The Crossing on Chisholm Trail

Last Friday, the weather was too beautiful to stay home, so Loudon and I went to Sprouts to get a snack for a picnic in the park, and then to the Chisholm Trail Park.

Eeeee-haw! Ride 'em, cowboy!

Git along little dogie.

Oooooo, DIRT!

Even better--a stick to whack everything!

Snack time!

On to the waterfall, downstream from the low-water crossing.

This old turtle knew how to enjoy a warm Spring morning.

Woah! They sure were big back in the old days!

Spring-time in Texas

April Fool

I am a fool for April. The weather has been gorgeous. We have had a cool front come in. The weather is cool, the sky is clear blue, the birds are singing, and I find myself either sitting with my eyes closed and just feeling, or lying back on the newly emerging grass gazing up at that sky. I am just loving being out in the garden.

Baby Blue Eyes are still going strong.

The ruffled tulips bloomed just in time for Easter.

Hmmmmm, looks like Bocephus and I are enjoying the day much the same.

We left for Houston on Friday for the weekend. After dinner we walked through the park to our hotel, and caught an amazing fireworks display. I was standing in front of a refection pool. You can see the lights reflecting in the water.

This was an interactive sculpture in the park. You sit in the seat and whisper

...to the person sitting in the other one. The pictures were blurred because I was laughing so hard as I took these pictures.

The Glads given to me by Nola from Alamo North are in bloom.

We saw precious few Bluebonnets on our trip to Houston this year. I have to look to my own garden for any pictures this year. Click here: http://round-rock-morning-glories.blogspot.com/2009/04/bluebonnets.html to see last years Bluebonnet pictures. So sad that the drought has caused the bluebonnet fields to decline, but that's easily fixed with Bluebonnet seeds from the Wildseed Farm.

Senorita Rosarita Cleome

Isn't she a beauty? She (or one like her) was tested by Pam over at Digging last year. The Austin Bloggers Group are so good about passing on information. When I got the email that Home Depot had them in stock, I wasted no time getting one for myself. I chose one with lots of buds, but few blooms and it is already blooming away--happy to be out of that pot, I am sure!

Double Duty

I am having to do double duty this week. I meant to post blooms from last week, but will have to combine them with this week. The weeks are getting away from me...sigh...

This pink Daff is a beauty, but I had to lay on the ground to get a photo.

I am monitoring the tulips daily now--they are ready to pop!

The double Daff blooms are so heavy they need to be staked.



I know this doesn't look like much, but it is the first time the Forsythia has bloomed. I told it last year, if it didn't bloom this Spring, I was taking it out. It must have been listening.

Not a bloom, but handsome none the less! At 10, Scratcher is the "old man" with a somewhat grouchy but loving attitude.

And this silly boy is Frisky. He has recovered from his run-in with the rattlesnake. I call him Sidewinder sometimes. Not only because of his unfortunate rendezvous
with the snake, but because it has permanently damaged his balance, and he walks sideways. Not always the sharpest knife in the drawer, he is still one of the sweetest, most loving cats I know.

Also not a bloom, but a heart shaped rock I dug up. It may not look that big, but when digging, it feels like a boulder!

So lovely

Like hot buttered popcorn, the Lady Banks rosettes are popping out all over. I think it was Jan of Thanks for Today, that said she would like to be able to time sequence photo blooms. It certainly would be fun to watch the Lady Banks pop, pop, pop with blossoms galore.

The Redbuds are just beautiful. I have three mature ones in my garden, and I am planting another this Spring.

Another Redbud in another gorgeous Spring sky.

These darlings look like sisters on Easter morning, nodding their prim little heads as they pass by all in a row in their Easter bonnets. Do you remember Easter bonnets? I remember getting a hat, purse, gloves, and shoes with lacy socks to go with my Easter dress and coat. Ah, those were the days.

I believe these are Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophilia menziesii). I bought a bag of Texas/Oklahoma wildflower mix from the Wildseed Farms when I visited last Spring, and these flower are from that mix. These are the first flowers that have bloomed this Spring.

The Crabapple trees where beautiful this year. This shot is from last week. The blooms are already gone, and the tree leafed out now.

The Church At Summers Mill

I had such an overwhelming response to show the stained glass from the little chapel at Summers Mill where I went to retreat last week. Okay, okay, so one person mentioned it would have been nice if I had posted pictures of them (Hi Wendy at www.changeswithseason.blogspot.com). Although I had wanted to do a post on what is blooming at Morning Glories in Round Rock, the batteries have died in my camera, curtailing my picture taking for awhile.

