Harvest Haiku

This post, "Harvest Haiku" was written for my blogspot blog "The Transplantable Rose" by Annie in Austin.

Pleasure in Autumn
Stealing nuts from the squirrel
He rages; I smile

Oval wooden box
Fallen from the pecan tree
Valued when broken

Where are the loquats?
Hidden in next year's flower
Praying for no ice

Peppers were captured
Vinegar and glass hold them
Heat awaits the tongue

It was fun playing with these sort-of Haiku for the November edition of Garden Blogger's Muse Day . Unlike our friends in colder places, we feel no slowing down this month - there's too much to do! With more moderate day temperatures and the blessing of cooler nights we're happy to be digging, planting and transplanting. I'm deciding where to plant daffodil bulbs once the ground has cooled off a few more degrees. For the Austin gardeners this month isn't NOvember ... it's NOWvember!

This post, "Harvest Haiku" was written for my blogspot blog "The Transplantable Rose" by Annie in Austin.

Crabs

Sorry it is so grainy, but they are skittish... Get just a little too close and they scamper to their holes.

Not sure if it was because of a brief shower, but there were a hundred of these guys in the ditch besides where I walk every day...



Several different colors, about as big as your fist... Had to use my zoom to it's ultimate, and they were hiding in the shade (explains the grainy photo).

Scottish skiing (2)

Success on the second attempt. Husband, son and husband's friend set off again for Glenshee and this time enjoyed a (very) full day's skiing, rounded off on the way home by the traditional stop for fish and chips in Blairgowrie.

If you're wondering about these little picket fences adorning the slopes, they're a feature of Scottish ski areas. The wind is such that they're needed to stop the snow forming into huge, uneven drifts. Snow very rarely falls straight down on our hills - it's usually driven by a gale-force wind.

It's A Blooming Mystery

Flowers bloom on their own time, a fact that seldom bothers me in my daily life as an Austin slacker. But now that I’ve become a Garden Blogger [note those capital letters!], I occasionally need blooms on my plants for a certain date – like last week's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on May 15th. Nothing makes me drag my feet more than a direct order to hustle, and my garden behaves no less stubbornly. That must be why the Rose of Sharon refused to open one single bud for the 15th, but opened a dozen flowers on the 17th, instead. Should I call it the "Roses of Sharon" since this is more than one shrub in a clump?

There were buds on the Hemerocallis ‘Prairie Blue Eyes’ by the 15th, but none opened until today. It’s not a fancy daylily by today’s standards, but I’ve loved it for a decade, bringing it to Texas from Illinois.

We Garden Bloggers have another scheduled event coming up - the Garden Bloggers book club is due by the end of May. Writing about the book, Passalong Plants, is easy – heck, I’ve even met one of the authors - Felder Rushing - but it’s not so easy to get flowers to open on time. I absolutely need photos of some passalong plants from my own garden to use as illustrations for this post, but will they get their act together and bloom within the next 11 days?

There’s no schedule involved for this next group of plants – just a hope that one of these days they’ll flower for me –

The Pineapple Guava above should bloom in spring – my friend Diane’s shrub was covered in its oddly beautiful flowers just a couple of weeks ago – but this young plant had a rough winter and was frozen back before it had a chance to make any blossoms. The botanical name is Feijoa sellowiana, so it is not actually a guava. Although it would be interesting to taste the fruit, described as Pineapple mixed with strawberry, I’m more interested in seeing the flowers.
Since this pomegranate has leafed out and I like the way the leaves and branches look, is it greedy to want delectable orange flowers, too? I’ll give this young tree one more year in this spot, but if it doesn’t bloom next spring – it will be transplant time the following fall.

Next we have a pair of non-blooming plants. The amarcrinum at right may take a few years to settle in and I’m not worried about it at all… but that perfect weed of a Brugmansia? Angel Trumpets are supposed to love water, sun and organic fertilizer, growing so quickly that even when cut to the ground over winter, they bulk up and hang long, fragrant bells. This one has been treated like a queen for a couple of seasons, given everything it wants, and if it was labeled correctly, someday the bells will be yellow.
I’ll ignore these poky plants, and pay attention to the ones in flower now – a couple of daylilies, annual moss roses, and the last of the larkspur; yellow Achillea, white and gold lantanas and the "Roses" of Sharon; short annual violet Verbenas and tall Verbena bonariensis, a sea of Salvias, budding Cannas and a Butterfly bush in bloom. The view from the back door is just fine today.

