Oxbow after the rain

More places to visit on our walk!

a child????and who might this be?
just a common weed but SO beautiful !

Tall trees always comfort me...........
This could be part of our adventure. We would offer the guide a cup of Starbucks somewhere and borrow the canoe.
I can actually climb that obstacle gracefully.




And of course- there is always the need to photograph everything....
Have a Great Birthday Nadia- until later in the day
Mom

Happy Birthday Nadia!

If I had a chance to be with Nadia today, I would love to go for a long walk in one of my favorite places- the Arboretum. So, since we are so far apart, I wanted to do the next best thing and post a few pictures of my favorite place. I'm going there tomorrow and taking that walk anyhow and I will be thanking the Lord for such a wonderful daughter- each step of the way.

A Funny thing happened on the way to the theater.....

Well, I was on my way to enjoy a night of theater downtown. We had some friends that were going to meet us for this new play. We often get tickets for the first showing of new plays at this one semi-ritzy theater downtown. We have a friend that works there.

Anyhow, I was supposed to meet my husband there as our friends were actually his invitees.
Downtown was very busy between last minute people dropping off their taxes at the mobile station and the TAX TEA PARTY! I had heard of it but I didn't realize it was at the plaza right in front of the theater. The play was delayed a bit as it was really hard to negotiate traffic and find parking and the placards were a real obstacle course. I was standing on the front steps of the theater, listening to the party and watching all the people, police horses and kids. A guy on a Harley kept circling with a gigantic flag. It all looked like great fun and I found my self drawn to it all and contemplating dumping the whole play idea.
Imagine this. At 7:30, the Tea Party people started a protest march and my eyes were glued to the second row of marchers. Well, I no longer had to wonder why my husband didn't appear to be joining me at the theater. He had found a greater cause! I think he would have been in the front row if he could. He was happily yelling with everyone else.
Well, I had to take care of of guests so I had to resist joining in on all the fun. Lo and behold, my tickets were the 2nd row. We were practically sitting on the Actors laps. By the time we got out, after the play, all the protesters....and Jeff....were gone.
It's all in an evening's events!

New Hybird? and.... other dog news.

Hmmmm....I did hear Hybirds are supposed to be smarter, healthier and a bit more wiley.

" Ya ooooo......Come, I can't stand it in here, I wanna get out. I'm bored!!!!!"

"Streak, cut it out. That never works. Just sit back and look real lonely and sad. I'll tell ya, it works every time. Remember.....lonely look!"

"See, I told ya it would work. This big softie falls for it every time." It works and may even score us a snack, expecially with the dudes that want to look cool by association! So chill! Remember, the "lonely look" and lots of kisses on the nose.

"That nose??? Are you sure?"

Now that I have gotten into Hybirds- these two gave me an idea. At the moment, they are best of friends but my guess is that they have ulterior motives. Good idea or no?

CAUTION! Dog napper is on the loose!

HELP!

My last day off????

We were having a leisurely day in the park, playing Scrabble, when Teresa pulled out her secret weapon. First of all, she studies the Dictionary in her spare time. That is unfair in itself. Here she not only brought along her Scrabble word list and the terribly beat up Scrabble Dictionary, but she also printed out an enormous list of really wierd 2 and 3 letter words that supposedly were really words and acceptable to use in the game. Harrumph!

SPRING, ME and GARDENING ADVENTURES

Just to introduce my team of farmers here- Selena (in charge of cherry tomatoes) The puppy is in charge of watering.

Allen will take care of the okra and swiss chard ( I hope). Sheba will probably accidently knock everything down with that tail of hers.

And.....this is part of my new crop- guess what is growing here. I will give a hint- think BLUE!

Every now and then I get this intense desire to grow things and the weather here has been great. Well, Houston soil is quite nutrient free so anyone that is serious about growing makes "Raised Beds" and brings in some soil from somewhere else! Our area just used to be a marsh.

So, just using what I could find, today I made a raised bed with my big white poodle watching in amazement. Poodles can sit there for the longest time and just look like they are thinking-looking smart. Actually I had quite an audience as the 10 kids that live right behind us, have a fort that gives them a good view of me and my future garden. They're cute kids.

Anyway, over the years, my failed attempts at being a good citizen and making compost piles, have resulted in a series of mounds in our back yard. They are kinds cute as each spring these mounds explode in veggie surprises and I just sit back and watch the show.

So this year, I had a burst of organization energy hit me again. I am not the most organized and I love just being creative and using whatever I find at hand. To make my beds, I salvaged the bench seats from our picnic table that cushioned the fall of the oak that fell during hurricane Ike. They escaped the crush and became the sides of my new "raised"garden bed. The ends are just made of brick odds and ends. Then with my trusty shovel, I dug up various remnants of previous compost piles, discovering also lost combs, kids toys, clothes pins, bits and pieces of "whatever"- quite possibly a few things from early Houston pioneer days also. Tossing the shovels full of dirt into my bed, I saluted the veggies and fruits from years past, blending them together in my new raised bed. I am thinking they will make a wonderful growing medium.

Allen and Selena ( the kids) are busy planning what they'd like to plant . We will go buy some seeds tomorrow but what I haven't told them is- no matter what they plant, we will see a profusion of awakening little sprouts of all sorts, all seeking their opportunity to "be". They may have some idea as I brought in my first harvest of the year today- compost-grown red potatoes!

I think I am a bit nervous as I know the whole theory of "thinning" is great and necessary, but I figure, if the seed has got the gumption to get out there and grow, who am I to pull it up! We will have a garden of "strange truths!" and if goes well, maybe a few tomatillos and their friends,

Some farmer I have turned out to be!

Brother-in laws both....

Tim is a busy guy now days. At Krogers, they like him enuf that they promoted him into managers's mode. He's doing that and putting in more hours as well as being successful with the books. He likes studying somewhat but with all that in his life, he doesn't have much time for friends. He appears to have taken up a new hobby, just collecting stray dogs. As you can see, he may be terminating this activity sometime in the near future. He is exhibiting signs of frustration.

He doesn't come up this way often but he came to have dinner with his brother-in-law James, and I tagged along. Texas Road house can be a lot of fun but after catching up with lots of pictures James had stored on his computer, Tim somehow got in the midst of all the line dancing waitresses. They really put on quite a show for about 5 minutes.

Yep, there he is, trying to act invisible!