Watery Wordless Wednessday

Watery Wednesday ~ Wordless Wednesday

Todays Flowers - Horsemint Mosaic

Horsemint is a fascinating plant to take pictures of. It can look raggedy out in a field (espcially after it's dried a little in the Texas sun), but is delicate and lacy up close. 

So, I decided to feature photos of horsemint for Mosaic Monday, and to show it off in Today's Flowers too!  I used the Mosaic tool on Big Hugh Labs to make this mosaic.

Mellow Yellow Camera Critters - More Caterpillar Pics

Surprisingly the dill plant survived the first set of caterpillars that call it home...then recently two more came, and pretty much finished it off.  When they were done with nearly everything green on it they crawled away.  We caught one crawling out of the pot and placed it gently on the grass.  Later that day we found it crawling on a plastic pinwheel that had fallen over in the grass, and together we took some kinda trippy pictures of it.  This first picture I'm pretty sure is by my son (age 7 - and yes, I was impressed).

And then, an amazing thing happened.  While we were still

taking pictures of the caterpillar, a grasshopper jumped onto

the pinwheel right next to him!   He stayed just long 

enough for us to take a couple shots.

Throwback Thursday at Living Life...

Sky Watch Friday

See more sky-views at Sky Watch Friday

Aloha Friday - A Question About Bindweed/Field Morning Glory

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday! Every Friday (well, ok, almost every Friday) I ask a simple question--nothing that requires a lengthy response. Please participate by leaving an answer in a comment below, and if you have a blog and would like to post your own question you can leave your link at An Island Life.


My question this week is about this little plant...

Which is growing prolifically in the wild parts of my yard...

This flower is a type of morning glory...and also goes by the less pleasant name "bindweed."

One article I read about this plant said this:

"Some morning glory is grown as an attractive annual vine in our area. Field bindweed is not attractive."

Hmmm...I disagree.  I think they look lovely.  Other than having smaller flowers and leaves than the garden store morning glory, I don't see a big difference in appearance.

But the article goes on to say...

Field bindweed is a strong-willed perennial, Goodspeed says. It grows from rhizomes, which are technically underground stems. This gives the plant the ability to move great distances under the ground without being detected. These rhizomes can produce a "new" plant at each node on the stem.
“In layman terms, this means the plant has the ability to send up 1,000 new plants right where you are trying to establish a flower bed or garden,” he says. “As if this were not evil enough, this noxious weed also has the ability to produce thousands of seeds. To top it off, these seeds can lay dormant in the soil for up to 50 years before germinating.”
Are you scared yet?

- Morning Glory Is Gory by Dennis Hinkamp

No, I'm not scared...though I am gaining respect.

You see, maybe I'm crazy, but what I hear in that is "This plant which is  soft on the foot and easy on the eyes (IMHO)  also grows and spreads without any work from me."

So, my question for you is...

What is your opinion of bindweed/field morning glory?  Love it?  Hate it?  Somewhere in between?  And if you have time, please tell me why.  (And if you've never seen it before...you can just tell me what you think of it from the pictures and description here.  Would you want it in your yard?) Thanks!

Wildflower Discoveries

Letting my yard go wild was one part laziness and one part curiosity.  After I discovered the Mexican Evening Primrose, I began to wonder what else was out t
here!

I didn't put weed killer on my yard, just went after the stuff I knew I disliked with a vengeance, and let the rest grow.  Here's what I discovered.

Mexican Hat

Horsemint

These Tiny White Beauties

They're called Frog Fruit - what a cute name!

These Tiny Pink Beauties

(Possibly a type of bluet...not sure)

Pink Morning Glory

There was one pink morning glory last year,

and I scattered some more seed, 

so this one might be wild, might be planted.

White Morning Glory

These were covering our yard last year,

so they weren't "discovered" so much,

but I'm happy to have them back!

I love the wildflowers in my yard,

but I wanted to add some more color too,

so here's some lovelies I bought.

These were all grouped together in their pots...

even now only a few have been put in the ground.

They sure do look pretty though.

My NON-Wildflowers

If you want to see more gorgeous blooms,

or share what's blooming in your garden

head on over to Garden Bloom Day 

and Blooming Tuesday! 

You can also check out more wildflowers at

Wildflower Wednesday!

Also shared on Throwback Thursday.

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Small Talk 6 - Father's Day Edition

The question for this week's Small Talk 6 is....

Six Things You and Your Dad Both Enjoy  

My Dad and I are very different, so I was happy for this 

chance to think about some of the ways we were alike. 

My 6 are...

