Our nice retreat

Here's a pretty little cactus flower growing in a pot on our back porch. I have GOT to get out to the big cactus by the creek and get a picture of it. It is full of yellow flowers.

The city was out mowing the creek yesterday, and that is something they don't do often enough. Usually it rains enough around here that it is always "too muddy" for them to take care of the build-up of gravel and weeds in the creek.
And we haven't seen the deer out back now for a couple of days. Who knows what happened to them.
Here are some views of around our front porch. The flowers just look so beautiful as we walk into our home.

Mother's Day

Busy day today! We went over to Linda's house with the ingredients for stir-fry chicken and leeks. Mom was there as well as Kathy and her family. We cooked the leeks and chicken, Linda fixed some on-the-spot-using-the-best-ingredients-on-hand margaritas, and for dessert we had two delicious cakes that Kathy and Linda had bought. Linda's cake was one that Jacob actually got and decorated at his school.

When we got back home, Fernando called a little while later and we talked a long time with him. Eva left Calgary today - she had been there the last three weeks and I know it was hard for her to go back to Africa, as it was hard for Fernando to see her go. She'll be in Africa for the next 5 weeks, teaching a field school!!

Rebeca called while we were on the phone with Fernando, so after we hung up with Fernando we called Rebeca back and talked with her a long time also. She and Jason took Duke and Diablillo up to Mount Lemmon today, which all of them always enjoy. When they got back they used their new grill to cook some pollo asado. Sounded good to us!!

So, it was a very nice Mother's Day!

And now, as promised, the pictures! The first picture in this slide show is to demonstrate the "staying power" of some of Guillermo's shirts!!!

This picture was taken in 1988, when we visited the Alamo with Uncle Bruno and Aunt Anni.

And now this picture was taken in 2009.  Guillermo wearing the exact same shirt!

A few pictures of the garden

Early mother's day

Guillermo and I thought we'd beat the crowds on Sunday by going out to dinner to celebrate Mother's Day today. Evidently a lot of people had the same idea. On top of that there were lots of young people eating out before going to their prom and many people who were celebrating their graduation. So, it appeared to be a very busy evening everywhere! We had a great evening, though, at Paesano's. We got a table outside by the koi pond, so with the balmy evening, the fish swimming around in the water and the sound of the water falling on the rocks into the pond, it was a very relaxing meal. Guillermo and I talked about the meal we had on that same patio with Rebeca back in December and how we wished she was eating with us again.

In the previous entry, I mentioned taking pictures of the riding mower that Guillermo just painted, but I forgot to take those pictures today! I promise, tomorrow those pictures WILL be taken!

Guillermo and I at our great table by the koi pond.

Feeding the deer

It sure is hot here now. Today was 100 degrees. And no rain in sight.

Every evening, Guillermo and I usually walk to the creek out back, which has dried up by now. Lately we have been seeing lots of deer back there. They used to be up on the sides of the channel, but the last few days we have even seen them in the middle of the channel.

So yesterday, we decided that next time we were going to bring bread and start throwing the bread and also some corn out there for them. We took bread and corn out there today, throwing it as best as we could with that wind going on. After doing that, we walked back to the house, did a few things with the garden and our plants and about 20 minutes later walked back out to the creek. We were happy to see that there were lots of deer on the sides and in the channel. One deer noticed us and started stamping its foot at us. Eventually they all saw us, and one by one ran off. We are just going to have to patiently habituate them, and it didn't look like they had gotten to the bread and corn yet.

It was getting dark, and as we walked back to the house, we heard a Whip-Poor-Will!! We stood for a while enjoying the sound of its call, at the same time marveling at the big moon that was rising over the trees.

Guillermo painted our old riding mower today, and tomorrow I'm going to take a picture of it!!! He did a really good job - it almost looks new! I'll take pictures of his garden, too, because all of the plants look so nice and healthy! Guillermo says they may LOOK nice and healthy, but he is fighting a seemingly hopeless battle with spider mites. He's also been battling the rabbit, who has found countless ways to get into his garden. I like the image of Guillermo chasing the rabbit around in the garden, too bad there's no way to get a picture of that. But Guillermo thinks he has sealed up any and all possible holes now and, unless he actually sealed the rabbit INSIDE the garden, the rabbit shouldn't be a problem anymore.

It smells so good outside!

It smells so good in our yard right now, and the reason are the Mimosa trees we have. Being out in the yard is like being in a tropical paradise with the lovely fragrance from these trees. Here is one of our Mimosa trees.

Looking at the fragrant blooms a little closer up.
An even closer view.
And from as close as I could get!
Here's a picture of another Mimosa tree we have that the kids and their friends used to climb all over when they were little. It was a perfect climbing tree for them, and the tree loved having them on there.

How this tree is hanging on is a big mystery to us. There has got to be one narrow little lifeline going through the thin trunk that is left.

Our Oleander bush is blooming nicely this year.
Oleander blooms from up close.
Also, Mom and I went downtown this afternoon. We went to Rivercenter Mall and walked around in there for a little bit, but it was kind of empty because a lot of stores have shut down. It's just not the same place anymore. We decided to have lunch at Schilo's, so we left Rivercenter and walked over to Schilo's. Along the way, I pointed out some of the stores that Martina and I visited and it was fun remembering that! The food at Schilo's was delicious - she had split pea soup and I had Weinerschnitzel. It was a nice day to be walking around downtown.

Update on baby cardinals

Here's the latest on the baby cardinals:

The morning after we had worried about the birds making it through the night without something getting them, we found one of the babies in the dirt just barely hanging on. Guillermo picked it up and we found a box to place it in. Then we soft-boiled an egg and fed him some of that, and gave him a little water. But it looked like the poor thing was already too far gone. It actually rallied for a little while during the day, even standing straight up! We were a little more hopeful at that point, but by the morning, sad to say, it was gone.
Today, we saw one of the other babies on a bush by the greenhouse, and the other baby in a persimmon bush nearby. Those two seem to be doing real well, and we've even seen them fly a little bit, so they'll be fine.

In the afternoon, after some good rain showers went through and the air had really cooled off, we saw a Painted Bunting in the Crape Myrtle that is right outside the window to Fernando's room! That was so exciting!! Then right after that, we saw a pretty little yellow warbler. And wouldn't you know it, we were out of bird seed!! So, we headed out to Walmart to pick up seed and a few other items, refilled the feeders when we got home, but we saw neither bird again. We did walk out to the creek since we figured it'd be running and saw a nice big snake on the edge of the water. So, we look forward to watching the snakes again back there!

Flowers, birds, party

Aren't these Chrysanthemums just beautiful???

The latest update on the baby cardinals. Today we saw one baby cardinal on the fence by the carport, we placed another baby (that we found on the porch) close to the baby by the fence, and we wondered whatever happened to the third one. Later in the day, we discovered the 3rd baby on the opposite side of the yard, in our Lady Banks Rose. And we did see the mother feeding the two babies by the fence. So, we felt good that they were being taken care of. Now, if they can only get through the night without something getting them!!!

We went to a Fiesta party today hosted by some people in the Biology Department where John Fardal works. This home was way out 281, almost by the Guadalupe River, and they had the nicest deck to sit outside on and enjoy the cool breezes that blew all evening. We had great barbecue, great desserts, and best of all, great company to spend the evening with!

In this picture, Gwen, Angie, John and Guillermo