Category: Nature

Close encounter.

We spent the night on the boat last night.  Got up this morning and headed out for a sail.  We had a great day – sailed up to Windy Point and back.  Back at the marina we grabbed a bite to eat at Shades and watched the end of the Masters.  Then on to Iguana Grill to watch our friend Wiz and his band play.

As I was sitting listening to the music I saw a tiny hummingbird hit a beam and fall down right next to me.  I think he flew in the open window on his way home and hit the beam.

For all the times I’ve hunkered in the kitchen in front of the window where the hummingbird feeder hangs trying to get a stealth shot – it was really amazing to see one up close.

I didn’t know if he was dead or just stunned.   So I picked him up.  His eyes were open and he was breathing really hard.  He was so tiny!  I held him for 5 minutes or so.  I brought him over to Monte for him to see.   He held him in his hands for a few more minutes.   Then, after his head cleared, he stood up, flew into the air… chirped a “thank-you” and flew home.

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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!

Indian paintbrush & bluebonnet.
Indian paintbrush & bluebonnet.
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A bee in my (blue)bonnet.

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.

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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.

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

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A cross in the sky on the eve of Easter.

 

A look back in time.

I was looking through some of my old pics, and found this one that I took 3 years ago today.   The lake was at 681′.  Today it is at 630′.   I sure wish it would rain…..

Lake Travis @ 681' 3/26/2010
Lake Travis @ 681′ 3/26/2010

 

Waiting for Spring.

Though we’re already a few days into Spring, a chill has been in the air from the latest cold front.  Monte and I weeded the flower bed along the fence.  It’s ready for some spring flower sets.  I think I’ll wait another week.  St. Francis will have to hold down the fort a little longer.

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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.

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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.

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

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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!

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Enjoy your weekend!

Spring!

Today at about 6 AM central time, Spring arrived in Central Texas. But Winter didn’t sneak away quietly. Approximately 3 hours before that we were all woken up abruptly by the terrific racket of hail pelting the roof – the leading edge of one last Winter coldfront was passing over the house. Unfortunately, the cars were out in the driveway. By the time we were up and about it was too late to go out and move them. Luckily it was only about 1/4″ to 1/2″ and didn’t damage the cars. That was exciting.

In keeping with my life-view that everything happens for a reason… as Julie and I were groggily standing at the sliding glass door watching the hail fall on the back patio, she said, “Hey, isn’t that Monte’s laptop?” Sure enough, it was sitting on the table outside the door. I guess he left it there on his way in from the shop the night before. We were able to grab it and bring it inside before it got drenched by the rain that started to fall a few minutes later. Funny, eh?

Anyway, I should have snapped a shot of the hail, but I wasn’t quite awake enough at the time to think to do that. So, i’ll leave you with this picture of tonight’s selection. Cheers to Spring!

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Luck o’ the Irish.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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Awake my soul.

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

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I love the redbuds in bloom.

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And the bluebonnets.

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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.”

Comet!

Comet PANSTARRS over Lake Travis.
Comet PANSTARRS over Lake Travis.

We were successful tonight!  The comet is definitely not as bright as it must have been just a few days ago.  I have seen some really clear pictures of it taken from Austin.  But, now that it is a bit higher in the sky, it sets later and so it may be easier to make out after the sun has set.  But it is definitely faint.  We drove out to Iguana Grill as the sun was setting.  I think we spotted it around 8:25pm, or about 50 minutes after sunset.  I was not able to see it with my naked eye.  We brought binoculars, and I was able to see it pretty clearly through those.   I used a 3-5 second exposure on my camera and was able to catch it faintly.  Can you see it to the left of the waxing cresent moon?
My first comet shot!

Not a comet.

The comet PANSTARRS is out and about and is supposed to be visible to the unaided eye.   So Monte and I went out after sunset to try to catch a glimpse of it.    We were not successful.  The sky was pretty, though.  This was one of the shots I took – sans comet.

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Two lips.

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

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Three birds.

I found myself taking 2 pictures today. After looking at them, they had something in common- both pictures of birds… so to speak.
First one taken while on a walk after work.

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Second one right before dinner – Monte’s latest technique for grilling chicken … posed by me 🙂 Brined grilled chicken cooked with applewood chips. Yummy!

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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.

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