A Sunday in March 2016

The political race is going strong and the news channels are enjoying the whole spectacle of the Republican race. The only thing I have to say about the whole thing is that it's stupid.
We have some company coming today and leaving on Tuesday. It'll be nice to have something different going on.
SXSW is over, yeah!
Not anything to report on my exercise schedule...I'm lame, not in a physical way but in a mental way, and that's about it.
Been watching Sleepy Hollow, Lucifer (great fun but fluff stories), and waiting for the season finale of NCIS when Michael Weatherly does his last show as Tony.
Had some blood work done and the doctor says I'm holding steady. I read the report and while I understand some of the results some are Greek to me even if I look the words up on the Internet.
We had a lot of thunder on Friday but very tiny amount of rain. It's cooler the past couple of days and today but it's supposed to climb back into the 80's by mid-week. We've had no winter, and seem to have jumped over spring into summer. Ah well, that's the way it goes.

Early February Updates

Not much to report. We've had some nice rain but not enough to bust the drought. Spicewood Springs, TX which is not far from Austin was in the national news this past week because they ran out of water in their wells. Lots of boat ramps sitting on the ground that used to float on 40feet of water. So sad. The cedar pollen is letting up some so hopefully it won't be long before it is all gone. We have light rain this morning and cool. It got up to 84 a few days ago. Not much of a winter around here this year.
The city finally had enough of the Occupy Austin sleeping on the outside stairs of City Hall so they rousted them. Arrested 7 or 8 of them and now they are regrouping. I think the movement has ran out of steam.
Still enjoy watching the birds outside our window. Hate the Morning Doves because they are piggies and eat until all the seeds are gone. I chase them off when I see them. The Doves try to intimidate the other birds too but have more than a match in the woodpeckers who are not afraid of them or any of the other birds that come to feed.


female woodpecker-has half of a red cap



hail fell for first time in many months



pea size-no damage done

Ragged start to 2012 Walking Routine



Leaves lined with frost

Had a bumpy start to 2012 regarding my walking routine. It started off well and I got my miles in what with the lovely frost and all but then cedar pollen reared its ugly head and all was lost...at least for a while. Got an infection in my left eye and was tearing and itching and sneezing so much that it wore me down physically and I gave up and went to the doctor. She said it was an especially brutal season for 'cedar fever' and my visit resulted in my getting 4 prescription medications and one over the counter and orders to remain indoors until the situation improved.

Last night it started to rain and I thought 'hooray I'll go out and walk tomorrow' but in the morning it was more like thunder storms and while I love walking in the rain, lightning is another matter. So my indoor walking routine will have to do for at least another day. The doc did recommend that I use a painters mask when I go out for any length of time so I'll try that even though it looks strange but then again this is Austin so I shouldn't worry because people don't judge so much.  I'm not sure if I've posted the pics of the woodpecker. If I have just ignore them or enjoy them again.

Woodpecker giving us his profile

 Better look at his awesome red head

Winter hass arrived...sort of

Fall leaves I saw on one of my walks

It still looks like fall around here even though winter officially arrived yesterday. Also so did the rain! Got an inch around here! It was nice falling asleep to the sound of falling rain.
Hope everyone who plans to be on the road this Christmas holiday to visit family and friends stays safe and has good weather.
Many thanks for the kind words I've gotten on my annual Christmas poem.
Well, I'm having a problem with Google this morning so I'm going to cut this short and post it before the browser has a fit again. Stay safe out there and have a Merry Christmas!

No More Rain :-(

Our lovely rain has moved out. It wasn't the drought busting rain we needed but it was nice and it greened things up a bit. Alas it did not come early enough or in the needed amounts to save some of the trees and other vegetation in the area. The trees shown in the picture should all be like the one to the left but as you can see they did not make it and are marked to be removed. Still the park is looking pretty and I know that the park employees and several volunteers works hard to make it look as nice as it does. As you can see in the picture not many people were out and about. I love it the most when it is cold and rainy and almost deserted. The sun brings out way too many people and their dogs which wouldn't be a problem if most of them would obey the pooper scooper laws but alas too many of them do not.

