The last photo is of other Texas cats you have got to love, and I did pose them.

So, tonight I revisited an old interest and spent a little time with my microscope; dug it out of the closet the other day. I don’t have an adapter yet so held the camera up to the eyepiece. The subject is just a piece of paper but I want to get setup to take pictures of microscopic life and plant parts, a good activity for rainy days. (I probably need a different scope for plants?)

I was a little apprehensive myself Saturday trying to keep this tree off my neighbor’s new fence. If it had gone the wrong way I would have had some repairs to make, to the fence and our friendship. But with my skill and a little help (click to see the help) the tree went exactly where I wanted. You can tell from the break it wanted to go the wrong way.

Nothing grows well at this end of the house. The soil is not the best and I will have to fix that. There is also not enough sun which this felling will help. Besides, the tree had already started lifting the walk and would eventually cause me even more problems as it grew. The roots also competed for ground moisture. Basically I want this end of the house to look more like, but not exactly like, the end of my southern-neighbor’s house, pictured above-right. (You have seen a lot of pictures from this small flower bed.)

She once hit a girl for kicking her truck. Believe it or not. She didn’t just hit her, she warned her first, right after the girl pounded the vehicle with her fist. When she hit the girl in the face, knocking her down and making her cry, she looked like she does in the top picture. I wonder if that was the turning point.

I didn’t say anything to her about smoking. Do you think I should have?

The gardenia to the left is waiting to be planted. The magnolia is on a large tree in my front yard. The others you have probably seen in previous posts.

My life cycle? Summer classes start next week. My 3 classes made, but none of a friend’s so, I gave him 2. I may get less money but more time for the yard and woods. Yippee.

Maybe next time we will stay in the cottage, maybe even see you there. In the meantime take a look at their site.

The blooms are particularly interesting. Take a look at this page for a picture of some before they drop. From that site we read that “You will see the long filaments of the stamen bent over and latched into a tiny dimple in the flower…like a mouse trap”. The author goes on to tell us that when a bee (or insect) touches a petal the filament attached to it springs free and swipes the bee for a pollen exchange (”pollen exchange” is my term). Each bloom that is so visited will give birth to a seed pod (my 4th photo).

I have a hard time telling the difference between these leaves and those of the Flordia Anise, at least in photos. However if you feel of them the Mountain Laurel leaf is slicker, a little waxy. The Anise, not.

BlueBerries

Poison ivy

2. Poison Ivy: I pulled some vines out of the trees in my back yard a few years ago. They were a half inch or bigger in diameter and had no leaves on them near the ground. I even had to saw some of the vines, at arms length, above my head. The sawdust fell all over me. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Itch, itch, itch. As a result I can spot a poison ivy plant a long ways off.

There is a local myth that the plant pictured to the right is poison ivy. I have had at least 3 locals tell me so. One did not want to paint my house until I removed it from a few places. Another did not want to touch it, and that person had a green house and a green thumb. Often when we are told something, taught something, as a youth we don’t question or re-evaluate it as an adult. To these otherwise wonderful people who are misjudging this plant: “No, not poison ivy”. Can we all say “Virginia Creeper”? Five leaves, not three! Count them.

3. Florida Anise: (Illicium floridanum) I don’t know how I have overlooked this plant. It was growing in amongst the Mountain Laurel plants. If it had not been in bloom I would have totally missed it. Look how similar the leaves of the two plants are. I seem to remember that the Anise looked a little more like a tree than a shrub. I will look for this plant when I return to the woods.