Warehouse bandit!

Last night, I got a call in my radio, and I suddenly realized that I'd have to be awake at 4:30 AM in order to be at a warehouse on time.

This, of course, did not thrill me, as I didn't find this out in time to eat dinner early so that I could get my after dinner walk done and into bed early... So I had to skip my walk. Now, I like my walk. I get to talk to all the dog-walkers in the neighborhood, and, despite the fact that my job involves jumping from the truck bed onto docks and throwing heavy boxes around all day, I don't get steady exercise, it just happens if fits and spurts. The walk keeps my trick knee strong, and compensates for the sitting in a truck seat all day part of my job.

So I was up bright and early this morning, and in a part of town that's covered in warehouses, before most of the warehouses are open...

Now, you don't really realize it, but warehouse districts are entirely different worlds at night than they are during the day... During the day they are loud, unpleasant places, full of rumbling truck engines, banging metal doors and reeking of exhaust fumes.

At night, when the workers have gone home, an almost unnatural quiet envelops them, and as the sun sets, you can hear crickets, and see the quick shadows of feral cats stalking rodents. The pavement glows yellow under the lights, and each light swirls with insects. If you're lucky, and take the time to notice, you can watch the bats swoop in and pick off their dinner...

This morning I was at the warehouse when the night and it's creatures hadn't quite yet surrendered to the day. It's a pleasant enough time, not cool, but the heat of the day hasn't yet begun to bake the pavement. I saw this guy, looking a little scared and confused...

Normally, seeing raccoons, opossums or skunks in the daylight is a cause for concern, as it may mean rabies... but this is a juvenile, and most likely he went wandering last night, became separated from his mother, and couldn't find his way home. Left on his own, he will probably find a hole to crawl into and spend a nervous sleep waiting until his mother finds him tomorrow, or he learns to salvage through the dumpsters on his own.

They're cute as all git-out of course. Many people have succumbed to trying to tame them, with painful consequences later. When Raccoons, no matter how tame they've become, reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 years, hormones take over and they revert back to wild behaviour. I personally know one person who had to have over 100 stitches from the wounds inflicted by a much loved 'pet.'

When things like this happen, the animal, acclimatized as it is to humans, becomes a hazard to anyone around it, and it usually has to be destroyed, a hideous end that could have been avoided by just letting nature take it's course.

I took this pic, then I drove away. No matter what happens to this adorable little bandit, whether it finds it's mother, learns to support itself, or if it dies, it won't be because I interfered in any way.

Dragonfly....

I know I posted earlier today... but I was doing something in the back yard, when this guy flew up... he darted around in a very maddening way before he finally settled long enough for me to take a pic...

Now, I've seen lots of dragonflies in my life, but never one quite so violently red... this picture doesn't do him justice! He almost strobed in the Texas morning sun.

If anybody knows exactly what kind of dragonfly this is, I'd be really, really glad to hear it! Btw, there was another one flying around also, not quite as red, more an orange coloration... maybe it's another kind, maybe they're the male and female of the same species, or maybe the coloration just varies. It wasn't sitting down for no dang pictures though...

Queen of the Night blooming!

My Cereus hildmannianus (aka known as Queen of the Night, but so are a couple of dozen other cactus, so I tend to just call the thing Hildy) bloomed last night...

This is the bud at sunset...

Then next two are at about 11:30 PM -

and we had a little cloud cover this morning, so the bloom was still open at 7:30 this morning...

Those white flowers in the background of the last pic are Pavonia hastata... "rock rose" which are going a little haywire this year.


I didn't get many blooms from this plant last year... if you click on the label below this post, you'll see the whole story, but the wind blew the plant over and broke the top off... I'm still not getting enough blooms. It needs repotted. Badly. I should probably wait until next spring to do it, but last year I waited till this spring to do it and of course I didn't so I'll probably do it in the next few weeks, as soon as I find a pot big enough.

This is the resprouted stump from the falling cactus fiasco. The tip I rooted, and people kept telling me that they might be winter hardy here... so I left it in the ground to find out. But the first hard frost turned it black. No big loss... the plants are too big to have several to move in and out every winter, one is more than enough.

how I spent my morning...

I finally got fed up with my neighbors non-mowing situation, and had to take matters into my own hands... Weed grasses were encroaching into my relatively new rock garden. Not acceptable...


