Desert Blooms II

Sage and the same cactus blooming at my mom and dad's house.

Clouds

I am in El Paso and we have been getting rain.  My dad says these clouds are called cumulus mamatus. Nature is cool.

Sad Tree Stump

This is what the neighbor's tree looks like now.  I guess they just didn't/don't want a tree in their front yard.

Feynman Graphic Novel

At the library last week I picked up the graphic novel Feynman.  The life story of Richard Feynman made a great graphic novel.  I really had a hard time putting it down.  Wow, what an unfathomably amazing mind.  Brilliant in physics, and funny. Feynman led a very complex, colorful life. I was so intrigued with his story, I picked up of one of Feynman's books at the library today.

You don't have to be a theoretical physicist or rocket scientist to understand this book.  The book only gets science heavy in one part.  I had to concentrate to follow it, and sadly, I think I have forgotten it all already.  This book is an interesting, easy read, and it is in color (a prerequisite for any graphic novel I read.)

Check this book out for a good, easy, and funny read about a guy who was interesting, humorous, and one of the greatest minds of our time.

Farewell My Feline Friend

When my friend Emily told me she had 20-something kittens at home, I told her I'd take one for my parents.  I picked out a tabby cat and we agreed I could pick him up in a few weeks after he was weaned.  When I went to pick up the kitten there was a bit of a misunderstanding on my part, and I took home a different cat--the ankle biter.  I named him Napoleon.  I think his tiny, sharp claws sprung a leak in my aunt's waterbed.  He was small and his eyes were huge and alien-like.

When I took him home the name Napoleon just didn't stick.  My mom started calling him Nopalito, and then it was shorted to Nopi or No-no.  In the beginning he was allowed outside, but on a leash...dragging a milk jug around.  It was laughable.  My mom put sand in the jug to keep him from jumping over the wall, and he just bit holes in it and dragged it around the back yard to empty it.  The leash and milk jug were abandoned for fear of him choking or hanging himself from the wall.  He roamed the neighborhood as he pleased.

Nopi became my dad's best bud.  Nopi would always curl up in my dad's lap.  My dad is the one who would get up at 4 in the morning to let him out or let him in.  He was always going in and out.  Ma called him Salientra (sale y entra, which means goes out and comes in.)  Funny how if my dad wasn't home Nopi knew not to bother my mom in the middle of the night to be let out.  When my dad returned from his trip Nopi would jump up on the back of the chair closest to the door and tell my dad how awful it had been without him.

A few years ago, after one too many fights and infections my mom stopped letting Nopi out.  If he ever did go out it was just to roll around in the dirt and then he'd come back in all filthy.  He mellowed out so much he would let my mom bathe him without much protest. He would cry in the middle of the night.  Ross swore it sounded like a doll saying "I love you." He would cry until you got up, then he'd lay down in the bed and go to sleep.  Little stinker! Lately, I took to calling him Old Man.  He was walking funny, with his back feet pointing outward.

This past week Nopi passed away.  He was 19 years old. He had all his teeth.  He was in good shape.  My dad is pretty sure he had a stroke.

I start crying every time I think about it.  I keep squeezing Bailey and pointing at her and telling her she can't go anywhere.

Farewell my feline friend.  We will more than miss you. The house will be so eerily quiet without you.

Crimes Against Nature

I don't know what the heck my neighbors were thinking, or doing, or aiming to do, but they completely mutilated the tree in their front lawn.  They somehow partially cut through the branches/trunks, then threw straps around them and ripped them off.  My heart really hurts for this tree.

Many Many Mushrooms

After a week of sweltering heat things cooled off on Sunday and it has been raining the last two days. Yesterday during a break in the rain I took advantage of the softened soil and planted a bunch of stuff I bought at Lowe's in the clearance section.  This morning I went out and started fighting the battle against the monkey grass that is trying to take over one of the mulched areas.  When I went out I discovered lots and lots of delicate little grey mushrooms that had sprouted up overnight (which is a crazy thing in itself....that something can grow so fast.)  I've never even seen these kind before. I didn't pick or eat any....even though I always want to.

