Someone’s been busy. This is what I see when I look out my bedroom window. Another perk to living out in the country.
Baling Hay
Scenes From My LIfe
Summertime
My grandma had a huge hydrangea bush on either side of the steps leading from her kitchen door. The one on the right had pink blooms and the one on the left had blue.
She talked about putting rusty nails in the soil to change the color. I don’t know if it worked so I googled it to see if it was an old wives’ tale. This is what I found. Hydrangeas change color (except for the white ones) based on the pH level of their soil. The more alkaline the soil, the pinker the flowers. Acidic soil (lower pH) will yield blue flowers and alkaline (higher pH) will give you pink flowers.
My sisters and I loved them. We didn’t care which color. One bloom was big enough to use as a bouquet and play “Here comes the bride” on a warm June afternoon. Fond memories.
I’m happy to say mine are looking good this year.
New Tenants
The last week or so I’ve noticed a bird hanging out on my back porch. Didn’t think anything about it, since I try to put out birdseed on a regular basis. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a nest in my asparagus fern! Pretty sure they’re mockingbirds.
Grandma’s Berry Vines
They looked like blackberries to me, but Grandma always called them dewberries. I googled to see and while similar, blackberries are slightly sweeter and dewberries are larger and usually ripen sooner. She used them to make cobblers. They grew on the fence that separated her house from the neighbor’s place. In the summertime when we went to visit, my sisters and I spent a lot of time sampling the fruit and dodging the little old lady who lived next door. We’d hear the squeak of the screen door and she’d holler out “You kids, get out of them berries!!” Grandma always told us to pay her no mind. “There are plenty enough berries to go around.” All I know is, we spent week with berry juice stains on our fingers.
June Days are here!
After such a cool, wet spring in east Texas, it doesn’t feel like it should be summer already. And I never thought I’d say this but I’m ready for warmer weather, less humidity and sunshine! (Note to self: Remember that when I’m complaining about the heat in a month or two.)
Truth of it is I love the change. I’m always ready to move to the next season. So I’ll be packing away sweaters and jackets, getting out capris, summer shirts and sandals, digging out my quick easy recipes, and cleaning up the grill. I plan on making lots of sun tea and salads. Break out the tiki lamps and dust off the porch furniture.
Summer, here I come!
Spring In East Texas
It’s been a crazy spring. Not only is everything blooming late, but I almost missed getting a shot of the Spirea because of the hail storm we had. A few years ago when my daughter planted it, it was nothing but a twig!
Spring In East Texas
I’m holding my breath, but it looks like the nasty weather is finally gone and spring is here to stay! Maybe it’s me but everything seems to be late this year. The crabapple tree in my front yard is finally budding out. I’m hoping my spirea bush will bloom next.
Spring in East Texas
Seems as though spring is never going to arrive. The last freeze got the trees brave enough to bud. So, right now the only bright spot in the landscape is the jonquils giving us the hope of more to come.
Susan A. Royal 