And what's that hiding in the grass?

It's one of those viscious killer predators that terrorise the surbaban jungles!

And here's how it finally turned out.

No, it's not the best job, and it is a little chewed up, and it's not how grass should be treated, but it ain't mine and I don't care...

about 15 minutes after I'd finished, who should show up but the new owner next door... he asked what was up and I told him I'd just mowed part of his lawn... And he apologised profusely.

He hasn't moved in yet, because there's some work that needs done on the house before they do... and he'd hired somebody to mow once a week... evidently the idgit has taken care of the front yard but not the back alley... he then asked if he could borrow the weedeater before the other neighbors went haywire.

Hey, it's cool. I don't particularly like yard work, but I don't HATE it. And at least you can look at it and know you've achieved something... of course, Phennig (the cat) is infuriated at me now. It seems he thinks I won't let him have any fun.

Wyatt's Chapel Cemetary

This is one of the pioneer cemeteries in our neck of the woods... in it's modern incarnation. Most people, if they notice at all, just think of it as a green space in the middle of a shopping center. Quite frankly, most modern built shopping centers and office complexes have these places in them... utterly useless. It's too hot to sit out on the stone benches, and if people do decide to rest for a minute at them, security guards often start circling. So most people ignore them. This one however is what's left of the Wyatt's Chapel Cemetery.

At one point in the history of Texas, families were divided by acres of land connected only by dirt trails through the Mesquite. There were small 'Hubs' where families from several farms and plantations would gather, and these places usually had a schoolhouse, church and graveyard. Wyatt's Chapel was one of these places. Most of these small communities did not survive the Great Depression.

The above plaque gives the names of the 20 known individuals buried here. Other plaques on the below pylon give some other information...

A basic summary: Wyatt's Chapel consisted of 3 acres. 2 acres were dedicated to the church and school, (the plaque doesn't say, but usually the church and school were the same building) while 1 acre was dedicated to cemetery, although only 1/4 acre was used for burials. The stones from the abandoned cemetery were removed in the 1950's. ( I have no idea why) In 1976, one family put a stone commemorating their ancestors who were buried here, and another original stone ( the gray one in the 3rd pic, at the base of the pylon) was replaced.

It was unknown how many persons were actually buried here until an archaeological excavation in 1980 found 44 graves, 15 of which were children. There are also 2 civil war veterans buried here, 1 Union and 1 Confederate. This memorial park was built in remembrance of the pioneers, both known and unknown, who rest here.

Actually, this is a rather nice solution to the problem of a small cemetery in a developing landscape. There are at least 2 shopping centers in Dallas that I know of which have built 9 foot high brick walls around small graveyards, then erected locked steel gates. I guess they figure people don't want to shop when they're reminded that they're gonna die some day... What you can see of them is full of weeds and plastic bottles.

A for Effort! but the execution... well...

Today, I was confronted with a couple of landscaping situations... I have to give the people an A for effort. They definitely got the right idea... it's the execution that's indifferent.

First, this is outside a fast-food chain restaraunt. I had pulled in to get coffee... Now, there's nothing really wrong with this planting. You got agaves, you got red yuccas (hesperaloe) and you got maiden grass. And rocks.

And as nice as it is to see a chain restaraunt going for a more water-wise, enviormentally friendly planting, I have to say that it looks almost exactly like every other water-wise, enviormentally friendly planting that you see in the area. With one important exception. The little silvery shrubs. All have been allowed to grow into a natural shape, except one. One has been trimmed into a round pom-pom thing. Now, you can have them all natural, or you can have them all trimmed, but you cannot have both. That don't work. You could, I suppose, have trimmed, natural, trimmed, natural, and so on and so forth... although I have no idea why you would do such a thing... but this just looks lame. That, plus there's nothing special about the planting to begin with...

Then I went inside to buy a cup of coffee and was treated very rudely by the employees, so any points they'd gained are long gone. (I never claimed to be fair in my judgements.)

This next plant is in a suburban neighborhood... every house in this area has a brick pillar mailbox, with a decorative lighting fixture on top of it. The house in question obviously had their lighting fixture damaged in some way... and they very cleverly put a potted cactus, a Mammillaria of some sort if I'm not mistaken, in the remains of the fixture.

