Swimming at the Devil's Waterhole...

The weather has been really hot here this summer. We have had more than our fair share of 100+ temperatures.

Of course, endless sunshine and high temperatures are perfect ingredients for an afternoon at the lake.


The kids wanted to go to a local favorite swimming hole today called the Devil's Waterhole.



A lot of the local kids go there to swim during the summer. Of course, there are quite a few visiting campers there as well, but I would venture to say that most of the "jumpers" live around here. (Do you see the guy on the very top of the huge boulder?)

Devils' Waterhole is located at Inks Lake State Park. I had taken a few photographs from our previous visit.

The first time I had taken Carrie and Parker to the swimming hole they were quite intimidated by the "recreational activity" of jumping off of a cliff into the lake.

I have no idea how high that cliff is. I would have to estimate that it is probably close to 20 to 25 feet?? When you add the boulder to your jump you could be adding another 15 feet to that. This is strictly a guess on my part. Parker is about 6' tall and I'm using him for measurement. Also, it is "SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK" because there aren't any lifeguards to be found anywhere on the lake.


Carrie and Parker spent quite a bit of time sitting and watching the jumpers. Of particular interest are the jumpers who climb the big boulder and jump off the top of it.






I didn't know if Carrie and Parker were going to muster up the courage to take the plunge or not. I think they sat up there on that huge rock for about 45 minutes before they even ventured to the edge of the cliff.

Once they were there, they spent quite a bit of time "looking" at the water.




hmmm...

It's pretty scary looking. Even from my vantage point from the opposite shore. Thank goodness I was able to zoom in with my camera so that I could get a good look at Carrie and Parker's expressions. (You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.)


Carrie was the first one to jump.

This is her as she is hitting the water.



Upon seeing that his sister survived the ordeal, Parker then unfolded his arms and took the plunge as well.





After the kids made their first successful jump they then proceeded to climb back up the rock to do it all over again.

Today, the kids acted like they were "old pros" and made quite a few jumps off of the cliff.

Me...

I'm an old pro at watching the scenery from a shady point of view.



later...

Eureka!

Yes... I must apologize for having been gone for too long.

I have plenty of excuses for not having posted before now.


My latest excuse is that I was in the hospital for a week with meningitis and pneumonia

I got to come home this past Thursday.


How did I get meningitis?

I'll spare you all the details and just give you the nuts and bolts.

Remember I had told you about having surgery for a brain tumor? That's been almost five years ago. Well, the incision site has developed a "leak". Yes... I am leaking CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) and it's running out my left nostril.


So...


This opens up an area of the body that is supposed to be a "closed system". Nothing in... and nothing out. However, in my case I have plenty running out which also gives opportunity for much more to run in.


Anyway... I hope that we can come up with a solution to repair the leak and return the open system back to a closed system.


This is something that really needs to happen.



This morning while I was drinking my coffee I had quite a surprise drop by my bird feeder.

I couldn't believe my eyes and was afraid that I was imagining what I was seeing.

I moved very slowly in my chair in preparation to slip back into the house so that I could grab my binoculars and camera, but the visitor saw the movement and flitted away.





Thankfully the shy little bird came back and I was able to make a positive ID on it.


It's a Painted Bunting!!!!!





How I have been hoping to see one of these birds. I have only heard about them and seen them in photographs. Their numbers are in decline and they are listed as a "near threatened" species.

Today I saw one for the very first time!

And I've reported my sightings to the ebird project. This project is sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society.





As an added bonus this male Painted Bunting has a mate. While she isn't colored in any way like her mate, her green coloring is quite pretty in and of itself.





I wish that I had better photographs of these birds, but they were at the feeder that is farthest from my vantage point and I do not have a telephoto lens for my camera.



So these closely cropped images will have to suffice for now. Perhaps, they will become more comfortable with my backyard and I'll be able to get a better picture of them both.

later...

My Goldfish...

I enjoy watching the goldfish that are in our little pond.

So I thought that I would try to take a few pictures of them and share them with you guys.

~ha~

Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of a fish?




This is one of the Black Moors.



It's Parker and Carrie's favorite fish because it has "bug eyes".



Look at this guy's big mouth!

We don't have the plain "gold-colored" goldfish. These have three different colors and are known as calico goldfish.



Can you see the difference in their tails? We have the regular body-type as well as the fan-tailed goldfish.

You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

I hope that all of you are having a wonderful and safe Memorial Day Week-end!

later...

The Texas Brown Tarantula...

In April, Parker found a tarantula in our backyard. It was the "prettiest" and "fluffiest" tarantula that I have ever seen.

Taken by this prize specimen of a spider, Parker and I spent the greater part of a Saturday morning taking pictures and playing with the spider. In fact, I believe that Parker took most of the photographs himself.




Parker carried it to different locations. We put it on rocks, moss, grass... You name it. We had a great time with this gentle giant.



