Flowers – Page 10

A Saturday drive.

For the last 15 years, Becker Vineyards has had a Lavender Festival. Its been one of the things on my todo list. This year, i put it on my calendar several months ago, so I wouldn’t miss it. And, it worked! Today we headed out for a long drive through the hill country, in the miata with the top down. And we had a really great day…

We walked out through the lavender fields. They have several different varieties. It didn’t look quite like I had expected – i was imagining endless rows of deep purple, like in Provence. But it was pretty, nonetheless.

They also grow their own artichokes. I have never seen them in the wild before!

13042702 — Artie chokes three for a dollar 🙂

We walked through the vendor booths. Lots of lavender goodies, flowers, herbs, nibblies and such. 13042703

Then one more walk through the fields, this shot is looking back at the winery. 13042704

We packed a light lunch and ate it at the festival while sipping wine and listening to the Raggedy Cats (we really enjoyed them).

Then a winery tour. Lots of new factoids. Becker has been here 20 years or so, and in that time, they’ve increased the amount of their wine that they make from grapes grown at the winery to 85%. The rest come from Lubbock. 13042705

Can’t wait for the Fredericksburg peach harvest! 13042706

On the way home we decided to dodge the brewing thunderstorms and buzzed over to Der Lindenbaum in Fredericksburg for some German home cooked food for dinner.

The festival is open tomorrow, too. Get out there if you can, this year or next!

Wildflower fix.

On the drive home today we stopped to smell the flowers. The roadsides along Hwy 71 seem to be hoarding all the wildflowers this year. I just haven’t seen much of them in Austin. They’re so pretty!

This one was not grown in the wild, but was in a pot on the deck at the lake house we were visiting. It’s an african iris (aka fortnight lily), or dietes iridioides. According to google, the blooms last only a day, but they have a long blooming period, through the summer. Between bloom bursts, plants take a two-week, or fortnight’s, rest before blooming again.

13040703 — Ok, this one’s not wild, but pretty!

Good saturday.

We went to a BBQ at Rob and Jen’s house this afternoon. Many of the couples had babies under 18 months or so that weren’t here last time we saw these guys!! How. Time. Flies.
Rob’s blue bonnets were in rare form. Just beautiful.

And one last shot of the pascal sky as we stopped by the marina on the way home tonight.

A cross in the sky on the eve of Easter.

Scenes from out back.

Whew, what a long week! After work I walked around our yard out back to see what I could see. My plumbago is thriving with little to no water, as usual.

The hardest working retiree has been busy this week. He spent an entire day cleaning the house (thanks sweetie!) and today he spent all day tilling and planting his garden out in the way back. Tomatoes, basil, chives, parsley, dill… and zinnies! Can’t wait.

Then I surveyed the trees out back. One day there’s no leaves. The next day they are covered in green.

At the base of this red oak I saw something I’ve never seen. Neon green golf ball sized balls growing on the branches. Very odd. Google tells me they are a sign of oak apple gall. Home to the apple gall wasp larvae till it hatches. Learn something new every day!

Enjoy your weekend!

Blogoversary #3 (+11 days).

Ack! I have not been paying attention, but on March 8th, I completed year 3 of sheila365.com’s photoblog! The first year I faithfully posted a photo-a-day (March 8, 2010 – 2011). The second and third years were not daily, but close to it. And after all this time, I still look forward to posting. But, I enjoy much more looking back on my own posts from time to time to remember the moments I captured.

I am amazed and happy to report that I have 180 followers (thank you!) and I have amassed nearly 15,000 visits, and 1100+ comments. This aint the New York Times, but it is my very own soapbox to share an interesting thought or two. I’m glad you are all here to share them with.

In keeping with past years, here is a collage of the moments I’ve shared from year 3 of sheila365.com…

Awake my soul.

I went to the nearby hike and bike trail this morning. I’m really glad I did… saw spring popping everywhere.

I love the redbuds in bloom.

And the bluebonnets.

As I was jogging and walking I was streaming music over pandora and heard this song (Awake My Soul) for the first time. This part especially grabbed me:
“In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life.”

Two lips.

Home at last. Pretty flowers. My sweetie. My pretty birdie. 🙂

Yellow wildflowers.

Monte brought home some of the yellow wildflowers that have cropped up everywhere on the last few weeks. These are called Greenthread (Thelesperma filifolium). Very pretty.

First post from my iPhone.

Pretty!

Ok, i have a bit of work to do to figure out how to actually use the camera in the phone and to see if the teensy tiny phone gui is worth posting from. My first try was a bit of a fail. I have to admit that I needed to clean it up from the browser on my laptop.

Anyway, who cares, it’s Friday!

Pansy schmansy.

Friday. February 8th. Day 9 of the crit sit from hell. Stay tuned.

I went outside for the first time in like a week today. This is a shot of one of he pansies that monte planted a while back. Still hanging in there. Life goes on around me.

Green button pom.

Monte went to the blood center the other day to donate. He came home with a(nother) t-shirt, and a bouquet of flowers that they were giving away to donors. It had a bunch of these little green button poms. Cute as a button….

I like how the shot looks like a little burst of sunshine on an otherwise grey day.

Thankful.

112212 — A day of thanks. And family. And friends. A feast. And fun.

Every year my birthday falls near Thanksgiving, and every few years it falls on Thanksgiving. So, when I was a kid, my birthday cakes and decorations always had pilgrims on them. This pair of pilgrims are ones that my mom sent me several years back. I just had to break them out today. I hope each of you had a wonderful day.

We certainly had a great day. Julie, Marty, Sue, Laura and Joe joined us. The menu included roasted (brined) turkey – 2 of them, to make sure we had leftovers, absolutely heavenly mashed potatoes, delicious and sweet squash fest, cranberry relish, green beans, the (awesome) brussels sprouts dish, and homemade yeast rolls. For dessert we had monte’s apple tart, a birthday cake, and homemade vanilla icecream. Woof!

After the delicious and nearly debilitating dinner, we had to move around a bit, so we played games inside and out until the cows came home.

I am thankful for all the blessings I have been given, great friends and family. I am truly blessed.

And, one more thing to be thankful for: thanks, Marty and Sue for the pretty vase!

1122121 — Birthday tulip from Monte. Birthday vase from Sue & Marty. 🙂

Ms. Monarch.

I went outside this afternoon between meetings and was greeted by a bevy of butterflies flitting around the lantana. I snapped this shot quickly. Bear with me, as it’s a bit fuzzy. I had to zoom in and tweak it a bit. My online butterfly identification guide tells me it’s a female Monarch butterfly. You go, girl!

Pretty in purple.

Monte brought some lilies home yesterday. When he put them in the vase they were just buds – they were all closed. Overnight they all popped open, and now these pretty flowers brighten up the dining room.

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