• Creative,  Reading

    June & July 2017 Book Report

    I took a binge into fiction-land the last two months. Must be something about summer! Completed The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon: In prep for Season 3 of Outlander I read this stand alone/Lord John Grey novel that takes place in the mists between book 2 and 3 in the Outlander storyline. This is a Jamie and Lord John centered story and gives some backstory on how they became friends instead of just guard and ward. It was captivating and I really enjoyed it, and it also answered some other outlying questions that we don’t get in the main series. Letters from Paris by Juliet Blackwell: This present day story…

  • Gardening

    Late July in the Edible Garden

    The current lull between crops is actually very soothing for me. Sure, there’s weed pulling, supplemental watering, and something I’m trying to be better about—fertilizing with fish emulsion—but there’s not a lot of harvesting going on. Blackberries are completed, the beans stop producing when it gets too hot—if we get a light front come through with rain there’s always a new flush of fruit—and squash and pumpkins have yet to begin producing. There’s a lot of growth, though. With the Seminole pumpkin going gangbusters throughout an entire bed, two squash plants attempting to thrive, and new rounds of beans being grown, I’m happy with this later summer growth. In addition,…

  • Memes

    Life Lately | July 2017

    +In My Head I’ve got a lot on my mind these days, namely some things surrounding pollinators and separately, plastic. Both of these deserve their own blog posts to be expounding upon but I’ll get to that at a later date. Regarding pollinators, my main qualm is hornworm hate and the lack of interest in other pollinators other than the big two: monarchs and honeybees. Now, don’t get me wrong I love both—I grow milkweed for the monarchs and we have a honeybee hive. But I’m also very interested in creating an equal opportunity (mostly, I’m not sure we need mealybugs or scale.) wildlife habitat and trying to come to…

  • Hiking,  Outdoors,  Thoughts

    A Golden Evening

    I find myself longing for hikes and camping these days. Most everyone else not in the humid south is out enjoying hikes and adventures and here we are sweltering in Texas, hibernating indoors during the afternoons. This is fine, I enjoy letting Forest play upstairs for awhile as I read a book or do some chores. I peer outside the windows at the garden or pond, often falling into a daydream. It looks enticing to get out there but the heat has a way of making us cranky. I’ve actually been enjoying getting a run in at lunch twice a week with the searing sun beating down—the only thing I…

  • Thoughts

    A Summer Sunday

    Every morning after I wake up I realize that I get to have coffee. And on weekends I realize I get to have it while sitting on the couch, relaxing. It’s such a small delight but it is one that makes me very happy. For the moment the house is quiet as Forest and Chris are on the porch working on a leaky faucet. There’s a rosy wolf snail crawling on the siding on the porch and someone is chainsawing across the pond. Last night’s thunderstorms are gone and we’ve got a warm and sunny morning gracing our day. Today I’m hoping for no rain so that I can do…

  • Gardening

    Skipper + Agastache

    Did you know there are a ton of skipper butterflies? I sat down yesterday to try to identify this one flitting about on this anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) the other afternoon and and I came up empty handed on an identification. There are a couple that look similar, and man, I lost patience pretty quickly with it, wishing I was flipping through a book instead of the internet. We have a butterfly book for Florida, Butterflies Through Binoculars, and it is helpful sometimes but the different region definitely makes it difficult to figure out solely from that book sometimes. I really love the anise hyssop for the sole fact it…

  • Thoughts

    Sunday Reads

    Ahhh, good morning! I’m sitting here watching, over the screen of my laptop, a cartoon called DinoTrux on Netflix—a toddler’s idea of the perfect cartoon—dinosaurs turned into trucks, what’s not to like? Although, we *have* watched Toy Story 3 a gazillion times over the last week, so maybe that’s the perfect cartoon? Anyway, I’ve got a great mug of coffee and am finally able to lounge and relax away my mornings over the weekend. Here are a few interesting tidbits I’ve read this week. Let’s start off with a couple of tweets! THIS ???????? IS ???????? NOT ???????? A ???????? FUCKING ???????? MONARCHY ???????? https://t.co/Vg85LGcaLd — Sarah Lerner (@SarahLerner) July…

  • Thoughts

    July

    If I’m out and about in the car, which we have been quite a bit over the last several weeks, I notice changes, the changes signaling the upcoming seasonal shift. It is still two months away, but it is coming. It is noticeable on social media feeds and garden blogs, too, with people thinking about fall crops. We may be smack-dab in the middle of summer but for me it already feels like we’re on the top of the peak and about to start the downward slide. Sure, there’s plenty of heat left in store for us but it took living in Florida for me to really pay attention to…

  • Hiking,  Outdoors,  Texas,  Travel & Places

    Lake Explorations at Brazos Bend State Park

    As I mentioned in last week’s post about Brazos Bend State Park, there are plenty of alligators at this park to oogle at. Elm Lake and 40-acre Lake would be the primary places to see alligators but the smaller lakes host alligators, too. Alligator gar Chris spotted this quickly on one of the little docks on Elm Lake. Thalia dealbata Of course there was some fishing time put in on 40-acre Lake! Yellow-crowned night heron Yellow bladderwort Yellow and purple bladderwort Dragonflies were very active in the wetlands. I really need to get a dragonfly identification book. I am awful at telling the difference between anhingas and cormorants, especially from…