...and then some. I think we've had more rain this week than all the rain that's fallen since we moved out here to the Hill Country. Not only are all the ponds filled to the brim, but there are new ponds all around lower grounds in the fields. I heard from people in town that most of the concrete bridges that span the local creeks were impassable during the worst of the rain storms.
Our property doesn't have any low spots, and our home is raised up on a slight hill on the property, so flooding wasn't an issue. (Thank goodness.) When we get pouring rain, every drop either soaks into the fields or goes down-hill towards the pond, which is about an acre in size.
Around the house and cottage and barn, all of the grass is soggy and just flat-out wet. Walking around the yard with just shoes on is senseless... you need boots. The fire ant mounds are all over the property, little ones and big ones, and sometimes flat ones that you can't see until the ants are crawling over your boots. Rule #1 for Texas should be to keep walking when you're on grass and don't stop till you're off the grass... once you stop walking, you're giving the fire ants time to attack. And 'attack' they will, with bites that will turn red and swollen and itch and hurt and leave you wondering how such a teeny insect can create such havoc.
The sun is shining today and it's beautiful and clear outside. I can't help but think of all the people whose homes were flooded, and whose cars were immersed in water. Their lives have been turned upside-down by the recent rain and my heart just goes out to them.
Friday, April 22, 2016
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Finally, wildlife that I can live with...
...bunnies!
For the past week now, there's been a bunny by the guest cottage. He sits there early in the morning and he's probably munching on the sweet clover that grows by there. I've seen the little brown rabbit when I go around the courtyard to open up the gate of the coop so Mickey can go in and out of the coop as well as going in and out of the garage.
When the rabbit sees me, he quickly runs underneath the cottage, and if there's one bunny under there, then surely he's with the rest of his bunny family. I've seen a lot of animals go underneath that cottage, everything from mice and snakes to armadillos and foxes. The bunny is the least of my concerns, and if there's a family of rabbits under the cottage, then I don't think all those other critters are under there as well.
The barn swallows are back, as always, and there seems to be a lot more birds than in previous years. All of them have renovated the existing nests a bit, making them either taller or wider or both, and the birds who have been here before sit there at the edge of the nests and just watch us going back and forth on the porch. Sweet little birds, all of them, even though they do make somewhat of a mess along the edge of that porch.
A pair of barn swallows had chosen one of the ledges underneath the breezeway connecting the house to the garage... they were trying so hard to build a nest there, but all the mud and dirt was just falling onto the courtyard because the ledge wasn't wide enough to hold the base of the nest. Well, my husband noticed their efforts, and he got a piece of board and used two nails to secure that small piece to the very thin ledge the barn swallows had picked out. Within half an hour, the two barn swallows were inspecting that new board and flying back and forth with bits of dirt and mud to construct their new home. My husband put that scrap piece of board up yesterday and ever since, those two little birds have been building.... my guess is that within a few days, their nest will be complete and the female will be sitting on some tiny eggs. I told my husband that he earned some really good birdie-karma this week.
Mickey is still walking around the yard and looking for Gatsby, our other outside cat who had to be 'put down' last week. I didn't realize how much I'd be missing Gatsby till he was gone... that cat followed me all over the yard, all around the porch, and more often than not, I'd be tripping over Gatsby because he was always walking so close to me. Now that he's gone, the porch seems empty, and I know Mickey is missing him outside, and even Sweet Pea sits by the screen door and looks on the porch for him. Gatsby was such a part of the family even though he spent most of his life with us outside on the porch or inside the garage. I miss calling his name out there in the yard, and it never failed to surprise people when I'd call his name and he'd come running across the porch like a dog would. Gatsby... our wise gentleman cat.... he is definitely missed.
For the past week now, there's been a bunny by the guest cottage. He sits there early in the morning and he's probably munching on the sweet clover that grows by there. I've seen the little brown rabbit when I go around the courtyard to open up the gate of the coop so Mickey can go in and out of the coop as well as going in and out of the garage.
When the rabbit sees me, he quickly runs underneath the cottage, and if there's one bunny under there, then surely he's with the rest of his bunny family. I've seen a lot of animals go underneath that cottage, everything from mice and snakes to armadillos and foxes. The bunny is the least of my concerns, and if there's a family of rabbits under the cottage, then I don't think all those other critters are under there as well.
