My house in review

 I went driving around yesterday, looking for the houses like mine. This first one is on Mill. It's a lawyers office. It looks the closest to mine in style.

 This one is on Seguin. Some kind of real estate or rental office. It lacks the balcony roof, has badly designed railings, and they have tackied it up with signs. Those Grecian columns look totally out of place also.

 This one is some kind of school affiliated office. There was work being done on it. I really don't care for the balcony trim.

And now my house. I think the rustic  wood posts and trims look more in tune with the Hill Country Style. My house was modeled after the previous three and I think it looks the best of the group.

PERRY FOR PRESIDENT

We are all blessed that Rick Perry has declared he is running for President. He can do more for this country than anyone else running. He has kept Texas strong and he shares our beliefs. Watch though....lies will be told. The left knows he is a serious threat so will work very hard to concoct lies about him. Know this....they are not true. And the media will end up making themselves look like fools. If you hear someone from Texas talking trash about him...realize that they are either not from Texas, or are one of our fruits or nuts that we keep around for entertainment.
RICK PERRY FOR PRESIDENT 2012

I'm melting!!

um...wow...it's been a while since either of us posted. Both of us have been super busy.

One problem has been the extreme drought going on. All my time is spent watering my plants and trees. The promise of this new place makes it hard not to keep putting in plants. Then I spend my waking hours watering the darned things to keep them alive. Above is my latest aquisition...an Angel Trumpet. I didn't go for the usual yellow ones, no, I picked the one that blooms white, then turns pink around the edges.

 

The frogs have been happy and prolific. I do enjoy taking pictures of them. Claire kitty and Jack the dog love to try to catch them. Claire has had opportunities to catch them, but instead would rather bat at them and make them jump. The pond is going to be cleaned this month. I am paying good money to have someone do it that knows what they are doing. Sadly, the darned fish are spawning this morning. Wrong time to spawn, guys.

 The squirrels are endlessly amusing and frustrating. No birdfeeder is squirrel proof...no matter what they claim. It was so cute to see baby squirrels out this past couple of weeks. They were intensely curious about something under that pot. I noticed an anole lizard on the pot later that day, so they must have been fiddling with the lizard. I like to have not caught my breath after laughing at one of the babies. It was on the edge of the pond, going for a drink, when a frog jumped. The squirrel jumped higher. Then calmly landed and proceeded to act like nothing happened.

 I planted my first shade garden this year. It has been a delight to plant caladiums, hostas, ferns, and begonias. I have never had shade to plant in before. Now I have elephant ears up also. This is a picture of the big bed in the front yard.

 I present....my first tomato of the season. It was sooooo tasty! Cubedog calls them edible sunshine. She and Bigdog were down last weekend and I got to serve her homegrown tomato. It was a hit, and there was much moaning going on around the table between the tomatoes and the steaks.

 This is a Flapjack Kalanchoe that I bought a couple of years ago. It has totally outgrown it's pot. It does love the shade in the front yard. Just enough light to tinge it's leaves, but not enough to bake it to a crisp. I need to find a really pretty pot for it. One that will go with it's style.

 I had bought some Oriental Lilies last year. I potted them up, then we moved. I wasn't sure if they would come up now. Much to my delight, they came up and I have been getting blooms like this. I need to find some Stargazer Lilies. I adore them and their heady scent.

 This bed is along the front porch. Again, mostly shade. This shot shows Gebera daisies, purple Oxalis, and Scotch moss. The bed is full of these, irish moss, scilla, coleus, ajuga, and a Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow plant...that I think it got too hot for.

 I have a lot of salvia and sage that was here when I moved in. Watering, fertilizing, and mulching have produced some very pretty plants and blooms. This is an Indigo Spires I believe.

 There were two big batches of Lamb's Ears also that came with the house. I love them. Most people cut off the flower stems, but I like them. This picture is when they first came out. I love the gray fuzzy with tiny purple flowers.

And this is a white salvia that came with the place. Most of them are in a bed that was built up with rocks. I have to redo it because everytime I water...whether sprinkler or soaker hose....the water runs down into the swale. Not cool....we're in drought...the plants need the water, not the rocks.
Well, that is today's update. I will post more as I remember to in the days ahead. I have been working my tail off in this yard. I got almost an inch of rain a couple of weeks ago and discovered that when I don't have to spend my time watering, I can actually get stuff done in the house. We are praying for a nice soaking tropical storm to break the drought.

Smart alek Addendum

 HEY....JACK!!!

What?

It Snowed!!!

Last week was astounding. First they said Houston would get snow, and they only got some ice. The weather people really didn't know what was going to happen. Up here in New Braunfels, we got about a quarter of an inch of snow. This snow had an ice base, so that meant that I-10 was closed in San Antonio, and 35 was closed through New Braunfels. We have mainly overpasses here, so they just closed the whole stretch. It was a magical wonderland and a rarity in this part of the woods. Kids got out of school, parents stayed home from work, and everybody robbed the lids off their trashcans and looked for a place to sled.