At the time, I had thought that the tarantula's calm demeanor and deliberate activities were due to the chilled air that we were experiencing. However, after doing some reading about the Texas Brown Tarantula I have discovered that it is the most docile of the giant spiders and can make a good pet. It is also known as the Desert Tarantula.

I did not want to keep the spider in captivity. I thought that it was such a peaceful and beautiful specimen that it should live on to produce others like it. It's amazing to think that a tarantula has to live almost ten years before it is sexually mature enough to reproduce. Another unbelievable statistic is that the tarantula can live up to 25 years! I have also read some reports that they can live up to 40 years in captivity. Deciding to have a tarantula for a pet would certainly carry the weight of a long term responsibility.



If you look closely at the above picture you can see the tarantula's four eyes. You can click on the picture to see a larger image.



This spider was very, very large.



It is still amazing how this spider didn't seem to mind our "manipulations".



It allowed us to lift its legs and nearly turn it completely over.





Just so that we could see its fangs! Is that cool or what?!

There are a lot of people who kill these spiders. But they aren't venomous, and tarantulas are really good to have around because they hunt and eat big bugs like grasshoppers.


So... this is another one of our latest and greatest finds in our backyard here in the Texas Hill Country.

BUT...

You ain't seen nothin' yet! Wait 'til I post pictures of our latest backyard discovery!

later...


My daughter has changed one of this tarantula's photographs into an artistic design that has been placed on t-shirts and bags. You can find the items here.

And if you decide to buy something, well, we thank you in advance!!



Texas Brown Tarantula Fact Sheet


The Basics of Having a Pet Tarantula


University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Aphonopelma chalcodes

Carrie's Prom Pictures 2008...

As I had mentioned earlier, Carrie's prom was last Saturday evening.

She was really excited and said that she had a wonderful time.

Carrie 03May2008
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

Before the prom I took her to the park and took these photographs of her.

Carrie 03May2008
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

She looks all grown up.

Carrie 03May2008
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

It was quite a scramble to get her outfitted for this event.

Carrie had originally said that she wasn't going to go.

Carrie 03May2008
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

Nobody had asked her to be their date...

And she said that she didn't want to go with a group of girls.

Carrie 03May2008
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

But... about ten days before the prom, wouldn't you know it.

A boy asked her to be his date.

Carrie 03May2008
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

I had to work on the last week-end before the event.

Which meant that we didn't have ANY time for shopping, and we most definitely didn't have time to go and get lost in Austin looking for prom dresses. You need quite a bit of time to look for a prom dress, too. Especially if you are on a budget.

Carrie 03May2008
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

What were we going to do? Well, the Lord certainly does work in mysterious ways sometimes.

The only idea that I could come up with was to go to a resale shop to look for a dress. There just happened to be such a shop across the street from where I work.

I had made Carrie get up with me on Saturday morning so that we could start looking for an outfit as soon as I got off of work.

Carrie wasn't too excited about that idea...

Mostly because I have to be at work at 7:30 in the morning.

After work, we went across the street and...

Guess what...

A beautiful prom dress had just been brought in that morning.

And it was the ONLY prom dress in the shop.

And...

It was just Carrie's size!

Hallelujah!

So the rest of the afternoon was spent looking for jewelry and shoes.

Not an easy task in and of itself I might add.


All of that stuff cost a WHOLE LOT more than her dress.


Oh yeah... I forgot to mention that we got the dress for $26!!

Carrie 03May2008
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

later...

Boer Goats...

This is one of those things that I had meant to do oh so many months ago.

I took some video with my camera in December of a few of the kid goats. There are always some orphans as well as a few kids that need supplementing by bottle because the nanny doesn't produce enough milk. This is mostly because the nannies either have twins or triplets nursing and they just can't keep up.

It was quite a breezy and cool day, but the kids were all feeling pretty good. They are really cute and are fun to just sit and watch.

Week-End Projects...

Thanks to everyone for their prayers, cards, and beautiful flowers. They were greatly appreciated and your encouragement was a blessing to all of us.




At our new house there is a lot of white gravel in spaces that could be used for flower beds. Under these layers of rocks is a heavy duty fabric, also known as weed guard, which helps prevent any botanical being from emerging from the earth. It's a form of "waterless landscaping" that is used quite frequently in these dry parts of Texas. But... as you all know, I prefer plants and flowers to rocks and I find this form of landscaping to be very, very... uhmm ... well... just plain ugly.

In my backyard, next to the deck and the brick walk, was such a strip of rock landscaping. The only green stuff there was monkey grass. I had planned on transforming that space into a cute little flowerbed (probably less the monkey grass), but after I had removed all the rocks and then pulled up the weed guard there was a gruesome discovery. I found that the bottom board of the decking was beginning to show signs of decay due to being constantly wet. I then realized that I wouldn't be able to have a flower bed there because watering my plants would destroy my deck. In fact, I was faced with removing as much dirt as possible so that it would not be touching the wood.