The barn swallows are back, as always, and there seems to be a lot more birds than in previous years. All of them have renovated the existing nests a bit, making them either taller or wider or both, and the birds who have been here before sit there at the edge of the nests and just watch us going back and forth on the porch. Sweet little birds, all of them, even though they do make somewhat of a mess along the edge of that porch.
A pair of barn swallows had chosen one of the ledges underneath the breezeway connecting the house to the garage... they were trying so hard to build a nest there, but all the mud and dirt was just falling onto the courtyard because the ledge wasn't wide enough to hold the base of the nest. Well, my husband noticed their efforts, and he got a piece of board and used two nails to secure that small piece to the very thin ledge the barn swallows had picked out. Within half an hour, the two barn swallows were inspecting that new board and flying back and forth with bits of dirt and mud to construct their new home. My husband put that scrap piece of board up yesterday and ever since, those two little birds have been building.... my guess is that within a few days, their nest will be complete and the female will be sitting on some tiny eggs. I told my husband that he earned some really good birdie-karma this week.
Mickey is still walking around the yard and looking for Gatsby, our other outside cat who had to be 'put down' last week. I didn't realize how much I'd be missing Gatsby till he was gone... that cat followed me all over the yard, all around the porch, and more often than not, I'd be tripping over Gatsby because he was always walking so close to me. Now that he's gone, the porch seems empty, and I know Mickey is missing him outside, and even Sweet Pea sits by the screen door and looks on the porch for him. Gatsby was such a part of the family even though he spent most of his life with us outside on the porch or inside the garage. I miss calling his name out there in the yard, and it never failed to surprise people when I'd call his name and he'd come running across the porch like a dog would. Gatsby... our wise gentleman cat.... he is definitely missed.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Compost 2.0
Well. About that compost pile. We must have started it on top of an enormous fire-ant mound. Every time I went out there to bury more food scraps in that pile, I saw more and more ants. That pile was just teeming with them, zillions of very unhappy ants. Unhappy because I raked apart their little world every day before dumping the latest batch of scraps into the middle of it. When I went out there today, I could barely get near the pile. I could see all the moving scurrying ants as soon as I got near that corner of the yard.
Oh well. I promised friend Cindy that I wouldn't spray ant-killer on that pile, but I just had to do it. Today's discovery was a fire-ant universe complete with tunnels and clutches of teeny tiny white ant eggs, which only means more and more millions of ants. Out came the spray and the ant powder. Hopefully as I type this, the ants in that particular part of the yard are history. But so is that compost.
I called Cindy, and immediately told her about my slaughter of the ants... starting the conversation with "Forgive me for I have sinned....." I asked her about getting a big plastic container of some sort, with a tight-fitting lid. Couldn't I keep that way out on the back deck, put the kitchen scraps into that with a little water now and then, and I could even roll it around the deck a bit to keep it mixed up. Wouldn't that mixture turn itself into the "black gold" that Cindy has been wanting to achieve for the garden?
So that's the plan now.... I will look in Walmart for a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid.... big enough to keep a good amount of compost in it, but light enough for me to roll around the porch.
Oh well. I promised friend Cindy that I wouldn't spray ant-killer on that pile, but I just had to do it. Today's discovery was a fire-ant universe complete with tunnels and clutches of teeny tiny white ant eggs, which only means more and more millions of ants. Out came the spray and the ant powder. Hopefully as I type this, the ants in that particular part of the yard are history. But so is that compost.
I called Cindy, and immediately told her about my slaughter of the ants... starting the conversation with "Forgive me for I have sinned....." I asked her about getting a big plastic container of some sort, with a tight-fitting lid. Couldn't I keep that way out on the back deck, put the kitchen scraps into that with a little water now and then, and I could even roll it around the deck a bit to keep it mixed up. Wouldn't that mixture turn itself into the "black gold" that Cindy has been wanting to achieve for the garden?
So that's the plan now.... I will look in Walmart for a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid.... big enough to keep a good amount of compost in it, but light enough for me to roll around the porch.
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