Creatures of Habitat

2 Toads, 1 Mini Pond

2011-06-15T07:43:00.001-05:00

A Wet Toad = A Happy Toad

2011-05-30T07:52:00.001-05:00

A few minutes earlier there were two of them basking in the tray of water.

Saturday Coral Slithering

2011-05-28T07:49:00.002-05:00

Just what I need to see bright and early on Saturday morning! And a rather long one too!

Tarantula

2011-05-24T08:46:00.000-05:00

First tarantula sighting of 2011.

Roadrunner

2011-05-18T08:18:00.002-05:00

I finally got the lizard-eating bunny-ravaging evil demon on tape this morning. Wonder what it's planning to kill today?

About 10 seconds in you can hear his lovely voice.

Beepbeep!

Gazing Into the Toad Hole

2011-04-28T20:03:00.000-05:00

Lizard and Bougainvillea

2011-04-10T16:24:00.001-05:00

Daddy Longlegs Spies An Acorn

2011-01-02T18:36:00.001-06:00

First Chard Pick of the Season!

2010-11-28T19:56:00.001-06:00

Going on the burgers tonight in lieu of the cabbage that is going bad.

Pot o' Pintos

2010-11-19T19:39:00.002-06:00

Caterpillar Looking to Pupate

2010-11-19T17:02:00.002-06:00

I relocated this one back into the yard to avoid pupating on my patio somewhere.

Anole on a Bay

2010-10-19T11:46:00.002-05:00

Fat Lizard Rescue

2010-08-30T10:47:00.002-05:00

I'll be glad when summer is over so I'll no longer need to be on constant lizard patrol. Sweet Pea loves to catch them and bring them to the patio and usually they only have a small bloody wound, if even that much. But if I don't intervene it gets worse.

This poor guy lucked out. And what a fat little whopper he is!

Emerging Cicada

2010-08-13T07:38:00.000-05:00

Thursday Night Cicada Blogging

2010-08-05T19:36:00.001-05:00

Oven-Ready

2010-07-07T20:13:00.002-05:00

Casserole with home-grown cherry tomatoes ready to enter the oven.

Bagworm

2010-07-05T18:07:00.005-05:00

Click to embiggen.

And there's more! Fifty seconds of video so you can see it move a couple of times.

Hairy Legs (& Lots of 'Em)

2010-07-05T09:03:00.002-05:00

Just saw a small tarantula on the kitchen patio as I went to pull the muffins out of the oven.

Tuesday Toad

2010-06-29T10:49:00.002-05:00

I think he or she knows there's a good chance of rain. By the way, how do you distinguish the he-toads from the she-toads?

Summer Harvest

2010-06-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

Unnamed Family Member

2010-06-13T20:35:00.002-05:00

I swear I need to name her, but I don't really want to bond much more than we already have or else she'll be sleeping in my bed.

Txrad Goes Shopping

2010-06-13T20:33:00.000-05:00

Rooftop Raccoon

2010-06-06T21:37:00.003-05:00

He SHE was following us around on the patio earlier. When we didn't feed ~~him~~ HER, he SHE decided to torment us from the roof.

Tarantula Hawk?

2010-06-04T20:14:00.003-05:00

We've never seen one of these before. It's very fast moving and seems to stay on the ground searching for something, despite the orange wings.

From what I've researched, it might be a tarantula hawk. Does anyone know?

Snail on Stone

2010-06-03T07:07:00.001-05:00

Heavy rain last night brought out even more critters this morning!

Evening Raccoon, Morning Toad

2010-06-02T08:19:00.002-05:00

First toad sighting of the year. Summer is here!

Outside Looking In

2010-06-01T17:39:00.001-05:00

Red Bird

2010-05-29T17:44:00.001-05:00

The yard has been FULL of them this year. And noisy ones too!

Friday Texas Coral

2010-05-28T09:47:00.002-05:00

Yep, that's red on yellow and I don't need this kind of drama today. Bastard was on our back patio.

Veiny Chard

2010-05-16T08:16:00.001-05:00

Beautiful chard from the garden to dress up our burgers!

Spring at Kona Ranch!

2010-05-09T18:11:00.002-05:00

photo credit: txrad

Tree Trunk Cleverly Disguised As Cat

2010-01-26T18:04:00.001-06:00

Fresh Herbs

2010-01-15T19:22:00.003-06:00

Despite a low of 10° last weekend, it didn't faze our oregano plant. Sheldon just picked some for our chili mac dish tonight.

