the best one!

Thanks Ed for hosting this fun challenge, I'll try to participate more this year. For more Best Shots of 2010 visit Sunday Stills. Wishing everyone a fabulous 2011!

Cookie Monster

2010-12-07T17:49:00.000-06:00

Finley has started asking for cookies with his foot, a signal he's always used to show that he likes something. Cookies (alfalfa cubes) definitely have his stamp of approval!

I'll take that as a compliment

2010-11-04T07:54:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I was called in at the last minute to substitute at the school. There were no more spaces where the faculty usually park, so I parked over among the high school students.

It wasn't until I was halfway home later in the day that I looked into the rear view mirror and realized my car had been decorated! (Click to biggify).

Your Hot

Bad grammar aside, I think I'll take it as a compliment. (Especially since the weather was cool!)

It's been incredibly windy, with gusts strong enough to blow large sheets of roofing tin off a stack and around the yard. After a slight frost last week, the weather has continued to be unseasonably warm but a real freeze is predicted for tonight. We tend to forget Winter does eventually arrive here in the land of Summer.

There will be plants to water in and cover, other plants needing to go from the house into the greenhouse, and chicken coops to close in with plastic. Some dry wood will need to be cut and moved into the house for the fireplace. But it's only an afternoon of work. We don't have to drain or store hoses, as it will be back up into the 70's-80's again soon.

National Hug a Sheep Day

2010-10-30T10:07:00.004-05:00

Finley, did you know it is National Hug a Sheep Day? I thought we'd do some hugging!

But I don't like hugs! Not even for cookies!

It would make your Aunt Sara very happy if we could participate. She's launched National Hug a Sheep Day in honor of Punkin, who was my godsheep. If I had never known Punkin I might not have you today. What do you say?

Isn't being cute...enough?

How about we pretend it's National Skritch a Sheep Day instead!

I have quite a few itches needing skritches.

{skritch, skritch, skritch}

Ahhhh.....that's more like it!

We are grandparents!!!

2010-10-29T15:30:00.000-05:00

Lillian (Lily) Elizabeth arrived on Wednesday, October 27, at 4:59 a.m. She is the first girl born into Farmer Rick's side of the family in 150 years! She such a little cutie pie! It will be so fun sewing for her!

Hill Country anniversary trip

2010-09-19T09:01:00.003-05:00

We took a little day trip to Enchanted Rock--where we got married--on our anniversary this year. It's too bad I forgot to charge the battery of my loaner camera overnight, but it actually ran out of space before it ran out of juice.

On the way we stopped to take some photos of things we've passed by a zillion times and always meant to photograph if we weren't rushing from here to there. It was nice actually making time for them.

This little hobbit house in Hunt, Texas, is tucked into the woods and sits right on the river's edge. It has a sign that says 'Toad Hall' but an quick online check says that's for two cabins they rent out, so I'm thinking this must be their residence, as photos of it do not appear anywhere on their website.

Just down the road there is a unique fence that keeps some horses off the road. (Click to biggify).

The cedar posts are covered with used boots, some of them quite colorful. I've heard this started in the old days as a way of recycling old boots and protecting the ends of posts from absorbing rain and rotting. But cedar posts are very long-lived even without boots. I have the feeling the owner started it, and then people passing by have just added to it over the years. I've certainly watched the collection grow over the past decade.

On the banks of the river we saw this very large, rubbery Evening Primrose species. The flowers were at chest height and I'm fairly tall. I didn't get enough details to key it out, but it's definitely water-loving and day-blooming so that should narrow things down a bit. Unlike others in its genus, it doesn't seem prolific as this is the only one we saw.

We took a back road through the ghost town of Crabapple, and stopped to photograph the ruins.

This building was the old school until the late 50's and is now considered the Community Center, although the Census does not show anyone presently residing in Crabapple. The next two images I processed to give them a vintage feel.

This building was the teacherage, where the teacher lived.

And this was the church, built in 1897. These are all great examples of the stonework that is so predominant throughout the Texas Hill Country done by the early German settlers.

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area can be seen in the distance from the highway approach to the south. The main dome where we were married is the tallest one on the right. Although sedimentary limestone is the predominant rock of the Hill Country, here there is a giant pink granite batholith pushed up from the depths of the Earth.

Along the trails there you will find many interesting rock formations, many of them sculpted by the wind. It is a mecca for rock climbers.

Here is Moss Lake and a view of the back side of the main dome on the right. In my younger days I took up rock climbing for a year and I climbed the steep, back side of Enchanted Rock twice. It is the equivalent of a 20 story building and takes about 7 hours. They say if you can learn to climb granite you can climb anything. I learned a lot about strength and courage but I could never, ever, say it was fun. Eventually I took up whitewater kayaking which I found more to my liking.

We continued around the loop trail, cut through Echo Canyon and made our own trail to the top of Enchanted Rock from a side with a more gentle approach. It was a blustery day similar to our wedding day, sans double rainbow. It was unfortunate the camera conked out at this point, as the view, as always, was spectacular. We caught a bite of Mexican Food back in Fredericksburg before heading home after a very nice day.

Sunday Stills: Shoes or Boots

2010-09-05T18:01:00.000-05:00

We traveled to Bandera, Texas "Cowboy Capitol of the World" today--just an hour over the hills from us--for some Labor Day festivities that were sure to involve boots.

Here's a lovely cowgirl boot in a shop window, surely created with a cowboy wedding in mind.

At a re-enactment of a west Texas town in the late 1800's by a group called "Cow-ology" there were lots of little girls in cowgirl boots in the audience. I wore river sandals and got fire ant bites.

We ate some nachos and watched a couple of boot-scootin' senior citizens who were much more entertaining than the rather average band that was playing.

The town has some very nice cut out metal banners.

(Click to biggify)

The scenic drive was the best part!

For more images of shoes and boots, check out Sunday Stills.

Yellow bird

2010-09-04T12:34:00.001-05:00

This little bird knocked itself out on my office window this morning coming to the seed feeder, presumably. Fortunately I made it to the bird before Cody, the teddy-bear eared backyard dog who would've seen it as a protein supplement.

After a few minutes of nurturing in my hand it regained consciousness and flew off. I am thinking it is a juvenile of some kind of vireo or warbler, but I will ask some of my expert birding friends for an ID. It has an unbroken white eyering, no prominent white bars on the wings, is small, with olive on the top and yellow below. If you think you might know, do tell.

Since I already have a rooster temporarily in the house--who we've named Orville by the way (to go with our Ameraucana hen Kitty Hawk)--I'm relieved not to have a wild charge at the moment. This is the best kind of rescue, where the happy ending comes quickly!

UPDATE:
My friend and birding photographer Larry Ditto, has kindly identified it as a Mourning Warbler in fall plumage. You can see his fabulous photos here. Thanks, Larry!

New roo

2010-09-02T11:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I got a call from my friend Joan saying she had a cockerel in need of a home (read: her husband was going to eat him if he wasn't relocated soon) and that my husband already said I could have him if I wanted him. I found this 'preauthorization' process sort of interesting.

Apparently she and Jim had picked up four Ameraucana pullets, and recently discovered one was, in fact, a rooster. Once he started crowing their rooster decided to get rid of him, and fighting ensued.

I have been without an Ameraucana rooster since my beloved Avo's untimely demise back in December. (Although I did rescue Mr. Blue from the eventual frying pan of Dos Bubba's, the plumbers, he's not 100% Ameraucana.) Kitty Hawk, Alzina, and Desser Mae have been in need of a beau for a while, since Avo's preference had been the company of sheep.

This fellow has more black flecks on his chest than Avo (in my banner head) and his comb is a bit frilly, but otherwise he looks line a fine bird for the breeding program. No name has surfaced yet, but I'm sure we'll think of something as his personality becomes more evident.

I can tell he hasn't been handled much, so he isn't very friendly--yet. He tried to peck my hand this morning. But he will be in quarantine (the utility room) for two months and I'll work with him. He's certainly got a set of lungs on him as he woke us up at 4 a.m. Farmer Rick couldn't say too much about it on account of the preauthorization and all.

Baby couture

2010-09-01T20:15:00.000-05:00

September is here, and as I promised I will be blogging more often. Having spent most the summer fighting a respiratory infection I didn't really have the energy to do much of anything. But I am feeling myself again, ready for new adventures in creativity and homesteading.

I am working on a baby quilt for our first grandchild due in November. Since this project won't be ready in time for the baby shower, I whipped out a little quilted baby vest over the weekend.

It was a lot of fun! I used a store bought pattern as a size guide to design my own. I discovered that creating for little people has its rewards--like being able to complete an entire project quickly!

I used images from a turn-of-the-century illustrated Mother Goose songbook that I copied onto fabric along with lots of playful cottons. Being musicians, naturally we want our grandchild to grow up surrounded by music.

We also want to be near to his/her heart! So in the lining I tucked my label and a photo of us.

Speaking of babies--today we unexpectedly added a new member to our animal family. More on that next!

Sunday Stills: Statues and Figurines

2010-08-29T19:37:00.000-05:00

When I was very young my father took up sculpting and made two statues which are sadly in dire need of repair. The geisha, plaster on a wire armature and light as a feather, has lost her head. The laughing Buddha, Hoi Toi, is solid concrete and has lost a foot. His patina is almost indistinguishable from that of the old cactus behind him. I keep telling myself one day I will fix them. And, one day, I will.

For more images of statues and figurines, visit Sunday Stills.

Sunday Stills: Metal

2010-08-22T08:59:00.002-05:00

Sprinkler detail, garden gate hinge at sunrise this morning, and a gate chain. I've been very busy and promise to post more come September!

