100° 06-25-2023

That's right. It is very hot in Texas today. I braved the heat and spent a little while out there looking for things to take pictures of. There were a few new blooms out there, but most of the plants are either the same as they have been or not doing well enough to photograph. Anyway, I found enough things to get a practice session in.

Jared's basil crop this year is not growing very tall. Some of it is in full bloom right now. Those flowers are so pretty. They attract a lot of little native bees. The honey bees don't seem very interested in them.

The peppers are still green. There are hundreds of them on this little tree. I'm going to harvest them this year and put them in vinegar. After a while it makes a great addition to salads and especially a nice hot bowl of greens.

The dill is going to seed. I just hope we can keep it alive that long. What looks kind of like a caterpillar is actually a nest that something made by wrapping a leaf around the stem. I would love to pick it open and see inside, but I would prefer to just let nature alone.

This is my "dead" Mexican buckeye tree. I can't believe how full it looks.

Yep, I'm addicted to taking pictures of these Pride of Barbados blossoms. When I first saw this shot on my computer, I thought I saw black bugs on the two blossoms on the top left. They are just gaps in the petals.

Suddenly, a beautiful butter fly landed right in front of me. I only had a second to shoot it. It never landed again, so I have to settle with this blurred picture.

This little cluster called out, "Take our pictured". I'm telling you I want a Pride of Barbados shirt!

Rachel's Flame Acanthus plants are starting to bloom. I can't wait until the hummingbirds see them!

I love the esperanza. This year, it is not growing two-stories tall and is more full.

As sick as I am of seeing white-winged doves in my Bird Buddy pictures, I still love seeing them in my trees.

This is the same dove. He (or she- I can't tell) deserves two shots. Those beautiful little feet are amazing.

MY mealy blue sage patch is bloomed out. I am going to cut it back tomorrow morning. Supposedly, it will cause it to have a second bloom.

You can tell by the close up that they are kind of dried out and have already dropped their seeds.

A beautiful pair of house finches came for some food. This is the male.

I tried to get them both, but the female never held her head in view.

This poor bird is really hot. That is why it keeps its mouth open.

shadowed rose

Miss Olive was hunting for something.

She gets a mean wild look when she hunts.

Grab the mustard! This is one HOT dog.

There were at least a dozen Cicadas singing in the back yard. It took me a while, but I found this guy!

This is the shell that one of them hatched out of last night.

My American Beauty Berry plant has its first berries.

Before long, the berries will be a beautiful purple.

Here you can see the entire fleet of bird feeders. The Bird Buddy feeder texted me on Friday and said, "It's time to clean your bird feeders". I brought them all in and cleaned them. How did they know I'm the type of guy who needs reminders?