Captured moments

Captured Moments – Texas Spiny lizard,old bricks and memories

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Good morning

We have been working on a house in Austin and one afternoon we arrived to find this lovely Texas spiny lizard sunning on some old bricks in the yard.  The bricks are reclaimed from the chimney of the house.   The house was built in 1925.  When one of the previous owners modernized the house, they took out the heating stove. It did not appear to have had a fireplace, but rather a hole in the bricks for a pipe from a wood burning stove.  The chimney had been walled in and was this small, square, floor to ceiling outjut in the corner of the living room.  The house had not been taken care of  when we purchased it and needed major repairs, this was how we discovered the old chimney.  When we first reclaimed them, a neighbor of ours, Robert Burns, took them to use in front of his house along the street.  After he sold the house and the new owner remodeled, the new owner knowing that they had come from our house, returned them. 

Captured Moments – Texas Thistle

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We have several varieties of thistle growing in our area.  The main one is Texas Thistle Cirsium texanum  (of course 😉 )

The Texas thistle grows 2-5 feet tall, without branches, or sparingly branched near the top. The numerous leaves are alternate, 4-9 inches long, smaller on the upper third of the stem. Leaves are green above and white below, with a woolly texture on the underside. The irregular lobes have spines at the tip but few elsewhere on the leaf. There is 1 flower head to a stem, with no ray flowers but numerous disk flowers, which are deep rose-lavendert.

Bumblebees work the flowers when they mature.

Thistle seed

Captured Moments – Trying something new – fall chicks.

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Good morning,

Most farm stores sell day old chicks in the spring.  It takes about five months to reach laying age, so if we buy in March, we can expect eggs starting late September.  It is still cool here in March and the need to shelter the chicks and keep them warm is crucial even without us reaching freezing temperatures.

In the last few years, one of our farm stores has started carrying chicks in the late summer.  It wasn’t until this year that we decided to give it a try.  We bought six chicks, three golden sex links and three red sex links.

This is what the chicks are sent home in.

Arriving at their new home

We had their home ready, a stock tank with cedar shavings, water, chick feed and a warming light.

They seemed to like exploring their new home and would all run from one end to the other.

We knew we would have to rearrange the food and water as they grew.  We also found that being summer, we did not need as much of a heat source to keep them comfortable.  The chicks will let you know if they are too cold or too warm from where they go in relation to the heat source.

We have cats.  So we needed a good cat proof top.  We had an old Ikea frame we have kept for years (we keep everything it seems, never know when it will come in handy, and it did) It fit the top of the tank perfectly.    My husband added some stops to keep it from sliding and hardware cloth.  Since it is not very cool, we can set the heat lamp on one end on the wire.

One of our cats is fascinated with the chicks.  They didn’t seem to be afraid of him.

Settled in for Cat TV.

Here they are at four days.

So far, I think I am enjoying the fall chicks more than the spring.  Our temperatures are still hot in August and do not cool until late October and sometimes later.  These girls are growing fast and will move into the small mobile coop soon.

Updates to follow. 🙂

Captured Moments – Styphnolobium affine – Texas Sophora

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This plant grew along a privacy fence in a house we used to live in a few years ago.  When we moved it was a very spindly vine looking plant that had pink blooms in the spring.  We went by the house today and the little vine is actually a very tall shrub.  It have lovely black seed pods dangling throughout the branches.

I took some photos and decided it was time to identify what exactly this vine turned shrub is,  It turns out it is a shrub called Eve’s Necklace or Texas Sophora – Styphnolobium  affine

From Wildflower.org plant database:

Eves necklace, a 15-30 ft., spineless shrub or tree, bears light-green, graceful leaflets and fragrant, pink, wisteria-like blooms. A tall shrub or small tree with thin, scaly, reddish brown bark on older wood and with smooth twigs. On limestone slopes, in valley bottoms, and on soils underlain with limestone in upland situations. Seeds reputed to be poisonous. Leaves divided into 6 to 8 pairs of leaflets and a terminal one on an axis up to 9 inches long, leaflets elliptic to oval, averaging an inch long, with a rounded, indented, or pointed tip, smooth margins, and a rounded or tapered base. Flowers fragrant, white tinged with rose, 1/2 inch long, arranged along axes up to 6 inches long, appearing in March and April. Fruit a long, rounded pod, constricted between the seeds, often with only 1 or a few seeds, the swollen part of the pod black, and the constrictions covered with gray hairs.

