Always in the Season - by Pomplamoose

Always in the Season by Pomplamoose

Thanks Jo for sharing this with your friends on FB.

Give a Goat

Great idea, but I don't think the link is still valid. 

I love goats... 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkeys on the Roof

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

The G-man & I hope you have a wonderful day

whether it is in the U.S. or abroad.

Even if it isn't your Thanksgiving take a 

few moments to be thankful for something

in your life.

I'm thankful for having a home, for being here & safe

with Gerald, Gertie & Miss Kitty.

I am thankful for my blogger friends

and for family & friends both near & far.

I'm thankful for the wildlife that managed to survive

the fires of Bastrop County

and hope the turkeys that used to grace

our neighborhood survived and are just living

in another area of the Village.

These guys were a blessing while we had them.

(Click on "Turkeys on the Roof" in the labels below to see other posts about our turkeys.)

New Backyard Design ~ Jim's Handi-work

Over the previous few days I've been posting

cut-down, clean-up, rebuild photos

just leading up to being able to show

these photos of the changes in our little world.

Just to the left of this path the ground

is greening up from the rye grass we planted.

We shall add some wildflower seeds to this area

and hope to have a profusion of color in spring.

The grass is pretty well trod down here

but hopefully once we finish working in

the backyard it will green up.

Jim has been designing and building

pathways and small patios on

the various levels out back.

He built a small patio in front of

my potting shed and today added

another patio near the bird feeder.

(I'll have photos of that in a few days.)

Isidro built the retaining wall out of treated lumber.

It runs across the back of the yard 

and a ways down the north side of the house.

The pathway is bordered with white rock

and laid with medium sized gravel.

Above are the remains of the stand of 5 trees

that were on the property line.

Two of the trees were twins and one stood alone.

We decided to leave the stumps to use as a

"table" to feed the birds and other critters.

The large fig tree has been trimmed

and is showing new growth. 

It should be lovely in spring.

The birds love this area where they can

get food and water.

This photo is the southeast of our property.

Almost all the trees have been removed.

On Arbor Day I got 10 little trees and planted

them around the area and the G-man

bought 4 larger trees & planted.

We have 2 Bradford pear trees, one Ash,

and one Oak.

It's difficult to point them out.

Two Bradford pears to the right.

In the middle of thi photo is a scorched

Yaupon tree.

We are leaving it and a couple more

to see if they'll show signs of life in spring.

Right now it isn't looking promising for new growth.

One of our neighbors has parked his RV

in the driveway of the burned-out property

of the neighbor between us.

It may be temporary, but I'm not sure.

We'll see what happens.

My little potting and tool shed.

Cute.. and is part of the new landscape.
When all in back is finished we'll move to the front
and then the north side of the house.
I envision the south side property to be
covered in native grasses and wildflowers
come spring.

Let Us Break Bread Together

This morning I was reading this post

elevation

at the golden fish 

and looking at the photos

of the rising sun when the following song popped into my head.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching in the U.S.

this is a song for the occasion.

Let Us Bread Bread Together is an African-American hymn

that is often sung in the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic church

I sometimes attend in Austin.

The one word that comes to mind for me is serenity 

when I sing these words.

1. Let us break bread together on our knees,  
 let us break bread together on our knees. 
 When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, 
 O Lord, have mercy on me. 

2. Let us drink wine together on our knees,
 let us drink wine together on our knees.
 When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, 
 O Lord, have mercy on me. 

3. Let us praise God together on our knees, 
 let us praise God together on our knees.
 When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, 
 O Lord, have mercy on me.  

4. Let us praise God together on our knees, 
 let us praise God together on our knees. 
 When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, 
 O Lord, have mercy if you please. 

Removal of Brush & Trees

Luckily FEMA has come through for Bastrop County.

Millions of dollars are coming in for the

removal of debris.

These huge trucks arrive throughout

the county to remove debris such as

trees and brush, bricks and mortar,

entire foundations & building woods.

It is amazing to watch the operator in action.

He is able to pick up huge loads with

his equipment.

He is so adept at this that he is able to pick up

huge bundles or just one log.

If the load isn't situated just right,

he moves it around until is is seated properly.

Behind him is another container exactly like

the one he is loading now which he pulls along

behind the first.

As I was watching & photographing this event

I turned around and saw the Monarch Butterfly

in the banner photo flitting around the flowers.

With all this racket going on just a few feet away

the little butterfly was going about it's business.

A combination of nature and machines furiously working.

Felling the Trees

These photos are pretty much self-explanatory, 

but I do have a few comments to make.

Baptist men who are part of a 

Disaster Relief Group and trained to

remove trees came to our rescue.

The G-man is discussing with the groups leader

what trees should come down.

The ones chosen are in danger of falling

on our house.

In all, 13 trees were cut and removed to the roadside

over a two day period.

The man operating the skid-steer loader was able to 

pick up the debris and move it to

the road for eventual pick-up by the county.

We are so thankful for this service because

it would have been extremely expensive 

for us to have hired someone to

remove all these trees.

Just last week the tree service folks who

were hired by the electric power company

that services our area came and 

removed another 20 or so trees that

were in danger of falling on power lines.

Thankfully this beautiful tree beside our patio

is still healthy.

It was not damaged by the fires.

We have close to 20 trees in our immediate yard 

that should be okay.

Retaining Wall & Backyard ~ Before & During Restoration

Evidence of the fire so close to our house

appears in these photos.

A few pieces of the retaining wall are left

on this end of the wall.

Here the steps are gone along with most of the

plants that were in pots.

Some of the clay pots survived, 

but if the plants were in plastic

there was nothing left... not even ashes.

The fig tree was partially burned,

but with a little trimming it is getting 

new growth.

Cooked plants.

Gertie is examining her back yard.

The new retaining wall was built by our friend

Isidro who is also the greens-keeper

at the golf course.

Isidro is amazing...

not only can he construct walls,

but he is a fabulous house painter.

Over the last few years he has painted

all of our house with the exception 

of the interior of our garage.

You may remember the dense woods that
were behind our house... gone, gone, gone.
Even some of the burned trees that you see in these photos
have now been removed.

Our backyard looks very different now than it

does in this photo.

I'll be posting some of the new photos in a couple of days.