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Bird Banding at Gulf Coast Bird Observatory
A few months ago Keely from State of Wilderness commented on my blog and after a quick look at her blog I realized she as in the greater Houston area too. This was exciting for me because I am in need of a naturey friend here, someone willing to go on hikes and explore and talk science-geek stuff. When I replied to her via email, as soon as I had hit send I worried I had come off a little too excited, too needy. But, no worries, all was well and soon she invited me and Chris to the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory. Unfortunately that weekend we had camping plans…
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The Lazy Lion
Is this not the laziest lion you’ve ever seen? I went to the Houston Zoo yesterday with a friend and her two daughters and I have to say, the animals were the most entertaining I’ve ever seen. Aside from the lion lounging on his back, there were two ‘baby’ elephants playing around, pushing each other, swimming together, it was actually fun! I hadn’t been to the Houston Zoo since college and it was similar to how I remembered it. If there a: hadn’t been glass between me and the lion and b: I knew the lion wouldn’t rip me to pieces, I would have given him a belly rub and…
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Mid-March in the Garden
We had two, mostly straight, days of rain last weekend. During the breaks in the rain we spent a little time in the garden getting seeds in the ground and transplanting tomato seedlings. I took all of these last Sunday evening after the rain has finally stopped and the blue sky came out. The photo above shows the sugar snap pea trellis but on this side of it will be some long beans. We planted salvia out front to entice the butterflies and hummingbirds. The sugar snap peas from below. The front half of this plot is spinach and flat leaf parsley. Chris was able to start sweet basil seeds…
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The Sunflowers
I popped into a Dollar General on the way home from visiting Chris at his field hotel two weekends ago to grab a few goodie package items to send to my niece and nephew. The seed display was promptly placed in the middle of the aisle near the cash register and I could not continue on, I had to stop. No, the seeds weren’t organic and who knows where they were from, but I was so enticed by the super cheap price, somewhere less than $0.50 each for most packets, that I grabbed up a few packages of sunflower seeds, ageratum, celosia and zinnia. I can’t wait for the celosia,…
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Spring Favorites
Oh, the air is delightful and despite the lack of daylight in the mornings, I’m loving that the evenings are longer now. I’m loving the dill in the garden right now, tall and fluffy, the mature plants working on flowering. The tiny, airy seeds will be saved to sowing throughout the year. We’ve been drying dill in the oven on the lowest heat it can go, then crackling the leaves into baggies to save for later. I’m trying oregano, too. I’ve been starring items in my feed reader and bookmarking things over the last few weeks and I thought I’d share them with you. +Honey Harvest by Kinfolk Magazine +Creamy…
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The Two
These people do not know what they are getting themselves into! But they are going to make it to Maine! This trail—-is so flat! I did not think it at the time! Only miles will tell you that. Two years. Two years ago since we went to Georgia and started our Appalachian Trail thru-hike. I’ve always wanted to use the blog title ‘The Two’. Why? Because I am a huge Alias fan and the first episode of Season 3 is titled The Two. It is about Sydney’s return to the CIA after two years, two years she has lost and her life is completely different. I haven’t lost two years,…
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Trout Lilies | In Macro
Remember back in February how I photographed trout lilies at Tandy Hills? Well, I finally finished processing my macro shots taken with our 65mm macro. And let me tell you, I think this lens is the sweetest thing ever! The photos were awesome and now that we bought the flash to go with it I’ll be able to do more with lower light conditions, which happen easily when using the higher ‘X’ magnifications. Here they are…enjoy! Today I’m also over at Sprout Dispatch, so come by and say hi!
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Redbud Blossoms | Wordless Wednesday
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Lovely Lupinus texensis
We have one plot in our garden that has radishes growing but otherwise we have filled it with bluebonnets we bought at a garden center and bluebonnets we seeded, along with a few other non-edible flowering plants. I like having a small section dedicated to flowers, especially since we aren’t focusing on collecting plants right now. I’d been checking on the bluebonnets but hadn’t had any inkling that they were ready to bloom. Then one day last week I walked right up and the blue-purple flower stood out and stunned me with its brilliance. Finally, the bluebonnets were out!
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An Evening
+Two mile run after work. Loving running again, slow as I may be. I like to be on my own pace, getting it done, slowly but surely. I’m also happier with warmer weather. Thinking I might try running in my Vibram Five-Fingers tomorrow. +The Runty, Leo, is feeling better and acting more like himself after whatever stunt he pulled almost two weeks ago. Tail is working better, he’s happier and running around. The cats love it when I open the doors when I get home so they can get some sunlight. +This water oak has been putting on flowers as are all the other oaks in the area. I’ve been…