Cloudy Saturday...

.... but the sun is trying to peek out now and then.  We had two beautiful days of weather for Thanksgiving and yesterday, with promises from the Weather Wizards that by the middle of next week, our temperatures will be up in the high 70s.  (Is there hope for the low 80s?)

As I type, my husband is out in the yard with Handyman Sr.  I have no idea what's happening out there, but every once in a while, I hear the buzz of a power tool.  Yesterday, before Handyman Senior left for the day, my husband suggested that the paint shavings that had been scraped off would best be cleaned up with the Shop-Vac.  Handyman Sr. looked at my husband and said that no customer had ever asked him to do that before.

I know what that means.... it could be the Kiss of Death for Handyman Sr.

My husband got the Shop-Vac from the garage and cleaned up all the paint chips in the flowerbeds, telling Handyman Sr. that he wasn't "another customer," and this is how he'd like it done.  As I said.... the Kiss of Death may be around the corner.

Now I hear hammering from outside.  Maybe they're putting the fence back up.  Those just-repainted pickets look brand new, and I'm hoping that when the lengths of fence go back up on the posts, the entire fence will meet with my husband's approval.

It took us months to find Handyman Sr.    I hope this won't be his 'swan song.'

What's that big yellow thing up in the sky?

...... Oh yeah, it's the sun.  It's been so long since we've had a sunny day, but this day before Thanksgiving is making up for that.  It's still a bit colder than normal, but I'll take a bright sunny day over a cloudy over-cast day. (Note to the weather gods:  Can we please get back to 80 degrees? Or even 75?)

And, on this sunny day before Thanksgiving, we had to drive into town for just one thing from the supermarket.... smoked oysters.  We were just at the market yesterday for last-minute items, but totally forgot this one important ingredient for the dressing. (Up north, it's called stuffing.... down south, it's dressing. I have no idea why.)

My husband has been making the dressing for the turkey for years now... on Thanksgiving, it's an oyster dressing; for Christmas, it's his own creation--- The Big Fat Greek Dressing (with feta cheese and gyro meat that he gets from a Greek restaurant in Houston).  Come to think of it, I'm sure my husband calls it "stuffing," but whatever it is, dressing or stuffing, it's delicious. 

The parking lot in front of the HEB supermarket this morning was standing-room-only.  Nearly every single space was filled. I didn't even go into the store because I knew I'd be looking around and pulling things from the shelves that I don't need this week, but will probably need next week.  Our aim today was to get into the store, get just what was needed for tomorrow, and be able to get on the "10 Items or Less" line.  (I'm not very good at getting less than 10 items.)

So I sat in the car and watched just about every resident of this town going in and out of that supermarket.  When you live in a small town, your mind tells you that you have a small-town number of residents. However, your eyes will tell you differently when you go to the local market the day before a holiday... you'll see just about everybody in town there, and the population won't seem as small as you think it is.

Happy Thanksgiving..... and gobble, gobble to you all. And please, don't go shopping tomorrow on Thanksgiving Day... stay home and enjoy your family and have a piece of pumpkin pie.  Watch some football.... write in your blog.... read a Christmas book...  enjoy the day, the whole day.

Another cold day...

... and more rain. It's been raining steadily all day long. Not really pouring, but more than a light drizzle.  Totally stupid weather.  My cousins in Chicago have temperatures less than 30 degrees, my cousins in New York are coping with temperatures in the teens, and I haven't checked with my cousins in Arizona, but I'm guessing they're the warmest of all.  (Time to visit Arizona.)

Haven't seen anybody for days.... with this kind of weather, people tend to just "hunker down," as they call it..... just stay at home and go out only when absolutely necessary.  I've stayed at home not only because of the weather, but I don't want my car to get wet.  (If we have to go out, we take my husband's car, which is a lot less pampered than mine.)