Sophora is from the Arabic name of a tree with pea-shaped flowers.

Happy October

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October is one of my favorite months.  We don’t get cool weather and beautiful fall color here in central Texas (Not usually).  Just saying the word October conjures thoughts of hot chocolate and spiced cider, hay rides and pumpkins.  Ghost and goblins and trick or treaters.  It doesn’t matter if it’s 90 degrees outside, knowing it’s October makes it fall.  We are already decorating the house for Halloween and putting up the fall wreath.  I hope you are have a beautiful, magical first day of October.

 

Captured Moments – Frogs, memories and mint

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Good morning,

When I was about nine years old, we lived on some property surrounded by ranch land.  I had access to over one hundred acres filled with all sorts of wonderful places to explore.  One of my favorite spots was a creek that ran through the property not far from our house.  I remember sitting along the banks with my dog watching the fish dart about and the sun catch on the colors of the perch under the water.  There was also mint growing along the banks and in the water.  I was fascinated by it. It smelled so good!

Where I live now there are no creeks or natural ponds.   I wanted to grow some mint and remembered the mint growing along that creek.  I had a small stock tank that was given to us.  It had been used for hydroponic gardening.  I filled it with some of the left over growing medium also given us and placed some stones to set my pots on.   I also added some larger ones that stair step to the top of the pond.  This is for any small animals that might fall into the pond. It would give them a way back out.  I then filled it with water.  We have well water so there is no issue with chlorine or other chemicals. 

I always add mosquito fish to the ponds to help keep the mosquito population down.  The mosquito fish we have were rescued from drying creek beds a few years ago and have happily multiplied in all of our outdoor tanks.

I planted the mint in clay pots and sat them in the pond on the rocks.  They have thrived.  One morning I came out to find the spearmint pot knocked over into the pond.  When I picked it up, a small Southern Leopard frog was clinging to the mint.  He was watchful, but stayed in the container while I set it back in place.

We continued to watch each other for a few minutes and I left him to recover.

He seems quite content to live in the spearmint.  I have seen him there several times.

The mint has thrived in the new pots in the water.  This is after about two weeks.

Captured Moments – traveling moth

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Good morning.

This moth was sitting on the side of some lumber we were buying. It allowed me to offer my finger and climbed on.  It stayed there until we finished our purchase and walked to a tree in the parking lot where I placed it near the trees trunk. It climbed off my finger and onto the trunk, then flew away. Pretty cool.  I am not sure what kind of moth it is.  I wondered how it had gotten into the lumber section?  Had it flown in, or traveled with the wood?  The lumber at our Home Depot is marked that it originated from Sweden.  I don’t think it has traveled quite that far. 😉   I am glad that I was able to help it.

 

Captured Moments – Vinnie Todd’s Cut & Shave

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There is a local barber shop tucked away in a strip center next to my sons favorite game store, that always draws my attention.  When we are there, I enjoy looking at the signs on their door.  I like the pop culture references.  One day they had surf boards in front of the store, but I missed that photo opportunity.   I have  never been inside, but I love their advertising.

While working on this post, I found their website.   They have a wonderful video about how Vinnie Todd’s came to be, which is shared below.   This is a very cool shop.

Captured Moments – SoCo the cat

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Good morning

There is a mostly feral cat that lives at a house we have been working on.  The owners moved and left him and he has never quite trusted again.  He cannot be picked up and rarely touched.   He is wily and will not enter a container of any form no matter how hungry.  We make sure he has food and we think there are others in the neighborhood that do as well.   I was able to sit very still and he came close to me, even put a nose to the camera.  If I moved towards him at all, he ran away.  He was content to have me in his yard space, but no touching.  

He has been named SoCo for the area he lives in.   He is watching me from across the yard.

Approaching with caution

Hey, what is this thing?

Sharing space and a big yawn after eating. (Collage made with Ribbet)