Well, Kudos to them! I'm proud of them. It's an absolutely excellent idea. It's not wasting electricity on unnecesary outdoor lighting, and it's a plant that's perfectly suited to this kind of growing. Really, there's not any other options for this kind of location exposed as it is to heat and sun...
My only criticism is that little white flower pot... Personally, I don't think that the gleaming white porcelain looks quite right on that patinaed metal remains of the light fixture, or with the red brick. And, if it was me, I would have been a little bolder... maybe mixed some sedums or such up there to wander over the edge and make a real show of it. Of course, a big ole urn shaped agave would look best, but it would no doubt attack the mailman so that's not really an option... But, judging from the rest of the yard, this is probably the most daring garden design choice that this person has ever made and I absolutely think they deserve a round of applause.

And now, I'm through being all high and mighty.

For the moment.

Well, you caught me... I'm playing hookey from work. After a couple of 12 hour days, then having to do a bunch of stuff at home, I just decided that today was the day... Most of the chores were done by noon, so I get to rest up until I mow the lawn after the sun starts to go down... The cleistocactus is blooming again...

and this Mammillaria, which I never did decide on a name for, decided to put out some blooms.

and the banana is almost ready to take into the flea market. Probably will go in this weekend.

The neighbor still hasn't mowed that grass... I'd really hate to have to have a word with him... but it's looking more and more like I might have to...

Quick & easy recipe...

Now, I've posted recipes before. I hunt down recipes that are quick, easy, cheap and taste good...

I've found this is the best way to do it...

Place a cast iron skillet in a cold oven then turn it to 450 degrees... (cooking in a preheated cast-iron skillet cuts down cooking time and energy use. Not much energy, but every little bit helps...)

while everything is heating up, take some chicken pieces... any pieces you like will work... This would be great for wings, but thighs, legs, or boneless skinless breasts will work. (the umbiquitous boneless skinless chicken breast is the most expensive piece you can find. It's also the most flavorless, and I would rarely use it myself, but some people like them...)

rub the chicken with equal parts of salt, pepper and cinnamon... (That's right, cinnamon. Sounds so strange, but there you are... you can cut the salt in half at least if you're going low sodium for health concerns...)

When the pan and oven are preheated, put the pieces in the hot pan and cook them for 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of your pieces. Serve with rice and whatever veggies you want.

Actually, tastes really really good...

If you don't want to do the cast iron skillet thing, you can still do this in the oven, but it will take longer. Or you could possibly grill them, but I haven't ever tried it... if anybody out there does, make sure you tell me how it works out...

cast iron cactus

Ok, I managed to see this driving around today... and I think I need it.

I personally think I need an 8 foot tall cast iron saquaro mailbox far more than these people do. If they had any human decency, they'd give it to me. Besides, this is a very upscale neighborhood, I'm sure the neighbors would be more than willing to dig it up for me.

Oh well... one more thing for the wish list...

Pics!

I left the house this morning determined that I was gonna find something to take a danged pic of if it was the last thing I did.

Well, It almost was the last thing I did. On the final delivery of the day, I saw some Texas Longhorns.

Yep, cows are the best I could come up with today... As far as interesting things to see go, it just hasn't been happening lately. Usually, Longhorns can't be bothered with people stopping to take a few pics. But, as evidenced in the pic below... these had calves in the field, and they were keeping their eyes on me...

Texas Longhorns are a cantancerous breed, much like Texans in general, so I didn't stick around too long. If they decided that I was going to be a nuisance, they can get dangerous.

But I couldn't just show you pics of cows... So here's the salvaged banana tree... he's coming along pretty well... (and you will notice that the neighbor still hasn't mowed that grass... GRRRR)

And here's a Turks-cap (aka Sleeping Hibiscus, or Wax Malva, but more proberly known as Malvaviscus arboreus) I planted him among the prickly pears in the front yard. I don't like empty dirt, as I've found if I don't intentionally grow something there, then something I don't want will show up. So, I've started planting TX wildflowers among the cactus. They can take the heat and drought. The blooms on these never fully open, and they're small, but for some reason, they're still very cheerful...

Not that we've been having drought lately. It rained off and on all day yesterday, and all morning today... then the sun came up and the humidity level was about 80. Not comfortable at all...

But, I did get a late bloom on the Prickly pears...

Which only goes to prove that you can find something interesting to look at if you try hard enough.