End of May Garden Shots

Every day I discover new blooms.


The varigated ginger plant that accents the front yard has never bloomed before.






A Tibetian Deer nestled in Creeping Juniper in the back yard




The requisite "Louisiana Yard Dog"....

In our climate and zone, the first blooms in my spring garden are the lovely pink buds gracing the barren branches of winter on the Japanese Magnolia I planted right outside my kitchen window. They last about 3 weeks. I was astonished to spot this bloom on the magnolia this evening, right before sunset. This is highly unusual for the end of May...

A trellis off the guest bedroom downstairs is beginning to color.

This bromeliad is at least 15 years old. It came from the greenhouse of T.I.R.R. (Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research) that is patient operated and driven.

My first agapantus bud. I have clumps of this all over the front yard. The flowers are a spectacular ball of fragrant blue/violet blooms.

Restoration of the Sanctuary / Diz and Sal's Excellent Adventure

I installed a wireless modem with moderate frustration and difficulty; this is no small feat for a mid-lifer with self-taught computer skills...As a result, I am working on this blog in repose, enjoying the birds and the fountain from the hammock.

I can once again log on to CSU and do homework from my sanctuary. Tres cool!!

These are buds and blooms in the yard I photographed this morning. They affirm and mirror my current state of mind.

Dizzy was antsy for a walk, so we roamed the 'hood...

Two shots of the bayou at the foot of Lindy Lane. A friend with a GPS device told me my house was 67' above sea level.

This is a shot of the park that abuts the bayou.

The plumbago is blooming !

It is unusual for Dizzy to be the one to initiate heading home, but today I wore him out.

NAMI Part II

My co-workers were looking at the NAMI blog/pictures, and Rick was not happy.


He wanted to know where were all the pictures of him. Once again proving what we always say in the office, "It is TRULY all about Rick". Or as Dr. B says, "Here's Rick, here's the world", indicating with his hand gestures that the world does indeed revolve around Rick.



The Ben Taub Super Ego at Brothers w/ Pony, uh I mean donkey.



Rick in the first 1/4 mile with Janet.




Why are there no walkers or runners behind Rick?

Well, he dropped back about 1/3 of the way through, ostensibly to pee, and was not seen again until Janet and I made the loop and were on the return leg of the walk here at the Montrose Blvd. underpass. Note the "sweat", no doubt splashed on the front of his shirt at the dandelion fountain along Allen Parkway for effect. We didn't even ask who he was talking to on the phone, but it was probably Fiesta Taxi Company.

So Rick this is your shining moment.

Breeze

Sunday, my friend Kay and I went out to eat, the opera, and then back to her house for girl talk, oh, and some wine.

She floored me with a festively wrapped gift. As I was opening it, she had a short speech, "This is a gift for a Goddess...may a new breeze bring wonderful things into your life and surround you in music". The gift was a lovely windchime with a green crystal and a shamrock (Kay is Irish). I had 4 windchimes in the backyard that (until 3 months ago) were always being silenced by bungee cords. Bring on the breeze, the wonderful things, and the music.

NAMI Walk

In preparation for the grueling NAMI walk, we decided carb loading was appropriate. Brother's Taco House, in my 'hood makes the best egg taco a la mexicana in town.





A truck parked at Brother's.


Getting psyched for the walk I wish this wasn't so blurry, My friend Janet has the best smile in the world!!!

Holy crap, I'm over 8 feet tall!!

One of our doctors....

Best name for a team. This was the V.A. psych group.

Immediately after I took this picture, Rick dropped our t-shirts in the fountain

Along Allen Parkway. Downtown skyline in the background....

Janet, Deana, and Sally savoring the thrill of victory.

And the agony of de-feet.

Horsing Around and Et Cetera

Males and the game of H.O.R.S.E.

Rick, my role model for effective time management.

Kevin ( pysch. tech), Rick, and Sammy collaborating on "Interdisciplinary Treatment Planning"

This is what happens when you cheat; Rick's strategy for prevailing in anything and everything is run like hell.

Victor threatened to affiate an E.D.O. for everyone involved (photographer excepted).

Sammy at 7 a.m. Thursday morning after being at an Astros game until the bitter end the night before. No ETOH involved, of course.

Rick and David Funtanilla. David, ever the good OT, has been very observant in my recent choice of jewelry.

Here's the et cetera....plumbago buds are opening. These cloudy days are not ideal for photographic color saturation, but in ~2 weeks when the bushes are in full bloom and the monarch butterflies visit me, I hope to have some nice shots to post

Trip To New Orleans

In March, I decided to take an extended weekend and drive to New Orleans for a long overdue restorative visit with family: Aunt Chookie (90 years young and going strong) and my cousin Pam, who was always like my big sister.

Our family dynamic is unusual in that we lived next door to one another. Pam and I had all of the benefits afforded by geography yet none of the rivalry/strife inherent in an immediate "under the same roof" sibling dynamic. Chook has been the significant maternal influence in my life. She was always there with positive affirming guidance, attention, and love as I was growing up.


Here are the pictorial highlights of the trip:

Well, one of these days I will master Adobe Photo and blogger.com. Until then turn your head 45 degrees to view Aunt Chookie's Voodoo Doll. She is lifting his "loincloth" to reveal her
latest incantations strategically positioned. So in addition to guidance, you can see she also shaped my warped sense of humor.

For my upcoming birthday, we went to a restaurant (near Hammond) on the Tcheunfte (Cha-funk-tah) River to indulge on seafood, shopping, and general fooling around....

"La croupier" settles the bill at Morton's for Sal's birthday lunch

Pam, La Chook, and Sal in front of Morton's after a delightful celebration

Sal on the Tchefuncte river.

No pictures of subsequent shopping. Wide angle lens not available to capture the amount of crap we bought on the Northshore and toted back to New Orleans.

Gardens

It was an exceptionally beautiful Sunday. The carillion bells at Villa De Mateo woke me about 6 and I watched the sun rise from the upstairs window. As it was getting light, the birds arrived to remind me their feeders are low. They empty three large canisters in a day.


I enjoyed a leisurely morning reading the paper in the hammock and listening to the wind chimes and the fountain. After that late killing freeze we had, I had to cut so much back. It is just starting to bud and bloom. Come August, the yard will be back to the full tropical jungle that I love.

This is the staghorn fern I got from "Jerry's Jungle" north of Houston last Saturday. I looked at a few websites, mostly from Florida for instructions and advice on attaching them to a tree and put it on the cedar tree in the backyard. It was fairly straightforward once I determined a position I was pleased with.






I dug in the hostas that were in pots a few weekends ago. They are the small dark leafy plant with white edging in the foreground planted around the base of the oak. They will grow into nice glossy mounds and will fill in completely by summer.

How to decorate a telephone pole. I got the tin yard art in Wimberly Texas because it reminded me of the 3 Harris girls. The vine is Sweet Pea. In a few months, it will be covered with pink blooms.
The gardener's assistant hopping over hostas.




Front Yard

Pansies that are still braving the heat.
The light green low bushes in the foreground of the 2 pictures above are Plumbago. They are real butterfly magnets. I have been checking them daily for signs of flower buds.Look what I found today! Buds! This was the inspiration to fetch my camera and take some pictures.

Well, I can't get this picture rotated, so rotate your head 45 degrees. This is a Bird of Paradise in the front that produced 6 huge white and cobalt blue "birds" for me this year. This is the last remaining flower.