Tagged By Mrs Quad

Happy Valentine's Day!

This version of the tag game calls for a list of "five things that you might not know about me" – Hmmm. How can my revelations be interesting in the wake of people like Mrs Quad, Nelumbo, Jim and Kerri? Kerri parents actually owned a pet store when she was growing up! I must admit that finding out a few things about other people was pretty cool, so I'll be cooperative.

Five things that you might not know about me:

1) When I was about ten years old, I seriously considered becoming a Catholic Nun, driving my sister and cousin nuts with my pre-adolescent piety. [I got over it.]

2) I entered college at 16, intending to become a junior high teacher. I left after completing my junior year and never went back. So there’s no degree after Annie’s name. [It was of course, all Philo’s fault – no way was I letting him go to grad school in South Carolina alone.]

3) Our four children are widely separated in age, so they were born in three different decades - 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s - at different hospitals, with different groups of doctors, and at the time of each birth, Philo & I lived at a different address.

This age range also meant that once the oldest turned 13, my husband and I began an unbroken 23-year stretch of living in a house with a teenager. Four of them. One after another.

4) Genealogy is another of my interests, and I’ve done a lot of research for friends and family, frequently using online resources. While at those sites I bumped into a couple of previously unknown cousins who were doing the same thing.

5] I dislike the taste of watermelon, cucumbers and licorice, and don’t like their scents, either. But even if Philo has been eating one of these things, I like him more than I dislike watermelon or cucumbers or licorice, and will gladly kiss him anyway. [This was the Valentine part of today's post.]

I hesitate to tag anyone - but sure would like to know more about most of you – Ki? Lost Roses? Julie? Stuart? Pam in TX or Pam in SC? Anybody?

Here’s a squirrel photo for Nelumbo in South Carolina. This one is gobbling up the sunflower seeds, even though I covered them in hot sauce. The birds can’t taste it, and the squirrels are supposed to find it distasteful but it didn’t work out that way. It's possible that since everyone in Austin grows hot peppers, and the birds plant the chile pequin type in natural gardens all over town, an entire subspecies of salsa-loving tree rats is evolving here.

Semi Homemade ... A Treat for Day 2

BULL RUN REGIONAL PARK — CENTREVILLE, VIRGINIA
TEMPS: LO 32F / HI 52F (0C / 11C)

After another good night’s rest, we woke up raring to go on this second day of fulltiming. Somehow, though, we ended up taking it easy instead.

That’s not to say that we didn’t do anything … a little light cleaning of the interior … a bucket-wash of the exterior after the sun broke through the misty, cloudy skies … a bit of work on the household finances.

Chores done, Mui went to Lowe’s to pick up some carpet shampoo. While he was gone, I took advantage of the reasonably warm afternoon temp to go for a quiet walk around the park. Good thing I did; no sooner was I back home that it started raining. Oh well, better than getting snow, but we’re going to have to shelve our plans to check out BRRP’s Festival of Lights until tomorrow night.

So, instead of regaling you with twinkling lights and holiday cheer, I’ll wrap up this post with the breakfast treat I alluded to in yesterday’s post.

We came back from Friday night’s celebratory dinner at the Copper Canyon Grill with a to-go order of bread pudding. We did this because Mike, our server, tantalized us with the suggestion to use the yummy dessert to make French toast for breakfast

Mike’s directions were to freeze the bread pudding for about 20 minutes; slice and give it a light egg wash; place it on the griddle to cook; and serve it with a drizzle of the Grand Marnier sauce that came with the bread pudding.

Mike’s recommendation was spot on :-D

The oversized portion means that we still have two more slices of French toast to enjoy for breakfast tomorrow morning. We’ll return to our more basic breakfast routine after we finish up this special treat!

Solar Tsunami - Waves in the Sky

From Thursday night's Aurora event, this photo was made at the moment when the Northern lights transitioned from being "so-so" to SPECTACULAR. The colors and movement started on the left side of the frame, and within seconds a line moved very quickly all the way across to the right, then upwards into the sky. Along the bottom edge of the lights was a line of purple and white color, everything above that was green. The bottom edge of the aurora was waving up and down and back and forth. The whole sky was shimmering with waves of light. It is a memory and image that will live in the forefront of my mind for a long time to come!

Wibba wabba

Yesterday I joined Dave from Tweed Coast Treadly and his riding partner Mark for a trip through the Mooball National Park. In order to get there I had a 48km ride down the coast to begin with. Perhaps I could have left a little earlier and detoured to find some hills, but there would be no shortage of those to follow. As it was, I probably needed to spend some time riding into the wind, and this provided it.

