Nikki’s Photography

 Our windy December garden still has a few frost-bitten Cosmos.

…splashes of color on the Cotoneaster ”Cornubia” in our next door neighbor’s yard… branches are redder on the other side of the fence! They will remain this way most of the winter, minus a few berries plucked by birds.

If you can grow tomatoes in Texas you can grow anything. Even if the plants survive Summer’s 105* F heat they will still not produce tomatoes on those leggy vines until November. One day in July when I was outside tending to yard work, my neighbor came shrieking out of her yard with a tone higher than her usual typically high octave that native Texan women have. All the fuss was about a tomato presenting itself in her garden, and she was mighty excited about it. She told me that someone told her that someone else told them that throwing used coffee grounds on the base of the plant will do the trick. I had heard about putting coffee grounds on rose bushes and do know the goodness that composting provides, but for fear of attracting snakes or scorpions into my yard -which I’ve never seen but apparently they exist here- I have not kept a compost at all in this garden. I don’t mind the critters, love them in fact, but even the fire ants are not enough to convert me to wear shoes and socks in the summer and I’m not fond of the idea of Snake Surprise. Anyway, coffee grounds have regularly been sprinkled on the tomato patch since July, plus this particular plant was propped up onto a bird bath stand. It’s November on the verge of frosty nights and the fruits are looking quite healthy. Next year the tomatoes will have the advantage of this years’ supply of the ol’ Texas coffee-ground-trick a lot earlier in the growing season. I can hardly wait for next year’s giant tomatoes to appear in June.

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Here’s an excerpt from Heaven’s Here On Earth by Tracy Chapman from her CD New Beginnings

…Heaven’s here on earth    In our faith in humankind    In our respect for what is earthly    In our unfaltering belief in peace and love and understanding     I’ve seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people leading ordinary lives    Filled with love compassion forgiveness and sacrifice     Heaven’s in our hearts…

The changing seasons in Texas are not as dramatic as in the North. There’s more time to appreciate the cooler weather and enjoy the colors of lingering leaves. Autumn here is all about extremes though; AC on during the day and furnaces on at night. 

Petals in the wind blowing off the remaining white Crepe Myrtle flowers remind me of the snow already flying up north. It’s so beautiful today.

Propane tank made in the USA.

Valve may be imported.

Anole made in the USA.

While tidying the garden today I picked this up, and for a split second I wondered how a dead leaf could be so soft and powdery…and fluttering! If my camera would cooperate I could have taken a great macro because the moth let me get as close as I wanted. So pretty!

My old Canon AE1 would snap pictures no matter how close I got to something, but even on ‘manual’ the Canon EOS 20D will only allow me to get about 4 inches away before the shutter refuses to close. I miss my old fashioned (1980) Canon sometimes, and even the new Canon AE1s cannot compare to it. I don’t miss developing though, and the other restrictions.

We were away for two weeks and forgot to turn the sprinkler system on before leaving, so I thought the Green Anoles might have moved to greener pastures. Fortunately they are still thriving; here one is staying cool and safe inside a large Canna Lily leaf, a leaf that I nearly cut off while clearing out dead and dying plants.