Sunday, March 20, 2022

good news, bad news


The bad news is that the warning lights on the car came on again Saturday. Tried tightening the gas cap, didn't work. Bought a new gas cap, didn't work. Lights still on so I guess I'll be taking it back to the local mechanic for her magic touch or repair, whichever works.

The good news is the roof repair seems to have resisted the 1/2” or so of rain we got Thursday night but then that might not have been enough so I'll still wait til after a big rain before replacing the sheetrock in the ceiling of the studio.

The good news is that yesterday I finished laying out the sandstone and a couple of concrete slabs for the path along the side of the house so that's done. Before I started on the path I made a puddle of water and stood in it and then walked away leaving wet footprints which I then measured from center to center to determine the spacing for the slabs. I admit I set the stones to my stride which as it turns out is 24” - 26”.



And I moved the foo dog, which has been tucked up next to the house, over by the side steps to the deck. Not sure if that's where he will stay but that fucker is solid concrete and heavy.



When we lived in the city, he sat by the door to the garage converted studio. We would tell people to watch out for the foo dog, he bites. If you inadvertently bumped into him, you only did it once.

The bad news is that today my back and legs are reminding me what I did yesterday.

The bad news is my small amaryllis, what my mother called St. Joseph's lilies, are having a hard time of it this spring. Twice now they have put up buds or newly opened flowers only to have a freeze that turned them to mush.

The good news is the big glamorous amaryllis are just now coming out with buds.



The bad news is I finally had to bring the house shaped bird feeder in for good. I looked up the other day to see one squirrel on the feeder eating as fast as it could with two more waiting in the little tree it hangs from for their turn as if it was a chow line for the homeless.

The good news is they continue to try and get at the seed in the cylindrical bird feeder to no avail.

The good news is spring is finally, solidly here.

My native peach tree at the back corner of the property. It has never bloomed this profusely in the 14 years we've had this place.


The woodland lilies that hadn't sent up bloom stalks before the freeze are blooming now.



My azaleas are blooming sparsely, still recovering from the deep freeze from last winter, but they are putting on a lot of new growth of which I'm glad because late summer last year they suddenly just dropped all their leaves.



Small Chinese fringe flower tree in bloom.



Baby blue eyes coming into bloom.




16 comments:

  1. Your yard is looking so good, and that starts with the stepping stones.

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    1. The big daylily bed is a mess. It'll take me days to weed it and instill some sort of order.

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  2. Always such a pleasure to read your posts and see the lovely flowers/trees in bloom. Thanks!!

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  3. What an interesting garden you have. A great idea to space the pavers to your stride length.

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    1. I have a half acre, most of which is in shade so the gardens are sort of spread out along the edges. However, my gardening style is best described as barely contained chaos.

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    2. That's my preferred style! If we didn't rent & live in a neighborhood I would be pushing for a lot more chaos around here!

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  4. It's lovely to spring happening there and your path looks great!

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  5. Seeing amaryllis actually growing out of garden soil is such a surprise every time. Here they are indoor plants.

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  6. I grinned when I saw your post on the Texas Flora facebook group. I don't belong to FB, but that page has been public, and I check in from time to time, just to see what might be blooming, and where. They seem to have changed it, because now I get a message that I have to log in to see more after just a few posts, but if I could make myself look at it every day, that wouldn't be so much of a problem. Anyway: yes. Your little plant sure looked to me like some species of Euphorbia.

    I found baby blue eyes this weekend, down in Brazoria County. I wish I had the time and gas money to roam a little farther, toward Gonzales, Schulenberg, and such. I do think that after this rain passes through, we'll have a sudden flush of flowers. It was pretty dry this weekend at the Attwater preserve -- but I found my first bluebonnet of the year. Or, to be more specific, I found the first one that was in a convenient spot to photograph. The rest have been in underpasses or in patches along roads that are just too dangerous for stopping.

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    1. Pretty soon I'm going to have baby blue eyes blooming all over my yard. I dup up a single clump maybe 20 years ago at a campground on the Guadalupe River and that single clump spread spread in my yard in the city. Started with about three clumps I dug up there when we moved out here and they have spread as well. And my bluebonnets out front are blooming. I'll put a picture on my next post. About 5 years ago we tossed some of the seed at the back of the property and they have spread nicely and are blooming as well. They made the Texas Flora page private which is why you are having trouble now.

      I'm so far behind on your Lagniappe but will try and catch up today. Just not in the habit of reading blogs on my phone and unfortunately it's still the only way I can see it.

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  7. Gosh, aren't those really nice.

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  8. More good news than bad! The flagstones look awesome.

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  9. Do be careful lifting heavy cement objects! Those flagstones look terrific, will they sink somewhat or do you need to bring up the sand so that you do not stub a toe?

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    1. I'm very conscious of when I am lifting heavy things. I used the hand truck for the foo dog, some of the slabs I just sort of walked them in place. They are high because that is a low spot where water stands after a hard rain, which we had last night and they were above the water so, good. I want to raise that whole area.

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  10. I'm glad the good news edged out the bad. Beautiful flowers and genius method of placing stepping stones.

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  11. I love Spring! You get a new present daily!!

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.