After assembling at Dave's place and making acquaintances, it was time to head for the switchback climb over Cudgera Creek road, to the top of the ridge where the real ride would start. I had been wondering why such a fuss was made over "permissions" and so forth -- given that most of the dirt roads in that area are actually gazetted as public roads. Evidently permissions become important because of the practice of many land owners in illegally fencing off such roads.

This was the case at the start of Wabba road, which basically forced us into some cross-country trekking to get to the start of the national park. Here, the real ride began. This "road" is more of a track, and barely formed, but it passes through some stunning forests as it gradually snakes it's way up the Burringbar range. Along the way there were a few stops to check maps and so forth, but negotiating a route for the first time provides a sense of excitement.


The key discovery on this ride was to be the Palmvale Spur firetrail. Along the way we'd looked at a couple of other potential detours, but had figured this would most likely enable us to create a circuit out of the ride. It almost did, but for the aforementioned practice of fencing off public roads. We faced a dead-end road with nothing more than an unmarked track heading off in a completely different direction to provide any additional options.


I made the mistake of suggesting we follow the track for a while, which soon became totally unrideable. Eventually we found a clearing in which to leave the bikes and continue on foot. Tramping through a heap of lantana and picking up some scratches eventually led us to a dry creek bed which may have actually linked up with Palmvale. The temptation was to follow it, but time constraints put an end to that, pretty as the area was. We decided to return, but Mark was apparently in a hurry to get home, and decided he'd climb over the fence on the Palmvale fire trail and ride it to the end regardless. I await news of how he got on.
Dave and I decided to ride back up the fire trail to rejoin the "main" dirt road through the National Park. This is actually an extremely pretty climb, rugged and slow, but definitely rideable -- providing time to really enjoy the surrounds. Back at the top we rode across the top of the range, before the final switchback descent back to Murwillumbah. I'm sure I took those corners way too fast, but fortunately my brakes are in good condition, and this didn't present any major problems.
Back in Murwillumbah we said our goodbyes and I decided to ride back home over Tomewin. Evidently the 750-odd metres of climbing in 27km on dirt wasn't enough. I got myself into a grinding rhythm on Tomewin, and just took it apart clinically as I'm finding that the best method of dealing with climbs like that. Tomewin wasn't the final piece of drama, however. 15km from home my gear changes became sloppy, and when the gears started changing of their own accord, the reason why became obvious.
My rear gear cable was about to break. I nursed it through the final kilometres (fortunately this part of the route was flat and the northerly wind didn't eventuate), and just made it home. Today I was riding the Black Magic to work, and just spend a good portion of the evening fitting another cable to my primary bike. The Black Magic did a superb job today on the commute, but it too needs some work. Hopefully I'll find some free time to take care of it soon.
In the meantime I'm left to look back on what was a truly memorable ride, which may even make it into this year's top 10. I continue to be astonished by the quality, quantity and variety of riding experiences that just keep turning up in this part of the world.

Paseo del Nordeste

This morning, I rode the Paseo del Nordeste Recreational Trail. Started from my motel near Menaul & Carlisle. Rode the streat to the N. Diversion Channel Trail. The first think I saw, the city is constructing me trail bypasses under streets.

After just short of 2 miles in my tide, I turned east to ride the Paseo del Nortests. This is another trail along a diversion channel/arroyo (The Hahn Arroyo). Since the trail is perpendicular from the Rio Grand, it climbs East towards the Sandia Mountains.

A couple times I thought of turning back (after all, I had enough climbing yesterday). I persevered, and made it all the way to the end of the trail at the Sandia High School (about 3 miles from the N. Diversion Channel). Stopped to take some photos and re-hydrated a couple times.

The 3 mile coasting ride back down partially made up for the climb. Then, just a easy ride (slight up-slope) along the N. Diversion to Menaul. Back at my motel just on time to change clothes to meet a fraternity brother at Range Cafe.

The afternoon, processed photos, rested, and made tentative plans for riding the RailRunner to Santa Fe tomorrow.

Today's photo in along the Paseo del Nordeste Recreation Trail in a section of the Hahn Arroyo rehab project.

Mountains

I am convinced that mountains are the greatest thing in the world. For me there is nothing that quite matches the thrill of conquering a big climb, and taking in a spectacular view at the summit, the reward for the hard work. Yet I also find the physical release of taking on the mountain to be rewarding in and of itself too. Then there are also the changing vistas along the climb, the different views offered at different points of a switchback road. Yes, mountains are the greatest thing in the world.

Anyone who caught any of the Tour de France over the last couple of weeks would have marvelled at the spectacular scenery of the Alps, and some of the super-human efforts to climb those passes. While there is nothing in Australia that can really hold a candle to the Alps, I've been making the best of what I had in recent times. The nearest noteworthy climbs in this part of the world are Springbrook (soon to be featured in a magazine article if I have anything to do with it) and Binna Burra. Two climbs very different in character, but equally beautiful in their own way.

