Texas style photography and words
This mockingbird literally flew in front of my shot.
I was taking pictures of the blue jays splish-splashing in the birdbath for an early
morning bath.
I guess the mockingbird got jealous and wanted to be the center of attention.
It was underexposed which is why it is darker but the lighting was so beautiful I kept it.
When this bird interrupted my photo session I could not pass up the opportunity to get his picture.
I love my backyard birds they are always ready to show off their beauty.
This is one of several Red Shouldered Juvenile Hawks in our area.
He is sitting on one of my bird feeders I watched him eyeballing for little birds to land. Thank goodness none landed at the time I was taking pictures.
I was able to get a few pics before Zoee saw him and barked chasing him off.
Nature is just right outside take the time to see what is your area and get a few pictures.
We go to Sams Club a few times a month it’s about 8 miles from our house.
One thing I discovered is the Rotisserie chicken they cook today is cut up and repackaged for sale tomorrow.
You can get 4 Rotisserie Chicken breasts for $3.90. We normally go first thing in the morning so I am guessing that is when the best time to get this deal would be.
Now you might be thinking well that is a lot of chicken. Buy a few packages take them home and seal a meal in 1-2 breasts in a container. Write your date on each container and it is all good.
Then when you want chicken soup you have your chicken cooked, chicken spaghetti chicken stir fry, chicken pot pie, chicken enchiladas, and the list goes on and on.
Half the work is done when the chickens are already cooked and Rotisserie chicken is so so good.
You honestly can not beat the price of Sam’s Rotisserie Chicken breast.
This was such a good deal I could not wait to pass it on to each and every one of you.
In Livingston, Texas, this is just a little bit of the fall colors you will see.
The butterflies are always nearby doing their jobs.
Nature in the woods is always a great place to be.
These Black Eyed Susan were growing on the property in Livingston, Tx.
They were in the middle of the pasture where there was nothing else to outshine them.
Wildflower seeds blow in the wind and the birds plant them but they always end up in the best places where they can stand out.
In Livingston in the woods beneath the trees lies the beautyberry bushes.
They are everywhere if you can beat the wildlife to them you will have a treasure.
The wildlife loves the berries but they are too tart for people to eat. They do make some delicious jelly.
My grandchildren picked almost two gallons and then asked me to make some Jelly.
This was my first time making the beauty berry jelly but it turned out great.
We ended up with 14 half pints in the first batch and 8 pints and 2 – 1/2 half pints in the second batch.
That was not too bad for almost 2-gallon zip locks of berries.
We put up a lot of veggies in the springtime.
We usually plant 3 kinds of squash so there is always plenty of squash in the freezer.
We seal a meal the fresh veggies this seems to preserve that fresh flavor we love so much.
Thaw it and drain all the water out first this is very important.
I made up this recipe but 95% of the time I like my experiments.
Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a baking dish and place the squash in a ziplock after it’s drained add two envelope packages of Italian seasoning salad dressing mix, salt, pepper, and about 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs shake well in the ziplock to coat evenly.
Place in the baking dish top with chopped onion, fresh parmesan cheese, parsley, and melted butter bake at 375 degrees with foil loosely on the top for 20 – 25 minutes remove the foil to finish baking. Mine took a total of 40 minutes once the parmesan melted I recovered it.
Here is a picture of the completed side dish. We actually loved the flavor of this dish.
The mockingbird anxiously awaits his turn at the deep bird bath.
There are 4 bird baths together but the bigger birds prefer the deep one.
The mockingbirds can be aggressive but so can the blue jays I guess they figured out a system that worked out for them both.
Nature seems to get along just fine even when they do not know I am watching them.
These two squirrels visited on two different days.
The one in the actual feeder is smaller and more skittish than the other one. I feel like he is younger.
I feed the birds but a lot of different wildlife enjoy the seed.
This hackberry tree fell down about a year ago it was blown down by strong wind while the ground was very wet.
My husband cut part of the trunk up for me to use as plant stands outdoors. They work pretty well for this.
These mushrooms look like oyster mushrooms but I am not sure for sure if that is what they are. The tree trunk was taken over by them and this did not happen until the tree fell down.
I thought the mushrooms made a nice picture.
The fungus is among us.
Sonya Lira Photography 