Speaking of pampered, our outside cat Mickey is safe and warm and cozy in the garage, thanks to the new heater we got for him.  I've gone into the garage every few hours today, just to let Mickey know he hasn't been abandoned.  I have even warmed up his Fancy Feast so he wouldn't have to eat chilled cat food in this weather.  (No, my cats are not spoiled.)  Mickey loves walking around the property chasing lizards, and I know he's not thrilled to be confined to that garage, but I'd rather have him in there and know where he is, rather than walking around the property in this weather looking for him.

Our other outside cat, Gatsby, has been inside most of the day. He's gone out a few times, looked at the rain from the porch, and come back inside to use the litter box. One thing about Gatsby... he's a gentleman cat and he knows the house rules.  So unless that changes, I can let him inside when the weather isn't very nice.

Handyman Sr. and Handyman Jr. won't be here till after Thanksgiving.... that's when we're hoping the weather will take a turn for the better.   Handyman Sr. is disappointed that he didn't get to finish up the fence before it started to rain, but what can you do..... certainly, that fence will be waiting for him when the weather clears up.

Right about now, as I listen to the wind and the rain out there, it seems like it's never going to be sunny and warm anytime soon.  On the bright side, this is great weather for reading, and I've been reading through my Christmas books, one after the other.

Stupid cold snap.

Cold weather from Canada has settled over Texas.... giving the northern part of the state lots of ice, and giving us in the Hill Country lots of wind and rain. Totally stupid weather.  It was nearly 80 degrees less than ten days ago. I hate the winter months of the year, just because of the unpredictable weather patterns that can fly across the state and leave us thinking we've all died and gone north.

When we first moved to this state in 1993, the 'winter' temperatures were cool at best, not even close to being so frigid and cold.  Wearing a light blazer or a sweater in December or January was normal, and that's only when the temperature dared to touch 65 degrees.  Tonight, the weather wizards are telling us the temperatures will be going down below 40. Ouch. That's cold.

We went out today and bought a space heater for the garage.  Our outside cat Mickey sleeps in that garage at night, and even though I have a soft and comfy warm bed in there for him, I still don't want his whiskers twitching in the cold.  So we got a safe and solid heater, and the garage is warmer now than it was without it.  I hate having Mickey as an outside cat, but his indoor-kitty-behavior hasn't been the best since the Spring-time, and that's when we relegated him to the outside. He loves it, I hate it, so I'm just trying to keep him as comfortable as possible out there till the weather returns to warmer Texas temperatures.

Totally stupid weather, and very un-Texas-like, at least for this part of the state.

Stupid weather...

... not quite a cold snap, but cold enough.... in the high 40s to mid 50s today.  Yesterday, we had the air-conditioning on, today it's the heat. Stupid weather.

No work being done by Handyman Sr. and Jr. today.... too wet outside from last night's pouring rain, too cold and too windy... and we have no inside painting for them to do because they finished everything yesterday in just half a day.  Handyman Sr. would like to work, so if weather permits, he'll be here tomorrow to finish up with the fence. (Wonder of wonders.... a handyman who's calling us for work, rather than the other way around.)

Today was a day to just stay inside... cold and cloudy and windy... definitely not my kind of weather. And there wasn't a drop of sun to even make you think it's warmer than it really is.  Reading books and making soup, and trying to remember how warm it was yesterday.  November is not my favorite weather-month of the year.  And the only saving grace for December is Christmas.

Happy Handyman = Happy Day.

I stand thoroughly corrected about my first thoughts of the new handyman and his son.  I guess on that first day, they were just getting adjusted to the work here, and hadn't hit their stride yet. They have since not only hit their stride, but have surpassed it.  Happy day.

The fence is all painted and ready to be re-assembled... the whole thing had to be taken down because it was sitting in front of all the roses bushes.  Down it came, they scraped it all and gave it two coats of paint, and up it will go again, looking like a brand new picket fence.  That was supposed to happen today, but it rained most of the day.  Handyman Sr. asked me yesterday if we had any inside work for him and Handyman Jr. to do today..... he had checked the weather forecast and he knew about today's rain. (Extra points for thinking ahead goes to Handyman Sr.)