 This stuff was very dry powder. I guess it's great for skiing. Son managed to pack enough of it together to make a wee little snowman on top of his truck hood.

 Dog and I took a walk with the camera. This is the view up my road from the gate. I loved how the snow crunched under my shoes.

 A view of the backyard from the upstairs bathroom window.

 An artistic shot of snow and rocks.

 This is from the front balcony down to the front yard. It makes me sigh deeply with contentment.

 Another artsy fartsy shot of yucca in the snow. I knew you wanted to see artsy fartsy. You're welcome.

 But the pipes from the well froze. Three nights of sub freezing temps did a number on exposed pvc pipes. Have no clue why they put them that way. Once I put an electric blanket on the pipes and covered that with more blankets, it thawed slowly. I ended up with some pretty foul water for a bit. It took a while, but I finally got clear water. Add that to the list of things we have to take care of on top of the addition that FIL lives in. It is not insulated. His window unit barely put out any heat, so I popped two space heaters in there and ran a fan blowing into the house to blow out the cold air. After years of living in crappy houses, I found that if you blow air out of the cold room, warm air will return. I managed to get him toasty warm.
How was your cold weather? Sister in Houston found out that heat pumps are worthless in cold weather.

Fall color

I am so loving being in a place that actually shows fall color....instead of dead-plant-tan and cedar-green.

I don't know what tree this is, but it is showing a nice gold color at the side of the corral.

Also at the corral is the only Redbud on the place. It will be getting special attention. I love Redbuds!

 I have two pecan trees. The one in the backyard is buck nekkid! I am babying it. This one is in the front next to the drive. It is showing very pretty burgundy colors now.

Silver Maple is a trash tree. I didn't plant this...it came with the house. But it sure is a pretty yellow now. I must see if I can grow Japanese Maples in the understories.

 This is a huge tree....taller than the 2 story house, and shades the whole side yard and driveway. I love this tree. I figured it was another oak, not a live oak since it is changing colors and shedding leaves. But I picked up a leaf and examined it. I do believe I have an enormous Cedar Elm! I don't think it is a winged one, but will get out my binoculars to check the limbs closer to see. I am absolutely delighted. I planted two Cedar Elms at my old house and they were getting nice and big before I moved.

I have deer. They were caught inside the backyard last week. That will mean trouble for them if they keep doing that. But they look innocent enough in this picture. Don't be fooled.

 See their evil lazer eyes? They have meaness on their minds. Don't look....they will entrance you and cause you to put out corn for them. Then they will eat everything you plant in your yard!!!

I miss my turkeys. They were so delightful to watch. This one was strutting in my backyard at the other house. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

ummm.....hello?

uh, my bad. I have been silent for quite a while now. I have been busier than a one-armed paper hanger. We made the move....the day Hermine went over. Lovely, eh? It was so wet that it was 4 days before the movers could come back with our stuff. At least hubby was able to get our mattresses from the van before they drove off. We camped for 4 days. We even went to buy a frig....and it couldn't be delivered until the day the movers were supposed to come back with our stuff.
So we have been here for 2.5 months. I have gotten to the point that I cherish days that I don't HAVE to do anything. I have a yard to plant and trim and learn about. I brought my plants from the other house and am trying to figure out exactly where I want to put them. Then there is the house to put in order. Still haven't gotten it all in, nor put away. The garage is full. I am mourning the loss of my huge studio. I am down to a wee bedroom now until kid finally is able to move out. It also means that the only guest quarters I have is hubby's travel trailer that he was able to bring home. Oh, and I have a pond. A big 8'x18' above ground  pond with fish in it. Tomorrow, after much futzing and trying everything else, I am going to vacuum it out. It is full of sludge. I have a koi named Sumo, and a couple dozen goldfish of all size, configuration, and names.
This is the house. Isn't it beautiful? It's called "Hill Country Style", and though it looks old, it's only 22 years old.

Here are two of my new pets.

 This is Sumo and Slash. Sumo is the only Koi I have. He is a Yamato Nishik. Slash is a nice sized goldfish that has a white streak across it's nose. I enjoy going out in the late afternoon and sitting at the side of the pool feeding them. Next spring, after I get the pond cleaned up and set up the way I want it, I would like to get Sumo a buddy.

Here is what the pond looked like before we moved in. My son and I got busy one day and cleaned it out. there was an amazing amount of crap in it, and lilies that are way too overgrown.
This weekend I am going to Kid n Ewe in the next town. I love that I can go and it's only half an hour's drive to a fiber festival!!!
Well, that's it for right now. I will check back later. Maybe with shots of the Fiber Festival. Cubedog has been very busy every weekend at the Faire. Things are going very well for her. Hopefully she will have pictures to share when she finally has time to breathe.
Oh, and I will have to share the tale of the moron neighbor at the other house. It is amazing just how stupid people can be.