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At Play: Scenes from a Backyard
What can I say, my niece is a little ham! She loves, loves, loves playing outside but the heat here in Texas is unbearable during the day. A quick jaunt in the mornings or evenings in the backyard has to suffice. She’s almost three and has boundless energy! Most of the time she’s great for the camera but sometimes she says enough’s enough and I put it away. But I love capturing these moments when she’s having so much fun, giggling at my mom (Mimi) standing on the swing and being goofy. Sometimes I look back at photos I took four days after her birth and wonder where the time…
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A Tandy Hills Evening
A few weeks ago we went for an evening walk at Tandy Hills to scope out some Passiflora lutea that had been mislabeled as Clematis pitcheri in a TH newsletter. I got the general locale for the vine so I could verify in person and sure enough we found the plants and many, many more! When we arrived we took the main trail from the playground out towards I-30. To the west was a stray shower over downtown Fort Worth. We found the original plant… and then 50 yards down we found more passionvine and a clematis. Smilax mixing it up with passiflora… and maybe a variegated passiflora? Some flower…
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2011 Summer Interview Series | Mandy Steward @ Messy Canvas
I don’t remember when I found Mandy’s blog, Messy Canvas, but I know that it was through Kasie’s blog and I was instantly hooked. She asked the tough questions and even if questions weren’t being asked her commentary always gave me more to devour and digest. There are writers behind the blogs that you just wish you could know a little bit better and so that I why I chose Mandy for part of the interview series this summer. Enjoy! First off, give us an idea of who you are, why you blog and your geographic location. My name is Mandy Steward. I’m an artist/writer living in Oklahoma City. I…
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A boy and his dog
My brother and his dog Isabelle. Poor pup is getting old and is partially blind.
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Texas Wildflowers | Asclepias tuberosa
This widespread milkweed species is a larval host to monarch butterflies in addition to queen’s and the gray hairstreak. It has has the similar long seed pod with silky hairs that other milkweeds use to propagate. Preferring full sun to light shade, once established these plants can handle mesic to xeric conditions comfortably. These species has a very hairy stem, as seen above, and is apparently not milky when broken like most milkweeds and is instead clear. Definitely add this one in for diversity in your butterfly garden and to attract monarchs! More information: +Wildflower.org +TPWD on the species +Aggie horticulture +Milkweed guide
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Artist at Work
I did this project at the last minute. I’d remembered my sister in law, Stephanie, had once asked for a sunflower painting, but I just never found the inspiration to get it done. Her birthday came up and I decided it was the right time so I went for it. I said in another post that I typically take my time hemming and hawing over things before finishing it up but this one worked quickly. I think the last hour was spent listening to Mumford and Sons on Youtube. Good music to work to. A conversation came up with Chris last week with his mom when she asked if he…
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Wordless Wednesday | Summer Tomatoes
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2011 Summer Interview Series | Susy @ Chiot’s Run
I have my brother to thank for getting me interested in Chiot’s Run. It was just a little link on the side bar of his blog and one click was all it took—I was hooked! Every day there is something new at Chiot’s Run, beautiful photos and how-to’s for gardening and plenty of gardening inspiration. Just reading about the life around Chiot’s Run will make you want to dig in the ground and live a bit more simply. First off, give us an idea of who you are, why you blog and your geographic location. I was born and grew up in Colombia, South America, and enjoyed living in a…
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How-To | Homemade Butter
I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. My mom used to make it when she taught preschoolers and many blogs out there talk about making homemade butter. Most places I read said it would take 10-20 minutes but it took me an hour. I think separating it into two jars was the trick. You should give it a try sometime. PS: Find a good movie to watch while doing this
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A Good Break
I didn’t mean to really take a week break (that wildflower posting was written weeks ago and was scheduled) from blogging but I’m glad I did. Nothing of great importance happened, but I just didn’t feel like writing. Of course I blogged in my head daily, taking note of things that I wanted to comment on. A blog break wasn’t an internet break—I was definitely on the internet! We came back to the DFW area over a week ago and settled back into our “What’s next?” kind of life. Here’s a smidge of what went on: +My brother had his birthday so as a last minute surprise my sister in…