It was a beautiful day today. We made it to the lake for a sail before the winds got way too strong. We anchored up with friends, Rob and Jen, and their friends from California, Karen and Tom, in Arkansas Bend.
B-dock was lively when we got back, we saw Marty, Sue, Kurt, Wally, Nick, Ken, Mike and Kathy. Hibernation is over!
After the lake we caught up with Rob and Jen at their house for dinner for the birthday girl — had a nice time with friends, pizza and fireworks. This is a shot of one of Rob’s specials.
What a day. Very early day, lots of meetings. After work we headed to the lake. We saw Doc and Joe, briefly, when we arrived. We motored all the way up Hurst Cove. The lake is FULLLLL! We saw some big garr fish – 3 or more feet long; some turtles; a blue heron; and a little sparrow that had made a nest under one of the limestone ledges. We turned off the motor and let the winds blow us out all the way out of the cove out to the recently discovered mooring ball fishing grounds just beyond the marina. We tied up to the ball until sunset and Monte brought in a crappie. Very nice!
Afterward we stopped by Caribbean Run to say hello to Michelle, Tony, Robert and Tasha. I guess we missed Kurt while we were out and about. I’m itching for the next raft-up 😉
This shot was taken as we were motoring from A-dock to B-dock. Very pretty. Happy Friday!
Oh, the annoying squirrels! He won’t get too much to eat out of this feeder, though. It has a spring loaded outside that slides closed under the weight of a non-feathered varmit. It doesn’t stop them from trying, though.
I guess I’d sure rather have them out here messing with the feeder than in the attic. About this time last year, we had 3 squirrels eat their way into the attic under one of the soffitts. It took some work to get them out, but we finally did, and then we sealed everything up.
Which reminds me, it was a little over a year ago that we started work on the shop.
It’s been drizzling on and off all day. Which is good for the garden, and good for the lake. The lake just passed its full level of 681′ above MSL (681.27 as of right now, actually). It’s hard to believe it was at 629′ last Fall.
I’m looking forward to going to the lake this weekend. But for the time being, I am happy to sit inside the warm, dry house and watch the rain.
This is a picture looking up through a skylight in the gameroom.
Yett Creek Park is completely undeveloped — a nice place to walk or bike, though very rough terrain. Lots of cedars. Lots of limestone. I took a walk there after work today. This is a shot over the creek at the crossing.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
Sheila365 