I did have inside painting for them to do..... the walls surrounding the stairway going up to the second floor, and the large hallway in the center of all the second-floor rooms.  I had bought the paint in January, thinking my husband and I could get that done.  It never happened, because we really needed a scaffolding set-up because of the high walls over that stairway.  So the paint cans have just been resting comfortably in the pantry all these months. Not anymore.

Handyman Sr. took a look at the hallway and the stairway walls before he left yesterday..... he said a scaffolding could be rented, but setting up a ladder with a long board running from that to the top of the staircase would work just fine.  He assured me that he had done the same thing many times before, and I trusted his judgment (not his first rodeo, he told me).

The rain started pouring down during the middle of the night.  Shortly before that, I heard a family of coyotes howling at the moon, sounding as if they were right outside the house. This morning, I saw a family of vultures, picking at the bones of whatever the coyotes had killed last night... those huge ugly birds were out in the field behind the barn at first light.  (Not exactly the high point of my day.)

Handyman Sr. and Handyman Jr. finished painting the stairway walls and the second floor hallway at one o'clock this afternoon...... they started at 9:00 this morning and worked straight through.  It looks beautiful....... gone are the white walls that looked like egg-shells from white chickens, and now there's a warm creamy beige on all those walls.  The furniture in the hallway looks much better sitting against the beige, and the stairway walls are perfectly done, no streaks, no smudges against the ceiling, no drips.  Happy day.

We have not only found one very good and reliable handyman... we have found two.  Happy happy day.

On the fence....

That was today's job for the handyman.... scraping and painting the fence.  What could be more charming than a white picket fence?  Not much. What takes more up-keep than a white picket fence?  Not much.

I have new hopes for Juan.... he got here at 8:15 this morning, took just half an hour for lunch, and worked till 4:45 this afternoon.  Maybe we won't be ringing in the New Year with him after all, if he keeps working at the pace he's been going.  He worked alone today... his son had things at home to take care of.... and that could have been the reason for the longer work hours and the shorter lunch break.  The son will be here tomorrow, so we'll see how that changes the work schedule.  Juan knows that I see his wife every time I go to the thrift store (she works there) so I don't think he wants to leave us with a bad impression.  Juan's words of wisdom for today: "Happy wife, happy life."

This morning started out foggy and drippy.... so foggy that I couldn't see the pond from the front porch.  As the morning went along, the fog lifted, and by early afternoon, the sky was blue and the sun was shining and it was like a brand new day.

Weapon of Mass De-construction.

About the worst thing you can let loose in this world is a man with a power-washer.  (Okay, maybe it's not the absolute worst tool, but it's right up there.)

The handymen (Juan and son) were here yesterday, prepping for the painting they will begin on Monday. They used my husband's power-washing machine to clean the porch columns and parts of the house that will be freshened up with new paint.  This ear-splitting washing process went on for most of yesterday, and when they left, the living arrangements for our barn swallows went with them.

Gone were the carefully built nests of mud and tiny grass pieces... in their place were empty columns where the barn swallows fledged their baby birds this past Spring and Summer.  Strangely enough, and there is no rhyme or reason to this, but Juan left a couple of the nests up there, even though the power-washer thing had destroyed more than half of those particular nests. (He told my husband that he would use a scraper to get "the rest of that mess" off the columns next week.)

Yesterday evening as the sun was setting, I checked the corner half-nest by the back steps. That's the nest where one of this past season's baby birds has claimed for his own private sleeping spot.  There used to be two birds up in that nest, but one has moved on, either choosing to sleep in the trees or he has found a mate.  So there in that devastated half-nest sat the one bird last night.... no longer able to cuddle down into the nest because of its diminished size, but the bird seemed to be comfortable.  The bird watched me go down the steps to feed the cats.... and he watched me coming back up. I apologized for the condition of his nest.... and explained that when Juan comes back on Monday, the rest of that nest is going to be history.  The bird tilted his head at me and blinked.

My husband says that Juan and son will be finished with the outside painting by the end of  next week.  Let's see.... they get here at 8:30 in the morning.... take lunch between noon and 1:30.... and then they leave before 4:00 in the afternoon.  If they keep up with that daily schedule,  I think we'll be ringing in the New Year with Juan and son.