Springbrook is the more direct climb, passing through stunning rainforest, only really offering the views at the summit. Binna Burra on the other hand, is different, climbing steadily onto the Beechmont Range, then rolling across the plateau offering sweeping views in all directions before taking to the rainforest for the final climb. As I said, two beautiful climbs so different in character. There are times when I can't decide between the two, and seek a way to fit both into my schedule. With habits like that, perhaps it's just as well I don't live in the Alps. I probably wouldn't find time for anything else.

Floating Orb from Space

Is this another unidentified flying object?

Sparkler

The red rose, white Pentas, white salvia and Salvia 'Black& Blue' barely constitute a floral sparkler let alone the explosion of color I was hoping to gather for a photo. Real fireworks, legal or otherwise, can be heard around Austin on every Fourth of July. I like fireworks, but have always felt tense as bottle rockets flew over dried-out roofs in our usual hot, dry summers. They'll be very hard to light this year!
It's still pouring in Texas, and I wonder whether this photo of a puddle in the secret garden might be considered garden porn by those of you who need rain so badly. [Lilac and peony photos fit this category for me!] If you're in a drought area, may gentle, slow soaking rains fall on your gardens soon, allowing the waterlogged places [like Oklahoma City, which had 20 straight days of rain] to dry out a little.
MSS of Zanthan Gardens has concentrated on tomatoes lately and Pam/Digging has been away from her blog for a while. Well, while Pam is busy and you're missing her fabulous photos, my photos might look better ! Here are a few from my garden this week - some have rain and mist, others were taken in sun. When the rain stopped and the sun came out, I covered myself in mosquito spray and went out to weed and prune.
This unnamed oriental lily bloomed in a deck container for a few years, was planted in the ground in .., and is somehow living and blooming in our heavy clay soil. There have been a few flowers each year, but there were 10 buds this June - and they're huge, measuring 8-inches across when fully open.
In closeup this lily has little 'bumps' but no spots like the Stargazers. One flower in a vase puts out so much fragrance it can be overpowering inside the house. The 'City of Portland' canna loves the moisture and keeps blooming. There's a little coral color blended into the brick of our house. This color sets off a war when something in the magenta/pink range is planted near the brick, but growing the cannas near the wall looks okay to me - what do you think? Another Canna goes by several names, including 'Praetoria' and 'Bengal Tiger', and has striped foliage and orange flowers. I planted it in three places in my garden, liking how it looks near this 'Acoma' crepe myrtle and a self-seeded tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, with Perovskia/Russian sage at the base .The Zephranthes 'Labuffarosea' rainlilies opened a few flowers, but their numbers are down from last year. I don't think they like being waterlogged - some of the bulbs may have rotted underground.
Last year two Snail Vines, Phaseolous caracalla, ran rampant in my garden. One took over the garden arch and smothered the Coral Honeysuckle, leading me to evict it. The other one covered the metal obelisk so densely that the structure was invisible, but I liked the flowers, so let it finish the season. Once free of the annual snail vine, the Coral honeysuckle did well, and has taken over the arch. It's been showing off those flowers nonstop since March, framing the garden and attracting hummingbirds.
I planted seeds for Moonvine, Ipomoea alba, and Blue Pea Vine, Clitoria ternatea, at the base of the obelisk a couple of months ago - actually planting them twice, since the first seeds never sprouted. The second set of seeds sprouted and are twining up the metal bars, but are not yet blooming. I like the way the obelisk looks this year, and am not in a big hurry for the flowers. The birds seem delighted with the exposed framework - a hummingbird likes to perch on the crossbar in between sips at the Buddleja, honeysuckle and Salvias and it's also a favorite hangout for the wrens.
I hope you're all having a safe and happy holiday, with some sparkle in your evening.

Joy, the Summer Vacation Fairy

Guest Blogger...
A book review by Lulu.
I give this book a 5 star rating because it's very magical.
It's magical because there is magic seaweed, magic shells, and most importantly magic fairies. Joy is the fairy of the book. She has very beautiful wavy long gold hair and a flowered pigtail.

Her friends are two girls named Rachel and Kristy. Kristy has black long hair. Rachel has curly short blond hair. The story is about Joy and her friends Kristy and Rachel who go to an island to stop Jack Frost from taking over.
First they collect all the magic shells. Then they shine a mirror so the sun melts the ice mirror then it melts Jack Frost. Then the beach gets it's sand back and the ice cream is back and the shells for all the snails and crabs.