We've had very (unusually) hot water lately, (80-90F) and no rain, but despite the drought we're in, the Cacti are blooming profusely! These are Desert and Plains  Prickly-Pears ...

There are hundreds and hundreds of them and each plant has hundreds of buds and flowers ....





They look like those crepe paper roses to me. Just gorgeous!

                                       


This next one's a Rainbow Cactus. A huge flower on a really small cactus. You'd expect more colors (of the rainbow?) but they're just yellow. Pretty though!

                        

And the bees are (loudly) swarming around the Honey Mesquite trees:
                                                                                    
                       
All this 'going on' has been inspiring and we've tackled some projects too!

James has been busy making me some tools to use with the (used) loom I picked up a couple of weeks ago:

  

  

Never one to keep it simple, (and he just loves to be able to use some of his tools/toys) he went all overboard as usual!

The result: a warping frame, a reddle, warping-, cross- and end-sticks and several shuttles!
(The warping frame comes apart for easy storage.)
All made from cheap lumber for a fraction of the price you pay in the crafts stores and I think they look  better too!

An unexpected project came in the shape of a burst (main) water pipe which happened to be right underneath our fire pit!
Fortunately nothing of our doing so it was up to the the park's maintenance crew to repair it but it was quite a mess for a while:

  

As usual it took a lot of men standing around and leaning on shovels (and big toys) to get it done ;-)

So, not to be outdone, James borrowed some big equipment to drive around upon himself.....!

Reason being, we want to sow some new grass around the RV. In recent years the landscaping of the Park has been somewhat below par and a lot of sites, like ours, have lost most of the grass that was planted originally.
When it rains, the bare soil that's left turns into some horrible slick and sticky clay, and with the rainy season coming up in July and August we'd like to have some grass growing around us!

 

                      So we brought in some sand. See it flying in the wind?

Oh, yeah, that brings me to an announcement ... it looks like we're going to stick around here for a while!
James likes this (paid) job so we can put some money in the bank for you never know when. We also happen to like the desert and this park and off course we love the golf course, so we're going to brave the summer temperatures and stay at least until October.
After that, we might move south a little to the Valley or the coast or stay for another winter, we don't know yet. At least, that's the plan ...... we'll see.

Fortunately, we have 3 pools at our fingertips for when the temperature will rise into the low 100's in June and July !
They're heated by solar panels and are slowly coming up to temperature right now. This week we had a couple of days in the low 90's already so we had to test the one at the campground.

Well, ...my big toe still thinks it's too cold but James actually swam! Show-off!

Not bad eh?!

Ha! You really didn't think I wouldn't include some bird shots did you?

I think this is a Hutton's Vireo

                                     

    

                Mr. House Finch.                                                                   Who, me?


                                       


And ... whaaaa ...! It's a Cysteodemus Wislizeni. For what it's worth. 
It has a whole lot of common names, like Desert Spider Beetle, Desert "blue-ball" Blister Beetle, Black Bladder Beetle or Inflated Beetle to name a few.
The inflated look is actually due to air they store under their shield which keeps them cooler in the sun. It looks like they can fly, but the partition on their body that you see are not wings, it's a trick so you think it's no use to chase him because he'll fly away.
They can exude a toxic fluid when handled that blisters your skin. Interesting bug. No?


                            OK. Than I leave you with this.

  

                                                Really? (Eye roll ....sigh .....)

        
                                        

 

* I've been trying to post this blog for a week now but with so many people here there's just (almost) no Internet! Here I try again ....

Daylight savings time is here, it's spring break and the desert is budding and flowering! 
Our weather has been great for weeks but we're having a little bit of a cold spell at the moment (if you can call 61F (15C) a cold spell).

It's rather busy here since the kids are out of school and a lot of families headed for the desert to get out of the cold winter weather that's been pestering the rest of Texas.

Desert Ironwood?

The yucca's are starting to put up quite a show around here. A big difference with Alpine where we went grocery shopping last Saturday and where there wasn't anything to see yet!

   

 

The stalks of these flower heads will continue to grow up, away from the leaves, for about 4' over the summer.