It is supposed to continue raining this week.  Which is fine.  The plants need water, and I don't always get around to watering them.  Plus, we are on water restrictions, so I can only water with a sprinkler or soaker hose once per week.  Maybe this rain will mean we use less water, and in turn our water bill will be lower. We used 2300 gallons last month!  I don't understand how because I only water the plants....sometimes, and I never water the lawn.  I don't flush the toilet every time I pee, we have a new HE washing machine, and we don't use the dish washer.  2300 gallons!  Insane.

Damn Right!

Hoverers are one of my pet peeves, so this cracked me up.

How to Break a SIGG Bottle

So, way back when, back in Maryland, my SIGG bottle got squished between the seat and back bench of my car.  It was dented for sure. Well, Ross decided he was going to fix it.

Well, when you fill a SIGG bottle with water and leave it in the freezer this is what happens:

The bottom bulged out and the paint popped off.

It split/cracked down the side. It could no longer hold water.

The dent did partially come out, but there was more damage than "fixing" and I had to recycle the bottle.

Desert Blooms

The yellow ones are from the cactus in our front yard, the pink one was in my dad's "yard."

What the What?!?

So, I'm not very good with plants.  It is a miracle that Gingie is still alive. I tried to sprout the pit from the mega avocado, and it was a mega-dud. So Imagine my surprise when I saw this:

Roots!  Growth!  And I wasn't even trying to grow anything.  See, we have a bush in the back yard that had pretty pink blooms on it.  So I snipped one, brought it in, and put in the little blue vase.  The bloom fell off, but the leaves didn't wilt, and it has a couple of unopened blooms on the top, so I just left it, hoping that the other blooms might eventually open.  I left it sitting on the window sill--not even adding water for a couple of weeks, and I guess it decided to grow.  I'm just shocked that it grew roots.  I doubt it will get to the full grown, blooming phase...but I'm going to try.

Outdoor Tub

I have very fond memories of taking baths outside in cast iron tubs at my grandpa's ranch. 

I recently decided that I when we remodel our bathroom I want an outdoor bathtub. Then last weekend I decided that an outdoor tub would be perfect to cool off in this oppressive heat.

After searching Craig's list I found an awesome footed cast iron tub for sale just North of us.  Today we bought and brought it home and I have already tried it out.

Perfectly refreshing on a hot Summer day.

Catching Up

I have been bad about blogging lately, and there are so many things that I wanted to blog about.  I'm just going to post a list here of things that have been going on lately that I didn't blog about.  Then hopefully I'll start posting again regularly.

• I flew to El Paso in May to help my mom celebrate her 60th birthday. I treated her to a mani-pedi and Chinese foot massage.
• We went tubing on the Comal River in San Marcos with our buddies Richard and Monica.  It was fun, and the float was a lot shorter than the one we did on the Guadalupe a couple of years ago.
• My phone became possessed and I joined the smart phone revolution.  I'm liking the new phone and all the apps and everything, but first I had to find an affordable plan.  Other downside: this thing is tremendously high maintenance.  I always have to make sure to charge it and for some reason the Media Server drains the battery, so I have to check it for that and reboot it if that is happening.
• Laura and Kitson came up to Austin for UT orientation.  We got to see them a little bit.  The whole family will be here in August to move Kitson here.
• Bailey is now 14!
• I've been taking watercolor classes.  My last class is this coming Thursday.  I need to work on my final project painting and post photos here of my creations.
• We went up to DFW to visit Tejal and get Ross's grill. We had dinner at Del Frisco's and we had the lemon cake (of course.)
• We don't currently have internet--I am posting this from the library.
• It has been super hot here. Any time outside and I feel completely drained. 
• And the big one: we bought a house.  I didn't want to post about it until it was really final.  We took possession May 31st.  That's why we went to go get Ross's grill and why we don't have internet.  We just haven't set up internet, and now Ross finally has a place for his grill.
• We saw Superman on July 4th.  We weren't impressed.
• After scouring resale shops and Craig's list we have a dresser, a bunch of shelves, a new tv stand, and a steel case desk. Now I just need to find a chair for my desk and a sofa.