Waiting for Juan.

Deliver me from handymen who listen to different drummers.

We were spoiled with handyman Wayland, who showed up in our driveway at first light and worked all day except for a half-hour lunch which he brought with him and ate in his truck.  Didn't matter if it was 100 degrees or half of that, Wayland was here and ready to work all day.   A lot got done back then... painting and scraping and power-washing and more painting.  Whose idea was it anyway to buy an old Victorian with cypress wood siding on all three floors?

Wayland has since 'graduated' to ultra-handyman talents... he's been building barns and decks and houses... and he hasn't worked here for a couple of years now.  Woe is us.  Handymen aren't the easiest people to find.  Correction:  reliable handymen aren't the easiest people to find.

One handyman took two weeks to get here to cut up and remove a giant limb  that broke off from the pecan tree by the pond. Once he got here, he made short work of that job and hauled everything away, but we haven't seen him since. Probably because we haven't called him.  Waiting two weeks for one small job isn't on our must-do list.

This current handyman Juan came recommended by the ladies in the thrift store.  He's been in the construction business for 25 years..... he works with his son and they can do just about everything.  We've been waiting for a month for him to start work today... painting and scraping and power-washing, and more painting.  Juan and his son got here at 8:40 this morning..... they left for lunch a little before noon..... off in their truck they went, and they just pulled into the driveway a few minutes ago (it's 1:40 now but who's counting).

I'm hoping against all hope that this father and son duo work out.... after they finish the outside painting, I'd like them to paint the main hallway going up to the second floor.  The ceiling is very high over that stairway... they would need scaffolding and nerve.  They would  need to start it in the morning and finish it that same day.  I wouldn't want scaffolding and drop-cloths left on the stairs over-night or over a few days.

Is that too much to ask?  If it is, then I don't need a handyman..... I need a bunch of little green elves who come out of hiding after midnight and do all these chores so when I wake up the next morning, everything would be done and I wouldn't even know the elves had been here. (Is that too much to ask?)

The season's first cold snap.

Well, here we go... tonight and tomorrow night the temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-30s.  The cold weather makes me cranky, so I'm warning y'all right now.

When we first moved to Texas in 1993, our winter temperatures were in the mid 70s, with barely a day or two when those numbers dropped into the 40s.  Our "winter coats" back then were light jackets and blazers, or a heavy sweater. We had a barbeque one New Year's Day when we called our family in New York to tell them we were eating lunch out on the deck and enjoying the sun.  They had all just finished shoveling snow and they were probably sorry they even answered the phone.

For the past five years or so, the Texas winters have gotten progressively colder.  When we lived in Clear Lake, I don't remember ever going through any hard-freezes during the months of December, January, and February. Maybe getting the warmer air from the Gulf made a big difference in the temperatures. Up here, two hours away from the hurricane-threatening coast (our reason for moving) there are no warm Gulf breezes.  Plenty of winds and breezes whipping around these hills, though, and when your house is in the middle of so many acres, there's nothing around to catch those winds before they get to you.

The first winter we were up here, the Hill Country had a hard freeze that lasted two weeks... the pipes froze and my husband became a plumber.... fixed all the pipes, insulated everything... and we've been cautious weather-watchers ever since. Water filters get covered up, indoor faucets get dripped, outdoor faucets get wrapped with Styrofoam covers.  We're barely into November here, and that's all going to be on today's to-do list.

The prospect of leaving New York's cold winters and re-locating to warm and sunny Texas had a certain appeal to it back in 1993.  Now, in 2013, I cannot believe that the weather wizards on the local television stations are telling us to "bundle up, wrap up, and hunker down" for the next two nights.  Give me a blessed break.

A soupy weekend...

The weather has been mostly cloudy and cool, and mostly dreary all weekend. We've had some sunshine yesterday, which was nice and pretty and very warm, and the roses and the azaleas are all in bloom in the backyard. If you concentrate on the flowers, you think of Spring.  Look too long at the sky when it's so gray, and your mind knows it's really November.

