Thorns, stickers, sharp stinging brush.

and cactus of every kind is a common landscape of western Texas. But sometimes, it can over grow and turn good acreage into a non tolerable land of thorns.

However, I love the Texas landscape and when diligently managed......

it can truly be a beautiful sight. Over the years, the cactus has started multiplying way too good on our property and there is now so much of it. I have been spending a bit of time each day cutting it down. I want our acreage to remain wild, but also a pleasant place for man and beast to walk around on. I am leaving some cactus and creating rock beds around them.

Some of it is so colorful

and it makes the dry prairie look alive. It is going to take me a good month or more to get a hold of this sticky situation..........but it will be worth the effort for years to come. 

Have you ever had a feeling that you are being watched??  Even way out in the middle of nowhere.......with the comfort of my dog Sophie with us.......I had that feeling...........

Sure enough............I was being watched..........

he is one of the neighbors who lives on the ranch land across from me........

oh, he does not look neighborly  at all..........

But I just had to go over to ease his concern about what I was doing......

and he is actually a great big marshmallow.........

just enjoying the landscape ..........his way. 

How about you?

What is the most problematic plant you have growing in your back yard?

I would love to hear!

Recipe Reminder

I have just posted a wonderful and colorful dessert on my cooking blog. 

Just click onto the link for the recipe!

My Country Kitchen

I'm not so sure about that ground hog..............

(click on photo for a better view)

This robin showed up today.............

he says that spring is on the way!

I think he's right.........

don't you??

I am posting about what I have posted on my embroidery blog..........

because for this past year, I have been planning and for this past month I have been working..........

and today, the last piece of glassware was placed on the shelf and my vintage shop is now ready and open!

 It is also serving as my embroidery studio where I can design and embroider my linens.

It is called Yesteryear and is is full of beautiful dishes and linens.

If you would like to read more and see a lot of the things in my shop just click onto the link to visit

Yesteryear Embroideries

Now that all of this work is done, I will be focusing on gardening, chicken raising and coyote watching and will post about all of that on my next post. 

The Texas Swing is really going on in my neck of the woods..........

well...............actually not this kind of swing.........

but the dance with the weather and the temperature swinging from hot to cold in just a matter of hours.

Last week, we had snow and ice..........

yesterday we had sunny weather in the 60's........

we were driving home when across the horizon, a dark blue cloud bank appeared.........

within minutes, it had completely covered us...........

when we got to our home, we were greeted by freezing wind.

This is one of my favorite creeks to take photos of when I am out and about on pics. The white you see around the trees is frozen water. This whole creek was pretty much iced over..........

surprising for this area.

In the middle of thawing out.........we got more freezing temps and froze up again.

I am sure this is nothing compared to what many of you are experiencing across the country.

So tell me.........

Are you the adventurous type and go out sledding and sliding?

Or are you content to stay inside in comfort and warmth?

I would love to hear!

One of the most beautiful creatures........yet the nastiest beast at the same time

came within just a few feet away from me this morning,

allowing me to capture a wonderful wildlife shot.

This coyote came up into the yard......while I was outside working on my vintage shop, which is unusual for coyotes to do.

It is just inches away from the chicken yard. I happened to hear my chickens squawking and saw it.

If you remember, I have lost quite a few of my good laying hens to these predators.

 

Sophie, my dog took off after it,  with me  frantically yelling for her to stop,......... she finally let it run off.

 

 

After all of the excitement was over, in only about 5 minutes, the coyote returned............not at all afraid of my presence. This was my photo opportunity. All of the time I was taking these photos, my son was warning me to get a gun to shoot this creature.

But I would rather shoot this way..........

I could tell from the scrawny look of it that it does not have rabies..........

but that it is a female and has probably a litter of pups to feed and she was desperate to get a chicken dinner.

She is on one side of my chicken pen and I am on the other........a stand off of sorts.

Although she is scary...........to me she is very pretty.

Finally after yelling and waving a shovel at her, she half  heartedly retreated  back to the woods.

I know she will be back and now Sophie and I have to keep a real close eye on the grounds to keep all who live here safe.

How about you?

Have you had a close encounter with the wild side?

I would love to hear!



I can hear the crunch of the dryness

as I walk along  the grounds,

every thing seems still and asleep in the 16 degree weather.

Yet just around the corner, the Italian Jasmine that I  dug up , brought with me from town, and transplanted,  when we moved out here so many years ago, is starting to awaken

and to show off it's cheery yellow blossoms. I look forward to this at every start of the new year.

This is such a hearty and strong plant for my area of Texas. Cuttings can be placed in the ground and in a short time, a hedge of this beautiful flower is growing. It is the one plant that can withstand the hostile heat and high winds from the Texas prairie.  

The common name of this plant is Winter Jasmine

Genus: Jasminum

Species, Hybrids, Cultivars: J. mesnyi- primrose jasmine;

evergreen vine with long, arching branches; lemon yellow flowers,

late January- April

Family: Oleaceae

Blooms: winter

Type: perennial

Did you know

Of the 200 species of jasmines known, only about 15 are grown in gardens?

The white jasmine was introduced to England from India by Vasco da Gama in the sixteenth century.It was particularly cherished for it's scent and was often used in perfumes. The Chinese name for this plant is yeh-hsi-ming, which is probably from the Persian name ysmis, meaning "white flower".

An Italian legend says that the first person to grow jasmine in Italy was the Duke Cosimo de Medici. The Duke was very proud of this plant and jealously forbade even a leaf of it to leave his garden.

 One of his young gardeners disobeyed this order and presented his fiancee with a branch of this beautiful plant. Together they planted this branch and were able to raise many more plants from it. These they sold at a very high price, making a tidy sum to start their lives with. Sine that time, Italian brides have worn a sprig of this jasmine on their wedding day as a token of good luck.

In the Victorian language of flowers, white jasmine means amiability.

Winter jasmine was introduced from China by English botanist Robert Fortune in 1844.

Thank you .......Robert!!

 It is the emblem of grace and elegance.

Do you have a certain kind of jasmine growing in your area?

I would love to hear!

 



I have taken the cold days and my chickens for granted.............

if you remember a few posts back, I was frustrated that the cold weather had made my hens stop laying,

and I had to go to the store and buy eggs................

 

something I have not had to do for so many years because my chickens have always provided me with a wonderful surplus.

I have gotten very spoiled and realized it at the store looking at the prices of eggs.

I have only been looking in the top nests.............forgetting how those hens like to hide their eggs from me..........

while cleaning out the hen house this past week,

I came upon this nest.........full of beautiful eggs............

hidden in the very far corner of the hen house............

Not knowing how old these eggs are, I threw them away..........

with a disapproving look from Norman............

Since then, I have been getting 4 eggs a day and I no longer go to the store to buy any.

We have had such a beautiful and sunny week this past week

Here hoping that your nests are overflowing and that your days are sunny as well !