For more metal images, visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: Clouds

2010-08-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

With luck we actually had some interesting cloud formations on Saturday. I decided to take a little artistic liberty on this challenge and process my cloud images with multiple filters.

Here's a bee's eye view of clouds from the prickly pear cactus in fruit and some dessicated Navajo tea flowers. I like how it looks other-worldly, like martians with antennae.

These two are of the clouds over the old historic school ruins as seen from our short grass prairie. I like how the black and white brings out the swirling of clouds in the first one. The second one de-emphasizes the clouds but I like the mysterious, ominous feeling in this one.

For more cloud images, visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: Grafitti

2010-08-01T00:07:00.005-05:00

Unfortunately for the past six weeks I've not felt up to blogging. I contracted some resistant sinus infection that led to bronchitis and asthma, but am finally on the mend.

I've also been without a working camera. I find it difficult to blog without photos! Mine decided not to turn on after eating two sets of batteries in 24 hours. So while I contemplate whether to repair or replace it, my friend Sara over at Punkin's Patch is loaning me her old Sony. I'll be picking that up at the PO on Monday! Yay!

So for this week's challenge I had to dig through the archives, back to our New Mexico trip last summer. Unexpectedly, this street art was not in a city, but on a wall around a farm in a rural area, which made it all the more interesting, showcased in nature rather than the competing hubris of a human constructed environment. I would have liked to have known more about it.

For more images of grafitti, visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: History

2010-06-27T14:05:00.000-05:00

Over Memorial weekend we attended the 65th--and only--class reunion of our ghost town's historic Rio Frio school, the ruins of which are next to our short grass prairie.

Laurie's Class of '39 ring

Although we don't own the school, the children--who often rode up to six miles alone--tied their horses to trees in our creek. The school also used our land for Easter egg hunts and as their dump; we find all kinds of interesting things when we dig around in our butterfly garden.

I am friends with many of the students, now in their late 70's and early 80's, who still live around here--Willis, Molly, DeLois, Lora B. My friend DeLois--who's pictured on the left--gave me some images taken around our property. The large wooden building in the background was the original school, and was torn down to build the final one. This is the wooden bridge that used to go over our creek. That would be our future property on the right, before the school.

Here it is today. The bridge is gone and large culverts have been installed, with reflectors warning of the steep drop off. You can see our circular drive entrances on the right. DeLois' dad owned the phone exchange and the road grading equipment. This was taken at the end of our future property.

Here's the same spot now. I am struck by how few trees there were back then, and how many we have now.

One new thing we learned was during the summers our place was used to show movies. Everybody came from miles around. A traveling family named Shultz used to set up a tent in the clearing where our house is now. Their little boy, Loyo in his homemade 'car' was photographed on the corner of our property. Behind him is the historic school, and Schoolhouse Mountain. To the left is the historic church, and to the right the school outhouses that either bordered or were on our short grass prairie.

Perhaps one of the greatest surprises was meeting George who lived in our house for 31 years. Our house is still known by his name. Here he is with his daughter.

We had been told he was dead. Not only that, we'd seen his headstone in the pioneer cemetery behind us. As it turns out that belongs to his father (whose front porch has become our greenhouse). George preached at the historic church on Sundays and ran the post office out of the front room in our house (now my art studio) during the week. I inquired about his wife Laurie (who was also rumored to be recently dead).

But we found her very much alive! It just goes to show you cannot believe everything you hear. She attended the historic school which only went to grade 11. But she loved school so much she convinced them to let her attend school one more year. Thus, she is the only student who attended for 12 years. The first photo is of her hand and class ring.

This is my friend Lora B. Her family built the historic church. She once made hats for Lady Bird Johnson, my former employer. She's traveled all over the world and is an excellent historian, storyteller, and writer. She served on the board that renovated the Alamo, and is active with the DAR and Rock Art Foundation. When I was still a visiting botanist to the area she put me up, several years before I would someday come to live in this small community.

Just 22 more years to go before our house might be known by our name. Until then, we'll still honor George.

Ruins of the school at sunrise taken from our short grass prairie

For more historical images, visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: Go Low Looking High

2010-06-20T09:02:00.000-05:00

Had a wonderful opportunity on Wednesday to take a shot from the Llano River looking up at sandstone bluffs, but not having a waterproof camera case and already slipping around trying to cross the river on foot I just didn't want to chance it. We all know I already had to bake my camera last year to get the moisture out and I didn't want to make a regular habit of it! As it was I took the camera with me on the kayak enveloped in three ziplock baggies. You can check those panoramic photos out in my previous blog post.

Purple Coneflowers at sunrise this morning

Looking through the patio table (too bad I didn't think to clean it first!)

Looking up through the Speckled Siberian tomatoes

View from our outdoor shower

For more views up, visit Sunday Stills!

Llano River trip

2010-06-18T12:16:00.002-05:00

It's been a long time since we kayaked. Last summer the Frio River dried up almost entirely, and it's still running too low for a trip without needing to portage over rocks. I don't like dragging a boat. On Wednesday the only central Texas river with enough flow was the Llano. Our friends Don and Pat went with us.

(Please click to biggify the images!)

Pat on the Llano

The adventure got off to a rough start. They got off late and by the time they arrived we had tied our boats on the car only to discover the kayak rack was about to come off and we couldn't find the key. So we had to throw our boats in with theirs in Don's truck which took some rearranging. The guys rode in the truck and us gals rode in my SUV.

After we got 15 miles out of town my check transmission light came on. Ugh! We decided to ditch my car back at their house and pick up Pat's car. Only we forgot their gate key. Fortunately someone else was leaving their subdivision when we arrived or it would have been a walk.

We transferred our gear into their car and met back up with the guys on the side of the road. That's when I realized I'd left the map to the put-in/take-out back in my car. I've done this run many times but not in about six years and it's all on little country roads not found on a highway map. We decided to go forth on my memory.

Which wasn't perfect. We tried a couple roads before it all came back to me. After launching around 2 p.m. the rest of the trip was wonderful!

Approaching the bluffs

The Llano in Mason is much wider than our river, and not as cold. You can jump in to swim without shrieking first. This five mile run was voted one of the top 20 most scenic paddles in Texas, and graced the cover of Texas Monthly. At 187 cfs it got a little thin in places and sticky on rocks but no portage was necessary. In the past I've run it more around 300 cfs. There are about five easy rapids you could almost run blindfolded. We did have a strong headwind for the first half of the trip but the weather was otherwise beautiful.

Farmer Rick looking great!

The main scenic feature is the sandstone bluffs where cliff swallows nest. The swallows were already gone, but we did see an awesome hawk, mostly light colored, catch something and take it to her nest on one of the ledges above.

A lovely place to relax and swim.

Don at the bluffs

It took us about 4-1/2 hours of paddling, and an hour of playing, but we got off the water in time to catch some Mexican food in town before heading back.

Good ol' Bassett

As we were leaving the take-out this old boy strolled out into the road and sat down so we had to stop. Don and Pat have five Bassett Hounds, so we took it as a good sign. He had a collar and a rabies tag, and probably belonged to one of the nearby ranch houses. His tongue was almost dragging the ground so we tried to convince him to drink some of our water and get out of the road, but upon seeing the truck he wanted to get in and go for a ride. We left him to carry on with his business of getting to where he was going, and got on with ours.

This was so fun we'll have to do it again soon!

Sunday Stills: Eyes

2010-06-13T00:05:00.004-05:00

OK, I'll admit this one is really more about mouths, since their eyes aren't quite open. But I thought you'd enjoy seeing who hatched out of my last Sunday Stills egg photo.

I'm still not sure what kind of birds these are. The mother is sparrow-like, kind of gray without much marking, no tuft. If I station myself out in the prairie perhaps I'll see more of her coming and going to feed this hungry brood. Too bad none of these are in very good focus.

I thought this butterfly with the big eye looked like part of the Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower) I found him on.

After several shots, I realized the butterfly had expired. The flower was looking like it was on the way out, too. Looks like a male Sleepy Orange, Eurema nicippe.

For more images of eyes, visit Sunday Stills!

Where Babies Come From

2010-06-12T09:22:00.001-05:00

This one is too good not to share. Used by permission from Doug Savage. Visit www.savagechickens.com for more of his funny cartoons.

I remember as a child asking my mother where babies come from and she got me a book about where hippopatamuses come from. I didn't make the connection, and I thought my mom was pretty stupid for not understanding my question. I stopped asking her important questions after that!

Sunday Stills: Black and White

2010-06-06T11:19:00.001-05:00

Skeleton Flower gone to seed in the Short Grass Prairie.

Down in the creek, now lush from the rains.

Bird's nest lined with wool.

For more black and white images, visit Sunday Stills!

Macro Monday: Borage of a different color

2010-05-31T09:41:00.001-05:00

This weekend I noticed that our Borage plants had pink and lavender (sort of the pink and blue mixed together to make it) flowers along with blue ones on the same plant. I have never seen anything but blue petals before. A quick Internet search showed that this does happen, but very infrequently. I kind of like it!

For more up close images, visit Macro Monday!

How to Afford Your Hobbies

2010-05-27T13:17:00.000-05:00

Like I needed one more, right? My friends were amazed when I announced I was becoming a beekeeper.

What, too bored with the garden? Not enough pets?

At a recent Beekeeper's Field Day, I learned how to make liquid soap using honey, oils, and lye. I decided I wanted to try this at home. Yes, a spin-off hobby already!

So needed to purchase a crock pot dedicated to soap making. While in the city yesterday, I was able to find a large one with two heat settings--exactly what I needed--at my favorite resale shop for just $4.