When I'm in the back courtyard on the way to the coop, the perfume from the roses rests on the air and the aroma is just breath-taking.  I wish I had one-eighth of the gardening talent of the woman who planted all those roses twenty years ago. I just thank my lucky stars that 90% of those rose bushes are still blooming five years after we bought this property.

I've been making soup this weekend..... thick and creamy broccoli soup one day, broccoli and carrot soup the next day.  (No heavy cream, just non-fat milk, thank you.)  Making soup has been a happy accident since last year.  I had been cooking a head of cauliflower while the laundry was in the dryer... totally forgot about the boiling cauliflower and by the time I remembered it, that vegetable was a soft and pulpy mass.  I hate wasting food, so I thought of trying to use it for soup, and it worked out perfectly.  So now when I want to make any sort of vegetable soup, I just set the pot to boiling and let it cook away till it's soft and pulpy and ready to be turned into a thick soup.

Late last night, we heard a horrible cat screech out in the backyard.  Mickey was closed up in the garage at the time, and both Gatsby and Sweet Pea were sound asleep in the TV room.  As soon as we heard that cat out there, both inside cats ran to the back door, followed closely by my husband and myself.  We went out on the porch but didn't hear so much as a tiny meow.  This morning, when both Mickey and Gatsby were out on the porch, they were sniffing up, down, and around the porch furniture. I'm wondering if we have yet another stray cat to worry about.  Seems like just a couple of weeks ago that we took the last stray cat away to hopefully find a new home.

I'm hoping beyond hope that last night's screeching howling cat has just moved on. I don't want to bring another cat to the shelter... and I don't want the outside cats to have to fight their way around the property trying to claim their territory.  That last stray cat gave Gatsby a good deep scratch on the top of his head and it's just now healing up, so I'm sure The Gray Gatsby would agree with us when we say No More Cats!

Prodigal cows...

... along with one old and stubborn bull.

So there I was earlier this afternoon, pulling up to our mailbox after having been in town doing errands all morning.   I glanced up the road and saw four cattle and an old blue truck.  First thought that came to mind was that neighbor L had lost his cows again..... either his cows or his goats are forever getting out of his fields. Not that big a problem for L, because between that old truck of his and his two herding dogs, he gets the cattle back onto his property fairly quickly.

But then I looked again.... definitely a blue truck up the road, but... I see someone running after the cows with a broomstick...... and that person is wearing blue capris.  Definitely not neighbor L, plus I didn't see any dogs up there..... just a woman with a broomstick.

And that's when the little country-light-bulb went on....... that blue truck was my friend JS's.... and there were no dogs up there on the road herding those cows.  JS does have a tiny Chihuahua but she hadn't mentioned anything about teaching Bella to chase cows.

Up the road I drove, all the while wondering if that big old bull up there would come charging after my city-girl car.  I was hoping the silver-blue color of my little car wouldn't upset that bull any more than he already was.

I pulled my car into the center of the road, hoping that the cows wouldn't try to pass it... not even thinking that there was plenty of grassy areas on both sides of the narrow road that they could have used to get past me..... and that's what the cows were interested in--- all that tall grass.  The bull didn't even lift his head up from his grazing, and he wasn't upset at all... he was just pulling up the grass in big chunks, not even paying attention to J and her broomstick.

Two of the cows ran onto J & J's property, and I used my cell phone to call them for help..... they were in town having lunch.  Lunch?  How can they calmly eat lunch while JS is out there running around the road with a broomstick?   Before I had a chance to put my cell phone back in my purse, one of the other neighbors came driving down the road in his truck..... he stopped to ask me what the problem was.  I resisted the urge to ask him if JS with a broomstick constituted a 'problem.'

When I told him what happened.... that the wind had blown JS's gate open and the cattle got out, he told me that he'd go and get a bucket of corn to lure the cows back to their own field.  And that's exactly what he did.... which was an easy chore for three of the cattle because Donna Quixote's threats with the broomstick had them back in front of their own gate. Just one of the cows ran in the other direction and ended up on still another neighbor's property. 

