Spring is in the air!

Spring, and pollen, are definitely in the air!

In a matter of days our landscape has morphed from a view of gray sticks to shades of lime and emerald, ornamented with the best array of wildflowers Texas has seen for years. The approach to spring has seen wild swings from days in the high 80's to freezing temps at night. I don't know how the plants can keep track of what season it really is, as the humans have had some difficulty!

It's been awhile since we updated this blog, so we'll have to go back a few weeks for an overview.

We had freezing overnight in the first week of March and all that chilly wind and weather gave our birds a hefty appetite - they nearly ate us out of house and home! The feed store actually ran out of large bags of sunflower seed so I know we weren't the only ones feeding them.

The chill was followed by 80 degree days in the second week of March. Somehow the strange weather really suited the wildflowers and we've had a bumper crop.
Here's a view we pass daily as we take the boys home from school.... it's classic Texas!

Babies in bluebonnets

We have some varieties of wildflowers in the yard that we've never seen before! We've also had a range of insects enjoying the flower nectar, and now, in April, the hummingbirds have arrived.

They are a little ahead of schedule - not sure what that means for the summer ahead of us

The range of temperatures left us a little confused as to what to do with the garden, but the weeds solved the dilemma and completely overtook it.

We were able to rescue the broccoli and cabbage - good crops for this strange weather! But the garden itself had to wait until this April to be released from the stranglehold of unwanted greenery. Steve's working on a new drip water system so we're trying to plan the plantings around the placement of those delivery lines. Too much hand watering happened last year, and that cuts into play time!

In the meantime, Steve's main entertainment has been mowing, and mowing, and maintaining all the equipment it takes to manage all this greenery! With two riding lawnmowers, two DR mowers and a tractor, there's always something that needs a new battery or some other "fix".

March was a busy month - sister Dawn visited for a week and it was a good chance to catch up. She was also able to connect with a few of her friends who live in the area. She timed her visit well this year and caught the beginning of the wildflower season.

Her visit was immediately followed by our Spring break camping trip. With Texas weather as varied and unpredictable as it is we have a real challenge planning camping trips. Because of the popularity of local campgrounds we have to make reservations months in advance, and then just hope the weather cooperates. As it turned out, this time it did!

Our preferred spot in South Shore campground on Lake Bastrop wasn't available, but the one next door was, and it turns out we like it better!

Really.... How can you beat that view? Grass, water and lots of sand to dig in.

The site was great for the boys, with plenty of room to play hide and seek behind the bushes, ducks to watch, frogs hopping and little fishes swimming around the edges of the water.

The trail beckoned and after scouting the route with the dogs the boys decided to try their hand at riding their bikes on it.

Jax's bike did ok, until it popped a tire, but Raylan had a difficult time with the bumpy terrain and decided he preferred his scooter on the paving. I don't blame him!

The weather cooperated and Skot and Kendra were able to come out and join us in the late afternoon for burgers and toasted marshmallows. We had a great time, and we're hoping we can fit in a lot more outings like this in the future.

I followed the camping trip almost immediately with a bit of knee surgery. It's only been three weeks but I'm almost back to my previous operating levels. The weeds didn't slow down a bit while I was recovering, so there's a lot of catching up to do!


In February I took a glass class at  Green Devil glass studio up in Austin. Kendra had given me a certificate for the class for Christmas and they are so popular it had to be scheduled a long way ahead. The class was really fun!

I hadn't melted any glass since chemistry class in high school, and it wasn't as "artistic" as this. I learned a lot, and came home with a glass flower, but I don't think I'll take it up as a hobby just yet - my craft room is already too full!

More photos of the camping trip and wildflowers in the album.