Texas style photography and words
I planted Dahlia bulbs for the first time there were 20 bulbs but only 12 of them came up. I think one package must have been bad.
This was my very first bloom and I love the colors of this flower. I waited a few days to take the picture and I almost waited too long.
I am looking forward to the future blooms to see what colors they are. These flowers are gorgeous and my macro lens allowed me to really show off this flowers details.
I post a lot of different stuff on my blog most of it is from my personal experience about my life or information I have learned through years.
If I am posting about something fun and new I am excited about it and I figure maybe I can learn from others who are doing the same thing.
I love to share my knowledge on different subjects but especially about photography.
If you chose to comment on a post of mine that is great but please do not try to push your opinions or your beliefs on my readers or myself.
After all, isn’t that what you blog is for?
I have never once posted on a controversial topic I avoid them like the plague. If I do not agree with a title or a post I move on without ever reading it much less liking it.
There are plenty of subjects I get fired up about but I do not post them on my blog or comment about them on other people’s blogs. Sometimes I find it better to keep my mouth shut because this keeps downs debates.
I do value others opinions but there is a fine line that must never be crossed and that is when you go overboard with your opinion on someone else’s blog.
Please remember showing a little respect goes a long way.
I am not a fan of snakes no matter what kind they are.
Last weekend while looking out the den window I noticed a black snake entering the pond by the waterfall it was about 3 foot long. He was barely in there 5 seconds before he had nabbed one of the smaller koi.
I ran out the backdoor grabbed the water hose to spray him hoping he would drop the fish that did not happen. I knocked on the window to get my husband’s attention and he came out there I pointed out the snake and told him since it was killing the fish I wanted it dead.
When you have a koi pond with a bog, waterfall, landscape rocks and plants there are a lot of places for snakes to hide while you’re trying to kill them. Finally, after a 20-minute struggle the snake was dead and then he spits out the fish still in tack but it was too late for the fish.
It was a yellow-bellied water snake their favorite meal is fish I guess he thought our pond was a buffet.
The next morning I counted fish knowing we had 11 total 4 koi that were a few months old and 7 goldfish one as big survivor from the last year disaster.
I was missing 2 of the new Koi and 3 goldfish this had been going on since I last counted the fish.
Today I am picking up some lime to put around the perimeter of the pond. It is supposed to burn the snake’s belly lets hope it works.
( Edited I had put sulfur instead of lime lol).
The Angel Trumpet is coming back from the winter and is full of life. This plant is about 2 1/2 ft. tall and has had 2- 3 blooms a day for the last week.
The blooms are a bright white and in the morning the dew dances across the petals as the soft light shines upon them.
I love taking pictures in our yard in the early morning and capturing the details of the flowers with my macro lens.
Nature and her beauty makes each day a little brighter and will always put a smile on your face.
After a 3-week delay finally our daughter and her husband signed papers on their house this past Friday.
This was not a delay on their part it was actually a few complications that the title company did not find until the day before the first signing date. Let’s just say someone was not doing their job and then went on vacation.
The kids knew nothing about the house so it was a total surprise to them. Andrew had 3 things on his wish list for a house that was that it have stairs, a fireplace and a pond he got all 3 so he was so excited.
Karina seemed to turn into an instant real estate agent when we went there later that day. Want to see mine and sissy’s room, my bathroom, Andrew and Adrian’s room. Want to see the kitchen, my backyard the pond lol. She wanted us to see it all right then and it was a fast room to room tour. No dip dallying that’s for sure.
All four kids are sleeping great in the new house. Since the little one was pretty picky about where he slept were all excited he is sleeping at night and taking his naps.
There is a lot of work to be done. Lots of fences and pens to be built for goats, dogs, and chickens.
The pond will be fenced off from the kids, the house will be fenced off from the road even though it sits back about 2 acres back from the road. There will be a goat pen and a dog pen. Then there will be a chicken coop.
I am so glad they finally have their dream home in the country on land where they can have their little farm with animals and a garden.
This is Buttercup the goat she was bought at the same time as Princess.
When buying these little goats even though they are registered it is very important to view pictures of the farms first before putting down large deposits. This is a lesson our daughter has learned the hard way.
These babies were very small probably 7 pounds at the most when they were picked up. This past Sunday we weighed them and they were 9.5#s and that was after getting a lot of grain, hay and goat supplement milk replacer.
Our cat Mr. Bird weighs about 16#s to give you an example of how tiny these little goats are. He is actually taller than they are.
Buttercup was taken to the vet because she was coughing badly and she was diagnosed with pneumonia from being in overcrowded conditions at her previous home.
She is fine now fine and they are both getting daily injections of antibiotics for 5 days. Giving shots is not easy to goats they scream like a child.
We have been taking extra precautions since the little goats were sick to make sure they stay healthy and continue to grow properly.
Buttercup loves to run, jump and climb on the tires and even sleep inside the tires. The children are leash training the goats and they are all doing quite well.
I am now considering getting my own goats but do I want to keep them here or at our home or our daughter’s house with her hers I have to think about this.
Yesterday we spent the day with our youngest daughter and her family.
The kids swam in a big pool we bought them screaming like crazy playing sharks, crabs, and dolphins. The baby swam in a plastic tub so he did not get overtaken by the 3 wild sharks.
Our son in law David spent 4+hours trimming on one of our 35+-year-old oak trees. There were some limbs on top of the house that needed to go badly then he started trimming up the rest. If that was not enough he cut the bigger pieces up into smaller pieces for the firepit and the smoker. The old tree looks amazing now with its new haircut.
Jack and Andrew hauled off the rest of the limbs to the burn pile. Andrew is 6 years old and he is quite good at driving the lawnmower and trailer around.
I power washed the landscape rocks around 4 large flower beds and then power washed the sides and front of the house. The back of the house and the back porch will have to be another day. After all this work I required a nap lol. Dragging around a gasoline power washer is tough.
I realized it is time to paint again and since I always pick two new colors I have to start thinking about what color we will do. If the roof was not brown I would pick gray for sure.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, our youngest daughter was making homemade pizza in 2 of my super large sheet pans. There was enough left over pizza to last for days. That will make the kiddos happy.
We are so grateful to have them and their family in our lives they live nearby so that makes it even more special because we get to see the kids often.
We are very appreciative of Davids help he has done so much to help us out through the last 8 years he sees what needs to be done and just does it.
It is very important to always give people credit for the things they do for you.
Be thankful for the people in your life that want to be there and you’ll never miss the ones who aren’t.
This is Princess she is goat # 2 and is 5 weeks old.
She has this cute smudge of mascara below her eye.
The funny thing about these little goats is when you sit on the ground to take their pictures they come and sit in your lap like a dog.
Karina picked this goat and when you have twin girls that are 3 years old they both wanted to name their goat’s Princess lol. Finally, we got Sophia to pick a different name since Karina said it first.
Since Princess is younger than Clover she is super fast like lighting her little legs almost seem to be flying. She is taking a bottle 3 times a day right now that is a powder goat supplement. They are eating hay and goat pellets along with calf mana to put on some weight.
At the same time, they got this little girl they got another one but that is another post.
Stay tuned for more goats to come.
In the afternoon the light is more golden than the morning, the pasture of Bahia grass appears to be a bright golden color.
As the wind blows the stalks of grass they seem to move gracefully across the 30 acres.
Everything is quiet and the day is so peaceful as the sun begins to set.
Sonya Lira Photography 