By that time, the first three cattle were back inside JS's gate.... the neighbor with the bucket of corn and JS were in their trucks and headed towards rounding up the last cow.  I turned my own car around and drove back down the hill towards home.  Except for a smashed cow-pattie on one of my front tires, my sweet little car was just fine.

Strange coincidence.... while I was in town this morning, I ordered four new tires for my car which will be put on next week.  I think I just might tell JS that this city-girl decided to change all four tires because of the cow-pattie mess from that big old stubborn bull.

Where's the heat?

I am so spoiled with all the warm temperatures we've had...... and now the weather has been changing since the first of November. Bah humbug to that.

The temperature went down to 48 last night... and tonight it will be about the same or a bit warmer.  By the time the afternoons roll around, the sun has come out in force and it's nice and warm, but not even close to October's 80 degrees anymore. The best we can hope for this week is the high 70s during the day, which is called "sweater weather" in this state.  When I lived in NY, the high 70s would have been a miracle in the month of November.

One good thing about the weather change... I haven't seen a scorpion or a wasp lately. Hopefully, the colder temperatures have frozen them all and sent them to Insect Heaven. Who meets them at the Pearly Gates?  Saint Beetle? (Sorry... couldn't resist.)

Just one barn swallow is up in the nest by the back steps now... I have no idea what happened to the other little bird, which I'm guessing is the sibling to the bird that's still here. When I went outside to feed the cats this evening, just two little birdie-eyes watched me going up and down the steps.  When I got to the back door, the one little bird hunkered down into the nest to keep warm.  Maybe the other bird found a mate.

The cats.... Mickey spends his nights in the garage, where he has access to the fenced-in coop when he wants fresh air.  I can't trust Mickey inside the house anymore, so he's been an outside cat since this past Spring. (Gone are the days when I used to tolerate bad-cat behavior from an indoor cat.)  During the day, Mickey and our other outside cat, Gatsby, spend their time out on the property. Mickey used to explore half the property when we first let him outside, but now he's learned to stay close to the house, the garage and the cottage. The farthest he will go is to the barn, which is far enough, in my opinion.

On these colder nights that we've had, I've brought Gatsby into the house, gentleman cat that he is... I never have to worry what he'll do in here.  Actually, since the neighbors have seen both cougars and coyotes right close to their houses, I've been bringing Gatsby into the house every night for the past two months now.  I'd like to leave Gatsby in the garage with Mickey, but Gatsby is a bigger cat and he eats up all the food and sleeps in Mickey's favorite pillow-bed out there.  Gatsby may be a gentleman cat inside the house, but in the Cat Kingdom outside, his motto must be "Every cat for himself."

I worry about Mickey..... I know the garage is safe for him, and heaven knows I've created enough warm sleeping spots for him out there. Between the coop and the garage, he has chairs and pillow-beds, and tables with blankets.... all the comforts of home.  I keep telling Mickey he's "camping outside" for the night....... but I hate having him out there.  I guess I hate cleaning up cat-accidents even more because I'm not willing to let him in the house anymore.  Not to mention the fact that he doesn't even want to come in the house now.  Marco Polo Mickey has discovered the great big world and he doesn't want to give it up.

Still raining...

... a nice soft rain that's been falling all day long again.  I haven't seen any more of those yellow butterflies... guess they don't much like the rain either.

The two barn swallows are still up in their nest by the back steps.  I make a point to look for them every evening, and there they are, perched up on their nest and looking down at me. I've been talking to those birds every day since they were teeny-tiny, and I'm thinking that they do know me and trust me not to hurt them.... they don't even move when I walk by their nest. They just look at me with tilted heads..... "there she goes again."  So cute.  I wonder how long they're planning to stay. Mostly all of the other barn swallows have moved on.  Maybe these two particular birds don't like flying in the rain.  Can't say as I blame them..... I don't intend to take my car out of the garage till the sun is shining again.