For decades I have been shopping at thrift stores. For one, I despise shopping malls, and most thrift stores support good causes--humane societies, battered women's shelters, schools for at-risk kids, AIDS hospices, etc.

I also have expensive tastes but relatively little to spend.

Even if I did, I would still shop this way because I like the treasure-hunt adventure of it. I can be frugal and stylish at the same time.

So yesterday, I scored on a summer wardrobe. Skirt, pants, two silk blouses, long-sleeved linen shirt, long and short dresses.

$12. Total. (About the same amount I just spent on an additional bee hive tool).

That's right. Pick yourself up off the floor. Twelve dollars! Throw in a $3 shirt (splurge!) for Farmer Rick (not pictured; he loved it so much he wore it to work today), and the aforementioned crock pot, I still had enough change left over from a $20 for a celebratory soda for the road home.

Now I don't feel so bad about what I do spend on beehives, garden seeds, books, and art supplies!

Welcome home bees!

2010-05-21T19:39:00.000-05:00

Wednesday afternoon I picked up my package of bees--3 lbs, 10,000 honeybees and one queen to be exact. It was a 600 mile round trip. A package is actually a wooden box with two screened sides and a can of sugar syrup hanging down the middle with access holes for sustenance. I misted them with sugar water a couple times along the way to keep them hydrated and busy cleaning themselves. Bees are very hygenic.

They were humming along in the back of the vehicle as I made up songs about bees and flowers and how they would love their new home, crooning to them for the first hour. They settled right down. Because I arrived home at 10 p.m. I could not install them until Thursday afternoon. Installing them late in the day gives them a chance to get to know their new home.

Bee boxes are filled with frames on which the bees will build honey comb, lay their brood, store nectar and pollen, among other things. Everything in a bee hive is built so that all gaps are the exact width of a bee (about 3/8"). This is called _bee space_. If something is too narrow they will glue it shut with propolis, a sticky substance they manufacture from plant resins, and if it is too wide they will fill it with wax comb.

The foundation inside the frame is preformed to the shape of the natural comb, which helps get the bees off to a good architectural start. Because of the extreme heat where I live I chose plastic foundation coated with wax, but some people choose a beeswax foundation. The black foundation also aids in looking into the combs and seeing if eggs are being laid, crucial to the survival of the colony, as worker bees only live about six weeks.

The exterior of the boxes were primed and painted to weather proof them. Light neutral colors are recommended. I chose a honey colored yellow.

We chose a site in the middle of our property with a cedar brake to the North for protection from the Winter winds, overlooking the wildflower meadow. The spot was mowed and leveled, and Farmer Rick built the hive stand from concrete blocks and rough cut cedar. There is enough space for several hives and equipment while working.

This is the view the bees have from their front door, with the mountain just peaking over the treeline.

This was all done prior to the bee's arrival. Yesterday I installed the bees, and Farmer Rick was brave enough to photograph the event!

First, the donning of protective gear. Did I mention wearing this suit is like having my own personal sauna? That is the smoker in the foreground. It was stoked with newspaper and wood shavings several times before a longer lasting cotton fuel made for bee smoking was added.

The smoke messes up the bees' sense of smell which confuses them, since they communicate through phermones. It also makes them think their hive is on fire and usually they will gorge themselves on honey to have the strength to swarm and and find a new place to live. Eating the honey also settles their nerves.

But note, there is no honey in the package. As I smoked them they got angry. You could hear them turn their buzzing up a couple notches. I waited a couple minutes and smoked them again. This time they were really mad! I considered postponing the installation but I really wanted to get them into their new home. Perhaps I should have sung to them instead!

Notice how they've moved from all over the screen to an angry tornado shaped mob! The first task is popping the staple holding the queen's cage, then covering that with a thumb, while turning the whole contraption upside down to raise the syrup can just enough to grab it and pull it out. I could have used a third hand to do this.

With a one inch drop of the box, bees fall to the bottom (theoretically), the can is quickly removed (you get a face full of unhappy bees), bees clinging to the queens cage are shaken or brushed off, and a piece of cardboard is placed over the hole and weighted down so the majority of bees don't leave.

There's a cork at the bottom of the queen's cage that must be taken out so that the bees can lick a piece of candy over the next few days to release her. This gives them time to get to know her as their queen, since they were shaken out of a hive with a different queen.

The queen's cage is installed between two frames, hung by it's original strap tacked down.

Now for the most strange part...the package is inverted and the bees are shaken into the hive. Shake, shake, shake!

Then, shake some more! You can see that most of them are going down into the frames like good bees. But some are truly pissed off and trying to attack!

After no more bees would let loose, I capped them with the top board. Notice the entrances are blocked with newspaper. The apiary suggested this for 24 hours, letting them get used to their new home for the night. However...

There were a number of bees--maybe 200--still refusing to leave the box.

This seemed like too large a number to sacrifice, so I unplugged the front door and propped the package up hoping they would find their way in.

This is what I found in the early morning: the stragglers had moved from inside the box into a huddle on the outside corner, but still had not entered! But by noon, they had all gone inside or elsewhere. I later unplugged the top entrance (under the roof) around 10:30 a.m. to help.

I watched the stragglers go in, and others come out doing the spiral dance to orient themselves before going out to scout. Housekeeping bees dragged dead bees out the front door and slid them off the landing. So, hopefully this was business as usual. I also noted the guard bees were doing their job, running me off several times!

Next I will wait a week before entering the hive again and looking to see that the queen has been released and is laying eggs. Stay tuned!

Sunday Stills: Wildflowers

2010-05-16T12:34:00.003-05:00

We've had plenty of rain this year--in contrast to last year's extreme drought--so the wildflowers have definitely been taking advantage of this!

Frio River with Mealy Blue Sage (click to biggify!)

It's nice to have water again in the river, too. We took our first swim and kayak trip last weekend. Ahhh....

Here are just a few of the many species of wildflowers blooming at our place right now. I've tried to include one of every color!

Blue Gilia

Pearl Milkweed Vine

Prickly Pear

Rosita

Illinois Bundleflower

Mexican Mallow

Prairie Verbena

Indian Blanket

Scarlet Penstemon

Here's a brief video taken in the short grass prairie through all the Englemann's Daisies. You can hear the White Wing Doves calling ('who cooks for you'), and Finley's baaahing at the end. I love it when there's mist on the mountain.

To see all the wildflowers at our place, take the Folia flowerweaver link and scroll down to 'gardens', then click on the Shortgrass Prairie, Wildflower Meadow, and Juniper and Oak Savanna garden listings to see all the wildflower photos.

For more flower/wildflower images from all over the world, visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: The Letter B

2010-05-09T22:41:00.002-05:00

Well, I've haven't found much time for blogging lately--my time has not been my own. As one friend said, April was kind of Medical Month for us, on top of the big annual push to get the Spring gardens in. I've also continued to substitute teach almost daily for the school since Farmer Rick returned, on top of my own private guitar students and advertising clients. My life is the picture of busy.

Right now every inch of our property is covered in wildflowers. The Bluebonnets have been spectacular!

Next week I will be traveling 600 miles round trip to pick up my honey bees. My hive kit arrived today and my bee suit arrived last week. With temperatures already ranging into the 90's it will be more like my personal sauna!

I'll be painting the hive boxes this week and getting everything set up for my 10,000 new pets. Not that there wasn't enough to do around here already!

For more on the Letter B visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: In a Jam !

2010-04-18T12:02:00.001-05:00

Farmer Rick has been recuperating nicely from his surgery, and the pathology report confirmed that the cancer was removed with a safe margin, so no other treatment will be necessary. This is a huge relief to us! Last week I was his substitute, teaching music and theater to 200 kids on top of my own private students and doing both our farm chores! I will continue doing this until he feels well enough to return, hopefully sometime next week.

For this week's Sunday Stills, Ed gave us a 'potluck' choice on the imagery for the challenge, and, of course, something presented itself first thing this morning. (And, it also makes up for my absence in last week's Hands challenge!)

I found this female hummingbird quite literally stuck in a jam--the grape jelly that goes on the new Oriole feeder for our orange feathered friends!

You can see all the breast feathers she left behind trying to wiggle out of the stuff. Poor thing, probably spent the night stuck in the jam. She was weakened and shivering when I found her, almost limp in my hand. After a rinse off and towel dry at the kitchen sink, I knew she needed some food right away. I have helped with several hummingbird banding projects locally, and my job has always been to feed and release them, so I'm a pro at this part! Fill 'er up!

The other hummingbirds didn't seem to mind. Maybe they even understood I was helping out.

Thank you for my new feeder, and removing whatever that was stuck in my grape jelly!

No problem, really.

The Hooded Oriole pair showed up about two days ago and I had their feeder waiting. The last two years I modified a regular hummingbird feeder to fit their beaks. This was taken right after extracting the little hummer.

For more potluck images visit Sunday Stills!

Saint Patrick's Day performance photos

2010-03-29T17:38:00.002-06:00

These photos just in from our Irish music concert at the St. Patrick's Day dinner benefiting our local library.

This little guitar is a full-size electric classical minus the body. I tuned it to Open F (not a usual tuning) so Farmer Rick could sing Arthur McBride and still hit the high notes. If you google Paul Brady in the 1970's doing this song you will hear what we played. (Only he does it in Open G tuning).

Irish music is usually about lost love, or drinking. I like the slow, serious ones.

Farmer Rick likes the fast, silly ones.

But most of all, we love harmonizing and making music together for a good cause.

Macro Monday: Turtle

2010-03-29T07:38:00.000-06:00

In the decade of living here, we have never before seen a turtle on the property. Living near the river it is not an unlikely inhabitant, but unexpected all the same. (Maybe it came over from our neighbor's pond, as all their ducks seem to have taken up residence in my front yard.) Cody--who made the discovery yesterday afternoon--was very wary of this unusual being. I'm not sure why the turtle was against the fence, but obviously that was not a good decision.