There's also some rosemary in that shot.

A Cure for the Dark & Wet Winter Day Blues

2010-01-15T17:33:00.002-06:00

Bright yellow orbs bring joy.

Jami Ward brought these over freshly-picked from her trees near Houston. We have some delicious juice on hand.

Frankentater

2009-12-11T17:55:00.001-06:00

This is for real, just as txrad removed it from the bag!

A Large Praying Mantis

2009-11-28T10:18:00.001-06:00

Ready for Lemonade

2009-11-14T08:23:00.001-06:00

txrad Squeezes His Balls...

2009-11-08T16:41:00.001-06:00

...in the kitchen now making hamburger buns.

Flowers & Taters

2009-10-25T20:02:00.001-05:00

Friday Critter Blogging

2009-10-16T17:10:00.003-05:00

We've been seeing these frequently. I never gave them much thought because I just thought they were a piece of wood that fell off the rotting patio table, or a piece of tree bark.

One day txrad said he saw one move and thought it was some kind of bug. I went out to look and it was completely stationary. I even flipped it over and nothing happened. Then a few minutes later we went out and it was a couple of inches from where we had seen it earlier. txrad insisted it had moved and I said it might have just been moved by the wind.

Then this week I walked outside and saw one in motion. And what's really freaky is that it actually has a head like a tiny little snake that emerges from that piece of "wood" and drags itself around I suppose.

Texas might get the award for the most interesting critters I've ever observed.

Anyone have any idea what this is called?

How Sick Is This?

2009-10-07T19:35:00.003-05:00

Giving basil some water prior to going on top of a pizza is like that sterile swab they do on the death row inmates' arms prior to the lethal injection, is it not? Wouldn't want to give them an infection moments before we kill them!

Last meal for the deceased!

Hibiscus Leaf Spider

2009-10-02T08:15:00.000-05:00

A Pair of Walking Sticks

2009-10-01T17:41:00.001-05:00

I saw these two on the patio wall this morning. They stayed there all day. I don't recall ever seeing two together.

A Spectacular Moth

2009-09-18T18:32:00.003-05:00

There's much to love about Texas if you take people and politics out of the equation. Like the moths.

I awoke one morning this week and walked outside on the patio to find this beauty on the door with its wing very near where the door would close on it.

I moved it down to the patio where it stayed throughout the day without moving. txrad finally discovered it there late in the afternoon and started snapping pictures, not realizing I'd already snapped a few in the wee morning hours.

Actually, I thought it had died until Sweet Pea decided to play with it and I heard wings flapping. I rescued it and put it on a tree in the yard and it promptly fell to the ground with wings flapping. So I just figured it was dying.

Later on I noticed it on the side of the house, several feet away from the tree where I had placed it. I decided they must be very lazy during the day and that it was just waiting for night to fall. I haven't seen it since then.

this is us at night

2009-09-10T20:50:00.003-05:00

I was digging out some LPs to play last night and found a Deep Purple Machine Head picture disk with a poster. txrad decided it needed to be displayed.

Red and Green

2009-08-28T19:15:00.001-05:00

The broccoli and red bell pepper prior to becoming a casserole this week.

Texas Sage In Bloom

2009-08-05T11:21:00.002-05:00

These plants can look quite awful and then suddenly, after a good rain, they put on an amazing show. I've decided I want to put several more of these around the yard later in the fall. Spectacular!

Freezer Art

2009-07-30T12:10:00.000-05:00

Just something I ran across while cleaning out the freezer this morning.

Breakfast Is Served

2009-07-18T07:57:00.001-05:00

Bird Nest

2009-06-26T11:24:00.002-05:00

Because a bird built a nest in the garage on a shelf, we will not close the garage door until the baby can fly, fly away. I guess we'll have to keep an eye on the cats too during the training-to-fly session.

It's always "something" around kona ranch!

Showy Hibiscus

2009-06-20T10:07:00.001-05:00

Photo taken this morning.

Fresh Cherry Tomatoes

2009-06-13T08:46:00.001-05:00

Over a spicy cheese & rice casserole. Delicious!

Deep Dish Chicago Pizza

2009-06-05T20:24:00.003-05:00

Joe can dis this if he wants but what a damn fine pizza presentation, with home-grown tomatoes no less!

Nothing wrong with New York; great city. Nothing wrong with Chicago; great city.

Different cuisine styles. That simple.

But this is Texas-style. HUGE jalapeño involved. Deal with it.

