This is Phennig, who waits in the driveway for me everyorning to say goodbye before I leave for work. I realize he doesn't look like the friendliest cat around, but he's actually a bit of a sweatheart...
As I was driving around, I saw this stand of yuccas by the side of the road and stopped to take a pic... now, here in Texas they really aren't that big a deal, unless they're blooming, then they're quite a site to see... but I remembered that there are a lot of people who stop by who've never been to Texas, so I thought maybe they'd like to see these in their natural habitat... besides, I like them growing up between the rocks...
and directly across the road, less than 30 feet away, a very thick stand of native prickly pears... these are the ones that have 2 day blooms... they're yellow the first day, then darken to orange the second. Now that I think of it, the only time I've ever seen prickly pear and yucca growing right with each other is in a garden, naturally they seem to segregate into their own communities. Interesting...
The next two pics are of an abandoned farm house by the side of the road, surrounded by native scrub oaks. Later in the year, these will lose their leaves and expose they're gnarly, twisted branches. I've always liked abandoned old houses, I don't really know why, but they really appeal to me.
I like this second pic the best of the two...
This is a Vietnamese Pot-belly pig. I took his pic when I delivered to a private school... It seems that one day he wandered onto the grounds, and he decided to stick around. Now he's the unofficial mascot... He's also totally uninterested in delivery men. The only response I got from him was an ear flip...
Anyway, that was my week. Later... 
thank claude for photos , i like see opuntia and yucca grow in natural habitat.
ReplyDeleteHey Claude! What intersting pics! Love the yucca and prickly pears of course, bu that pig is so but-ugly cute, I had to laugh...and to think it would not do anything but twitch an ear...what a little stinker!!!
ReplyDeletePhennig is an interesting name. How did you come up with that?
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see yuccas on the side of the road. We do not have yuccas growing wild here in our deserts, but about 50 miles away in Wickenburg, they grow on the desert in abundance. I think it's the difference between 1100 ft. and 2000 ft. elevation.
That is the ugliest big I've ever seen! Can it even stand? It's so fat it looks like it has to crawl!
Aiyana
Aiyana - Remember my old blog name? Lucky Penny Flea Market? When we actually had the store, Phennig was the store cat, Phennig being the German word for Penny. The actual story of how he got the name is rather long, convoluted and, ultimately, not that interesting...
ReplyDeleteLooking at those pics, the yucca is growing among an outcropping of rocks, while the Opunia are not... that may be why I rarely see them side by side in the wild. Kind of an adaptation that keeps them from competing for territory.
And, from all accounts that pig gets around fine. I've actually seen pot-bellies get fatter than that.
Love the old barn- 2nd photo is suitable for framing- I would enlarge the pig photo and hang it in my kitchen!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Claude. I appreciate the answers. That's still an ugly pig!
ReplyDeleteAiyana