I will have to look it up for identification, as I'm not familiar with native turtle species. It could very well be someone's released exotic pet, too. The chickens were certainly keeping a wide berth!

Enlarged, I could see myself reflected in the turtle's very blue eye!

After a few photos, I relocated it farther away from the backyard, down in the creek. It would be nice to have a resident turtle.

For more macro images, visit Macro Monday!

Sunday Stills: A Day in the Life...

2010-03-28T09:04:00.000-06:00

This week our host Ed has asked us to choose just four images from a typical day in our lives. Once every 3 weeks I must make the trek into the big city for everything we might need (and then some).

I am one of those people who has an SUV because I need it. Just to get out of my place I have to drive through the river which (at least in years not following a severe drought) usually flows across the low water crossing about 4 inches deep. I cross my river again (on a bridge), and then another river six times (the highway department is replacing those one car wide crossings with two lane bridges now). I can pack every inch, and my kayak racks allow me to tie larger stuff on top. I love my car.

Going to town often means more than a dozen stops, but Friday I only squeezed in eleven. Texaco (gasoline, coffee, giving directions to a visitor), cafe (veggie sandwich for lunch), thrift store (work shirts for both of us), birding store (oriole feeder), ranch store (chicken feed, scratch, hay, and bedding), garden center (potting soil, strawberry plants and petunias), book store (art magazines), beverage store (vodka, spicy bloody mary mix sans anchovies), pet store (dog food, cat toys), pharmacy, and grocery store. All the frozen and cold food is bagged in freezer bags to keep them from spoiling on the long drive home.

If I had only been more expedient, there might have been hardware or lumber tied on top and my toenails might have been sporting a spring color (to hide the gardening dirt). I took this at my last stop, as I would not be getting home until well after dark.

The road is long and winding through the hills, much of it directly into the Western sun. The radio is too fuzzy to listen to anything and there is no cell phone service. I might not pass another vehicle in over an hour. The windshield is splattered with unfortunate insects, and pocked by rocks.

The sun goes down and I'm still driving. At home we pop a frozen pizza in the oven and Farmer Rick helps me unload. I am exhausted, but at least I don't have to do it again for a while!

For more days of other lives, visit Sunday Stills!

Macro Monday: Paved with gold

2010-03-22T14:47:00.001-06:00

When I returned home from my quilting adventure, the short grass prairie was awash in the yellow of Englemann's Bladderpod, Lesquerella engelmannii. After two drought-stricken years it was nice to see the wildflowers making a recovery. Intending to take a macro, I captured the sunrise first.

Each year one species outshines the others in sheer quantity. This seems to be the Year of the Bladderpod (so far). There are still about seventy species yet to come! Better hurry up and order my bees!

Even the mowed paths around the wildflower meadow and through the Juniper and Oak savanna seem to be paved with gold where this flower has taken up residence. That's part of the magic of this place.

For more up close shots visit Macro Monday!

Sunday Stills: The Color Orange

2010-03-21T11:22:00.002-06:00

Friday afternoon I had the pleasure of showing my fiber art instructor for the week, Jeannette DiNicolis Meyer, around San Antonio. She was going to have an awfully long wait at the airport and it seemed only right she experience the lovely Riverwalk and visit the Alamo before flying back to Oregon.

Kudos to her patience; I'm afraid she had to experience my asymptotical* way of finding things while driving--by using the direction of the sun and general orientation to the plaza tower rather than a map. Then there was finding parking during the congested spring break (and, of course, remembering where we left the car) and navigating the paths and bridges below street level along the river. We did pretty well.

* approaching ever nearer but never quite arriving at the destination. New word courtesy Jeannette's husband.

Oddly, we saw a front end loader hauling structural debris out of this building with the bright orange dumpster. It was nice to see so many downtown buildings being remodeled.

This cafe on the river had their orange umbrellas up.

Some orange-ish stone steps across the river. Artistic detail abounds on the Riverwalk.

Someone was wearing orange, perhaps unknowingly complementing the sky. Jeannette is in the foreground. The Alamo is always smaller than one thinks it might be, perhaps because its legend is larger than life. Many do not realize the majority of the men who died here were mercenaries from other states and countries. I always wonder--once they knew they were so greatly outnumbered and no back up troops would arrive--why they did not leave when given the opportunity. It must have been a guy thing. Farmer Rick's burning question about the Alamo? What was the last tune Davy Crockett played on his fiddle before the siege.

I just want to say what an awesome teacher Jeannette is, and I hope you will explore her work and her book Speaking in Cloth: 6 Quilters 6 Voices. The above quilt is from her Storylines series, and below from her Self Portrait series. She hand dyes her fabric to produce these gorgeous colors.

I also had the great opportunity to meet many other talented art quilters taking the workshop who gave me additional inspiration and suggestions. To everyone--a great big thanks!!!

For more images of the color Orange, visit Sunday Stills!

Transformation of an Idea

2010-03-18T21:36:00.001-06:00

Last night I stayed very late to finish piecing and sewing the background so that the next layer could be created today. Each piece was seamed to the next, which took lots of easing with the curves. I also learned that you can't cut all the pieces out first because the pieced curves change with the loss of seams. Jeanette told me and demonstrated this but it didn't sink in until I was actually doing it. So there was a little adjusting as I went along and learning through doing.

I started this morning by creating a strip of punchy fabrics to represent the curving plant stem of my original idea. The striped fabric helps define the new element as plant, I think.

My tendency is to make art more complex than it needs to be, and my goal in taking this workshop was to simplify my ideas--to learn how much could be removed without losing the design idea. After laying in the curved strip, I realized I had achieved abstraction, and instead of endeavoring to make the quilt look just like my design, let it take on a life of its own.

Here I've added another branch to what's beginning to look like a desert tree or Saguaro. Since I've traveled the desert Southwest, I feel comfortable with this transformation. My next step will be to hand applique this to the base before quilting and adding decorative hand stitches.

In the morning we will have a critique before we all disband.

Layout and Fabric Selection

2010-03-17T22:32:00.001-06:00

Today Jeannette gave a demonstration on piecing curves, which is very applicable to my quilt idea. Her curving strips which she calls 'story lines' flow and intertwine across her quilts. This morning I laid out the basic background shapes on paper and chose my base fabrics.

This afternoon I cut out the base pieces and began sewing them together. Tomorrow I hope to get to the next layer of imagery that will go on top of this. I'm feeling better now about my start.

The First Two Days: Preliminary Exercises

2010-03-17T07:16:00.004-06:00

We have spent the first two days going over design principles--I suppose it is good to have a refresher every couple decades! In the exercises we have produced individual black and white fabric studies. I was unhappy with my first set, which were way too predictable and boring. The second set turned out much more pleasing.

While many of the quilters here are retired and have more control of their time, in my daily life I rarely have a 45 minute stretch of time in which I am not interrupted by something or someone. Half of the workshop is over, and we have not yet begun the ideas we were asked to bring. I am feeling a bit frustrated with my time so compressed, just like I do in my daily life. This is teaching me that making time for my art is an issue I really must address.

This morning there are more exercises planned, but I'm going to begin my piece. I need to do this for my own sanity and I will ask Jeannette for some guidance in interpreting my idea in fabric. Abstraction is really new territory for me.

Sunday Stills: Sunrise and a Sneak Preview

2010-03-14T09:34:00.003-06:00

Taken this morning, a quilt-batting sky indicating some precipitation is on its way.

Ball Moss backlit by the sunrise.

Sunrise through pomegranate petals.

I'm leaving today for another week-long quilting adventure, this year with Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer in a class called Elements of Style described as Intermediate Adventurous. We were asked to bring an idea or sketch of the quilt on which we'd like to work. Since the instructor's forte is abstract art quilting, I thought I might try to interpret my more realistic style in an abstract way. About the only way I can express abstraction is through my photography. So, I composited my photos of a shadow on the wall, the parasitic plant in the river, the colors in my new bedroom rugs, and a woodcut of plant into my final, abstract idea.

Perhaps some portion of this will emerge into an art quilt wall hanging? I will be blogging daily about the process, so stay tuned!

For more Sunrise/Sunsets, visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: Numbers

2010-03-07T04:38:00.000-06:00

Some egg customers came today and while we were chatting said they had never seen a baby walking stick before. They were staring right at me, and it seemed non sequitur. I said I had never seen a baby one before either, why do you bring this up? Because there was one walking on me! So I grabbed the camera and took this shot, realizing later it would count as a numbers shot. I think it's cool how you can see my other hand and camera reflected in the watch band.

After the photoshoot, I had her sign a model release form, then released her safely into the flowerbed.

For more numbers shots visit Sunday Stills!

Macro Monday: Dinosaur Kale

2010-03-01T10:19:00.000-06:00

There's a light rain this morning forming little ponds in the centers of the dinosaur kale. They are two years old and about to bloom; new ones are being propagated as replacements.

Farmer Rick and I finally planted the grape vine this weekend we've held captive in a pot for four years. We've had a difficult time deciding where to plant it as it will require building an arbor, and those tend to be focal points in any garden. It continues to amaze us with new shoots each year, waiting for us to get it together. So we chose a sunny spot in the short grass prairie, overlooking our sky chairs and pond.

As soon as we got it planted, we came in the house and found out our son and his wife are expecting their first child! So it was a momentous weekend! Happy March everyone!

For more close up images visit Macro Monday!

Sunday Stills: Fruit

2010-02-28T07:09:00.000-06:00

Most people think of the tomato as a vegetable, but technically it's a fruit.

