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.

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.)

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happy easter!

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

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

toon iii

Oh, Annie? Taz!

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.)

cranes

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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.

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.

spinach, gnome and ladybugs

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for real

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!

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.

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.