Pausing..

Did I mention I work a lot? Grown up work, meaning of life stuff.. or at least it affects many lives with decisions about treatment and parameters of care, and when to go home. Somedays I flow though it mindfully, other days each case is sticky and stubborn. I was stuck in traffic for 1 ½ hours today, music from Pandora streaming through, howling to the Pixies and wishing I had an Irish lilt so I could lose myself in the minute syllables. Just read “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed and now I wish I could dissapear from all my responsibilities and and hike for 3 months  in gorgeous awful wilderness. The husband and boys were settled in by the time I got home (late dinner with the boys half falling out of their chairs), wet chickens holed up on their roost (even the two broody bantams). I’ll work through the weekend, and the expected rain will pass me by as I go from room to room, but the shift in the season is somehow palpable. Nature abhors a vacuum. 

The in-betweenness... Smother grass with mulch. Grow something new later..

Stop light entertainment. House Park, with Travis High School and Southside High waiting for the rain to stop. Friday Night Lights and all.. The grey feels gloomy, but it also evokes feelings of harvest time, promising that odd Texas mixture of orange everything (leaves, pumpkins, flowers) with green (grass, plants, finally free of the oppressive summer heat).

Chicken haiku text messages from a friend that brightened up my evening- these are her new chicks (3 weeks old) in the old pink coop I gave her. Soft, fuzzy and sassy. Not bad role models..

Hungry birds

My bird feeder was empty in 5 hours.. The (Caroline vs house) wrens are small but voracious- especially when they line up 15 at a time! At one point a trio of blue jays tumbled through the air, wrestling each other for a treat, then a cardinal swooped in to eat. The doves are a bit big so they hang on the railing and peck at the other birds..

Volunteer flower in the making- one long stately stem.. I'm curious to see what it turns into..

Ironic comment from my husband- "what a great art piece".. It's a found (presumed bovine) hip bone in a chicken cage that is not meant to be artistic- it was just an efficient way to block the chickens from digging into the pot of lettuce seeds I'm trying to grow!

After working far too many days in a row I took to the garden for hours this weekend, raking up sycamore leaves, mowing, and planting new drought tolerant plants like an agave marginata "Opal", diamatina, multiple flame acanthuses (acanthae?!), a black dalea as well as tossing wildflower seeds out there. It's too bad the mosquitoes are everywhere because it's finally tolerable to sit on the porch at dusk and listen to the world outside. I did it anyways, smelling like lemongrass (the "natural" bug spray I use that is only marginally effective). It's luxurious to have a yard, and dirt to dig, and time to do it :)

Glimmers of recovery (what plants made it through summer..)

Summer winner: Sedum (Autumn Joy I think).. I will propagate more in this bed..

Hints of rain (and mildly cooler temps) and my Gaura, salvia and iceplants perk up in the new bed up front.. I can't wait until next year when they will be more established (except the iceplant which will probably turn to mush in any winter freeze..)

My chile pequin is probably in more shade than it wants, but I'm glad it's decided to give me little flowers- so they can develop into little peppers..

Sturdy garlic chives and rosemary..

At some point I'll identify this plant (that tries to pop up in the back and handles drought pretty well). It's got fuzzy, slightly tacky leaves and looks like it wants to be a scraggly bush...

The "softer"passionflower plant bloom- not showy but turns into bright red little fruits. The more dramatic one (below) never fruits. Both types pop up everywhere in the yard (happily followed by Frittilary butterflies)..

Happy Saturday everyone!

Snippets

Boy that's a lot of grass. Water hungry St Augustine at that. It's spotty, weedy and only half-trimmed, but I somehow can't imagine getting rid of all of it.. yet. Because where else would my 8 year old spin circles around (with his treasured "ninja stick"), rolling, flipping and flopping down to feel the sun on his face? I'll carve away at the edges each spring and fall (adding xeriscape bushes and beds), but will probably always leave a central "lawn" for the kids to throw balls and loll around on...

My fall project.. time to collect newspapers from my parents (we are digital at our house!) to smother the grass, cover with mulch and see what I can plant in the spring.. A perfectly unused edge to reclaim (and not have to water as much..).

I have done nothing to encourage this plant, but here it is, about to flower and produce pretty red fruits. It's a less showy passionflower vine that takes over the oregano (which has faded for the season anyway). I'm interested to see how the chickens take to the fruits..

Psst.. Hey bluebonnet. wrong season. Fun to see it anyways.. Neglected all summer it must be happy in it's spot. I'll sprinkle more seeds around it in the next few weeks (have to remember to refridgerate them!) to have a show next spring..

Who's making breakfast?

New coop, clean and sleek. The pink coop has been happily passed on to a friend starting her own backyard flock...

My biggest hen (Dottie our Cuckoo Maran) has been laying her dark brown eggs reliably..

But the other big girls? 

Yes, but not as often..

Don't think so yet..

And we can't tell which bantam is giving us delicious tiny white eggs..

Raise your wing please..

I am pleased nonetheless. Simple omlettes with salt and fresh pepper in the morning.. Yum!

Here and there..

Back from a trip to Alaska, all rain, moss and salt water... In Austin the yard is scorched, but I can still find spots of green and color. The big coop is complete, and more ladies are laying, leading to breakfast yumminess..

Wet...

Glaciers in the distance in Resurrection Bay

Watching salmon jump upstream in the Russian River

Snacking on salmon caught and smoked by my father-in-law at a campfire in Homer..

Lakeside marshlands..

Moss on a car- results of the temperate rain forest..

Moss and texture

Wild fungi everywhere

Driftwood puzzles..

Dry...

Cenizo blooms holding on a bit longer..

Geranium and transplanted pineapple top brighting up the shade

Ignored and in a dry box of afternoon light, this flame acanthus is stubborn and resilient (will plant a drift of them in the ground this fall..)

The back of the addition which has transitioned from bare post-contruction dust, to wildflower haven, and now an arid buffalo and wire grass corner..

Succulents peeking out from an asparagus plant..

Yummy..

Kudos to variety- eggs from my Cuckoo Maran, Catalana, Wyandotte and English Sussex

Speckled egg from a speckled hen?

Busy bee

At first I thought it was just a fly, but no..

It's a Metallic Green Native bee, Augochlora species..

I've also spied a few cardinals eating the chicken scratch, along with the usual doves..

My non-natives are doing well- the new bantams are settling in and enjoy melon seeds immensely..

The big girls continue to scratch (and fertilize!) the back..

Only my carrots (previously decimated by the girls above) have underperformed. After weeks of looking the same, I pulled them up to discover that the biggest only grew to the size of my thumbnail..

It is a good thing I don't have to survive off these!