The Nana Second

I really love living here in the country and appreciate it even more when I’m outside with all of nature – these big beautiful oak, pecan, sycamore and numerous other trees, along with the birds, squirrels and other creatures (we’ll get to that later).  The grass is getting greener mainly because we have been watering nonstop for the last week.  I think it would be dead by now had Owen not been so vigilant about it.  Coreopsis, Rudbeckkia and Coneflower are blooming everywhere, the bluebonnets, for which this part of Texas is so famous, have long succumbed to the heat.  This year, Dave and Sheila were here at the height of Bluebonnet season.  So…we had to go out and capture the beauty.  Here’s a picture of the four of us in a small field in Chappell Hill.We had a great time while they were here – just too short a visit.  We might have to plan this as our semi-annual get together.  It really is a beautiful time of year to visit this area.

I got out in the yard yesterday (yes, yard – not garden) to mow a little grass. Seven hours later, I dragged my tired, achy, dirty body in for a much-needed shower and a little rest.  I love mowing, but it was 102 degrees!! yesterday afternoon.  I am thankful for the many shaded areas in our yard.  Owen had been out the day before planting a few things and working on the ever-evolving sprinkler system.  One day we may have the whole place on the system.  That’s when we’ll need another well just to pump water to the yard.  We have two wells already, which is the only reason we can get most of this place watered sufficiently. But I digress…(now, isn’t that just Southern?) Our hay has been recently cut, raked and baled and even removed.  They must be desperate for hay, because it usually sits there for a couple of months!  I mowed around the trees where they can’t cut.  I mowed under and around the pecan trees that are out in the field.  If I see what I think I’m seeing, looks like next year will be a bumper crop for pecans.  The trees are loaded with “baby” pecans and there are lots of them.  I didn’t bother to take pictures yesterday, but you’ll have to trust me that there are really lots of them.  The oranges, satsumas, lemons and limes are growing nicely.  Now, if we can just keep them alive through the summer.  They like the heat, but they need lots of water also.  Funny that I have killed two apple trees and my plum and peach trees have just quit blooming, but I can grow oranges like crazy!  We should have good luck with peach trees in this area.  I’m going to give it a try again this year.  I’ll let you know how I do.

Well, the armadillos have been tearing up the yard again.  They know they can find whatever it is they like to dine on in ground that is soft and moist.  They find lots of that in the gardens around the house and also in the yard when it has just been watered.  I just happened to leave the front yard for last yesterday - reason being that I knew it would be completely shaded by afternoon.  I was happily riding along and thinking that I couldn’t wait to get off the mower, have a nice cool drink and get my dirty self into a shower when I spotted three, yes that’s 3 baby armadillos.  They were probably about 6 – 8 inches long and just adorable.  Problem is, I have lots of experience with armadillos and I know for certain that they will grow up to be huge.  I jumped off the mower and ran into the house calling for Owen.  I figured we would find a hole in the yard somewhere where they had been hiding out.  Earlier in the day and way out on the back of our property, I had seen the hull of an adult armadillo.  Poor thing – the buzzards had already gotten to him!  That couldn’t been this threesome’s mommy!  They were doing quite well fending for themselves as they honed their skills of digging in the soil with their baby armadillo snouts.  Owen captured them and took them to a far away place – I don’t know where, but I’m certain that’s not the end of them.  They are cute little creatures, but the only thing I know that can tear up a garden any quicker is a wild hog.  I’ll save that story for another day.

That’s all on gardening for the day.  I have to go out and check on my tomatoes, which the neighbor’s peacocks have been feasting on.  Wish I had a picture of that!  I caught him “red-handed” a few days ago as he was pecking away at Matt’s Wild Tomatoes.

If you have a garden – rush out now before it gets too hot and take in all of that beauty!

Monday

(You will not see a picture here as I mention in the paragraph below…My #1 son informs me that my site is not set up for that yet, but he will get to it ASAP – my little wonder boy!  So you’ll just have to wait until next time.  I’ll have to be more descriptive in the meantime.)

I LOVE to walk around the garden and check things out – see what’s growing well, what’s not and what’s bit the dust.  The picture of the butterfly was taken a couple of years ago in the garden next to our patio.  I was just remarking to my husband, Owen, that I haven’t seen as many butterflies as I have in past years.  I’ve decided to plant more Pentas, like the one you see this beautiful creature feasting on.  I haven’t had a lot of time to garden this spring because of trips taken here and there, and other family duties that called me into service.  Now, it’s summer and it is definitely much too hot to spend a lot of time outdoors here in Chappell Hill, TX. The most we can do is keep the grass mowed and do our best to keep the weeds to a minimum.  

I was away from home for several weeks on and off and when I returned, the tasks in the garden confronting me were just a bit daunting.  I began to wonder why I had dug all of these gardens and planted all of these plants.  Some say that weeding is therapeutic.  The only thing therapeutic about it is that it gets you moving – bending over, squatting down, stretching and using muscles that I don’t use on a daily basis.  I should be doing this as a matter of routine, but I have other things on my mind (most days) besides exercising.  So, physically, I can see that it is good for your body.  I haven’t quite figured out how good it is for the mind unless it’s the extra oxygen flowing through.  And that’s good.  Nevertheless, therapeutic or not, the gardens have to be weed free for me to be a happy gardener.  I have managed to rid the back gardens of all weeds.  Those are the gardens I see out of my back windows.  The front and side ones will have to wait for another day.  I don’t look at them so much.  So, out of sight – out of mind, right?  I’ll get to them eventually…

Since I’m new at this blogging stuff, I haven’t set up categories on my site yet.  But I think that one category should be about gardening.  I think I may have a lot to share about gardening in general, most of which I learned from my mother and some of which I just learned by trial and error and lots of reading on the subject.  I would love to think that someone would actually visit this blog and then would give me some advice on gardening and such.  A good start would be how to keep the weeds out once and for all.  I will try to take some recent pictures of our few little acres on the hill and let you see what’s going on outside our windows.

More later…