We went to see the new Twilight film and while I like the vampire genre and Robert Pattinson I find this take on it too young for me. While the CGI sequences were done well I felt they had way too many musical interludes for my tastes. It was best (for me) when the actors were interacting and the story was moved along. The new Sherlock Holmes film was more to my tastes and I did enjoy it. Robert Downey, Jr seldom disappoints.

Our daughter has been having a bit of trouble with her heel healing up. She had to return to the doctor because the incision site became infected and they had to open it up and clean it out and she's back in a short boot. Hopefully it will be taken care of soon.

a week after surgery

two and half weeks after surgery-ouch!

Rain, Rain, Stay a while

Had a lovely, mostly misty, Saturday. Early this morning it was raining pretty good and it was nice to lay in bed all toasty and warm and listen to the sound of the rain.


Black Crested Titmouse

Did find out that the little bird with the topknot is not a baby anything but it is a Black Crested Titmouse common in northern Mexico and Central to Southern Texas. They are very cute and very hyper! We also have had a cropped red-headed woodpecker come around to eat some raisins we put out and he is very handsome...for a bird that is. I hope to get a photo of him (I know it's a male because they have the red head and the females don't) some day soon.
The Longhorns got trounced by Baylor but I sort of expected they would lose but I did not expect that they would lose by that much. LSU is still rolling and look quite awesome.
Once Upon a Time is on tonight and it is a new episode. I hope so because I do so love the fairytale aspect of the show.
It's still dark and more rain looks like it is on the way so this Sunday is shaping up to be a good one. I think I might go back to sleep. :-)

Wet Saturday!

Had a great Thanksgiving day. Frankie came over on Friday after their trip to Dallas so he could visit with his sisters and later the girls went over to Cyndi's to celebrate Lauren's and Krystal's birthdays. They were born 7 years apart on the same day! Cool, huh. Derick went over for a bit as did Cyndi's boyfriend Mike. I think a lot of singing and eating of pizza and some partaking of jello shots went on but what happens at Cyndi's stays at Cyndi's. ;-)
It started raining sometimes during the night and was still raining lightly until around noon today. It's cooler too and we are expecting lows in the 30s tonight. Yea! Awesome weather. :-)
The Longhorns won and so did the Cowboys! Now if the Crimson Tide can win today that will be super duper. Have a great weekend folks and stay safe.

Disgusting heat is back

The heat is back with winds from the south and no rain no matter which way the wind blows. Bah.

Giant under eye bags

My glasses stay icky because my eyes are constantly watering from my allergies and from the frickin' giant fatty bags under my eyes. Can't see half the time. Another bah.
Had another carotid doppler on Thursday but expect it will be okay. They did it because I have been having morning headaches. I suspect it's because my BP has been a little high. We'll see. My football teams (Longhorns) are lossing but that's nothing new.
Lots of bad stuff in the news so life is better with the TV off these days. Think I'll stick my head in the sand and ignore it all. For a while anyway.

Time Change

While I don't mind the fall back an hour time change I do wish that we could have the same time all year long. This jumping back and forth an hour messes with your body clock and I just don't think it's a good thing. Plus running around changing the time on the clocks that don't automatically update themselves is a big pain in the drain.
Our weather warmed up again but some clouds rolled in and we did get a bit of rain over the weekend. The weatherman said a cold front was on the way and should get here tonight and bring some thunder storms and more rain. We hope he's right.
Nothing exciting on my walk today. They are cleaning up the area around Auditorium Shores that was host to the Fun, Fun, Fun Fest this weekend. Lots of tents and fences to take down but not a whole lot of trash which is a good thing.
I didn't go to the Occupy Austin site this morning but I did read in the paper that they had a successful march to the downtown banks on Nov. 5.  Across the country thousands of people closed their bank accounts and joined smaller local banks and credit unions. Maybe the banks will notice and maybe they won't but I do think that the movement is on the right track by using this tactic. If the movement affects their bottom line they will take notice and make changes.
On a completely different note I've got to say here that I've been enjoying 'Once Upon a Time' and 'Grimm'. Fairy tales have always been a favorite of mine and it's nice to see them being re-imagined.

