Fall is almost here again and it looks as if we have pretty much settled/civilized these acres we call home.  We only saw and killed one rattlesnake in the spring and have seen no more during the summer.  The swallows came and raised a few generations.  I'm now waiting for them to head south again.  I'll know if the weather is changing when they leave.  This year they totally took over our wrap around porch with about 7 nests.  I saw a mama swallow feeding her very young babies last week.  I suspect that will be the last generation to hatch this year.  Even though they make such a mess they are still joyful to watch with their evening ballet and symphony as they fly in and out of the stone pillars and arches.  I will miss them when they take off on their fall journey to the south.

My garden this year was a disaster.  The weeds grew in faster than I could destroy them.  We even took our garden down to a tiny patch about 1/6 of the size it has been in previous years.  I managed to get a few tomatoes and some arugula from it this summer.  I planted green beans, squash and okra, none of it survived long enough to get much produce except a bit of squash.  However we were treated to blackberries which my toddler granddaughter loved.  I expect to have much more next year.  Our grapes also did well this year. The figs gave fruit for the first time and we are still enjoying them.  The pomegranate tree is loaded with big red globes waiting for us to harvest and enjoy.  We got a few peaches, one tiny apple and about 6 pears waiting to be picked.  The plum tree was loaded with flowers in the spring but lost them all to a wind/rain storm.  Gardening in Texas is not easy.

My dogs have escaped  from being quilled by porcupines this summer.  Perhaps the porcupines finally moved on to safer hunting grounds themselves.

I spent my summer knitting for grandchildren and making craft aprons of which I sold a few on a knitting forum I belong to.  They are cute craft aprons with lots of pockets.  They are also good for my lifestyle....keeps my cell phone handy, my clothes clean, my knitting/crochet notions handy and good for collecting eggs from my chickens daily.

Below are a few pictures of them.  I'm selling them for $15/ea plus $5 shipping and handling.  If you are interested in one leave a message on the blog.

These were such fun to make.  It's a pleasure to create something that another finds useful.

I spent a lot of my summer playing with my new grandchildren.  They are such a delight.  The youngest only has basic demands of feed me, change my diaper and hold me.  The oldest who is a toddler is entering the terrific two year old stage where she is learning to use her verbal skills and body language to achieve her goals.  I'm thinking back on my own life and of course I cannot remember being 18 months old or two years old for that matter but I'm thinking it must be very frustrating to know what you want and not be able to communicate it. And even worse to have a much larger person tell you that you can't have it for some lame reason that you cannot begin to understand. At some point in time we learn there are some things we just can't have or cannot do. I don't recall when I learned that but I did and still don't like it.  I just have learned a more civilized way of expressing my dislike. We are an amazing species.

I have a book forming in my head which I plan on writing in the future.  It's a lawsuit we are enmeshed in at this time.  It's going to be a good one about Texas land owners, water rights/conservation, greed, fraud and infidelity....subjects I have witnessed in my retirement from the city life I once knew. These are things I saw in movies or on tv, read about in books.    I thought retirement was suppose to be relaxing and fulfilling but instead we have encountered aggression and fraud, at times entertaining.  My father use to tell me that living in the country on acreage I would encounter strange people.  People who had something to hide and would not be particularly friendly.  He was right and I hope he hears me from his place in the "great beyond" and feels good about being right.  Some of these people are nuts and maybe even dangerous.  If you are following this blog, stay tuned for the book will be coming sometime in the coming year!