April 28, 2011

nicknames



Ondine has a new nickname: Lilu. As the diva says in The Fifth Element, "She is more fragile than she seems. She needs your help, and your love."

Other nicknames include Bananas ("this [blank] is Bananas, bee ay en ay en ay ess") and Sen (after Chihiro in Spirited Away).

Mrrmmph.

April 26, 2011

yeah, this one's spinning



This storm was over Bastrop, about 50 miles south-southeast of here. The radar was showing rotation on its southwest side, but I don't think anything developed. (This is the smaller of two storms on the radar this evening - the gnarly stuff is 80 miles north of here, up around Waco.)

April 23, 2011

the great 2011 easter egg hunt












ondine, goya



april afternoon




april morning






It was already getting hot by 10:30 but we had a good walk. (We saw a big water snake in those baby lilies. The turtle was just hanging out on the trail.)


this matters

Great article: Uncontacted Tribes: The Last Free People on Earth.

pumpkin



April 21, 2011

a fleeting



baby mulberries



This is the first year this tree has had fruit.

outdoor time



Our cats are indoor cats. Our oldest, Flipper, and our youngest, Matilda, are trustworthy in the backyard, but the rest are either too skittish or too bold outdoors. They all get to play in the kennel from time to time, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Whiskers and Tanner are big babies about it, but Fawkes will sleep out there all day. (Flip, Tanya, Autumn and Fawkes are in this picture. Matlida and Aries were nearby. They're never far from Amy.)

ornamental pomegranate



April 20, 2011

toon iii



Oh, Annie? Taz!

April 19, 2011

pumpkin blossoms



First fireflies of the year last night. That means the heat's coming. (It's already been in the 90s a few days.)

it's like living with a toon ii



Apart from having serious issues with passing cars - probably fear-driven aggression - she's doing well. I was angry with her yesterday and discovered she responds to stern commands - that's something I'll have to work on. (I don't have to get mad, I just have to put my foot down. That's hard for me. We might need a behaviorist to help us with the car thing. Or infinite patience. Or $8-a-gallon gas.)

April 16, 2011

never a dull moment



These guys are rescues, too, one from a clinic client who needed to find it a new home, and the other from a body shop it flew into one day.

April 15, 2011

it's like living with a toon



nice light



There was a nice glow in the sky tonight; probably high, diffuse smoke from the west Texas wildfires.

April 11, 2011

radish inn



baby wrens



We heard the baby wrens for the first time today. Mom and Dad were back and forth all evening with bugs.

In other news, UT-Austin's art department accepted Sarah today. Go Longhorns!

April 10, 2011

bicolor iris



Our first bloom on this plant.

bren in the garden



Most days I can't believe they let me live on this planet, man, and especially not with this beautiful woman as my daily companion. Thanks for 26 good years, Bren.

blown irises



feels like high summer





Hot, frowsy breezes, wild plants all at the peak of their growth - days like these were always my favorite growing up, you know, late June, early July.

April 9, 2011

ondine of the flowers



There's a state law that says you have to have a picture of every member of your family posing in a field of bluebonnets. We had a really dry winter.


Nobody I know knows what this second one is called but you'd think somebody would. I mean, they bloom every spring. I think we should call them globeweeds.