genuine verdict

Herb Garden, originally uploaded by trekr.

I planted this herb garden in July. The chili tepin’s did awesome and everything else is filling in nicely.

Monarch on Loquat, originally uploaded by trekr.

Its been a long Indian summer in North Texas. The loquat is one of the last bloomers, its flowers are covered with bees, moths, and this lone monarch. Tomorrow the first freeze is on its way ending a beautiful November.

DSCN9005, originally uploaded by trekr.

The Morning Glory survived a hot Texas summer. They are blooming now that the cooler nights have set in.

Datura, originally uploaded by trekr.

I wonder if the inventor of the impeller was a gardener ?

Nocturnal lizard, originally uploaded by trekr.

I walked out onto the back porch last night and was surprised to find about a half dozen of these lizards on the walls and ceiling. They were making a quick meal of insects that flew up under the porch and hit the ceiling!

Fulgurite, originally uploaded by trekr.

School is back in session and so its time for a little show and tell. I found this petrified Alien on the Outer Banks while walking the beach at low tide early one morning in late June. My Alien friend is a well worn fulgurite; a rock made when lightning energizes the beach sand.

I’ve been tying my shoelaces incorrectly for over 40 years. Conservatively that is over 50,000 incorrectly tied knots. Now I know why my shoelaces come undone. I’ve lived with this minor annoyance for a long time and I’m not sure I’m willing to give it up just yet. But thanks Ian for making Ian’s Shoelace Site.

I’ve started playing with Ruby on Rails. For simple CRUD interfaces, I’ve found it is very fast and easy. Here is a demo of multiple related selection boxes using Ajax. In the screen shot, Zip Code has been constrained by the previous selections for State, County, and Post Office. It works like you would expect, selecting a State constrains selections for County, Post Office, Zip Code, and selecting a County constrains Post Office, etc. I used Richard White’s excellent Ajax Scaffold for this demo. The data is from the 2000 Census.

I’m Hungry!, originally uploaded by trekr.

Well there are four hatchlings and this one is the hungry one!

DSCN8905, originally uploaded by trekr.

Today the eggs hatched! Wow, baby birds in August?

Herb Garden, originally uploaded by trekr.

My shadow overlooking the new herb garden. We finally had some success germinating chili tepin, so the two left rows are peppers and the rows on the right are a variety of herbs. Fresh herbs just outside the back door! Now that’s good eats.

Beehive, originally uploaded by trekr.

I finally decided to take a chance and get close enough to get a decent photograph. I’m not quite ready for the macro! This colony has made this brick fence post pillar its home for the past two years now. The bees haven’t stung anyone or swarmed so I don’t think they are Africanized. I’m inclined to leave them alone. They are doing a good job pollinating the garden plants! I’m glad to have them back.

create your own visited countries map or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Check this out and make your own!

Louisianna Waterthrush Nest, originally uploaded by trekr.

I don’t know why they are raising a brood in July, but the Waterthrush are back. They have built a nest on the back porch again, this time just to the right of the doors in an abandoned planter attached to the wall. It looks like there are four eggs.

DSCN8771, originally uploaded by trekr.

This spring we planted two burr oaks just off the back porch to replace the old post oak that we lost. We coverted the ground around the new trees with a thick layer of shredded tree mulch to help them weather hot days of the summer. To my astonishment, a wild rabbit decided that the mulch under the tree was the perfect place to raise her brood. We’ve been watching the den for two weeks and this is the first time one of the little ones has poked his head out.

Cobalt Blue Salvia, originally uploaded by trekr.

Sometimes it’s as good as the brochure 🙂

Fractal, originally uploaded by trekr.

I’m not sure what made this gall, but it has a beautiful fractal pattern to it.

Summer Figs, originally uploaded by trekr.

There was a time while I was racing bicyles that the fig bar was my favorite food. These figs are from a tree in the back corner of my yard and every year I’m surprised by how well it does here in Texas.

DSCN8726, originally uploaded by trekr.

Kids are gone, place is a little run down, but it’s home.  See the Happy Family in the spring of their lives when the Cardoon was in bloom.

Empress Tree, originally uploaded by trekr.

Two princesses climb the royal empress tree.

DSCN8689, originally uploaded by trekr.

Sadie, our Italian Greyhound, is listening carefully! Reminds me of the Flying Nun!

DSCN8696, originally uploaded by trekr.

The Cotinus texan prefer the overripe figs leaving the others alone. Reminds me of my neighbor defending his tomatoes from the squirrels. The squirrels would pick the green tomatoes, take one bite and leave the fruit lying on the ground. " How come the squirrels don’t eat your tomatoes?", he asked. I pointed to the compost pile in the middle of a circle of tomato plants. "Simple. We give them something better to eat".  So it turns out to be a good idea to leave a few very ripe figs on the tree for the beetles so they don’t have to sample all of them!

There is enough for everyone.

DSCN8541, originally uploaded by trekr.

A calm after the storm, a light shining through, a time to be outdoors.  Jacqui got up early to take this picture while looking out over the Atlantic from the Outer Banks.

DSCN8667, originally uploaded by trekr.

Every year the whole town musters for the 4th of July Parade. Every manner of vehicle lines up on Simmons Drive at 9 am and begins winding throught the town at a slow pace ending at the Town Hall for a BBQ. Its quite a bit of fun whether you watch or parade. I love living in a small town !

DSCN8674, originally uploaded by trekr.

It finally rained on the 4th of July! I tried to capture the vibrant greens after a summer rain but I think you need to be able to smell the ozone and feel the rain on your face to fully appreciate the relief.

Check out this cool website built with Ruby on Rails, Wayfaring.  There are 39 traffic lights on my way to work. Its just over 20 miles and takes about 40 minutes if I leave my house just after 6:00 a.m.   Anytime after that it is at least an hour drive due to the construction on Hwy 121.  I like what Wayfaring has done and hope they can keep improving it.

06-05-06_0636, originally uploaded by trekr.

Stunning sunrise yesterday. I took this from my Razor driving down highway 121 in the yellow stang on the way to Cadbury’s while you were still sleeping 🙂

Uncle Donald, originally uploaded by trekr.

My uncle Donald gave us a house warming present nearly a decade ago. The plane hangs on the ceiling of our back porch. When the wind blows, the propeller spins with a distinctive sound not unlike a creaky windmill on an abandoned farm. This little plane has foretold many storms.

DSCN8385, originally uploaded by trekr.

This cactus is from a cutting. The mother plant is in a big pot sitting on an old stump in the back yard of the Fritch’s farm near Schullenberg Texas. The flower opens in the day and closes at night.

DSCN8306, originally uploaded by trekr.

Sometimes a weed will surprise you. If you have some weeds around you, at the least, you should let them flower.