Sunrise

2009-05-26T06:31:00.001-05:00

What's not to love about a day which begins like this?

Oatmeal Boiling

2009-05-25T09:34:00.001-05:00

Breakfast is served ...rather late.

A Walk Around Our Block in Pictures

2009-05-23T09:21:00.004-05:00

Our neighborhood and our rectangular block with our house in the southeast corner. It's very quiet and rustic out here which is why we love it so much.

Today we started our one mile walk by turning left (north) from our house to the corner of Lauralan and Claxton and turned west for roughly 4/10ths of a mile to the end of the street.

As we neared the end of the street I turned around and shot this next picture looking east on Claxton. That dog in the yard on the left was trying to scare us.

Once at the end of Claxton, we turn south on Pitter Pat which offers a very nice view. Also at this point we are about 50 feet higher in elevation than at our house, so it's all downhill from here. At roughly the point where you see the white speed limit sign on the right, that's where we turn east onto our street again.

At the corner.

Then we're heading east back home on Lauralan.

The street curves north here and our property is on the left.

In the last shot we are heading north on Lauralan, again with our lot on the left.

And thus concludes our daily one mile jaunt around the block. I'll probably do this again in the afternoon. I wouldn't mind getting up to 3 miles a day.

Purple Prickly Pear Flowers

2009-05-20T19:25:00.001-05:00

txrad snapped this picture today of the purple prickly pear in blossom. Magnificent.

Jerusalem Sage

2009-05-12T10:39:00.001-05:00

txrad took some photos of the Jerusalem sage in bloom a few days ago. It's beautiful!

First Snake Sighting of the Season

2009-04-30T10:53:00.003-05:00

Can someone identify this? I got out my snake book and it may be a black-necked garter snake.

Roma Tomatoes In Progress

2009-04-23T11:41:00.001-05:00

Sheldon's tomato crop is coming along nicely. We can't wait for our first harvest. I have a small heirloom tomato on one of my plants in a bed by the kitchen. The race is on to see who can harvest one first but I'm sure it'll be his since he got a head start on me by at least two weeks.

Fresh Onions

2009-04-20T18:00:00.002-05:00

The first onion harvest of the season from our garden! These will be an ingredient in our Southwestern rice casserole tonight!

Garden Butterfly

2009-04-12T15:52:00.004-05:00

This one spent some time in my tomato garden this morning but seemed to prefer something in the soil.

Birthday Floral (2 Weeks Early)

2009-04-08T16:06:00.002-05:00

Moth

2009-03-22T18:17:00.001-05:00

Dried Bay Leaves

2009-03-20T19:04:00.002-05:00

Our bay tree got slightly stung by the last freeze so txrad harvested some leaves. They smell wonderful!

Mountain Laurel in Bloom

2009-03-16T19:13:00.002-05:00

Our Texas Mescalbean photographed by txrad today.

We can't actually see it from our house unfortunately. It's on the west side of the property behind some trees. I was wearing Birkenstocks and was getting stuff in my shoe so I didn't walk all the way out there. txrad said it smelled like bubblegum within two feet of this plant.

Maybe the neighbors enjoy it since it's only a few feet from their property line.

Cremini

2009-03-12T19:57:00.001-05:00

Once in awhile we deviate from the portobello, in favor of.... baby portobello. Tonight is such a night. Pizza in the works.

txrad is an onion fahmah

2009-02-20T19:32:00.001-06:00

Chopped Veggies

2009-02-12T18:54:00.002-06:00

The veggies in last night's southwestern rice casserole prepared by txrad. Gotta love that color!

Just To Annoy Nicole

2009-02-08T18:21:00.002-06:00

This week's breakfast is ready. Blueberry muffins with one banana which was in the last stages. I was short one egg so that helped.

Broccoli Casserole

2009-01-31T15:35:00.002-06:00

Maybe Bob isn't allergic to anything in this. txrad makes it two or three times a month. Great right out of the oven... loses something in the evil microwave the next day.

The Secondary Muffin Master

2009-01-30T19:27:00.003-06:00

I've been wanting to bake muffins for several weeks and can never get in there to do it. txrad came home from the store today with some bananas and whipped up a batch this afternoon. While I consider myself to be the Muffin Master, I can't tell you how good these are. YUM! He chose bananas instead of my usual blueberry or raspberry because he doesn't like berries. And I'm very OK with that choice.