If you remember, this is the sweet little country church at Summers Mill.

There were three windows on each side of the church, with three different designs. The Ten Commandments...

The Lamb

A Dove

I'm afraid the window of Jesus didn't show up as well, but the sun was coming in that window. My pictures don't do justice to the quiet peacefulness of this little country church. The windows were so vivid and colorful, they glowed.

I hope you have a wonderfully peaceful week...I know I won't--our kids are out of school for Spring Break, and we will be adjusting to the time change from Daylight Savings time. I don't understand why we have it, no one likes it, and for the life of me, I can't figure out how it gives us an extra hour of daylight.

Summers Mill

This past weekend was spent at Summers Mill Retreat in Salado, Texas. Salado is an old town that is located about half an hour north of Austin. It has become an art and antique center--a perfect weekend get-away. Below is one of the cabins available to stay in.

This sweet little church had beautiful stained glass, and a German history.

There were many places to stop and sit and enjoy nature.

Although, it says it is an ostrich farm on the sign out front, I only saw one, who seemed rather lonely to me.

I found myself sitting in a rocking chair on the porch gazing up at the huge live oaks.

I thought this fence was whimsical and fun.

Our time at Summers Mill was over before we knew it. I felt I was just beginning to relax when it was time to leave, and I look forward to going again someday.

SNOW!

Exciting times in Round Rock! Yesterday we received between 2 and 3 inches of snow.

It started off as sleet, which woke me, pelting my bedroom window.

It turned to big fat flakes that looked like little snowballs falling from the sky. Then, it would stop, and snow a fine dry snow. It alternated all throughout the day. I would have loved to have spent the day curled up with a book and a mug of tea in front of the fire. But I spent much of the morning taking granddaughters to school, picking Charley up early with an upset tummy, and then picking up Libby when they made the decision to close the schools early because of the weather.

It hovered above freezing for much of the day, so as soon as it hit the pavement, it would melt. The girls were still able to make a very nice sized snowman. Yes, I let Charley go out to play in the snow even though she had a tummy ache. When you only get a snow once every few years, you must make allowances!

Where To begin?

I have not posted in so long, and so much has happened it is hard to start, and it seemed the longer I wait, the harder it becomes.

My mother was able to come for the holidays, but the time flew by, and it seemed she just got here, and it was time for her to go back home. I was very pleased with how well she looked, and even though she was still gaining strength, she did remarkably well.

We were blessed with many good times during the past couple of months, but heartache as well. It seems life can be such a roller coaster ride. We were rejoicing with my nephew and his wife over the news that they were having a little boy to join their family in early March. But sadly, he came too early, right at Christmas, and did not survive more than 30 minutes on this earth. Although we know there is a new star shining brightly in heaven, we were saddened that we never got the chance to know him here on earth.

Hubby's aunt fell and broke her hip this past Fall, and underwent surgery right at Thanksgiving. She never truly woke up from her surgery, and passed away quietly and peacefully right after the new year began.

We celebrated Charley's 10th birthday in fine style. She had a few friends over for games and cake and ice cream and presents, of course. It was a bittersweet time (for me). She has shot up this past year, bypassing one whole dress size completely. She is maturing so rapidly, and not only looking, but acting like a preteen. She had braces put on her teeth. Where does the time go? We are so busy attending to the day to day routines, we forget to stop and look at these children growing up right before our eyes.

Loudon has become my little garden buddy. Although his contribution seems to be whacking everything with a stick, I am hopeful he will learn a little more finesse with plants as he matures. With all the rain we have had, he has been wearing his froggy boots a lot. I sure wish I had some as cute as his!

We have had such a cold, wet winter, the daffs are just peaking out from their beds. I am afraid the cold temperatures have taken my gardenias out.

My son made me a beautiful planter for Christmas. This is some of the work he does. I think they have done a lot of pieces for the Capitol and businesses downtown. You can see some of their work at: http://www.austinoutdoorstudio.com/. One of the shots is of him hard at work. He seems to be enjoying what he does so much. I think he loves that he is doing more creative work. Go by and check it out. I've already got a wish list a mile long composed. Let's see...there's trellises, arbors, benches, more planters, a pond...