Day trip to Stanton, Texas

Cotton...all picked
Near Stanton, Texas

Yesterday, my daughter Audrey and I did a little daytrippin' to nearby Stanton, Texas. Stanton is "home of 3000 friendly people and a few old soreheads."

We took in the courthouse, the old jail, the 1883 adobe monastery, two cemeteries, the downtown where they hold their Old Sorehead trade days. We would have liked to have dined at the old drugstore with the real soda fountain, but sadly it's closed on weekends.

We wound our indirect way home on Farm to Market roads.

Click to see more photos from that day on Flickr.

Making new friends, 21st century style

Pillow from Sue S.
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 27 2011

For dinner a couple of evenings ago, I got to meet — live and in person — a Facebook friend, Sue from Austin. We had ourselves a hoot and probably had other diners wondering about all our hand movements and outrageous laughter.

Besides having an interesting job with the Texas Historical Commission, she is quite the crafter. She calls all the knitting, sewing, basket-making, and crocheting she does, "My Other Life." I squealed when she gave me this quilted pillow cover. It was her gift as part of the game a group of us are playing in Facebook, Pay it Forward 2011 where we give one another something we make ourselves.

Cool, huh?

If you haven't "friended" me yet on Facebook yet, I hope you will.

I know what it is now

Greenthread aka Hopi Tea seed head, Thelesperma spp.
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 13 2011

One of my goals has been to be able to identify winter forms of plants I love and know so well in summer. This particular dried seed head used to be a mystery to me. What an unusual structure don't you think? And no wonder I couldn't identify it; it looks unlike its summer self.

Mr C is now Three

Mr C is now Three
Odessa, Texas. Jan 22, 2011

Celebrated the little man's birthday yesterday.  Among his gifts was a box of band-aids. All for himself. ;)

Thatsa big acorn

Burr oak acorn
Odessa, Texas. Jan 20, 2011

I love these big acorns. I like the frilly edges too. And according to this site, a burr oak is a good candidate for making acorn meal, with less tannin than other oaks. I've got to remember that next year in the fall.

Granny Square

Granny's square scan (crochet)
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 21, 2011

Didn't get around to taking a photo today. So instead I scanned! I'm working on a spring coverlet for my bed, not too gaudy, but cheerful.

Free Pumpkin

Free pumpkin
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 20 2011

While at the Master Gardener's plot yesterday, one of the master gardeners was visiting and tidying up. Someone had left four pumpkins and a bale of hay there. He gave me the pumpkins and he took the hay.

Time to research some recipes. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, but not pumpkin pie! I'm losing weight and I love pie just too darn much.

I'm not real sure how to prepare a real live whole pumpkin from scratch. This ought to be fun.

Fasciation

Fasciation in a Sophora secundiflora, Texas Mountain Laurel
Time Machine Master Gardener's Garden, Odessa, Texas. Jan 19 2011

This odd fan form is not normal. It's is actually a kind of mutation at the cellular level, caused by a pest, genetics, damage, or other unknown factors. Some plants are prone to fasciation. I've seen it on several different specimens of the Sophora sedundiflora, one of my favorite Texas native trees. I think the form is beautiful. Apparently so do others, especially those gardeners that love, say, the cockscomb flower. Once you start looking for fascinating examples, you too will find fasciations.

West Texas Coral

West Texas Coral
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 18 2011

Um, yeah, there's not any coral in West Texas. Instead this is an interesting piece of burned plastic I picked up in my wandering around the oil fields.

Soft

Soft
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 17 2011

Something I brought home from East Texas. Today it got its portrait taken.

I love this cup

My desk
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 15 2011

Lately, I have been thinking about my mom, even more than normal. And suddenly I realized, I've been thinking about her since I began using this extra tall, pretty Chinese cup she gave me, a cup she used for a long time. I drink out of it all day long. I love this cup even more since it reminds me of her.

Hm, some hot green tea sounds really good right now.

Red Swingline!

Red Swingline
Odessa, Texas. Jan 14, 2011

Found this delightful item on the desk of a favorite customer. It is actually orangish-red, but close enough to give me a darn good chuckle. She even marked it with her initials to keep others from taking it! She hasn't seen the movie Office Space, which made me giggle more.

Excuse me. I need to do my coversheet for the TPS report now.

It's Bobble Time again

It's Bobble Time again
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 13, 2011

It's out of focus, it's grainy, but man I love the composition the dried heads of sunflowers and saw-tooth daisies make in the winter, "bobbles" I look forward to every year.

I'm blogging daily again, part of my 2011 resolution. I'm even going to put up a calendar again at the end of the month. I missed doing those calendars, a visual diary of my days, many of them splendid. Here's hoping your days are splendid and filled with your wintry favorites too.

Ansel the Dog

Ansel the dog
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 12, 2011

Ansel is named after the famous American photographer Ansel Adams. I named him that because I found him while I was out taking photos one day. That and because he's black and white. He was just a puppy, dumped, scared, starving, with hardly had any life left in him.

Now he's full grown, full of life, and turns out to be one big knucklehead.

He chews my shoes, my glasses, anything I touch and am stupid enough to leave within his reach. He even chewed up the rug I left out for him to sleep on. He has a deep, frightening bark and howls at sirens. He can jump the fence and will chase (to kill) any animal, even a horse. That's why he has to stay on a leash at all times. When I let him inside, he promptly pees on my furniture.


P.S. He licked my camera lens after this photo.

Cleo the Cat

Cleo the Cat
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 11, 2011

What can I say? She's a cat. She's nice. She was hungry in this picture.

Bundle Up

Me, bundled up
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 10, 2011

Waited until the absolute warmest part of the day before going for my walk today. It was still quite nippy. Supposed to get down to 14 (F) tonight. That's mighty cold for these parts.

Spring fever

Yellow wild zinnia (?)
West Odessa, Texas. June 30, 2009

Going through old photos is giving me an early case, a very early case, of Spring Fever.

Bike

Abandoned bike at my daughter's
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 8, 2011

If I was handy, I'd give this old bike new life. I love the rack on the back.

Garter stitch

Garter stitch (knitting)
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 06 2011

After finishing this piece last night (it's a gift, so I can't reveal what it is), I got out my older Lumix, the FZ18. I still like its macros better than my newer FZ30.

Souvenirs

Souvenirs from my afternoon walk
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 5, 2011

Chicken feather
Yucca seeds
Mesquite bean
Four-wing Saltbush seeds
Sawtooth daisy heads (with seeds, without seeds)
Unknown sticks

Memory

Memory of Mom's woods, December 2010
East Texas

Lichen, beauty berry, crabapple leaves, viburnum berry, crabapples, mossy pine cone, guinea feather, dogwood berries

Crazy

Crazy plant, November 2010
Along the Pecos River near Imperial, Texas

Still going back through last year's photos. No idea what plant this is! (See this link for a shot of its form)

Crabapples

Crabapples from Mom's tree
East Texas, December 2010

Adore

Mom, December 2010
Her woods, East Texas

Spent today going through photos. I meant to make CD archives and to order prints. I didn't get very far. I kept stopping to play with photos I liked, and to admire faces I adore.

Welcome 2011