June 1, 2013

It has been a while since my last post and I am finally getting to do another. This first one is a miscellany of pictures.

 The box was in the carport waiting to be dumped. Simon may have been wishing for a trip to the unknown or was simply sleepy. He used it for 2 days. Simon is old and spends most of his time sleeping.

 I don't know the name of the birds with the orange wings, but they showed up one morning at the feeder. There were up to 20 at one time. The much smaller sparrows did not stand a chance at feeding. They disappeared as quickly as they appeared.

I had been thinking of getting rid of this stump, as it is by the driveway and "in the way." However the thought of hacking, smashing, and sawing motivated me to think to re-purpose. A succulent and a periwinkle now call it home. I was surprised to read that the periwinkle is an "invasive" species. I have it all around because it is heat tolerant and colorful. I welcome the invasion of color.

This flat leaf cactus has had a good blooming year. You have to be an early riser to enjoy the blooms. Once the sun hit them, they are gone.

 The Hackberry tree is very common in this part of Texas. They are tall, provide plentiful shade and produce a small berry that attracts the Mexican parrots, squirrels, and other birds. However, with age, the trees tend to rot from the center and weaken.

This was the latest casualty. The strong southerly winds broke this large branch and luckily there were no pedestrians at the time.

This is the scene after the tree removal guys left.

This is a picture of the tree in 1952 when they were planted. My sister was 13 months old.

The other tree removed was over the back fence. With the start of hurricane season, I did not want to chance it falling over the fence and damaging it. 

Be sure to check out the next installment of this blog, when we will explore the world of "projects."

Pictures to share

Alex is almost one year and 8 months. He is my niece's youngest.

 Derek is 4 years and 4 months. They get along most of the time, but sharing is an issue.

This barrel cactus is putting on a show.

I wonder if it only blooms on top or am I asking for too much to expect to see blooms all over.

My sister's Ti plant.

Thus is the flower of the "desert rose" plant.  I read that it is a succulent. It is quite popular at the flea markets.

January 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2013.

    I am certainly hoping for a better one. The end of 2012 was a real downer for me. My house was burglarized. I lost a small amount of case, my laptop, and my Kindle Fire. I miss the Kindle most.
    Such an event is a psychological trauma. Deal with the police, cancel accounts, change passwords, make changes to my everyday life patterns.  I hold no hope for recovering my things. I slept very little that night.

The Kindle was "deactivated" when I reported it stolen to Amazon. The device cannot be used. The agent said that the thieves have a very pretty paper weight.
     The computer will be sold or kept. My only hope of recovering it is if they pawn it in town. The pawn shops and the PD share a database with serial numbers. If it pops on the grid, there is a chance of getting it back. I am not hopeful.

      Today I met with a home security person to install an alarm system. I am looking into getting a safe to hold valuables - cameras, documents, external computer drives, etc.  I also have to replace the front door locks because the the crooks took a set of keys that were dangling on the inside of the door.

     Next time someone breaks in, they will have a few minutes to run through the house before the police arrive. I am hopeful that the loud siren will scare them away before that happens. They will certainly have a harder time finding things to steal. Maybe I will recover a peace of mind by having the made these changes in my life.

Christmas at the Cemetery

It seems that the more time I spend at the cemetery, the more I think about the "why." When I ask people about "why do you visit the cemetery? why do you decorate according to the season/holiday?" they do not have an answer or are unwilling to share it.
Are the living trying to keep the dead in the here and now?
Are the living still struggling to let go?
If a child died 7 years ago, at the age of 6, do you leave toys for a 6 years old or a 13 year old?
Am I just too dense to see what is going on?

The images speak for themselves.

Miscellaneous

Gus continues his hunt for the evil squirrels. They are in the trees and run along the power lines. Sometimes they stop and swish their tails back and forth. I think and Gus thinks that they are doing it to taunt him.

 I continue to take Gus to the cemetery in the late afternoon. He can explore, chase lizards, some rabbits, and those elusive squirrels. He can do this in the safety of the enclosed space.  The cemetery shares a fence with a nature preserve on the south side. Right now there are 200-300 "turkey vultures" hanging out there. I was told that they migrate south this time of year. I took this later afternoon picture as a trial for a later attempt. As the sun is setting they hord or covey of vultures are gliding back and forth finding their tree. I simply urge Gus to keep moving. We don't want to provide them with a meal.

I will have a new cemetery entry Christmas in the Cemetery. I have started to see the decorations around the tombstones.Coming soon.

 I recently got a new camera that allows me to do closeups. This is a rosemary plant in bloom. I did not know that they knew how to do that.

 This one is the bloom of  a purple sweet potato vine.









As best that I could find, this is a succulent known as "paddle plant." The leaves are thick and green. When the plant is in full sun they get the red coloration. They grow easily and multiply well. I did not know they bloomed. This plant has the beginnings of the bloom.

In the photo below, the bloom shaft has begun to grow.





I have a plant with a riser that is about 4 feet tall.
This is what all the fuss is about. I am curious to see what comes next. Maybe these are the pods from outer space.

Finally the bloom from an aloe vera plant.

Wreaths

Almost a year ago, one of my nieces introduced me to the craft of making "deco-mesh ribbon wreaths." She had recently learned herself. I learned what she knew and the Christmas wreath I made I thought was great. A year later, my friend in San Antonio is also into the deco-mesh, but she has perfected the skills. I learned from her and redid the original wreath. The close-up above is part of that wreath. The new wreath is so much better. It is on the front side of the house. (below)

Passersby ask about it: where did I get it? can I make one for them? how much will I charge? I get the same reactions and questions about the decoration of the front door. (below)

However, the folks in this part of town are not about to spend $40 or $75 for a wreath. They want to barter down to less than $10. My friend in San Antonio sells hers at a base price of $40 and up depending on size and extra dodads that may be added.

The one below is one the east side of the house and it sits close to Santa. Except for the door, all have lights intertwined.

I made wreaths for my sister and my nieces as well, below.

The good thing about these is that they store as flat as possible and can then be pooffed up next year. The ribbon can be removed and saved, when you need to update or change colors. 

If you want to place a wreath order you know how to contact me.

Crafty

I was in San Antonio recently at a store called Home Goods. This place is the nicer of the TJMax and Marshalls family - in my opinion - with very good prices. I was thinking of buying a Halloween door deco for my niece. It was a wooden crescent moon with a witch. As I looked at it I thought, "I can make one."

Although I did not make the crescent moon design, I found pieces of scrap lumber that have been hanging around for much too long and started cutting. Here is what was left after I cut away the scraps.

I am thinking that my niece can use it in her classroom or inside window of her apartment.

The pumpkin stack is for my sister. It is versatile. The "jack-o-lantern" design is with duck tape. You can continue to use it through November. The color is a bit off in the picture and in reality. I was mixing colors to create a better orange and ran out of paint.

 The two upright pumpkins are from last year. The third is laying down waiting for the glitter glue to dry. The color is a bit different from the other two but then again so is he.

I started making this for my other niece but thought she might not appreciate it as much as I did, so I kept it.  I have always liked these seed pods as decorations. When I carve my pumpkins one will have the serpent tongue as well.








I set up the witch in front of the house. A tree branch adds a touch of witchy-ness. The broom is the remains of my dead rose bush roots.

Okay. This is all the deos until Christmas. Now that I have found how easy it is to use the jigsaw creatively, there are no limits. If you would like a yard deco, submit your request as soon as possible. I still have some scarp wood laying around.