NON-RELATED PHOTO FRIDAY

I keep forgetting to take a photo or two of the wildflowers blooming, so here's a photo of Mathieu from yesterday. This was taken while we waited for our meal at Cracker Barrel.

Actually, the wildflowers aren't doing so well this year. Too much drought, I guess. After having lunch with Lydia at The Chisholm Trail, I went to Beeville to take care of some errands. On the way I noticed bluebonnets blooming - but only in places and in narrow strips along the edge of the road. I guess when we did get a tiny bit of rain, it was enough to run off the road, and moisten the edges enough to grow the flowers. Away from the edges, there is a lot of brown.

Usually, it is Indian Pinks (Indian Blankets) first, then the Bluebonnets take over. But I didn't see a single Indian Pink today.

After going to the bank and getting the oil changed in Chuck's pick-up, I went to Goodwill where I bought a small glue gun and a lot of glue sticks in a small cigar box. Actually, it was the cigar box, for the most part, that I bought it for. Then I went on to Walmart and got some things for religious education classes - cups and posterboard, and an esperanza bush, a lemon tree, two sturdy cherry tomato plants, an eggplant 'plant', and a basil plant.

At Walmart, I had an 'amusing' old lady incident. After paying for my things, I got in the pick-up and drove into the outdoor garden area, so I could give the worker my sales slip and get my lemon tree. He, a high school boy, maybe, or else a recent graduate, came up and I handed him my sales slip.

He 'said', "Okay, you want to get it."

Me: 'What?"

Him: "Are you going to pick it up?"

Me: "You want me to do that?!"

Him: "Um, yeah."

Me: "I thought y'all did that."

Him: (walking behind the pick-up...) "Well..."

Me: (getting out of the pick-up and following him)"I don't know if I can lift it to the truck bed."

Him: "No, I'll lift it. Some people just like to pick out which tree they want."

Me: "Oh, okay - I get it now." (D'oh!)

I must have been wearing my glasses. I've always said I can't hear well when I have my glasses on.

Back on the highway, when I got close to Skidmore, I decided to turn in the cemetery and see if there was any evidence of wildflowers there. There was barely anything but brown - no wildflowers anywhere. Of course, last spring they mowed over the bluebonnets and Indian pinks before they even quit blooming. So - no seeds to go with no rain. Then I was thinking that maybe the esperanza I bought might be better planted at the cemetery. It's a native plant, but even the native plants aren't doing so great now. I'd have to carry water to it daily until it was established, I guess. I have no idea how to work the water system out there. They have faucets, and a cistern, and an electric switch...but I've never been able to crack the code of how you get it to produce water. (D'oh again.)

After I got home and unloaded most of the stuff, and relaxed a while, I drove over to the church and took some of it, plus things here at the house that I needed to take over to the classroom building, and got it all arranged and put away. Then I went over to the cabin and unloaded the lemon tree there and watered it well.

Tomorrow I'm renting Zachary in the morning to help me get the fallen shoes back on my shoe tree in the front yard. Some of them will probably need touch-ups with the spray paint, too. I painted another pair of shoes this afternoon to be added to the tree - little girl's mary janes - one purple, one hot pink. If we have time, I want him to help weed the front flowerbed and maybe help plant the tomatoes and some other things.

Thank you to everyone who commented or emailed congratulating Zach on his birthday. :)