Thunder and Lightning

Woke up to thunder and lightning this morning and rain! Yay! Just raises my mood immeasurably. Also our daughter and granddaughter that live in San Angelo are coming for a short visit. That merits another Yay!
Oh and I did get to order my Game of Thrones book. If you just put in the title of the book the set comes up, if you search science fiction and fantasy books then all the single novels and sets come up. Guess it's a glitch in the search engine of B&N that does that. Anyway all's well that ends well.
I've just thought of another good thing too. The Dallas Cowboys can't lose a game today because it's a bi-week for them. ;-)

Updates done on a muggy Saturday afternoon.

We got some rain showers this morning. Downpours for 30 to 40 seconds but 3 or 4 of them so far. All of it is most welcome.
The Occupy Austin is still going. They did march as a group to the nearest Bank of America and those who had accounts there proceeded (in an orderly fashion) to cancel them.  The group here is organized with child care for those who want to participate in the protest but not have their children there and other groups supply water and food for the demonstrators. You can check out the videos and article here.
Sadly the Longhorns got slaughtered. I could not stand to watch it so I tried to download the second book in the Game of Thrones series.  Alas Barnes and Noble only has the first four book set for the Nook App so that means I'd have two editions of the first novel which would be lame. I didn't know you could run out of an ebook edition! Amazon has it so I might get it there but I have a gift card at B&N and really wanted to use it. Sometimes the tiny things in life can be very complicated. :0\

Occupy Austin

We got a bit of rain this morning and hoping for more over the weekend. The temperatures are still high (it's 93 at the moment) but no triple digits for now.
On my morning walk I ambled over to City Hall and talked to a couple of Occupy Austin demonstrators and took some photos. Most of them are young and either college students, blue collar workers, musicians, and artists.

There was not a big crowd this morning but it was over a thousand last night and as the day wears on and people get off work and out of classes they expect more. The two young men I talked to said they were hoping to make the people pay attention to the devastating effects of corporate greed. Greed in and of itself is not the problem it's when it's pervasive and gone wrong. They specifically talked about   the Bernie Madoff debacle, the Bank of America recent announcement of the $5.00 debit card fee. I gathered from their statements that these companies making  obcenely large profits on the backs of the middle classes is the reason the economy is in the tank. They believe that the workers who make the companies grow are being lied to and cheated. The two young men (pictured) seemed sincere enough and one was a college student and one worked downtown. I didn't ask them for any personal information but I did ask them for permission to post their photo on my blog. They were happy for me to help them spread the word. I really don't see any clear cut cause (in the 50s we had Ban the Bomb, the 60s we had the anti-war dissidents) but I'm hoping that the organizers get their act together and establish a real strategy to make their case more cohesive and clear. They have the growing man-power and I hope they use it in a positive and productive way.
On my way back across the river I saw a large number of police gathering in the park. I think at the time I was there the police outnumbered the protesters. I just saw on the news that the number of protesters has grown but the tone of the demonstrators is still peaceful.

Our daughter texted the picture below. It appeared on our grandsons doorway. We have no idea what it means. Perhaps someone looking at the blog might have some idea as to what it could mean.