With all this rain, I haven't had to stand outside with the hose to water the flowerbeds. Just who planted all that stuff anyway?  Seems like it took the better part of an hour every morning to get everything watered well..... and then another watering in the late afternoon if the temperature got up to or over 100 degrees.  I can fully understand why Texas gardeners have such respect for cactus plants...... they thrive with or without watering, no matter what the temperature happens to be.

The vapors....

..... an old southern ailment, as in  Darlin', Ah do believe Ah have a case o' the vapors.

And that's what I thought of early today when I looked out the balcony onto the pond... there were vapors of steam coming up from the pond and slowly evaporating into the cool air of the morning.  I guess the temperature of the pond water was warmer than the air above it, and the results were mystical and very beautiful.

Today is the first morning after the time change last night.  Back one hour.... and I don't really like when we have to move the clocks back because it makes the days shorter.... as if we're all getting cheated out of part of the daylight.  I sort of ease into the time change.... I had all the clocks in the house turned back an hour before dinner-time last night.  I started on the third floor and made my way down to the first floor... by the time the clocks were all put back one hour, the entire house was once again in the same time zone.

I can hear shots being fired today.... this is the first full day of deer season, I believe.  Good luck, Bambi.  I just hate hunting seasons..... seems like we just got through with dove season up here.  All those tiny doves that the hunters shoot.... I have no idea why.  Do they really cook and eat those small and beautiful birds?  Or do they just use the doves as target practice until deer season begins?

Our neighbors behind us have a shooting range set up on their property, complete with wooden targets.  There are days when they shoot for hours on end, and you can tell when they change guns because the sounds are different.  About a year ago, they had friends over and it seemed that the shooting went on for half the afternoon over there.  One of the other neighbors called them up and asked "Should we all be worried on this side of the hill?  Has war been declared?"   That gentle hint got them to stop shooting, at least for that particular day.

One of the other neighbors has a deer feeder on his property..... and not far away he also has a deer-blind nestled in the trees.  When the deer come to the feeder, if that neighbor is in his deer-blind, he's got a straight shot at the deer.  So unfair to the deer. Just horrible.

As I type, the shooting on the property behind us is going on and on.... it's getting so that I'm trying to type to the rhythm of the gunshots.  Time to stop typing, since the neighbors aren't going to stop shooting.  I wonder how many shots need to be fired till I can call them up and ask if war has been declared in this part of the Hill Country....

Yellow butterflies and barn swallows.

I cannot even count the number of yellow butterflies I've seen today.  So pretty.... bright yellow, big ones and little ones, and even a few teeny ones.  There were so many flying around the plants that I just stood out in the courtyard for a while and just watched them.  The butterflies especially liked the red sage that's near the garage.... and the yellow of the butterfly wings was so intense that when they got close to the esperanza plant they seemed to be the exact shade of yellow as the blooms on the plant.

I'm glad that neither Mickey nor Gatsby seem interested in catching butterflies.  Mickey is into lizards, and Gatsby is into napping and eating, so the butterflies are safe.  At least from the cats.... I don't know if larger birds will catch butterflies..... it seems that the black crows go after just anything that's within their reach.

There are still four barn swallows out in the porch nests every night.  Most of the swallows have gone now...... I don't exactly know where they fly off to (Capistrano?) but at this time of the year there's hardly any swallows left.  Being that we had a dozen nests around the porch during spring and summer, and the barn swallows survived the over-100-degree weather, you would think they'd all want to stay around now when we're having our 'second spring.'  But just the four remain.... they fly all over the yard during the day, and then come back to two of the nests for the night.  Two of the birds cuddle up together in one nest by the steps, the other two are in an adjacent nest on top of one of the porch columns.                                           

I wonder if the nests they choose for sleeping are the same ones they were in as baby birds. The two birds that sleep in the nest right by the back steps are very trusting of me and the cats.... they watch me go up and down the steps in the evening and they just sit there in the nest and look without flying away.  When the baby birds were in that particular nest this past spring, they did the same thing... they peeked over the edge of the nest to watch me come and go.   Same birds?  No idea, but it's a nice thought just the same.

Picture-perfect, glorious day today.... nice and warm, not a drop of humidity, beautiful blue sky filled with yellow butterflies.