Unusual

The birds were topsy turvy on our walk today.  Usually the bush birds are perched on the wires along the road.  Today they were serenading us from the trees away from the road.  On the other hand, the vultures, which are usually very small specks riding high on the thermals, were very close to the ground just a few feet above our heads.

We stepped off the road to let traffic pass and discovered this pale pink little beauty,

and these black raspberries hiding in the tall grass.

Also just above the treeline, we found the beautiful pale 1/2 moon rising.

Loving our new discoveries,

Louise and Duane

Weird

Early this morning a violent thunderstorm swept through our area.  It was accompanied by wind gusts of 80 mph,  pounding hail, torrential rain, and lots of lightening and thunder. 

On our walk today we were looking for storm damage such as downed tree limbs, flooding, or lightening damage.  Surprisingly, the only signs of the storm were these twin swaths of flattened grass.  Both patches were on either side of the road, were the same width and length, and were swept uphill--definitely not from running water.   

First time we've seen that!

Louise and Duane 

Colors

Besides bird watching on our daily walks, we enjoy the beautiful colorama of roadside wildflowers.  In the past few days we have noticed some differences.

Our field of yellow flowers is made up of 

these tiny yellow flowers.  These have something on them that flashes in the sun.  I wonder how many of these are in that field--maybe a million!

These Indian paintbrushes are mostly peach, but we have found a couple of color variations.  Most of these flowers are peachy with pale spots in the middle.

This one was totally white,

while this one had very little white and appeared more red than orange.

Our walk was very windy today.  Duane had to hold the flowers so that I could get a decent photo.

The wind blew these petals sideways, but the bug didn't seem to mind.

Still enjoying our walks.

Louise and Duane

Poor Little Baby

Today our walk held a sad note when we saw this little copperhead baby squashed on the road.

Wait, that's not quite true.  Duane was not sad, but I was.

Still walking,

Duane and Louise

Pleasant Walking

As spring gets into full swing here in east Texas, our walks are getting more colorful and interesting.  

Every couple of weeks we see new wildflowers blooming

and different birds perching on overhead wires.

This bird is a scissortail flycatcher, a species of king bird whose long tail opens and closes like a pair of scissors when it flies.

As more birds join the mating/nesting cycle, our walks are accompanied by a wide variety of songs.

Enjoying longer periods of beautiful weather,

Louise and Duane

Back To Normal

With all of the heavy rains storms skirting us here on Lavendar Road, our creeks and ponds are now back down to normal level. 

In the pictures below the Easter Sunday flooding is evident when compared to the levels today.

Easter 

today

Easter

today

Easter

today

Perfect walking weather today!

Louise and Duane

Evening Drama

Awesome!

Louise and Duane

Wonderful Walking!

Beautiful!!

Louise and Duane

Rainy Day Progress

My Covid-19 self-quarantine project is hand sewing 4 of these small fabric diamonds into large diamonds for my queen-sized quilt.
I started on March 28 with a table full of fabric.

As of today I've used about 1/2 of my fabric.

By April 11 I'd made 200 large diamonds.

Today's total is 380.

On March 28 Duane started carving the first of 14 Christmas ornaments for the grandkids.

By April 11 he'd roughed out 1/2 of them.

Today's total is 11.

Plodding along,

Louise and Duane

New Beauties

On our daily walks here along Lavender Road, we noticed that, as the older wildflowers fade new ones take their places. 
Two of the latest are the wonderfully perfumy honeysuckle

and black-eyed Susans.

Along with a change in wildflowers, we are seeing more insects--such as this black bumblebee--



and more birds.  Today we noticed a couple of goldfinches had joined the mockingbirds, swallows, bluebirds, and cardinals we see and/or hear every day.

Spring is really colorful here!

Louise and Duane

Very Nice!

Enjoyed the weather today.

Louise and Duane

Make Up Your Mind!

The weather here in the Piney Woods of east Texas is simply crazy!  We have warm, chilly, dry, wet, cloudy, sunny days--sometimes, like today, all in one day!  We woke to dark overcast with light mist, went into showers, thunderstorms, back to mist, with never a let-up until 5 pm.  Then the clouds thinned, the sun came out, patches of blue appeared, then disappeared at sunset.  The day wasn't a loss, though.  Since we were stuck inside all day, we progressed on our projects, and managed to take our walk in the evening.

Wonder what tomorrow will bring?!

Louise and Duane

What?!

Yesterday's forecast called for more rain off and on all day, but we were not disappointed to find the rain delayed until almost dark.

We thoroughly enjoyed our beautiful day by walking an extra 1/2 mile.

We won't be disappointed tomorrow either if the rain fails to show up at all!

Warm and sunny?  We hope so!

Louise and Duane

Crying Again

We cried about the sky crying today.

Icky gray skies are sticking around for the next several days.

Boo hoo!

Duane and Louise

Perfect Flight

The sky has been getting clearer and the temperature warmer all week until the weather hit the peak of perfection today.

We climbed aboard the Eagle for a flight along the back roads of east Texas. 

 Our 140 mile 4 hour ride looped us around Lake of the Pines. 

A cool breeze kept us from getting too warm and showed off the colors of the many flags on display.

The roads and towns were relatively quiet, but a few people were out enjoying the beautiful day.

Most of our ride was along shady country roads,

a very good place to relax and let the air clear the cobwebs from your brain.

Tomorrow more clouds and rain are scheduled to move in.

Louise and Duane