Rich in lycopene, a phytonutrient, the tomato has the ability to help protect cells and other structures in the body from oxygen damage. Lycopene has been repeatedly studied in humans and found to be protective against a growing list of cancers.

This year I've propagated over 150 tomato plants of 31 different heirloom varieties. Heirloom tomatoes have been handed down over many generations and come from many different countries in all shapes, colors, sizes, and flavors. They are superior in every way to the run-of-the-mill, store-bought tomato which has been developed by scientists for ease of packaging and longer shelf-life without consideration of taste.

Just say no and grow your own! For more images of fruit, visit Sunday Stills!

Snow!

2010-02-23T14:31:00.001-06:00

Finley gives the snow a ~~thumbs~~ hoof up. (Have your sound turned on).

Macro Monday: Water...at last!

2010-02-22T10:48:00.002-06:00

While the rest of the U.S. has been enduring an unusual winter, we've actually been back to what we consider normal--a couple of days of gentle rains in the 40's followed by a sunny day in the 60's but freezing at night, then the cycle repeats.

Yesterday it felt like the first day of spring! Farmer Rick and I spent the day gardening in t-shirts! The asparagus also thinks it is spring. They are predicting 2 inches of snow tomorrow. That's just how weird our weather can be.

But the most amazing news I want to share is our well is now topping off at 5'9" of WATER which means: I am now able to once again run the washing machine and dishwasher! I have not been able to do this in NINE MONTHS. If you are new to my blog, we have just endured the driest, hottest year on record and our well was entirely without water for four months, and has been limping along ever since. I will never take turning on the faucet and water coming out for granted. If you want to see what it looked like empty check out this post

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Here's some highly aerated water down at the river, and a couple of riffles.

Suddenly it comes back to me why I live here!

Just listen to the river sing:

For more up close images, visit Macro Monday!

Sunday Stills: The Letter G

2010-02-21T12:03:00.000-06:00

Many people out in the blogosphere know me as an artist, photographer, botanist, and the crazy chicken lady. But there's another big side to my life I don't tend to blog about: I am an accomplished guitarist and I teach a handful of students every week. I studied at the college level with Javier Calderon, one of Segovia's students. Farmer Rick and I do a couple of benefit concerts each year as fundraisers for our local library.

So for today's challenge I bring you the Guitar!

The sound hole of a classical guitar is traditionally encircled with a rosette.

On closer inspection it is a mosaic comprised of thousands of independent flakes of colored wood veneer precisely cut and glued into an intricate design pattern. Since it is done by hand it is one of the most time-consuming parts of building a guitar and is often considered the luthier's signature.

I like how the tree above is reflected in the face of the guitar. It feels like the first real day of spring here, so I'm out the door to enjoy some gardening!

For more on the letter G, visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: Valentines

2010-02-14T05:47:00.001-06:00

Sending all my friends in blogland this image of one of my favorite vintage Valentines! This holiday is special to me, as it was on Valentines Day that Farmer Rick proposed.

We have been in San Antonio this week, down on the lovely Riverwalk, attending the state's Music Educators convention. The Riverwalk is the most romantic place in Texas and a good place to do photography.

Everywhere you turn there is something to delight the senses--textures, colors, sounds.

We stayed in a historic district a brief walk away from the convention center. Although we were in the newer part of the hotel, there was an old-world feel to the room. We only wish the lighting had been more suitable to reading!

There are many restaurants along the Riverwalk, and in better weather you can sit outside along the water. The food at most of them is mediocre at best, but you cannot surpass the view.

From our window we could see the Tower of the Americas built for Hemisfair 1968. Somewhere in that plaza my great-grandfather's house once stood. It rained the first day and a half, but Saturday the sun came out and it was a cheerful place.

When you are down along the Riverwalk you become oblivious to the traffic above at street level.

There are little pocket parks, paths, fountains, and art.

This statue is of Saint Anthony, for which the town gets its name.

Artistic detail abounds.

There are many foot bridges to get you from one side to the other without ever having to rejoin the hectic world at street level.

Usually there are more flowers this time of year, but even San Antonio has been having a colder winter than expected.

If you get tired of walking, you can always take a river taxi!

The convention center had a magnificent landscape joining into the Riverwalk.

The landscape architect obviously spent much time studying rocks and waterfalls in nature to be able to design such a pleasant space.

I'd definitely like to come back in a few months when the plants leaf out and the flowers bloom.

It is amazing something that mimics the beauty of where I live could be forged out of concrete in the heart of the city.

For more Valentines, visit Sunday Stills!

Spring has sprung!

2010-02-05T19:45:00.001-06:00

One of the benefits of living in the southwest is that while the rest of the U.S. is still entrenched in snow, ice, and mud we are among the first to bid good-bye to winter. Our part of Texas only has two seasons: Summer and January!

It's always exciting in February when suddenly, nestled in the tall, expired grasses, these beauties pop up. They would be our equivalent of seeing the northern crocuses popping through the snow. Wind Flower, or Anemone heterophylla, comes in shades of white, pink, lavender, and blue. Interestingly it has no petals; it is the petal-like sepals that show the colors!

And in the vegetable garden last season's Collards--left to go to seed so that I can collect them--have begun to flower. The local bees have discovered them and I have been giving what's left of the leaves as treats to the chickens.

I am so happy to see the first signs of spring! sigh

Macro Monday: Earrings for a friend

2010-02-01T09:49:00.000-06:00

I'm almost ready (finally!) to launch my Etsy.com shop. Life certainly has had a way of interfering. I'm off to the big city for a few days to get some dental work done from a 'chewing accident' and taking these earrings I made as a gift to a friend who wanted something in turquoise.

For more macro imagery, visit Macro Monday!

Sunday Stills: Textures

2010-01-31T10:18:00.000-06:00

Back in July of 2009, my Sunday Stills textures featured our parched landscape. This morning it is so cold I knew any texture I photographed would be indoors! So I headed to my art studio where there is always cheerful texture and color. Here is a hand embellished sheer fabric and some woven trim

For more textures, visit Sunday Stills!

Macro Monday: Garden Memento

2010-01-18T01:05:00.002-06:00

This weekend I cut the asparagus patch back to the ground, and fondly came across some bits of Phoebe's wool stuck to the seed pod of this Thornapple, Datura metel.

I love this one because you can see the garden gate, which is in my header. We are still having 'fall color' with the blackberry canes on the bottom left.

I need to cut this plant back, too. Perhaps I will bring the dried stems in with the wool and place them with Avo's feathers.

For more up-close and personal photography, visit Macro Monday.

Sunday Stills: Moods and Emotions

2010-01-17T10:04:00.000-06:00

This week's Sunday Stills challenge was to take a photo that evoked a mood or emotion from the viewer.

This photo was taken by Farmer Rick one morning last week when it was an unseasonable 9 degrees, a temperature with which our heat pump could not keep up. I am sitting over a small radiant oil heater at my computer with not only the usual calico cat in my lap, Topaz, but also Starley the terrier who decided to join us. He is very good at the poor, pitiful me look. She is tolerating the invasion of her lap only because of the extra BTU's, I'm sure!

For more emotional photography, visit Sunday Stills.

Macro Monday: Best Shots of 2009

2010-01-11T17:25:00.000-06:00

Since we just did our favorite Sunday Stills shots, I thought I'd pick my two best 2009 macro shots from Macro Monday.

This Mottled Tortise Beetle, Deloyala guttata, shot back in September is something I'd never seen before. It's always cool when nature can surprise you in your own backyard. I am still amazed by the 'windshields' of its wings and the metallic designs. I love the textures and details of these.

There are more than 800,000 species of insects on Earth--more than all the other plants and animals combined. Of this great number of insects, nearly half are beetles. When naturalist and entymologist E.O Wilson was once asked what he knew about God, he answered the only thing he knew was that God was inordinately fond of beetles.

My second favorite was this Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor, photographed in November. There is nothing in our landscape so stunning as the blue of this butterfly.

Probably the best thing about these shots were being in the right place at the right moment and having the camera with me!

Visit Macro Monday for more up-close images!

Sunday Stills: My Best Shots of Sunday Stills 2009

2010-01-10T05:00:00.000-06:00

Our assignment was to pick our two most favorite Sunday Stills photos from 2009 and tell what we like about them. I have chosen two very different kinds of images.

The first one, from May, was about the Color Yellow. Here Dodder, a stringy, yellow plant, floats in the river reflecting the storm above. (That black blob at the bottom may even be my reflection).

Looking back, it almost seems portentous: this might have been the last rain and river flow before our horrendous drought, the worst in recorded history, and the most predominant thing filling the river was this parasitic plant. I have never seen so much of it.

What I like about this shot is the abstract composition, layered depths of field, and emotional moodiness. It is at once mysterious yet accessible--you know what it is but you really aren't sure what it is. It reminds me of the Japanese Ukiyo-E "pictures of a floating world" style of woodblock prints.

The second photo was from October, the Letter C, of my chicken and cardigan. I love this photo for sentimental reasons--I would never have guessed at the time Avo, my favorite rooster would be gone in a couple months. He was always willing to pose and I only recently realized images of him fill about 25% of my archive.

Photographically it has wonderful color and detail from natural lighting--the eye shine is there and the comb almost glows and just enough blur for the cardigan to be a cardigan without competing with the main subject. I could have made this happen in Photoshop, but effortlessly it was taken in one clean shot without any post-production. Although I love Photoshop, my life would be a lot easier if I could take a better shot to begin with.

I think the eight months I have participated in Sunday Stills has helped me improve in how I think about, compose, and display my photography. Thanks for the opportunity Ed!