NURSERY NEWS
Many of us were dismayed to find that Kimas Tejas Nursery, southeast of Austin in the Bastrop area, had closed its doors last fall. But it wasn’t permanent – I had this news via email from the nursery:
Kimas Tejas has reopened on a seasonal basis. For the months of March, April, May and June, Kimas Tejas will be open Wednesday through Saturday, closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
The nursery will be closed for the months of July and August, then will reopen for the fall planting season in September, October and November. Then close for December, January and February.
THE NAMESAKE
One of these days I’m going to buy the DVD of Monsoon Wedding. Did anyone of you also see it? Have you had a special fondness for orange marigolds ever since? The director Mira Nair has a new movie in the theaters, which Philo and I enjoyed this week.
You might like it, too – The Namesake has some wonderful actors with memorable faces, is full of humor, intelligence and sadness, touching on the immigrant experience and Indian customs, separations and reunions, focusing on a coming-of-age story and several becoming-in-love stories. Mira Nair looks at things we’ve seen elsewhere, but from a different perspective. How many times have you seen the Taj Mahal in movies? A dozen times? Usually it looks like a postcard, but this time, it’s seen as the total of many designs and many parts, making us somehow recognize that individual people made those parts.

Pals

Isn't this cute?  Our kitten, Spot, likes to sit on Radar's back to keep warm.  He sure is accommodating!  We have two other kittens to give away.  This morning all three were on his back.  It's a good thing he's such a sweet dog!
I uploaded another photo of them as the first one had the lopper handle sticking out, and it bothered me.  Closer is better too.

Sunset Over Cuesta

Sunset Over Cuesta, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

When I was on this ridge Friday night, clouds were just starting to drop rain. A storm and 24 hours later, I was on the same ridge, but the clouds were moving to the East, leaving behind a beautiful sky.

Sex is over rated

It has been a week and half since I rode my bicycles. Basically 2 weeks since a singletrack ride. "Why?" you ask. I was on a trip and could not bring a bike. URGH. Yes, I was suffering from withdrawal.
This afternoon, I got out to the Lake Manawa MtB trail. Damn, it sure felt good to have that metal between my legs. I have been saying that riding sweet singletrack is almost as good as sex. Well, today, I decided sex is over rated. Nothing made me happier than heading out on sidewinder.
I was able to ride about 9 miles and a little over an hour before it was time to do trail work. I tried ride holding on a lopper. Success! I felt good about that accomplishment. Rode another 50 minutes and 5 miles while lopping.

England Expects

When I took this photo on my way to work this morning I had no idea of its significance. But as fellow bloggers know, the photo urge is irresistible. A busy day then followed, and I put the flags out of my mind.
On the way home, I saw that that flags were fluttering in similar array on the Nelson Monument on Calton Hill.

I was on a bus, for once, and asked the person beside me if she had any idea why the flags were flying. She thought, and I agreed, that it was hardly likely to be an ironic commentary on the Defence Spending Review, which this week has announced cuts of 8% in funding for defence over four years.
Google to the rescue. Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, fought in 1805 between the Royal Navy and a Franco-Spanish fleet. At the start of the battle Admiral Lord Nelson signalled to the British fleet, 'England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty'. And that is the signal flying today, until sundown.

Thank You

WOW, what a day. Good friends, good bike ride, good food, and good times. I thank all of you for making my day special.
Even the weather cooperated. Any rain held off until we were packing up and ready to leave the park.
I even got in FRONT of the camera! I would like copies of pictures you took for my web site.
Now, I need to rest and go to bed early - getting tuckered out. More later.

Choosing a Miracle

"There are only two ways to live your life; One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Albert Einstein
And all the difference in the world is in the choosing.

Latest game cam

We haven't had a bobcat picture in quite a while. This one seems particularly well-fed.

He probably ate all our chickens, but he sure is handsome.

Tentative fawn. Click to see the larger version... you can still see some spots on the haunch.

The fawn in the foreground is too dark and the deer in the background is too light, but I thought the focus was reasonably good on both of them.
It's gotten warm again lately, which means the animals have to be closer to the camera to trigger it. The weatherman was expecting a high of 75° yesterday, but I'm not sure it reached that here. (That would be a record high.)

Brrrrr

HUNTING ISLAND STATE PARK — SOUTH CAROLINA
TEMPS: LO 45F / HI 50F (7C / 10C)

I’m not sure when the rain stopped. It might have been late last night; or maybe it was in the wee hours of this morning. Either way, I went to bed to the sound of raindrops on the roof and woke up to total silence. Nary a drop fell throughout the day, but it sure was cold. In fact, we reached the day’s high just after midnight (or so the weather websites report) and the temps fell from there. The sunshine promised for this afternoon was a no show, so we had an overcast and dreary day to contend with. So be it!

