Monday, February 21, 2011

C'mon, spring!

Anacachio orchid tree (Bauhinia lunarioides), which had green leaves
until three weeks ago.  The recent Arctic blasts took the temperature
a little low for this beautiful little tree; I really hope it survives.
Don’t you hate when weather is the only topic you can come up with when chatting with someone? It’s a sure sign that you don’t know the person well, or that you have nothing in common.

Or, that you are gardeners.

We have gone from the extreme of snow in my last post and another arctic front the following week to the past week of balmy weather in the 70s (F). These wonderful non-seasonal days are a benefit of living in Texas. We have spent lots of time outside this week, finishing the pruning, weed-eating grass stalks, sitting in the porch swing, taking walks.


All week it's been cloudy and sometimes very damp in the morning, clearing off to a sunny afternoon. I took these pictures Saturday morning when it was quite foggy.
I do adore foggy mornings!

One of our outdoor activities has been nursing a large leopard frog. I spied him from an upstairs window as he floated in our small pond last Monday. After school that day, my daughter went out and gathered him up, discovering he was alive. She administered some physical therapy, and built him a platform to rest on. We thought he was perhaps stunned by the cold, or was waking from a dormant period.

Alas, after a week of her best frog nursing efforts, he (she?) finally succumbed. Au revoir, la petite grenouille. You were a good little frog. (My daughter’s also been learning some French words this week to impress a friend who speaks French.)

Favorite spot in the garden:

My garden is tres triste (ha!) after the hard freezes we have endured.  But some dainty greenery is emerging with our warm weather. This photo is of an unidentified plant, perhaps the native oxalis. It’s green (which is exciting) and I like the diamonds of water decorating the leaves.

C’mon, spring!

12 comments:

  1. I love the look of your Texas Hill country gardens..too bad with the frog...I am just discovering your blog and love the easy way you write...I plan to visit often...thx for visiting my blog as well!!

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  2. I have lots of conversations about the weather. However, I'm not a gardener so I've got no excuse. I'm just boring.

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  3. Dear Cynthia, I sometimes think that the weather is the ONLY topic of conversation in England!! Everybody greets everyone with a statement about the weather and, invariably it is too hot, too cold, too wet....never, never just right!

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  4. Perhaps I should have said: "Or that you are gardeners, college students, and Englishwomen." That's the problem with making sweeping statements, isn't it?

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  5. One of the pre-requisites of good mommyhood is to be the caregiver of fallen and ill wildlife. I am tres impressed with the French.

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  6. Thank you, madame. Though I must admit I had to look up frog. Yes, she is on the right path!

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  7. Thanks for dropping in on my blog. We both are pleading for spring and I see you too are an animal over. I show loads of them on my other blog. I too would have tried to nurse the frog back to health.

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  8. Is the unidentified plant simply clover (white clover)? It's hard to tell with all of the pretty dew on it though.

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  10. I love all the seasons. It sounds as though you get almost daily change! Winter has settled into Oregon, frost and fog this morning. And yes, we talk about it a lot because it has quite an effect on us. Like, right now my feet are cold... You keep cozy Cynthia!

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  11. @linnie - my feet are cold, too! In the 40s yesterday, today and tomorrow. I believe winter has finally arrived!

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