a little garden clean-up

Early in the morning when we’re at our new property, I work a bit on the very overgrown landscaping around the pool. A very short bit — the heat and humidity have been unusually horrid this summer! I’m using these leather gauntlet gloves I once purchased for trimming roses — there are many sago palms on the property and they have razor-sharp edges!

The once small and blooming lantana has grown to 3 foot long branches that intertwine with each other into a huge knot. After trimming several back last week, I found another prickly pear cactus that they had completely hidden!

This is how neatly the place looked in the springtime, just before we bought the place. Apparently lantana thrives on hot, humid days with very little rainfall or watering!

a new wildflower

On those days when I wake up at our new place, I try to get in an hour of working on the pool’s landscaping before the extreme heat and humidity chase me inside for other jobs. The lantana has become completely overgrown, crowding out other plantings and hiding bits we didn’t even know were there. I’m trimming it back a bit severe to get rid of some powdery mildew and give all the plants some breathing room.

Among today’s trimmings, I found this volunteer wildflower that I hadn’t seen before — I think it is a Dakota Vervain. (see update below) I’m sorry to have pulled it out before noticing how pretty it is. It had become “buried” under some over-long lantana stems. Before it could wilt, I did a quick continuous-line sketch of it — gave me an excuse to come inside and cool down with some iced peach tea!

UPDATE: after help from others on Facebook, this flower has been identified as Plumbago auriculata.

pool rocks

This is what one of the larger landscaping rocks near the swimming pool looked like a couple of weeks ago. Now we have had a long, dry period of excessive heat and the moss has all disappeared.

this morning’s church sketch

Tea and bag drawn during morning Bible study; text added during church sermon. Paint added later at new house, where my studio set has been moved. Ink blotch added from water drop — forgot I wrote text in water-soluble ink.

The larger cups are all used up at church so I took my ceramic cup from the car in. It would actually be smarter to reuse my own tea mug every week rather than use disposables.

Kyra Kitty

 

When the sheep farmers sold our daughter and son-in-law their new home, they came back to load up the remaining sheep, their horse, the border collies . . . and 2 barn cats, sisters from the same litter who had been adopted to take care of the mice in the barn. Unfortunately, they could only find one cat, Lyla. Her sister, Kyra, remained hidden and they needed to head on out.

We have been watching for Kyra for several weeks, and made sure there was food and fresh water available for her. Once in a while we would catch a glimpse of her but could never get close.

Then we spent several days in a row at the new house. On Friday morning, Kyra was near the pool and I slipped outside to the porch. She sat on a rock, looked directly at me, and chatted up a storm! I don’t speak “cat” but I’m sure she was telling me all about her people and familiar animals disappearing. She wouldn’t let me come near her.

Early Saturday morning I again came out to the porch and sat down. Kyra began talking to me again (complaining?) and came up to me, letting me pet her. So early this morning we attempted to catch her. She approached, purring and allowed petting. . . . . Then Bill grabbed her, put her in a kennel, and carried her to a tack room in the barn while she complained loudly and told him off! We closed her in the tack room with food and water, then texted her owners that she was contained. Their daughter will come from College Station this morning to collect her and return her to her sister kitty and family.

In the same way, we can feel lost and confused in the midst of our present concerns. We may attempt to hide or complain to whoever shows up to listen. Just when we begin to feel settled and begin to trust in the new situation, we are contained and put in a small space in confusion! But we don’t yet know that rescue is on the way — the Lord always provides a way out, a hope and a future.

a sadder butterfly

I was able to sketch this butterfly because it was not moving. Actually it was dead, damaged, with its color fading quickly. Most of the butterflies feeding on our lantana and other flowering shrubs move too quickly for sketching or even a blurred photo.

I’ve been slowly trimming the lantana back from the jungle it’s become around the pool. Hopefully this will encourage a new blooming — currently the only ones left with flowers are these in the sketch, growing in front of the barn.

Due to extreme heat and humidity, I only get a few plants trimmed each day that I’m at the new house. But eventually I’ll catch up . . .

lost feather

Just a quick sketch after hanging out in the pool this evening . . . If I could find a way to sketch while lazily floating in the water, I would! Observing the various birds, dragonflies, and bumble bees; listening to an owl, a crow, unknown songbirds, and a neighbor’s rooster; watching jets fly so very high overhead — apparently our new property is in the flight path for Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport. I’ve also watched a mother bird (I think it may be a type of vireo) feeding her young in a nearby birdhouse attached to one of the fence lines, and a crested cara cara (aka Mexican eagle) soar above me. It is totally peaceful here!

(Photo is a bit yellowed because it is now nighttime here, and I don’t have my studio lighting set up.)

Earlier today was busier than normal. Bill woke to find his cell phone too hot to touch and unable to turn on. After meeting his buddies for coffee, we loaded up the car with more stuff to move to our new place. Then headed to College Station for a bit of necessary shopping, an unexpected stop to check on his phone (by now cooler, charged, and working again), lunch at a deli, and a follow-up periodontist appointment for me.

Then back to the cabin to load up the cats and a bit of food before heading to our new place. A few fix-it jobs, continuing with landscape trimming and treating a cactus bug infestation, checking on how what we think is a young pecan tree is faring after treating it for bagworms. We’re also hanging out here while yet another realtor shows the cabin to potential buyers.

I love simply being here in the country, surrounded by birds, the neighbor’s goats and horses, trees, and such a lovely quiet!

traveling cats

Our cabin has been on the market for 40 days now and only a few scheduled to look in person, though thousands have looked at the online listings. Frustrating for us. Even more frustrating for our wee Scottish Fold kitties as we continue to pack what is not needed for “staging” at the cabin and travel back and forth between properties. We are doing some work at Kristen’s new house, meeting with workmen about the barn-to-house conversion, and keeping both mowed. We can’t actually begin on our barndominium until we sell the cabin.

When people schedule to look at the cabin, we load up the cats and go for a ride — or take more stuff to the new place. And when we go to spend the night at the alternate place, they balk — whether they are at the cabin or the house. They seem to like both places just fine; they just don’t care to leave wherever they happen to be at the moment.

not busy enough . . .

What with packing boxes and moving stuff one load at a time to our new place, maintaining yard and landscaping at both residences, showing cabin to potential buyers, trying to keep up with sketching . . . I decided that I wasn’t busy enough, so I took on a bit of knitting.
Our sweet neighbors’ baby #2 will be arriving any day and I wanted to make something for him. These bibs are knit of the same 100% cotton yarn that washcloths are made of. After use, simply dampen it and use it to wash the baby’s face and hands. And head, if he learns to eat like our son Jason did, who loved rubbing food into his hair while laughing.

magnolia seed pod

I’ve seen magnolias in bloom before and smelled the wonderful scent — but I had never seen one go to seed until now. The magnolia tree near our daughter’s swimming pool is heavy with seed pods.

(And just who’s bright idea was it to place a magnolia near a swimming pool anyway? Lots of shed leaves blow into the water!)