The Cottonwood trees are releasing there fluffy seeds. When the wind picks up it sometimes looks like it's snowing!

And than there was this!


                            

An -I'm not kidding you- Chihuahua race in Terlingua's Ghost town!
It's an annual happening and draws the most interesting people from all around.

Besides the Chihuahuas there is also a Mutt category in which you can enter any other dog, as you can see.

Not all dogs find this event as hilarious as their owners and try to take off early ......

Busting through the screen ...

or quit halfway ..... 

But than there are those diehearts that'll run no matter what and against all odds .....

'Buckweed'

Really. Like my friend Irene mentioned on Facebook, "who comes up

with these things?"

 

I'm still happily 'shooting' birds. One of my morning walks brings me by the Resort's gardens and ponds where I found this Wren singing in the

marsh.

Guess what? It's a Marsh Wren. Who'd had thought? :-)

                                      

                                        

I also found this dapper Black Phoebe (in the middle) and a Black-throated Sparrow (top left). A pretty little Inca Dove (bottom left) and a Gold finch (top right).

This next one I heard already from far away :

Peekeboo!

My first Ladderbacked Woodpecker! Isn't it a beauty!

OK, enough of these birds, here's for some other entertainment. 

On the evening of Texas Independence Day (1st of March):

The weather had been gorgeous for days and the evenings were beautiful (no wind) and warm. Just perfect for an open air concert at the Resort's Amphitheater.

The band was Buster Jiggs (rock and roll, from San Antonio) and the warm-up band the Fabulous Vortexans (Terlingua blues band).

The blues band was OK but the main band was definitely not our kind of music, way too loud and nothing much of anything, but the Tacos were great and the beer cheap.

And the sunset .....?
 

 

Priceless!!!

It seems spring is in the air already here in the desert.

We've had 2 weeks of temperatures in the mid-to high 80's (around 26-28C) and yesterday it made it to 91(30C) at 5pm!

Birds are singing everywhere and I'm trying to get pictures and identify them but the little buggers just don't want to sit still, do they?

There's a fine line how close you can get to each one and I'm still learning to 'read' them. They'll be singing their little hearts out and let me approach for a little while but than, just when I finally locate them and point the camera, they'll stop and fly away!

But I've got a few for you. Here we go ..

 

First up, same as above, a rock wren. I just love the red cactus thorns! Well, not really, but you know what I mean.

 

Perfect camouflage if you're a Rock Wren!

And here's Mr and Mrs Roadrunner .....

Talking about camouflage ....

....... and a couple of Meadowlarks, I think they're the 'Eastern' variety, because they're quite dark, but it's so hard to tell (and they're back-lit)!

                                               

A whole bunch of White-crowned Sparrows

And 'something' rustling in the reeds .... where? ... there! ... huh? ... quick ... shoot!... there he goes!!

Someones prime real estate ...

These were all taken at the golf course. James went shooting balls and I'm shooting birds these days. 

I've hurt my rotator cuff, I'm afraid it's torn, and can not make a swing anymore. I haven't hit a ball for 2 months now and besides keeping my shoulder 'mobile' by doing some light exercises, I've been babying it.

It's not as painful as it was but I think (and read) that I still have a long ways to go!

In the dead tree next to the rig I spotted these two White-winged Doves, wanting to know, as always,

                                  'who-cooks-for-you'?

And than there's this dog that always looks away as soon as you point the camera? Talking about camera shy indeed.

Ha! Got ye!

 

Sadie and Merlin eating and drinking side by side. They're so cute when they're good ...

 

Merlin waiting for James to come home for lunch. As soon as I set out the plates he's on them. Sort of a 'natural' plate warmer.

(His is the small one in front!)

Sorry, but I did some baking again ;-)

Upside down Pineapple Cake (for the non-Americans here)

See the moon rising on the left there? And James' head/hat on top of the BBQ :-)?

 

It barely cools down in the evening so we're eating outside most of the time. Hard to believe that a few weeks ago we'd wake up to 26F (-3C) and the daytime high was barely 40(5C)!

Having said that (and let me mention also that I changed our sheets from flannel to 'normal') it's probably going to freeze again soon!