I had a day to myself and was able to spend it at the lake. Being a weekday it was almost deserted and I got some wonderful pictures. Sadly, we are into the second year of little to no rain and the lake is about 25 feet below normal. Consider that two years ago it covered the places I was climbing in and it provides a sense of scale to the lack of water. What we have now is the Colorado River - Lake Travis is essentially gone until we get about 20 inches of rain. And that is unlikely to happe... read more

The strange weather that has vexed central Texas continued last week with some unusually warm weather. We had two days with afternoon temps of 80F, and I took the opportunity to get some sun, and transplant some Lantana. It was warm enough that digging got me well-sweated and it was good to be able to do without clothes. Only problem is that the foliage that usually preserves my privacy is bare and I had to be a bit more careful than during the warmer weather. But there is an area that has th... read more

The weather has turned cold and the garden is taking the winter off. Home alone and time to kill got me thinking about coming up with some exercise I could do when driving to my gym might not be possible. I have a few bits of exercise gear, two dumbbells, a stability ball and a Thighmaster. That's right, a genuine vintage Suzanne Sommers Thighmaster! It's hanging in the garage and I would never advise anyone to try and use one of these. Before you get any benefit you will damage your hip joi... read more

I'm not ready for it to become dark and cold. Not yet. Despite the terrible heat and lack of rain these last six months the flowers bloomed and the garden was full of the "usual crowd". That crowd being butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and a big clan of Cardinals. (The feathered ones - not the baseball players.) The summer was otherwise pretty quiet with really few human guests, which is too bad.
So I'll be out here getting whatever hours of warmth remain and then have to wait hopefully. In ... read more

The back of my place is looking crappy. The pics may look great, but I'm not happy about a mildew problem under the eaves and a complete even coating of dirt. "Casa Blanca" may be the most popular house color in Texas, but it's a PITA! Since I don't intend to repaint the entire house I'm keeping the same color and just doing the north side. This time it's a full gloss to better resist the stuff that stuck so well to the previous coat. What I am covering is Sherwin-Williams, and I'm completely... read more