1. We both like to ski (and my parents had a lot of help  in pushing that along).
2. We both love the mountains.
3. We both are avid readers (though the books we choose are different).
4. We both love the ocean.
5. We both enjoy crosswords.
6. We both enjoy exploring history.

If you have a blog you can post your own Small Talk 6 and leave a link on MomDot.  If you don't have a blog, you can join in by posting your 6 in a comment below!

Aloha Friday

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday. I’ll ask a simple question--nothing that requires a lengthy response--then you can leave an answer in a comment below!   If you’d like to participate on your own blog, you can create a post with your own question and leave your link at An Island Life.

Well, since there's been a lot of  wildlife creeping onto this blog lately (the wasps nest I stuck my hand into,  the rabbits hopping through our backyard, and the caterpillars munching on my dill ) I thought I'd ask about the wildlife in YOUR backyard:

What wildlife have you discovered in your backyard recently?

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OK...go ahead and boycott em.

Design by ry3317

Originally, I was not supporting the idea of boycotting BP.  They were paying for the clean-up and it wasn't clear if they were any more negligent than other oil companies.  Then I read this...

Documents: BP cut corners in days before blowout

I've changed my mind!  Go ahead an BOYCOTT EM!


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Stuck My Hand In a Wasps Nest

(WASP Nest Photo by PhDilettante Design)

Today I accidentally put my hand in a wasp's nest I didn't know was being built under our picnic table.  Me and the boys had been sitting at this very table just a few hours earlier and I'm surprised we didn't notice any wasps around.  Later I needed to mow and when I went to move the table I reached my hand under and felt my fingers go into something soft (more a strange feel than gross, but definately felt "organic" - like putting your hand into old ashes).  I jerked my hand out and  saw something move past and felt something in my hair and swatted it away...but I was still thinking I had dislodged something flaky and it had blown up in my hair, or possibly that it was a spider.   Then I saw the wasps, and backed up quick.  Backing away I could see the wasps nest I had just put my hand in with 5 or 6 wasps on it, and several more flying around.   Amazing that I didn't get stung!

(The photo above was NOT taken by me...oh, no, I was not that brave. That's a picture I borrowed from an artist/photographer on Zazzle. You can visit their shop here.  The wasps in my nest were orange but about the same shape.  The nest looked similar, only slightly bigger and a darker gray. )

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Shared on Throwback Thursday

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Small Talk 6 - Favorite Summertime Beverages

This week's Small Talk 6 (which I'm a couple days late for) was your 6 favorite summertime drinks.

My favorite summertime drinks are...

1.  Pomegranate Berry Smoothy (at Taco Bueno)
2.  Cherry Lime-aid
3.  Peach Tea
4.  Raspberry Tea
5.  Real Lemonade in a chilled glass mug (like at Cracker Barrel...but you can do that at home, too).

If you blog, you can share your 6 on your blog and post the link at Small Talk 6 at MomDot.  If you don't blog, why not share your 6 in the comment below?

A Backyard Visitor

If you like rabbits, you might also enjoy watching the 

video of baby rabbits we took when our kids found a 

rabbits nest behind the house earlier this year.

Wordless

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The Friday 56

Only a clever human can make a real Joke about virtue, or indeed about anything else; any of them can be trained to talk as if virtue were funny.
   -  Quote from "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis

That's the quote I found for The Friday 56. a fun little meme I just stumbled on. Here's how it works...

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
* Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

 Well, technically the closest book was the phone book...which I passed over since 56 is full of names and numbers, and the fifth person might not appreciate me posting their name and number here.  The second closest book was "Roadside Flowers of Texas" and page 56 was all flower pictures...not enough text to make up 5 sentences.

But the third closest book was "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis - and what a quote it was! 

If you're not familiar with The Screwtape Letters, it's a book of "letters" from a demon to a younger demon on how to "befuddle" a human.   Good read!  (Great listen too.  There's an audio version read by John Cleese which I spent nearly a year listening too over and over again in my car. )


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Aloha Friday

You may have noticed I've been trying out different memes on the blog...sort of feeling around to see what fits.

One that sounds fun is Aloha Friday at An Island Life. It's pretty simple. I just ask a question for you all to answer in the comments below. And, if you have a blog you can do the same and leave your link over at An Island Life.

This weeks question is...

If someone was traveling this summer and had time to stop and do just one thing in your town, what would you suggest they do?  (Make sure to include the name of your town , so that if we actually do drive through we can take your suggestion!).

My answer to that would be The Mayborn Children's Museum (Waco, TX).  You could spend all day doing just that with your kids -- and even adults enjoy it.   Looking forward to hearing your answers!


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