For more best shots visit Sunday Stills!

Project Runway

2010-01-07T22:29:00.001-06:00

Over the last two weeks Muffin the Faverolle has been recuperating in my studio from a large gash on her side. After the first week it looked solid enough I slathered her with Peck No More and put her back in the coop. In less than one minute the roosters had cornered her and the gash was reopened. Little Bitty Bird, the smallest of the Buff Laced Polands, was also showing wear from the rooster treading and I didn't want her gashed, too. A solution was in order.

Rooster treading on Little Bitty Bird

I called Hensavers. (Actually I googled them). I'd seen their nifty little product advertised in my poultry magazines and thought maybe it was time to get a couple of outfits. I ordered two of them in cammo green Sunday night and they arrived yesterday.

I chose the single strap model with the attached shoulder protector.

The straps fit over the chicken's wings like a backpack, and another around the neck. This morning I dressed the girls.

They seem to fit very well. Little Bitty Bird took to hers right away. The boys could not figure out how to mount her and she seemed pleased. The other hens looked envious.

Whatcha staring at? Haven't you ever seen haute couture before?

Muffin, however had a harder time adjusting to her new outfit.

This was not entirely unexpected, as one of the FAQs on the Hensaver website was "How long will my chicken walk backwards?" Sort of looks like a moonwalk to me!

Macro Monday: Historic Math and Geometry

2010-01-04T10:57:00.000-06:00

On Sunday one of our neighbors kindly gave us a tour of the pioneer ruins at his place, once owned by Theophilus Watkins, the man who founded our little town in 1867. The Watkins house was very interesting, and I'll post about that later this week.

What really intrigued me though was a crumbling outlying structure that pre-dates the house and town. I think macro photographers notice details other people tend to miss. Our friend had never noticed the date, math or geometry I instantly saw.

1851 carved into the west side mortar was hidden in the shadow of a more recent Hackberry tree growing very close to the building.

There was also a Natal Star, or Star of Bethlehem carved into this wall.

This was found on the north wall. Who was LAR + FT? These are not the initials of the Watkins'. Were these the initials of the first pioneers who constructed this building? Could it have been the blacksmith Mr. Roberts that had a blacksmith shop on our property?

Inside, someone was very preoccupied with math.

What was being counted, each number so close in value to the next?

And what was being tallied?

Here you can see the remains of a metal stove pipe sticking out, which tells me this was inhabited and not originally built as a barn. The second floor was sided in cypress shingles, and the walls made of dry stacked limestone covered with mortar. Some of the holes look like they were made by bullets.

The central part of this wall is gone, exposing some vertical beams. I'm thinking it was a 'dog run' style building as is often found in early Texas settlements, later the middle part enclosed for other use.

Just as predicted in a dog run cabin, there were rooms to the left and right with their own thick entrance portals.

The roof rafters were hand-hewn and you can still see the juniper bark attached.

If only these old walls could speak! For more up-close and personal photography, visit Macro Monday!

Sunday Stills: Food

2010-01-03T10:58:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year everyone!

This year is going to be about identifying problems and finding efficient solutions. Not surprisingly, some of my 2010 goals are organization and follow-through. For the last five years my large book collection has been cataloged and shelved in Library of Congress order. I have no trouble finding my books.

However chaos still reigns wherever there is no system in place, or the system fails from lack of follow-through. If something has a place and you are not inclined to put it there, the system is probably too complex or at least not convenient enough. One of these failed systems was our spices.

Growing up the food we ate was exceedingly bland because my mother, who had lived through the Great Depression, thought the handful of spices we owned were so expensive we must use them sparingly. As we saved them for special occasions, they lost their potency. I did not enjoy eating and couldn't fathom why most people thought it was so pleasurable. When processed mixes like Hamburger Helper and Shake 'N Bake came out I thought they were a godsend!

As an adult--and nearly a life-long vegetarian--I use a wide array of spices in my daily cooking. I had successfully kept the store bought jars in alphabetical order on two lazy susans on a shelf in the pantry until I got married. Since we hang out together when we cook, in our narrow kitchen this always required one of us to move out of the way to get into the pantry, which is at the other end, the farthest from the stove. Spices might accumulate next to the stove, or if they did make it back to their place might not end up in the right order depending on who was chef. We would end up buying duplicates (and sometimes triplicates!) because the original one could not be located.

So for Christmas, a new solution: magnetic canisters from Concept Kitchen stuck to the side of the refrigerator.

I printed labels on magnetic paper from the office supply store. The canisters have both a sprinkle and pour mode, or you can just take off the lid and use a spoon which actually fits inside. They are within easy reach of the stove and there's no doubt where they go. This has opened up a shelf to house other foods that had once cluttered the counters. So far I'm pleased with how the system is working.

What organizational challenges are you planning to tackle this year? For more food photos, visit Sunday Stills.

Out with the Old

2010-01-02T15:46:00.000-06:00

2009 was a frustrating and sad year for so many people, I know many of us are happy to see it in the rear view mirror, a disappearing speck on the horizon. Authorities have it that we should all study history, lest we become doomed to repeat it, so before ushering in the New, I am taking a parting glimpse at the Old.

Spring was lost to illness from taking rabies shots. Nearly a year later, and after a recent subrogation interview assuring Blue Cross I did not ask the fox for his insurance card, they have decided to cover little more than half of the exorbitant cost of the vaccines for something known to be 100% fatal. We send them hundreds of dollars each month for "health insurance". A perfect example of a failed health care system.

Lesson learned: Always carry gloves. Note to self: Contact the Texas Board of Insurance.

Summer broke all records for drought and heat and saw both the river and our well run dry. This took its toll on us psychologically--the lack of something so precious we had not even realized we'd taken for granted--and physically--from hauling tons of water, 5 gallon 40 lb buckets at a time.

Lesson learned: Never take any of life's conveniences for granted and be prepared to live without them. Ditch your old toilet--a low flush toilet not only helps save the planet, a 10 lb flush vs a 40 lb flush will also save your back. Note to self: Start planning a rainwater harvesting system.

Fall and winter brought the general downfall of the plumbing infrastructure of our 80 year old house and loss of many beloved pets. Nothing like living in a paradox where you have very little water, but what there is seems to be leaking all over the place. We said farewell to Hawk Girl, Rooster-O, Phoebe, Avo from a tragedy that could have been averted had I only listened to that little voice, Zoe, and even the tenacious Captain Ahab our special needs RIR rooster 'added for warmth' with a broken leg from the hatchery, who mysteriously passed this New Year's Eve.

Lesson learned: Always, always listen to your intuition. Note to self: House wiring is just as old. Best time to replace is before the fire.

Hoping everyone had a safe and fun New Year's Eve. Wishing everyone a fabulous 2010!

Want

2009-12-23T17:42:00.001-06:00

It's been over two weeks now since Avo's untimely death and I have been distracted by handymen replacing our crumbling and clogged 80 year old pipes. I decided to buck up this afternoon and go out to the sheep pen and visit Finley.

He was very stiff in stance and looked older, less innocent. A small trickle of blood was coming down one of his horns which appeared to have a small puncture wound, like maybe he butted his head against a nail...or perhaps it was part of the unfortunate scenario. (Later Rick and I flushed it out. He had noticed it, but badly needing new glasses, thought it was just a glump of dirt).

I went to the shed and began picking up feathers, making a little bouquet in my hand, tears streaming down my face. As it started to come together and look like a familiar chicken Finley came over. I held it out to him and he sniffed it. Then he lowered his head and used his hoof to make the 'I want' sign and I started weeping.

I want him back, too, Finley.

So whatever happened involving the sheep that ended the life we knew as Avo it was very clear Finley was missing him, too.

Until Death Do Us Part | Part Two

2009-12-08T19:23:00.000-06:00

After coming home from judging UIL Storytelling this evening I found Avo's crumpled and muddy body next to the sheep shed. It appears he was stomped to death by Finley. I had noticed a little aggression recently and the thought that this could happen even briefly ran through my head this morning.

But they had lived together for three years since Finley's birth, and just the other day on our walk Finley was concerned his chicken had fallen behind. I cannot claim to know what goes on in the sheep mind. Avo could fly up and out of the pen if he needed to I told myself. He did it all the time. I wish I had listened to that little voice. I even had the thought since Phoebe's passing that maybe it was time for Avo to live with his own feathered people again. Take up with a nice Ameraucana hen.

Avo is in my blog mast head, and in my lap on the holiday cards yet to print. The card that won't get printed now. He's all over my blog as he loved to be photographed. So much for our peaceable kingdom. I can hardly bear the heaviness this season has already brought. He was the best chicken, and will be in my heart forever. There will never be another chicken like him. I knew this day would be hard, but I never knew it would come so soon or by the hoof of another loved one. I feel like it was my fault for not listening to my intuition. This is a tough one. We just buried him on top of his beloved Phoebe.

I'm going to take a break from blogging for a while.

Macro Monday: Bird Button #3

2009-12-07T10:51:00.000-06:00

Thanks for all the kind (and funny!) comments last week regarding the baking of my camera. It certainly was one of those 'gotta laugh to keep from crying' incidences, of which there seem to be many around here. After a cozy night by the fire I am happy to report that Camera is back to normal. Let's just hope none of you will ever need the recipe!

I am not sure what draws me to birds, but there has always been an undeniable connection of the heart. I love bird imagery almost as much, and buttons are easy to collect. The subtle, tinted patina on this one is sublime!

When I was a child my Ruthenian grandmother sent me a pet canary. As I grew up it was followed by a long line of parakeets I hand tamed and dearly loved. As a younger woman I briefly owned a sun conure which terrorized visitors and my other pets, and sadly has been the only animal I've ever had to give away. I did not realize parrots bonded with you like a mate and were extremely jealous of all other beings.

