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Never a dull moment around here. We had 60 mph winds and over 4 inches of rain around 5 am this morning while under a tornado watch. There were lots of close lightning strikes and our electricity was out about 3 hours. Because large hail was forecast we brought the donkey in the living room...

With the recent rains they've been popping up everywhere. We don't see that many mushrooms in the Southwest. I had no idea what it was, so I Googled 'mushroom that looks like a turd' and sure enough, there it was...I present to you the Dog Turd Mushroom (Pisolithus tinctorius). Apparently...

Our wildflower meadow is peaking with Bluebonnets right now! The orange ball shaped flowers are Fragrant Gaillardia. They have no ray flowers (petals) and have the most beautiful fragrance. There are also bright magenta Wild Garlic and tall yellow Englemann's Daisies and White Rock Lettuce...

Our current dining room chairs are falling apart, I bought them new in 1980 (!) I've found some I like online that are on sale and they come in both fabric and leather. I'm trying to choose. Our dining room is used daily, it's not for special occasions even though it's a very nice space. I...

My brother-in-law in Wisconsin has Alzheimer's and has been missing since yesterday afternoon. There is a Silver alert out for him. http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/silver-alert-issued-for-missing-ozaukee-county-man-b99478054z1-299140231.html

Next week the contractor is going to be installing a tube skylight in my dining room. And after that an electrician will hang my new dining room chandelier. The room is a rectangle, but foot traffic moves in an L around two sides to go from the foyer into the kitchen and the foyer into the...

This afternoon the first hummingbird of the season showed up. Right on time, too, as I see in my notes it was exactly one year ago today that the first Black Chin hummingbird arrived. For me, this means Spring has officially begun! I'll post photos on this thread as the season progresses, so...

A little bit late to post, but today someone thought to give me this amazing photo of the tornado and hail storm that tore up our place this past summer. From the location pictured--a nearby campground--it was probably taken as it was right over us. I have never before seen a darker cloud in my...

Just found my orneriest little dog who loves to climb things on the TOP (eye level) shelf in the greenhouse where he has destroyed about 24 of my month old tomato plants. I have no idea what induced him to go up there. Fortunately there are still a hundred others, but these were some special...

Our 16 y.o. refrigerator has been on the blink, and losing food when you are a 3 hour round trip to a grocery store is no fun. So we caught an online sale on a fancy new one and dubbed it our birthdays/anniversary/Christmas gift. Since we are too far from the nearest big box store we don't...

As if having something with stingers colonizing in my shed weren't enough, I now have an even more frightening prospect. Back in June a tornado felled our back yard Italian Stone pine--which had been the champion tree in Texas--across my greenhouse. It made a huge hole in the ground and when...

One thing I am seeing a lot of is this wasp. They are drinking out of the kiddie pool, and are able to land on the surface and stay afloat on the surface tension. I could not find an online ID for it, so I posted it to Bugguides.com and they moved it for expert attention and so far no one has...

Formerly, I was a native plant and wildflower botanist for a national botanical garden, where I worked in environmental education. I left to direct a regional river conservation and nature tourism non-profit for many years. Since leaving corporate life behind I split my time between farming...