Mar 22, 2010

Iris

I’m taking an awful lot of photos of spring flowers and trees.   They’re so beautiful, and they bloom and fade so quickly.    One day it’s snowing here, and the next things start popping like crazy.    At this time of year, I like to walk around the flower beds every day to see what has changed.   So, I guess it’s fitting that these are many of the  moments I’ve chosen to post.   Pretty soon it will be 100 degrees and I’ll be posting mostly lake moments.  For now, it’s signs of Spring.

These purple irises were given to me by my neighbor, Judy.   She has many irises growing in her beds and when she was thinning out the plants last Fall, she brought me a bag of about 10 bulbs.   I planted them several months ago and was very excited to see that they not only grew, but that they have started blooming!   They’re beautiful, but I’m surprised at how short the blooms last — only a few days.   So, I’ll enjoy them while I can.

After work today, I planted the rest of my herb garden, some purple cone flowers, and some morning glory.   Many of those are from seed, so we’ll have to wait a few weeks to see what takes.

Mar 21, 2010

Sunday walk

Weekends slip by.   I took a walk through the greenbelt down the street from our house.    I should do that more often.

Mar 20, 2010

Neighborhood gargoyle

Woo hoo!  Today is the first day of Spring!   The equinox occurred at 12:32PM today.   You wouldn’t know it, though, because a cold front blew in early this morning with thunderstorms, dropping temperatures to the 40’s and 50’s today, and into the 30’s tonight!   Crazy Central Texas weather.   You’d think we’d be used to it by now, but I am REALLY ready for Spring.

This afternoon we bundled up and took a brisk walk through the neighborhood.  This house is a couple of blocks from ours.   They dress this gargoyle up for holidays — Santa at Christmas, a ghost at Halloween, beads during Mardi Gras, …

I love our neighborhood.  It is very rustic, but right in the middle of things.

I’m happy that we are here and the work on the house is finally done.

And I want a gargoyle in front of my house, too.

Mar 19, 2010

Home office

TGIF!   I had a pretty busy day and worked late, so I was left with little interesting material from the day to capture for posting.    I really do want to try to keep this capture-one-moment-per-day thing going, so this one will have to do.   When working from home, this is pretty much the scene.   Speakerphone on the desk to the right.    Fridays are a mixed bag for me but I’m always incredibly glad when they’re over.   I’m looking forward to the weekend!

Mar 18, 2010

Bathing jays

I enjoy watching the birds in the yard.   We have many different kinds:  blue jays, cardinals, mourning doves, little bitty ones, hummingbirds….    We have several blue jay nests high up in the live oaks in the back yard.   They are on guard right now because they have babies in the nest.   They’re very noisy when people or animals get near their trees.    I got this shot as the sun was setting tonight.   Had to use the digital zoom, so it’s a tad grainy — pretty, though!

Mar 17, 2010

Texas clover

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! After work, I took a walk out back to survey the new wildflowers, budding trees/shrubs,  and the herb garden we planted over the weekend.   These little patches of clover caught my eye.  They’re not the real thing, but they are close enough.  I haven’t found any with 4 leaves yet.

For dinner we had a bit of homemade shepherd’s pie and a pint of guinness /  harp.   Tonight my family called for a remote group toast over the phone – to the day, and to my Dad.     Slainte!

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

-Traditional Irish Blessing

Mar 16, 2010

For the birthday boy

Happy Birthday!  Yummm, stone crab at Truluck’s.

Mar 15, 2010

Baby bluebonnet

For the last 2 springs we’ve collected bluebonnet seed from many of the fields nearby and scattered them in our backyard  (the way-back part by the shop).   Last year we got the first crop of our very own bluebonnets back there.  We carefully staked each one as we came across it so that we wouldn’t step on it.    THIS year there are too many plants to stake, and some of them are huge.   We’re going to have a beautiful field of them.  I can’t wait.   This is a picture of one of the first blooms.  There will be many to follow.   I love the bluebonnets.

Mar 14, 2010

Mo Willy

Last night we sprang ahead for Daylight Savings Time.   There are many things I love about DST, one is that we can play 9 holes in the late afternoon and finish before sunset.   So we hightailed it over to Maurice Williams on this fine Sunday afternoon and walked 9.   This shot is from the green at No 5, which has a good view of the new, changing skyline of Austin.   It’s been a long time since we played.   I hope we can sneak away after work a few times to play before it gets insufferably hot.   Afterward, as we do after every round at Mo’ Willy, we stopped by the Posse East near the UT campus for chicken tacos and a pitcher.    It was a good day.

Mar 13, 2010

58 degrees

We spent the day at the lake with B-dock friends Marty, Sue, Koko, Kurt, Wally, Tony, Michelle, Dolly, Robert, Ace, Teri and neighbor Dave.   The breezes were light but enough to sail out to Arky south and back.     The water temp is a chilly 58 degrees (!) but it didn’t keep these young ladies from taking the plunge off the dock opposite our boat.    It’s amazing that over the next 4 months or so the water will get about 30 degrees warmer.

Mar 12, 2010

Between the sheets

We put a Chinese restaurant into the rotation tonight.   Yummm.   I was hoping for a really profound fortune to share here, but, well….you play the cards you’re dealt.     Sounds good though.   We’re going to the lake tomorrow and that will DEFINITELY be a social activity.

Mar 11, 2010

Helping mother nature

I think I’m going to have to get the hang of this “take a picture of a moment from each day” thing.    The picture I should have taken, but didn’t think about it until they were gone, was of some people that drove up to the house after work today.   We noticed a car pulled up in front of the house, and someone taking a picture.   I went outside to get the mail and they introduced themselves.   Turns out it was the guy that built and then lived in our house back in 1984, his wife and their daughter who was 1 year old when they lived here.   We gave them a tour of the house and chatted with them for a while, then they went on their way.    THAT is the photo I should have taken.    I didn’t think of it.   Instead, what you see here is a moment captured a while later, when we were out working in the backyard — dethatching St Augustine, growing our compost pile, and getting the herb garden bed ready for planting.

Mar 10, 2010

Quiet time

I worked a bit late tonight — too late to meet Monte at the lake after work.   So,  I settled in for some alone time with a glass of wine.   I love candlelight, if you didn’t know that.

Mar 9, 2010

Ornamental pear tree in bloom

The ornamental pear tree in our front yard has started to bloom.   First sign of spring!   I love the color of the sky in this pic.