For nearly a decade I organized a national nature festival with a very large birding component. As a botanist I don't own fancy binoculars or keep a life list (too competitive) although I am aware of what birds I've seen and haven't yet seen. I don't travel to exotic places just to add their numbers. Instead I keenly observe those around me and learn their songs, feed them and watch them build their nests in my trees. I would probably photograph them if I had the right lenses.

Still, they figure predominantly in all my artistic endeavors: hand painted scarves, paintings, jewelry, even the advertisements I design for my clients. And, of course, there is my love of chickens!

For more up close and personal views from around the world visit Macro Monday!

Sunday Stills: Pets

2009-12-05T22:09:00.001-06:00

Happy anniversary Sunday Stills! This week's theme of pets coincides nicely with the designing our holiday greeting card. I've always loved the hand painted cards over at Punkin's Patch showing each of the farm animals and pets and wondered if someday I might do something like that photographically. Only our animals don't tend to get along with each other that well.

So, today I made the attempt. Using our well house as a backdrop and setting up the camera with a time delay on a tripod, I took multiple exposures of the various animals one at a time with us and then I used Photoshop to collage them together. Don't we look like the peaceable kingdom!

Click to biggify!

Pictured (L-R) are: Wilson, Finley, Topaz, Me with Avo, Starley, Farmer Rick with Millicent, Francisco and Cody. These are the main characters of my blog. We are only missing the other 49 chickens and a couple of wayward kittens. You can even read the label on the pitchfork: Ranch Hand. Sort of a twist on American Gothic.

For more pet pictures visit Sunday Stills!

Infrared Chickens

2009-12-05T21:06:00.001-06:00

Doesn't Otto look mad?

Winter came yesterday bringing us a handful of tiny snowflakes, and temperatures that dipped to 17 degrees last night. That probably doesn't sound that cold to many of you--but remember we spent a summer with three months above 106 degrees, and just a few days ago we were running around in t-shirts and sandals. So for us--and our animals--we might as well be on the Arctic tundra when it gets like this.

We use a small electric heater in our original chicken coop when it gets below freezing, but since there is no electricity across the creek we had to run an electric cord and infrared lamp that kept them at only 27 degrees. This produced an eerie, red glow in the woods coming from the new coop. The chickens looked put-off when I pulled out the camera, as if to say 'this is not a Kodak moment!' Just look at Otto's expression! (And yes, I remembered to bring the camera back with me this time).

We weren't much better off in the cold. Our old farmhouse is about one third single pane glass making it very cold and drafty, and in this kind of weather our heat pump struggles to keep us around 50-60 degrees. So we built a fire in the fireplace and broke out the new heated mattress pad. It seems to be baking us on the lowest setting and I woke up thirsty in the night. Can't imagine using it on a high setting, unless my camera needed it!

Today most of the remaining leaves--seemingly caught unaware--fell off the trees leaving circles of colors around their feet. We took photos for our holiday cards, and I'll be sharing that with you in tomorrow's post, since it's all about our pets and fits nicely with the theme for Sunday Stills.

Macro Monday: Recipe: How to Bake a Camera

2009-11-30T14:31:00.003-06:00

To my absolute horror--the nightmare on Ranch Road--this morning I discovered I'd left the camera outside overnight, and--in this land of so little rain--it had rained! (Guess the bets are off on which part of my body will conk out first!) I brought it in, toweled it dry, changed the batteries and took this picture. Let's call this one BO (Before Oven). Looks like a macro of a cloud.

I was crushed! How would I ever explain to Farmer Rick--now that I have gutted our main bathroom and uncovered unsightly, secret, chaotically wired chambers--I would rather have another camera instead and just finish the bathroom project in, say, 2011? That would only be a tiny inconvenience, right? Right? No, that would never do. Not when I'm the one always harping about follow through, like I had it tattooed across my...well you get the picture, no pun intended.

So, I googled 'what to do if your camera got left out in the rain', and I came across someone who said they actually baked their Canon Rebel (I can hear many of you cringing right now) and it was raised like Lazarus from the dead and it has continued working. I decided to give it a try. Even though my oven couldn't go as low as 120 degrees, I set it at my lowest of 170 degrees and baked it (without batteries or memory card) for 20 minutes with the door slightly ajar.

This way, I could at least peek in and see if it was melting. I would hate to have to explain to Farmer Rick how we suddenly needed BOTH a new camera and new oven! I'd really feel like Lucille Ball then. It got hot, way too hot to handle but held its shape. So I let it cool to room temperature. After replacing the batteries and card, here's the first picture.

For AF (After Oven) isn't this amazing? There's still a bunch of moisture under the digital screen of the viewfinder, but I'm hoping I can remove that with a little time in a plastic ziplock baggie and some silica gel. Or maybe it will need to bake longer.

Anyway, here's another vintage bird button and a maple leaf to go along with the recipe!

For more up close and personal images, visit Macro Monday!

Postscript: After a cozy evening spent by the fire with my camera (wish I could have captured this happy photo), and a night sealed in a plastic baggie with all the silica gel packages I could find from shoe boxes, and some Rainsorb thrown in, the last bit of moisture I was seeing in the display screen has completely disappeared! Whew!

Sunday Stills: The Letter T

2009-11-29T13:26:00.002-06:00

Finally, our colors here are Turning. Fall comes very late when you live so close to Mexico. I've been thinking of it as Summer, since our Summer was Hell. This is the part of my house that used to be the Town Post Office until 1968.

I was inspired by dibear and the shot of her cactus earlier this week, so when mine opened I took one too. I know it's supposed to be a Christmas Cactus, but I think of it as a Thanksgiving Cactus as that's when it always seems to bloom.

Here's my Thoughtful Husband, Farmer Rick, icing a birthday cake he baked for me. Everyone tells me 50 is the new Thirty. This is because they are all older than me and it makes them feel better, too.

I was able to capture Starley, my camera-shy Terrier, giving me a kiss.

I got this nifty set of Tools. One of the advantages of aging is the gifts get better. Remember how thrilled you were at 14 to get just a dime store curling iron? Jewelers use dapping blocks and punches to form metal into curved shapes. This set ranges from itty-bitty to door knob size. Wow! If you've been following the progress of our chicken coop, then you'll know how much I like curves.

I also love the curves of my new Toaster!

Some friends sent me this Ten Good Things About Getting Older card. I particularly like #5 You can take bets on which part of your body will conk out next. Remember the rib I dislocated earlier in the spring when we began the new chicken coop? Well, I did it again, on my birthday, no less! (By the way, my chiropractor goes by the name Dr. T. I will be calling him Tomorrow!)

How did this happen? Tearing apart our bathroom. Seriously, the space has been bothering me for a long time. Everything came out except the Tub and Toilet (this will eventually be traded out for a low flush model, since our water is like gold to us now). You may remember what I started with when I got this idea back in the summer. Ultimately I decided the only thing I really liked about the room was the switch plates! Well, you have to begin somewhere.

So, I began at the most logical place...by purchasing Toast, Tan, and Tangerine Towels to match...

...and collecting Tile for the mosaic mirror surround I plan to make.

But renovation isn't all fun and towels...it is going to be a Terrible Trial of our carpentry skills. Remember that big mirror?...well apparently it was covering some hidden Trouble!

OMG: WWBVD? (What Would Bob Vila Do?) For more takes on the letter T, visit Sunday Stills.

Mid Century Modern

2009-11-27T12:12:00.001-06:00

Yesterday for Thanksgiving I was thankful to still be 49. This morning I am reflecting on reaching half a century, which sounds so... old. Of course, I have friends of all ages, so I understand it's all relative, but I do tend to think of myself as a perennial 27.

I received this lovely birthday card from my high school history teacher, Clarice, who is 80, with whom I've stayed in touch for over 30 years. I graduated with the History Award. I'm sure my AARP card is on its way! I hear there are some pretty good discounts.

For breakfast, Farmer Rick made me tea, pancakes with vegetarian sausage and Canadian bacon. He is doing the house chores so I can be relaxed and creative today. I think being a life-long vegetarian with an active lifestyle has kept me youthful and in shape.

Last week at the grocery store the checker and sacker, having just handled my healthful food purchases, asked me if I was a vegetarian, and I said yes. They guessed my age to be 35. Sounds good to me. To be sure, my life is better than it ever has been.

Because most of my friends are tied up with the holiday, I've decided to celebrate all year long and in various ways. It's definitely a time for personal reflection on what I've been through and accomplished, but also a time to discard and pare down to the essential self and make sure my remaining time is vibrant and fulfilling. It's like New Years Eve--only looking ahead at the entire next half century! One thing is for sure, I plan to make more time for music and art.

If you've reached this milestone, I'd love to hear how it has affected your life. If you haven't, I'd still be interested to know how you would handle the second half of your life differently.

Macro Monday: Bird Button

2009-11-23T08:30:00.000-06:00

My latest whimsy is collecting antique bird, insect, and flower buttons. I'm hoping to incorporate them into my jewelry making, or at least use them for inspiration. I am in the early phase of appreciating them without knowing much about their history.

For more up close photos visit Macro Monday!

Sunday Stills: Horses

2009-11-22T09:46:00.002-06:00

For several reasons, this has been the hardest challenge yet, as Ed (facetiously) said. Yesterday's plan to get out and photograph horses was set aside for Phoebe, whom I posted about yesterday. Usually when I let Avo out in the morning he thump-thump-thumps (he's the most heavy footed rooster around) over to wing her and this morning he winged me a couple times and then cautiously walked around looking for her. I think not only do we need a new ewe for Finley's companion, but perhaps we need a real hen to be Avo's.

