Nature Day

I decided that I would start over and start hiking some areas that have not been hiked in a long while.

Today Toby and I hiked Onion Creek Greenbelt. Toby has never been there, and I've only been there one time years ago when my friend Robin took me there.

It was a sunny trail, so most of my flower pictures don't look as brilliant as I would have liked them to look.

 

It was a pretty uneventful hike, unlike the one we had with Bo at the park this morning. Toby, Bo and I all three came inches from stepping on a snake. Matter of fact, I can almost say that Toby and Bo had to have stepped right over him.

I'm the one that spotted it and managed to swerve my foot over before I stepped directly on his head. I'm not sure what kind he was, but he was coming from the creek. I snapped a picture of him and let him go on about his merry way...

Later on this evening, me and Skye took a little walk in the greenbelt behind our house.

It was absolutely beautiful with large patches of bluebonnets everywhere. The greenbelt behind us has always been one of the perks I enjoy the most about our home.

There were so many, the fragrance wafted all around us. I was slightly paranoid walking through them because the snakes like them too, and I'm sure my snake encounter this morning had me on edge also...

Skye pointed out these light blue bluebonnets...

There was a patch of pretty, small yellow flowers too....

Skye also dug up me a fossil leftover from when our area was covered by a sea those many, many years ago..

It was a very enjoyable nature-y kind of day for us all.

A Weird Walk

After pouring over local Austin hikes for almost an hour this morning, I came to the realization that after 8 years we have finally exhausted every hike in the local Austin area.  Austin is chock full of hiking so that's miles of hiking we've done over the years!

Our only choice now is to expand out to areas outside of the Austin area. Some of them take a couple of hours to get to and the hikes themselves take a couple or more hours to hike. Even though we have been leaving Skye alone to fend for herself way before it was probably even legal to, I always knew we were close enough to home that we could get to her in a short amount of time if need be.

I'm not an overprotective parent in the least, but I would feel much more comfortable if she had a mode of transportation before I left her home from dawn to dusk while Toby and I were gallivanting around miles from home deep in some distant greenbelt.

So, after my sad realization of exhausted hiking, I searched up local parks so we could at least get in a small trek. I found Capital Memorial Park that was close to the area we needed to run errands.

Turns out Capital Memorial Park wasn't a park at all, but a cemetery.

I figured what the hell, some of my best childhood memories were spent in Pine Crest Cemetery.  Every so often, my mom would take me and my brother to feed the cemetery ducks and walk around while she put new flowers on my grandmother's grave. Well, it was fun up until that day the goose got hold of my brothers crotch and decided it was lunch. I'll forever have the mental visual of my brother running around with a goose locked onto his crotch while my mother chased him trying to free my brother from the goose and I chased my mother making sure I wouldn't get left behind.

We walked around looking at all the tombstones and the dates on them. There were several that had empty liquor and beer bottles left at them. I guess folks drowning in their sorrow and grief.

I'm not sure how interesting my blog will be in the coming months/year(s). We are very slowly moving into another chapter of our lives and quite honestly right now it's really just not all that interesting.

The tattoo shop, the teen, and the dog will keep us tied down, responsible and respectable for a few more years. Hopefully Toby and I will live through it to enjoy our next chapter together.

Hello....How Are You?

I lost count of how many times since my last post that I have started a post only to leave in unfinished or outright delete it.

The idea of posting something random in order to suffice my urge to express myself in writing outweighed my logic in doing so.

Alas, I now at least have some pictures to post.

I've kept myself busy in my spare time with my usual activity of crochet.

I love the looks of mixed media in textiles. Unfortunately, for me, sewing on my machine is not near as relaxing as the crochet aspect of a project...

I got in a bold color combo mood. This is a baby blanket. For who? I have no idea. Sometimes I just see something I want to crochet and it may eventually find a home...if not, it gets donated to someone who may need/want it....

Can you tell I was in a blanket making mode? Another colorful baby blanket....

Here again another homeless project. I had gotten a bag of yarn at a thrift store that included this camouflage yarn. I would have never bought it myself, but I thought it worked up well in this little set for the more outdoorsy type parents of little girls....

Easter bunnies. These would be great for Easter basket fillers. There again, no home for them, just things I got an inkling to make.....

Winter has been long gone here in Central Texas, and spring has been sprung....

Fresh cut greens from my winter garden....

Rainbow after the rain...

I don't know why, but I am IN LOVE with this picture of these Indian Paintbrushes. Possibly because I walked through snake-ridden tall weeds to capture them??...

That's all folks. Maybe I will have some more interesting things to post soon.