Easter flowers

I hope everyone had a good Easter. Carlos and I drove down to Brownsville to spend some time with the old gals, and while we were at it we visited with his cousin, who has quite a garden. This picture is but one of the many types of Crown of Thorns he has in his collection.

Another sign of Spring

Who could resist taking a picture of the beautiful clusters of puprle flowers that grace the branches of a Texas Mountain Laurel? There is nothing that says SPRING quite as boldly. There's no flower on earth that has a fruity fragrance like these blossoms; kind of reminds me of grape koolaid. There are lots of blossoming trees around Austin right now, but none can compete with a Mountain Laurel for beauty and vigor.

PEACHES

While the world was waging wars, campaigning, manufacturing new countries, the bees were busy making their own contribution. Now their work is done, mission accomplished, and the tree has entered a new phase, a quieter one.
These peaches are not nearly as big they appear in the picture, really not even the size of an olive, but they seem to be healthy and plentiful, so maybe...

But what am I thinking? A twenty-four hour surveilance, seven days a week, would not be enough to keep the critters from raiding the delectable fruit. Why, the pesky things, they can't seem to wait, they start systematically stealing the peaches long before they ripen. Squirrels and birds right under our noses in plain daylight, possums and racoons under the stealth of night. Not even the dogs can keep the theives at bay.

FIRST ASPARAGUS CROP EVER

This bunch of asparagus may not seem very exciting to some of you, but I just picked it fresh out of our plot at the Sunshine Gardens. I'm excited that our plant, now in its fifth year, has finally begun to produce enough asparagus for an actual meal.

Did you know that asparagus never has to be planted again? Granted, one must be patient with it; it takes about a decade before it really gets going. After that, I've heard it is difficult to get rid of. But why would anyone want to do that? Just when the going gets good and one has a continuous supply of one of nature's most nutritious veggies?

RAINBOW FLOWER

Irises come in many colors, but my favorite is this beautiful purple. The name iris comes from the greek word for rainbow, (arcoiris, for those who speak Spanish). It seems fitting that such a spectacular flower is named after one of nature's most spectacular sights..
All esle aside, it means Spring is around the corner.

CHAMELEON IN THE SUN

This little fella scurried across the flagstone path and took a flying leap, landing on the siding of our house. I was quite happy to see him, though I can assure you the feeling was not mutual. To my amazement, he was still there a minute later when I returned with my camera; he even cooperated as I shot a few pictures of him.

PURRFECTLY ODD

After much ado, I finally got a fairly decent picture of Seymour's odd colored eyes. He's rather camera shy, usually closes his eyes or turns away just as I press the shutter. This particular day he seemed to be rather indifferent to the camera; perhaps he's gotten used to my crouching figure following him all over the place in hopes of snapping the purrfect image.