Anyway, I'm posting a photo of the only horse I own: Milda's Horse. It has an interesting story.

In the early 90's I was volunteering at the booth of a nature preserve at a fair being held at the Austin Botanical Gardens. On my break, I discovered a booth with these quaint little paintings, and one of a horse caught my eye. I had brought no money with me, and the artist was also on break.

The image haunted me for weeks. I called the organizer, and since it was the only art booth at the fair, was able to determine the vendor was a woman named Milda. Fortunately she was in the phone book, so I called her up and inquired about the little horse. She said it was $10 and gave me her address.

When I drove up, I realized she lived in an assisted living tower on the lake. Milda, in her mid 80's, not unlike my own Ruthenian grandmother, was under five feet tall and spoke with a thick Latvian accent. She had prepared Latvian almond cookies for my arrival, as she would for each of my visits over the next year. I bought the painting of her horse.

She had fled Latvia during the communist rule for France, where she studied at a national art academy. Her eyes gleamed talking about the European countryside she had travel and painted. I showed her my own paintings, which were large and realistic still life. My problem in painting landscapes was a matter of scale; it seemed I could not paint anything smaller than it actually was and make it work. Milda was sure she could help change that.

In reality I became her vehicle to get away from the home, as we would take our paints out into the surrounding hill country. She was always 'tinking' (thinking) about us having shows together. In fact, every time she was tinking it involved doing something together. Like me, Milda also played the guitar, only hers was tuned to an open G so that she could play chords by barring with one finger. She liked to sing Latvian folk songs, which we did if it were too rainy to go out and paint. She finally determined I was hopeless as small landscape painter. So we sang and ate cookies.

Then one day she told me her daughter had just died of cancer. I had never met her, nor had I known she was sick, but she lived nearby and apparently assisted Milda in whatever I didn't. Her grandson and his wife had just had a baby and were moving her to California to live with them. As it turned out, the little horse had become something altogether different and very big in my life that I was about to have to part with.

She gave me her daughter's knife and coffee grinder. Milda asked me if I wanted to have one of her paintings as a goodbye gift. I had really admired one of a blackbird sitting on a tree stump, but she said that was the only one she intended to keep. I asked her to pick, and she gave me one of a flower bouquet. We have lost touch. I wonder if she is still with us, and if so if she is still painting, singing, and making almond cookies.

Now the blackbird on the stump haunts me, so much that one day I may paint it in her memory. But at least I have Milda's horse.

For more horses, visit Sunday Stills.

Until Death Do Us Part

2009-11-21T14:36:00.001-06:00

I should have known something was up when Avo was crowing at 2:30 a.m. This morning we found Phoebe laid out cold on our morning rounds, and on closer inspection her remaining blind eye, as blue as the Earth from space, blinked. We moved her into the sun where I fed her warm molasses water with electrolytes. She perked up a little and gummed an apple and some alfalfa, but went slowly downhill and passed in my arms.

She had been feisty, her usual self in the days before. The only thing I noticed was she was foaming around the mouth whenever she ate the last couple days, and today discovered a hard mass under her jaw and she appeared anemic.

Nobody knew how old she was when we found her three years ago by the side of the road, poorly cared for, blind, and presumably hit by a car. She always looked sort of rag tag, but we gave her the best of care and loved her just the same. Because of the neurological damage she always walked in circles and her hooves grew shaped like bananas because she always went in the same direction. You could tell her general mood by the diameter of the circle. Our vet didn't think she'd make it, but she was one tough sheep. So tough--and much to our surprise--she dropped a lamb a few weeks later--two rescues for the price of one!

The vet did not expect Finley to live either, but, of course, he did too. For Avo the outcast rooster, she became the big fuzzy hen of his dreams and she put up with him in a way no one else would. They were inseparable. Farmer Rick and I are heartbroken, and Finley and Avo will be at a loss without her.

This video was taken just last month, you can see the happy trio together.

Interestingly, right before Phoebe passed a raven flew overhead in the direction of North. Native Americans believed the raven was an omen of death, and that they carried the souls of the dead away. North represented winter and old age.

Farmer Rick had to leave for a school rehearsal, and we will bury her before the evening performance. Death is never convenient. We put Finley out to graze earlier and I just let him back into the pen to say farewell. He did not seem to recognize or even be curious about the lifeless body of his mother; instead he looked in all directions crying out for the life force he once knew her as.

Macro Monday: Wandering, Correctly

2009-11-17T08:49:00.000-06:00

We had our first frost last night. Here it is glistening in the morning's light on Tradescantia pallida. This is a species of Spiderwort native to the Gulf coast of Mexico and is commonly called 'Wandering Jew'. Although its provenance is indeterminate, many consider this a derogatory name yet I know it by no other. It is a splendidly beautiful trailing evergreen perennial with purple leaves and flowers that brightens up the garden so I'm not sure how this is an offense. We could just as easily call it Wandering Crazy Chicken Lady and I'd be honored!

Some interesting facts: most Spiderworts have a beautiful fragrance if you take the time to sniff them, and studies have shown as houseplants they are very good at removing toxic VOC's from the air.

Visit the up close world of others at Macro Monday!

Sunday Stills: Fins, Feathers, and Fur

2009-11-15T23:16:00.000-06:00

Even though I live on a river it is close to impossible to photograph fish--the water is so clear (at least when there is water) that the fish usually see you before you see them and skedaddle. So, I'll have to pass on the fins category.

A lovely sunset tonight and feathers allows me to introduce you to Mr. Blue, my newest rooster, who came to live with us two weeks ago. He was among a truckload full going to slaughter with our house carpenter and I asked if I might have him. He is what would be called an Easter Egger because of his blue egg genes. His father is an Ameraucana but he is crossed with something else yet showing some Blue Wheaten coloring in his tail. Isn't he spectacular?

And from the archives for fur I can think of no better example than Francisco. I call this photo the Big Bed Wolf. I recently had to take him on a business trip and board him for the day at my client's kennel. The moment we walked in, the staff exclaimed "look at that upholstery!"

For more fins, feathers, and fur visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: Currency

2009-11-08T11:38:00.000-06:00

As an artist and designer, I find American money very boring compared to that of the rest of the world. Instead I am particularly drawn to ancient coins. It is intriguing to think about the lives and situations where this currency has passed.

Recently I have discovered Mauryan punch marked coins, where the artisan's hand can still be seen. The Mauryan Empire was one of the largest empires to rule the Indian subcontinent and their economy was comparable to the Roman Empire several centuries later since both had extensive trade connections. Jainism was the Mauryas' ancestral religion. These particular coins are from the King Samprati Dynasty around 216-207 BC.

Mauryan coins were irregular in shape made by cutting up silver bars and then making the correct weight by cutting the edges of the coin. I like the imperfection of the shapes.

These coins were patterned with tools known as punches that carried the particular designs, which included the commonly used sun and six-armed symbols, and various patterns such as circles, wheels, human figures, animals, bows and arrows, hills and trees, etc. The punch was placed over the silver, and a hammer was used to deliver the blow to make the particular indention. I use letter punches in making words in in my silver jewelry.

On the right you can see the back stamp punch mark on the coin that showed its authenticity.

For more images of Currency, be sure to visit Sunday Stills!

Macro Monday: Pipevine Swallowtail

2009-11-03T15:07:00.000-06:00

Here's the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly from this previously featured caterpillar. It is the most striking metallic blue. This one looks brand new, all its scales in place, and sunning itself to strengthen its wings in my garden this afternoon.

For more close-ups visit Macro Monday!

Sunday Stills: Halloween

2009-11-01T17:33:00.000-06:00

This is the largest pumpkin from our garden this year...well, to be honest, ever...and it was one that came up entirely on its own in the sweet potato bed. (Our best gardening is always accidental). It was harvested in early summer (which isn't normal) and it has since begun decomposing into this interesting face with big lips...kind of a happy goul.

Farmer Rick was sick all week and I've been making lots of homemade soup. Last night the solenoid in our heat pump got stuck--as it tends to do the first time we turn on the heater each season--so it was 36 degrees outside and we were basically running the air conditioner all night--frightening! Now I am sick again. We've spent the day trying to get it un-stuck to no avail so we've set up the electric blanket for tonight. It will likely be a couple days before the repair man can come to once again show me how easy it is to fix myself.

For a good scare visit Sunday Stills!

Macro Monday: Have You Hugged Your Flower Today?

2009-10-26T13:45:00.000-06:00

Still about flowers, only a little lighter this Monday!

I figure if Ed can use Spidey in his macros I would pull out my Flower finger puppet! She was rediscovered when cleaning out the bathroom closet this weekend, along with a a $100 bill I'd forgotten about! See, there is incentive in cleaning my house!

It's a chilly 52 degrees here today and we've received 2 inches of gentle rain all morning. This should help our well which has slowly been recharging over the past couple of weeks. I'm ecstatic over the promise of having running water in the house again.

Flower goes out to check on Finley. Just look at those smiles!

I've heard of stuffed animals before, but I've never seen a stuffed flower...

um, you got any alfalfa cookies with you?

For a close range view from other photographers, visit Macro Monday!

Sunday Stills: Landscapes with Fall Foliage

2009-10-25T11:55:00.000-06:00

Fall is one of our iffy seasons--sometimes we go from summer directly to winter without much color. I'm too busy today to dig through the archives for fall landscapes which are few and far between. Here are a couple of our calico cat Topaz with leaves from our "lost" maple tree taken many years ago with a not-so-great camera. The spin was physical, not Photoshop.

For some fabulous landscapes in lands where fall really happens, visit Sunday Stills!