Category: Nature

The last transit of Venus of the 21st century.

While it was possible for us to see the transit by looking through our welder’s glass.  It really wasn’t useful for taking a picture – it was too small.  Monte mounted a pair of binoculars on a tripod and used that to focus an image of the sun and the transit of venus on a piece of paper.  That’s what these are images of.

The transit started right on time.  If you look just to the right of the top of this image, you can see Venus just starting to show up.  You can also see 4 or 5 sunspots in each image.

It begins.

A little while later, Venus is clearly visible on the face of the sun.

A little while later.

This was one of the last images, taken shortly before sunset.

Right before sunset.

Partial lunar eclipse.

June 4, 2012 partial lunar eclipse, through a hazy sky.

The moon is full today – the Strawberry Full Moon.  This morning there was also a partial lunar eclipse.  The sky was covered with clouds, so I didn’t think I would be able to see it.   But when I walked out a little after 5 AM I was pleased to see that there were several brief breaks in the clouds through which I could get a glimpse.  This is one of the few shots I was able to take.  Not great, but you can see the little bite taken out of the moon.

In honor of the occasion, I’ll leave you with Grover Washington, Jr’s Strawberry Moon.

Scenes from a raft-up.

Rock flower.

We headed to the lake today to raft-up with Marty & Sue on Caribbean Hug, Lori, Dave & Jake on Camelot, and Mike and Kathy on Soul Healer.  Julie joined us for the night, and Laura dropped by for a couple hours, too.

I paddled the kayak to shore to tie a stern line and saw these pretty little weeds growing in the rocks on the shore.

One view of Arky @ night

Mike had a pair of military grade night vision goggles, which everyone passed around for a while.  This is a shot I took through the goggles. Just thought it looked cool.

And, finally, this is a shot off the stern, of the last moments of dusk.

..and another shot of Arky at night.

A good time was had by all.

Sunset eclipse.

Part of a sunset.

Today a solar eclipse occurred right as the sun was setting.  Farther west in the US, the entire eclipse would be visible.  But, in Austin it started about 45 minutes before sunset, and by the time the sun was to set, it would only be about 50% eclipsed.

A few weeks ago, monte ordered #14 welder’s glass so that we could view it safely.  We scoped out a high enough perch that would allow us to see the sun for the longest time before it slipped below the horizon.

We decided on the Iguana Grill above Lake Travis.  The view was pretty great.  A bunch of friends joined us to watch it occur.  This is a shot right before the it slipped away.

Lunchtime.

Lantana snack.

Butterfly out back on the lantana.  Maybe one of these days I’ll have (make) the time to take some proper shots out in the garden, with a tripod and patience.  But for now, I’ll try to be quick on the shutter for these chance encounters.

It’s good to be back.

And then there were six.

We had planned to raft up last night, but as it turned out, we didn’t make it to the lake.  It ended up raining overnight, so it’s just as well that we weren’t out there.  Today we went to the marina to bring home the kayak and close up the boat.  It was nice to back on the lake.    It’s been a while, for me.   The temps were in the 90’s.  The water temps are in the high 70’s.  Tis the season for B-dockers to hang out on the lake every weekend.

We saw Joe, Mike, Marty, Sue, Jerry and Wally.   Sue has her stand-up paddle board in their slip.  So, she and I paddled up and down the dock for quite a while.  Along the way we saw lots of the neighborhood ducks.  The mom and babies in the shot above were not too leary of the kayak – we were able to get pretty close.  Though, I’m told that last week, this momma duck had seven babies, not six.

The shot below shows some of the ducks that have become quite accustomed to handouts from B-dock.  You can see one of the big carp under the surface of the water on the right side of the frame.

Throw me some’tin mistah!

We (will) be limin’.

Limes-to-be.

Doray & Tom gave Monte a lime tree for his birthday (aka his “margarita tree”).   It’s blooming out back, now.  And after the blooms are spent, little baby limes are left behind.

Can’t wait for them to grow up.  Monte’s standing by with the juicer at the ready.  🙂

Springtime.

Red Yucca - orton-ish.

Oh My.  How fast the weekends fly by.