Mui had it in his mind that he was going to figure out how to set up the tripod satellite today — I think he was inspired by the neighbors across the road from us. So that’s what we worked on this morning. There were no tears shed, but it was a close call. Once he found the instruction booklet that came with the dish, the set up turned out to be a breeze. I read the instructions; he followed. And in a jiffy we had the satellite locked on to a strong signal through a small (make that very small) opening in the tree canopy.

Success!

Our application for DNS (Distant Network Service) is still going through the channels, so now that we’re out of the DC area, we don’t get the local channels on the satellite anymore. No problem; thus far we’ve been able to get those channels with the antenna. Mui’s a happy camper!

We then puttered around the house for a while, hoping against hope that the temps would rise just a bit. Around noon, we gave up on waiting, bundled up, and went for a walk. It was a cold 45F (7C); felt colder with the windchill. But we pressed on.

as the tide ebbs, The beach scene near the campground becomes eerie. It is starkly beautiful despite the destruction caused by the sea and the wind.

Our goal was to find the beach access to the Lighthouse Trail. And we did — sort of. Last night’s high tide had left a great deal of the treeline area under water, so we had to walk along the beach instead. We did connect to the trail eventually — just a few hundred yards from the lighthouse!

We had to walk along the beach area (black arrows) since the lighthouse trail
was mostly inaccessible (red x).

Despite the fact that we were just two hours away from low tide, the exceptionally high water along the beach threw up a couple of challenges.

I don't know if this is what Sherry (of In the Direction of Our Dreams) described as
the "River Jordan" in her blog, but we have to find a way to cross it if we want to
keep going. And no, wading is not an option; it's just too cold for that.

First Mui …

… and then I cross over using some toppled trees as a makeshift bridge.
Trust me, the water is deeper and flowing faster than it looks in these pictures.

Shortly after we forded the “River Jordan,” we found the trail that we’d been looking for. It turns out, we were close to the end of the trail. We did follow it for a bit, but we detoured out to the beach again to sit on some tree trunks and eat our lunch before continuing to the lighthouse.

the Lighthouse Nature Trail is quite beautiful.

The good news — THE LIGHTHOUSE IS OPEN! But with the weather so icky, we didn’t climb it today. The forecast for tomorrow calls for plenty of sunshine and blue skies, so we’re going to return to check out the views on the way back from another hike or two we have planned. We did take the time to wander through the small outbuildings on the grounds, but I’ll keep those photos for a future post on the lighthouse.

Glimpse of the lighthouse from the beach.	Tenaciously hanging on in the face of adversity.

The “River Jordan” was still running fast and deep when we made our way to the cross-over point. Our makeshift bridge came to the rescue again. The return walk to the campground was at a faster pace, with few stops for photos — not because we were anxious to get home, but because we were trying to keep warm as the damp weather increased the chill factor. The promise of a cup of steaming hot cocoa was the ‘carrot’ that kept us going.

Leonardo da Vinci said, “In time and with water, everything changes.”
How apropos!

Remember the photo I posted yesterday of a crab burrow? I wanted to give you a better idea of how small the sand-pellets really are …

Mui’s finger puts the size of these sand-pellets in perspective.

I leave with you this image of Mother Nature’s art.

Simple, fluid, flowing — beautiful sand art.

If the weather cooperates tomorrow as promised, we’ll be out and about. If not — well, I’ll think about that tomorrow …

We are going to the world cup!

It's taken 32 years, but Australia have finally qualified for the world cup. I'm also running a little short on fingernails after the tie went to penalties, despite Australia totally playing Uruguay of the park throughout the second half, but being unable to finish it off. The substitution made by Guus Hiddink in the first half, bringing on Harry Kewell after 30 minutes was pure genius, and the final save from Mark Schwarzer in the shoot-out was almost Schmeichel-like. I have to say that I can't ever recall seeing an Australian team dominate opposition of that level to such an extent before.
It's actually quite amazing considering that three or four months ago, nobody would have given that team a hope, but some changes were made at the top, and now some of the potential is being realised. I also think we might surprise a few people in Germany next year. There's been a lot of talk in the past about Australia having to deal with a supposedly "unfair" qualifying route, having to play against a South American side even after winning the Oceania qualifiers. However, it didn't seem to be an object for this particular team. That said, they need to work on that final ball into the penalty area, and their set pieces, because a lot of opportunities were squandered. On the balance of the play, we should have wrapped this one up without the need for extra-time or penalties.
Either way, the long wait (one which stretches back before I was born) is finally over! Ra!

Pirate Statues at Blackbeard's Castle

All Bronze, and several of them...

I do like this one, if you look close, you can see the governor's Mansion in the background just above this pirate's wrist.



Step daddy Harley, a pipe smoker himself, related to this guy...



Me, while I don't know much about art, I was partial to the less than hidden meanings behind this pose of the only female pirate in the gallery.