Category: Just because

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09/16/2023 inspection of dust

An overhead view of a leashed gray and white cat avoiding a very happy German shepherd laying down nearby.
The formerly pristine gray and white cat laying on his side in dust on concrete near the edge of the lawn. He is covered in brown dust bits everywhere. His face is happy.
A close up view of the now very dusty gray and white cat as he presses his face and paws onto the dirty concrete. Heaven.
The dust covered gray and white cat pushes himself up to leave because of the extremely annoying presence of the smiling and proud German Shepherd Dog nearby in the lawn who is watching over him. Gross, a dog.
Shackleton, the slightly less dust covered now gray and white cat, attempts to enjoy eating grass but has to turn away because of the enthusiastic nose of the German shepherd dog that keeps going to snuffle him.
Briar was delighted, honored, and thrilled to be allowed to escort Shackleton on a leashed walkabout. Shackleton was less thrilled about Briar, but finally got some good dust rolls in and sampled various lush grasses. He also hissed at Briar every time she got too enthusiastic about her adoration.
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09/16/2023 nice out

Long waving stalks of Lizardtail gaura’s tiny flowers and seeds reach across a bright blue sky with a few wispy white clouds. Wild sunflowers are blooming in the lower part of the frame.
I hope the Lizardtail gaura is firmly established after this year. There are multiple plants flowering and going to seed in several places around the yard. Wild annual sunflowers blooming in the background.
Clusters of light purple composite flowers are framed by green leaves in the background.
Blue mistflower is blooming! Before I took the picture it had a bee fly and several tiny bees on it but they did not like my camera phone coming up close.
The long flower stalk of an obedient plant has a few pale lavender-pink petaled buds forming near the base.
The fall obedient plants from a coworker are considering blooming. I put several around the yard and this one by the friendly moisture of the bird bath is doing best.
The red petals of a Texas mallow delicately enfold the long red and yellow reproductive parts emerging from the flower. The almost heart shaped fuzzy leaves are all around the plant stem.
The Texas mallow has been blooming regularly in the dry shade. Paula saw a hummingbird feeding at one a few weeks ago.
Stalks of goldenrod are 2-4 feet tall in the shade and topped with opening tiny yellow flowers in long clusters.
My Canada goldenrod from Abby is doing well and just started to bloom!
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08/08/2023 belated friend melon

A very long faced wire coated white and tan dog looks with suspicion upon a hand holding a small striped melon.
Friend of the garden Ziggy the dog found this very smelly round thing on a plant that his human planted!
A hand holds a small melon. It has green stripes on its rinds going from the attachment point to the other end. The background color is a very pale orange-yellow.
It is a Madhu Ras melon from seeds that I gave Ziggy’s human from last year’s harvest. Apparently the first one didn’t taste great (maybe due to sudden rain?) but the second was properly sweet. Our vines have flowered but not fruited this year and I suspect I haven’t put them in a sunny enough spot.
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09/09/2023 dinner and a show

Paula made this Thai dish, rad nah. It has garden garlic in it. The chef made the broth from scratch, from chicken and turkey bones. He also provided Paula with the hearty noodles. It was delicious!
Earlier in the day, Shacks watched the herb garden for skinks and grasshoppers.
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09/06/2023 garden after half inch rain!

Three partially opened bright yellow flowers with spiky green foliage and sepals stand in front of tall sprays of delicate white and pink gaura flowers. The gaura and the tall stalks of sunflower with arched green leaves peek above the edge of the roof, visible from this low angle. A sweetgum tree is blurry behind the house with a pale blue sky above.
Last night we had a lovely series of small thunderstorms and got a half an inch of rain in the gauge. This morning I think the flowers looked a little cleaner!! These are Grindelia ciliata in front of gaura and Maximilian sunflowers.
A partially opened yellow camphorweed flower is framed by the spheres of more green buds, including one big blurry one in the foreground. The background is dappled green and pale blue-gray sky.
The smaller yellow flowers are Heterotheca subaxillaris, which I recently learned has the common name of camphorweed. I keep forgetting to smell it.
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09/04/2023 garlic chives

A cluster of six leaves white flowers stand on the end of a slim pale green stalk. The background is brown and tan and gray of dried other plants in summer heat.
A close up view of the flowers of garlic chives.
Several full and partially opened garlic chive clusters of white flowers are on pale green stalks over the flat thin leaves of the plants. A rosemary bush is blurred in the background.
Several other flower heads are visible. You can see the rosemary bush behind them too. Both the rosemary and the garlic chives seem very happy in full sun and hot dry sandy loam.