This is a shot of one of the flowers on the red yucca out back.   So pretty, yet so fleeting.

And, this is the tickseed that I planted several weeks ago.

Tickseed. Jethro Tull. Coreopsis.

Pretty yellow flowers.  It is also called jethro tull flower.  So, I’ll leave you with this:

Jethro Tull’s Songs from the Wood.

G’nite!

My favorite lantana.

Multi-colored lantana bloom.

Lantana grows here in abundance, without needing anything from humans to help it along.  It is one of the great native flowering plants in Central Texas.

We have yellow, orange, purple and white lantana in different places in our yard.   But my favorite is the multi-colored pink & yellow lantana.  Before we built the shop, there was a beautiful, huge multi-colored lantana growing right in the middle of where the slab was to be poured.   It ended up getting torn out.  I’ve mourned the loss of that lantana ever since.

So, today I was very happy to see a new lantana growing in the backyard that is just starting to pop out with those great multi-colored blooms.

Yay!

So pretty.

Little lilies.

Alstroemeria.

We had a very nice weekend at the homestead.  Soon weekends will be full of lake activity, so it’s nice to play homebodies for a while.  We watched the Master’s final round coverage yesterday.  And I grilled a ham on the weber, and topped it off with sweet potato casserole and baked beans.  Everything turned out great.

These little lilies have been blooming every spring that we’ve lived here.  The bulbs are extremely hardy, and can stand drought and hard freezes.   But, their blooms are short lived, lasting only a week or so.  I looked up their name online and am pretty sure they are alstroemeria, aka peruvian lily or lily of the incas.  Your flower factoid of the day:  alstroemeria flowers symbolize friendship and devotion — faithful bloomers.

 

My cactus.

My prickly pear cactus out back.

When we bought this house, we went from a yard that was about 1/10 of an acre to one that was about 3/4 of an acre.  I enjoyed taking the first walks around the back to discover the trees, flowers and other features that came with the deal.  One of them was a tiny little cactus, which uncharacteristically started growing in the very shady wooded part of our back yard.  But, still it was my first cactus, and the only one on our property, so I wanted to keep an eye on it.   In that first year it was pretty small, and ended up being run over by the lawnmower a couple times (you can see a cut on the top of one of the pads in the middle of the plant).  So a couple years ago I marked it with stones.

Several years I’ve had to go out and dust it to deter an infestation of cactus-sucker-bugs. The droughts have been tough, too, but, hey, it’s a cactus.   This is the 6th year since I discovered it, and this spring it is covered with lots of new pads.  And it’s finally getting some height.  The spines on the new pads are soft and green… but will soon turn into those horrible little spikes that you never want to touch.

Baby cactus pad.

Maybe next year we’ll be treated to a flower.

If you build it, they will come.

Bewick wren egg in nest.

Exactly 4 months ago today I posted a picture of a birdhouse I had just made.   The sides are hinged and open to reveal clear plastic walls inside the birdhouse – a “peek-a-boo” birdhouse.

The birdhouse sat on the table next to the couch for a long time, because Keeto liked to perch on it while we were all sitting in the gameroom.  But I finally hung it up outside about 6 weeks ago.

Well, I couldn’t help myself, so I finally peeked inside and saw a nest and an egg!  My friend Doray said it could be a bewick wren, when I described the momma bird to her that has been keeping watch in the birdhouse and nearby.   I looked it up online and sure enough, i think it is a bewick wren.  Just one egg, though.   But, I’m so excited to see a birdie in residence.

I was also happy to see mom come back to the birdhouse afterwards.  I’ll leave them in peace now and resist the urge to take another look.

Mom returns.

Orchid beauty.

Orchid at home.

I picked up this orchid at the store a couple of weeks ago.  I’ve never had one before.  It has about 8 blooms on it, and this is a new one that opened since I brought it home.

After the rain.

Field of blue.

May the blessing of the rain be on you—
the soft sweet rain.
May it fall upon your spirit
so that all the little flowers may spring up,
and shed their sweetness on the air.
May the blessing of the great rains be on you,
may they beat upon your spirit
and wash it fair and clean,
and leave there many a shining pool
where the blue of heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.

— Irish blessing