Collard Green Chiffonade

2009-01-24T18:19:00.001-06:00

Navel

2009-01-24T06:34:00.000-06:00

Peas Please

2009-01-23T18:32:00.000-06:00

The Maestro In Action

2009-01-20T21:41:00.001-06:00

He's doing it.

A Beautiful Day

2009-01-20T11:49:00.000-06:00

Crate & Barrel for Pets

2009-01-19T08:18:00.002-06:00

Crate & Barrel doesn't have a pet store per se, but there's not law against buying something there for the felines. I'd been wanting to find nicer food bowls and a water bowl now that we have nice floors installed. The current feeding situation was an eyesore. Bowls at the supermarket or the pet stores are overpriced and not very attractive.

Solution: $5 bowls at Crate & Barrel.

Red & Green

2009-01-07T19:57:00.003-06:00

txrad is trying a new meal tonight. It involved tofu, some special sauce, and this colorful array of roasted red pepper (from a can) and green peas. I can hardly wait.

The sauce unfortunately is brown. I'm sure it will be delicious, but I said, "under less ideal drinking conditions involving crappy alcohol, this could be a really bad vomit session.... all we need are carrots."

Lucky Black-Eyed Peas for 2009

2009-01-01T06:09:00.000-06:00

With dried pasilla powder (from pasillas we grew), cumin and coriander just before the smoked paprika was added.

Festive Red Berries

2008-12-31T18:12:00.002-06:00

Normally I'd be able to name this plant but unfortunately my brain is spent today. Leave it in comments. txrad can't remember either.

A Piece of Much-Used and Beloved Fiesta

2008-12-24T19:02:00.001-06:00

It happens to be the one piece missing from this early post when I first started this blog.

The Morning Radish Harvest

2008-12-20T08:57:00.001-06:00

Jeopardize Me!

2008-12-17T19:44:00.002-06:00

Minstrel Boy kicking some nerd ass on Jeopardy today.

Collard Greens With Spice

2008-12-09T19:53:00.001-06:00

Birdy Through a Window

2008-12-02T20:11:00.001-06:00

Thankful for Collards

2008-11-27T08:45:00.002-06:00

This will be one component of our Thanksgiving feast this evening.

A Man About Town

2008-11-22T18:30:00.005-06:00

My God! I was allowed to leave the house today! I went to the credit union to deposit some checks, and then txrad wanted to stop at the nearby Central Market to pick up a bag of chicken-flavored vegetarian broth powder -- a whopping $1.73 purchase.

I knew from surveying the parking lot that Central Market was going to be crazy, so I remained in the car.

Then we stopped at the Hooch Emporium for some.... well, hooch! It was quite busy as well. I was honestly quite relieved to get home.

Travertine Medallion

2008-11-21T14:23:00.003-06:00

This is the medallion we have selected to be incorporated into our flooring in the den most likely. I like that it is simple and rustic, not like some of the more formal ones.

In The Bag

2008-11-18T07:15:00.000-06:00

Pizza Foundation

2008-11-17T16:43:00.000-06:00

txrad spreads cornmeal on our pizza stone prior to the laying on of dough.

The sauteing toppings: veggie sausage, onions, jalapeño, garlic, a large portobello mushroom, and sometimes red bell pepper when we have it.

Fresh from the Oven

2008-11-16T08:43:00.002-06:00

Mmmmmmm. Warm blueberry muffins. What a way to start a Sunday morning.

It Looks Witchy

2008-11-15T20:17:00.002-06:00

It's just two plant stands stacked atop one another.

Soul Food Night

2008-11-14T19:45:00.001-06:00

The cooktop and Scanpans get a serious workout during the preparation of macaroni & cheese, beans, and greens. "Hot Surface" is right. And I have trained txrad quite well (North Dakota native) to handle the soul food preparation while I do other important things.

Orb in Full

2008-11-12T20:23:00.000-06:00

This explains a lot tonight.

'Tis Eye

2008-11-11T19:20:00.001-06:00

You lookin' at ME?

Travertine Array

2008-11-10T17:10:00.001-06:00

I don't know why I'm so infatuated with stone.

Hibiscus After Dark

2008-11-08T19:35:00.001-06:00

Palladia

2008-11-07T19:31:00.004-06:00

I love the promos for Palladia, the new MTV HD music channel. I can't help but imagine being mesmerized by those while smoking some pot, as if I had that luxury!

One Egg. Two Yolks.

2008-11-06T10:02:00.001-06:00

A quirk of nature. Anyone else ever see this happen?