• Baby Teddy,  Family

    35 Weeks | I Have Pachyderm Feet

    The view here from 35 weeks of pregnancy is one of anticipation mixed with equal parts back aches, bladder pressure, wretched heartburn, and feet and legs that are slowly resembling an elephant’s. My other go-to comparison for my legs and feet are tree trunks with root flares. I longingly look outside at the things that need to be done and enjoyed but have pretty much abandoned doing much outside at the moment and likely for the rest of the summer. It’s pretty depressing to read any of my outdoor blogs and see people hiking or exploring and knowing that I just can’t do that at the moment. I miss it…

  • 100 Happy Days

    100 Happy Days: Days 59-65

    Day 59: Spent the evening semi-organizing the baby’s room, discussing blankets and how many to keep out/where to put them. Day 60: Hung some wall art in the baby’s room. Get your own here. Day 61: One of the many treat times with the boys! Day 62: Went to a breastfeeding class at the hospital…learned I don’t have to pump and dump to have a glass of wine post-baby! Day 63: Impressed with the cushaw melon vine! It has really taken off—now if only the squash vine borers don’t attack it. Day 64: No photo. Meant to take one of the cradle we’re painting. Day 65: Still in a working…

  • 100 Happy Days

    100 Happy Days: Days 48-58

    Day 48: Figs starting to ripen! Day 49: Passiflora lutea Day 50: Samson…such a sweet boy. Day 51: Starting to harvest the figs! Day 52: No photo. Day 53: No photo. Day 54: My birthday present to myself from the clearance rack at REI. So comfortable! Day 55: More figs! Day 56: Me and my niece Zoe! Day 57: Mom and I being silly in the dressing room of Motherhood Maternity. I was on the prowl for nursing bras and she was helping me find some. Apparently they have a little ‘belly’ belt you can put on if you aren’t showing yet so mom put it on and we had…

  • Gardening

    Mid-July Blooms

    I’ve been patiently waiting for the Texas Star Hibiscus, Hibiscus coccineus to bloom. As it is a hibiscus and incredibly tasty to the palate of deer, I managed to ‘hide’ a few plants near the house on the side garden behind a some other plants. This paid off in great growth from the hibiscus and rewarded me with a bloom the other day. Of course by the time I got around to getting a photo the bloom had closed up for the evening. There are a couple of other Texas Star Hibiscus plants that are near the beehive that I would like to move since they are continually getting chomped…

  • Outdoors,  Texas,  Travel & Places

    January at Westcave Preserve

    I finally got around to finishing this video I shot back in January when Chris and I were in Austin. I’m having serious outdoor exploration withdrawls these days—the heat paired with being pregnant and unable/not feeling up to hike and get out of town has me missing this kind of stuff. Good thing my yard has a diversity of things to keep me entertained until fall and the baby arrives.

  • Florida,  Outdoors,  Travel & Places

    Cyrtopodium punctatum | Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park

    The first time I saw a cigar orchid was on private property at my job in Florida. I had walked by it without realizing it was an orchid until I walked back by it later on and it registered that it was a cigar orchid. They aren’t all that common but since seeing that first one I’ve gotten the chance to see a few others in Fakahatchee as well as the specimen that is probably the most well known down in Everglades NP.

  • Gardening

    False Dragonhead Blooms

    For the last month these blooms have been brightening up the flower bed directly in front of the house. We have at least two separate plants, one labeled Physostegia correllii and one labeled Physostegia digitalis corellii, but we believe they are both considered to be the Corell’s false dragonhead, which is a rare and endangered plant. I can’t remember where we bought them, maybe the SFA plant sale back in April, but they are in cultivation. The bloom stalks are extremely tall, in the 5-6′ range, though ours are now bent over and winding from rain storms and wind over the last month. I’ve definitely noticed that bumblebees visit the…

  • 100 Happy Days

    100 Happy Days: Days 35-47

    Day 35: No photo… Day 36: A little hidden treasure in the baby’s closet. Day 37: A small shower for the baby held by my friend Erika (far right) with two of my friends from college. Good times and great cake! Day 38: The beggar bunny, Samson. Day 39: Harvested the garlic and it actually formed bulbs! Downside—should have harvested two weeks prior to this and I would have had more. Instead, some rotted. Day 40: No photo Day 41: Devouring Written In My Own Heart’s Blood Day 42: Dancing lady ginger bloomed! Day 43: No photo Day 44: Making spaghetti sauce Day 45: Quart of honey from the hive…

  • Baby Teddy,  Family

    32 Weeks | I Can Still Touch My Toes

    …without bending my knees! That’s an accomplishment, if I do say so myself! It’s nearly mid-July, not quite midsummer. When folks found out my due date was very early September everyone was all “Summer! Pregnant in the summer is going to be miserable!” Well, it hasn’t necessarily been miserable but it has definitely put a damper in my abilities to do a lot of things in the heat of the day. Really, it hasn’t been all that bad—so far—to be pregnant in the summer. We blessedly live in a time of air-conditioning so I can imagine even 60 years ago when A/C wasn’t as common that it would have been…