First posting of the year

As you can see I haven't posted anything since the first of the year. After fighting with blogger for half an hour today I remember why I almost quit doing it. Evie did want to see some of the pictures I took of our garden and of places along my walking route. Speaking of my walking route I do have some things to write about that are pleasant. Two different ladies stopped me while I was on the road (one got out of her car) to tell me that they had been watching me for several years and were inspired to get out and do some sort of exercise. They both said they admired my willpower and I told them thanks but willpower had little to do with it because I do it for medical reasons. One said I looked 'terrific' which was nice to hear. It was very nice of them to stop and give me compliments and encourage me to continue on. Having said that I will tell you that I signed up again for the Texas Roundup which is on April 28th. My doctor wanted me to sign on for the Cap Metro 10K but I'm not ready for that, maybe next year if I'm still around and able to walk. My medical tests were good by the way with cholesterol and tryglicerides way down. Trying my hand at meditation but so far I'm doing poorly. Frank's checkup with the doctor who did his leg surgery (17 years ago now) was good and his x-rays clear. Also his bladder cancer is in check with no new signs so that's a wonderful thing to hear. The first one was taken in January when it was snowing, the second this week in April when it was raining, same location.

Yellow rose blooming in our yard. It appears they are long lasting ones and we look forward to seeing many more of them bloom.

Pink and lemon zest petunias. Really pretty and they'll bloom until it gets too hot.

More Rain!

More rain last night and this morning made my walk much different from yesterday. It could have been 5 to 10 degrees cooler to be perfect but I won't complain too much since the rain is so very nice. While traffic was heavy the hike and bike trail was almost deserted. No dogs running around, no young moms pushing huge strollers, and no people sleeping on the benches. Loved it! Froggy would have liked the puddles. :-)

Old sayings are sometimes true

I've always heard be careful what you wish for and today I got a taste of what that means. I've been crying, no, begging for rain for months now. We've been getting dibs and dabs lately but today we got the big gulp. 3 inches in less than an hour. It was great! The only problem is that the house we live in is split level and the living room can get flooded in a heavy rain. The back yard tilts down from two angles which sends water flowing towards the base of the house plus the gutters were overflowing and couldn't do the usual good job they do keeping the water away. So Frank, Krys, and I were out in the pouring rain digging out and widening the area beside the house where the water was running and sweeping debris like leaves and bark from the raging rapids swirling around the base of the house. The good things were that the room didn't flood and we also got our Saturday night baths early which was quite a treat. ;-) Also it cooled the temperature off a lot and we didn't have to turn on the AC at all today. The bad thing was all this beautiful rain didn't fall on the lakes which supply water to the city so it didn't do much for the drought. We're very happy it rained so much but we're ready for more. can't wait for the fall season to get here.
The Horns won in Wyoming and Bama is winning as I write this. Also loved seeing Tiger get back to his usual spectacular, record setting, golf playing ways. Hope he does the same tomorrow.

Not in the hundreds is good

Ah what a difference 10 degrees less makes. 72 this morning, light breeze, lower humidity. Fabulous. We had some real measurable rain last week and the grass has greened up a bit. Yesterday the temperature stayed in the 90's and that made it so much nicer than it was the last two or three months. The only way it could have been better is if it had been raining. The evil high pressure system has moved away allowing for the change. Now on to other things. Frank had his check up with his urologist and it was good and he will see him in three months for another one. I have an appointment tomorrow, my first since going off of private insurance. School has started and Cyndi has her students back. Krys is already deep into her studies and our niece Olivia is a high school student! Where does that pesky thing called time go? Got my walking in today and will have to adjust for tomorrow since my appointment is early. Maybe I'll use the dreaded 'treadmill' to get it done since the afternoons still get hot. We'll see.

It's raining, it's raining!!!

What a fabulous afternoon! We're actually getting some rain showers and thunder storms. :-D The unsteady clip below shows RAIN WATER coming off the patio roof and some of the yard. You can see the big brown swath cutting across the back yard due to lack of the wet stuff and only being able to water it twice a week, and sometimes only once a week. We are loving this even though it won't make a dimple in the drought conditions we've been having. For this moment, it's wonderful.