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Four C Trail Ramblings: Davy Crockett NF | Part I
On our way home from Nacogdoches a couple of weekends ago, Chris and I decided to hit up a section of the Four C Trail in Davy Crockett National Forest. We weren’t on a mission for a long hike, just a leisurely stroll to stretch our legs and take some photos if the opportunity presented itself. Since I take photos to document the things we do in life in addition to more fine-art nature photography, I took all of the photos and Chris kept his camera in his bag the entire time. The trail is named for the land’s former owner, Central Coal and Coke Company, which in return most…
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The Ruby Mize Azalea Garden | SFA Botanic Gardens
On the west side of University drive and directly across from the Gayla Mize garden is the Ruby Mize Azalea Garden. Unfortunately we were about a month too early for the spectacular blooms of the azaleas, but it was still a nice walk through the small garden here. A camellia that I didn’t catch the name of. More camellias! If only we could keep the deer off of our remaining camelia in our yard… A magnolia bud. Camellia japonica ‘Kujaku-tsubaki’ Camellia ‘Spring Mist’ It was definitely the transition time for the end of the camellias and the beginning of the azaleas. Next year we’ll have to plant to visit east…
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Roost
Great white egrets have made a roost across the pond in perfect view from our back windows. I haven’t seen any nests yet so I don’t think it’ll turn into a rookery, but you never know.
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The Gayla Mize Garden | SFA Botanic Gardens
On the far east side of the Stephen F. Austin campus is a wooded area that is home to a newer garden in the SFA Botanic Gardens, the Gayla Mize garden. It is definitely a work in progress with new plantings that are only a few years old, but you can see the potential it has in the upcoming years. Camellia yuhsienensis Euonymus phellomanus I didn’t take nearly as many pictures as I thought over in this garden, but it was a lovely walk. Lots of interesting species plants from various parts of the world, even a sassafras species from China that we didn’t know about. Back beyond the garden…
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A Basket of Carrots
This morning I pulled the carrots and daikon radishes in order to make room for tomatoes here in a few weeks. We’ve eaten a few carrots since they matured (planted them in October I believe) but haven’t really done a whole lot with them otherwise. It took me about two hours to peel them—really, I just finished peeling them a few minutes ago. Chris will blanch and freeze them tonight so we can eat them later on in the year. The daikon radishes had bolted, among the many other winter vegetables that have bolted in the last few weeks. The biggest and longest daikon! I’ll probably take some to work…
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That Time I Was On A Podcast…
Whew, well, it finally happened last week. I recorded a short segment on the Trail Show about the Florida Trail with the crew on The Trail Show! I was very nervous about it but thankfully my nerves were eased by a: it was a phone Skype call and not video and b: the ease in which they had their questions lined up. They are excellent interviewers! I actually haven’t listened to the episode yet, mostly because I’m not interested in listening to myself. However, Chris listened to it and said it was great. I’m not sure where exactly my part comes in at. You can either scroll through and listen…
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Feral Cat Love
Sweet, sweet Little Callie. She lets us pet her, sometimes we can pick her up briefly. Unfortunately she and Fred are both picked on by Tom and Mr. Stripey, and apparently by Ruby on occassion. Sometimes I wish I could bring her inside and she could be a girlfriend for Samson or Leo. Fred, sweet and shy boy. We thought we were going to lose Fred last week. Two weeks ago Ruby was sick for a few days, lingering off by herself and not eating. She appeared miserable but after three or four days she began eating. Sometime in the middle of her sickness Isis disappeared. She has not returned.…
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Blossoms
I wish that these blossoms would last longer than I know they will. The magnolia might be ‘Ann’, but we’re not sure. The tag disappeared off of the tree, however it might be lingering somewhere in our piles of garden tags and information….somewhere. The two ‘Yellow Bird’ magnolias have not bloomed yet. Even so, only one will. The second one was rammed down by a buck and we left it to determine if would sprout back in the spring. I’m still tempted to rip it out and put a bigger one back in its place. We have a ‘Jane’ magnolia as well but it hasn’t bloomed yet either. Down the…
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The Next Garden Phase
With spring weather appearing Chris and I have been outside in the yard working furiously on various projects. Our current project is what will hopefully be a quick perimeter flower bed around the man-cave. This area had previously been landscaped as per evidence we’ve found in the bed: soaker hoses, old stumps, telephone poles acting as a border, pieces of green plant tape, and other miscellaneous items garden related. We still had plenty of stone left from the other flower gardens that needed to be put to use and they have worked out perfectly for this section. Standing back further in the driveway, the new bed really does tie together…
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Pizza On The Grill
The first thing we cooked on our new grill was pizza. I had seen several people blogging about pizza on the grill and had been intrigued for awhile. We use a dough recipe from a Pampered Chef book that is usually made on a pizza stone, but it worked well on the grill. Bubbling up nice! A little olive oil on the top side… And then flip it over! The process is incredibly fast, so you really need to be on top of your game and have all ingredients ready and on hand. Pizza! I’ve now had grilled pizza three times in the span of two weeks and I am…