What was I going to do now? I couldn't replace all those rocks because it was obvious that they were causing a problem against the wood as well.

I was very upset and terribly disappointed in the situation. The thought of having ~plain dirt~ next to my deck was inconceivable.

All of my free time, that I use for day dreaming and stuff, was then consumed by trying to figure out how to solve 'the problem'.


What could I do with

~less dirt

~a significant slope to the ground

~low decking

and without using that horrible white gravel?


I finally came up with a fantastic idea! It was possibly an idea that was bigger than me and the kids put together, but once I had hatched the notion I was determined to make it work.

I spent hours on the internet searching for information. I visited lots of how-to sites. It seemed like a formidable task.

However, my idea had now become a dream. And I was determined to make it happen.

So... here is my little "Backyard Dream" that the kids and I did in one week-end. Of course this dream has led to another proposition that is much larger and quite a bit more expensive. (Think several thousand dollars here.)

I'm now dreaming of a rather large waterfall with a Koi pond.

*toothy grin*

But it will have to wait quite a while before it comes to fruition. (Like years!)

I have other week-end projects that I have to tackle.

This Saturday?

I have to figure out how to fix Carrie's naturally curly hair for tonight's prom!







We went to a water landscaping company and was able to purchase some heavy duty rubber pond material that would become the bed of our stream. We attached the long edge of the lining that was next to the deck with a strip of 1x2" cedar with galvanized nails.




The water landscaping store had lots of beautiful fountains. There were so many different styles and types.

ALL of them were EXPENSIVE. Some were in the thousands of dollars!

We went to the 'close-out' section and this little fountain was there. It had originally been 5' tall. Due to an accident, it had fallen and broke in half. The base also has a couple of chips on the side. I was able to negotiate a very good price for this 100+ pound section of the fountain. It had originally retailed for $800. I paid a lot less than that. (Think ~very good deal~ here.)



At the end of the stream is a pond. Water is pumped from the pond, up the stream, and to the base of the fountain. There is a diverter in front of the fountain. Part of the water goes up the inside of the fountain. The main volume of the water comes out in front of the fountain. The water in the front of the fountain provides the volume needed for our running stream. Our pump moves 250 gallons per hour (gph).




Parker really seemed to enjoy constructing the stream. He didn't like the digging part at all though.






The only rocks that we bought were the smooth round 'river rock'. We used those rocks to cover the very bottom of the stream and to hide the flexible pipe that moves the water from the pond to the head of the stream and the fountain. There a few rocks that had been collected over the years, such as the lava rock. The rest of the rocks are native stones that we had in the yard and surrounding areas. Some of the limestone rocks are from Mom and Dad's pasture.

I hope that Mom doesn't miss them.

*laugh*




This is looking up the stream at ground level at the very top edge of the pond.



I left the existing monkey grass. I think that it helps to add a "water's edge" feel to the stream.



I really like this fountain. The birds like it too. The goldfinches enjoy drinking from little bubble of water that it makes on the top. Some of the goldfinches cling to the side of the fountain to drink.

However, the other day I saw an amazing sight. A tiny hummingbird took a bath on the top of my fountain. I had never seen a hummingbird take a bath before! It was wonderful!




I'm going to try to grow some Scotch moss here. We'll see what happens. Hopefully it will fill the entire area in with moss.

In the mean time... I have to have an Impatiens there too!




This is looking downstream. There is an old stump that was being used as part of the landscape here at the very end. You can see one of our cats there. The cats don't like to drink water out of their bowl any more. They prefer drinking the water out of the stream now.





I have two bog plants. One is at the bottom of the stream and the other is a papyrus which is in the pond. I also have water lilies in the pond and nine goldfish. The goldfish consist of three calico, three fantailed calico, and three black moors. These guys will eat up any mosquito larvae that may get hatched in the pond. The water from the stream "falls" about three to four inches into the pond. This falling water makes a most pleasant sound to me. The stream and fountain add a light trickling sound as well.

I love to sit on my back porch. I watch the birds and listen to their calls. Now that I have a stream and pond, it just adds so much more to my "little piece of Texas".

later...

Burnet County 4-H and FFA 2008 Livestock Show...

I'm terribly behind on posting on my blog.

And no... I haven't posted lately because of laziness.

;+ )


Yes...

We're doing okay, and thank you for the kind inquiries.


Last week-end we stopped by the Burnet County 4-H and FFA Livestock Show.

It's held in the same barn that I used to show my lambs, pigs, and animals in.

Except for a small addition to the length of the barn, it hasn't really changed much.

I hadn't been there in over 30 years.



The barn isn't that big really...



Although, the place seemed enormous to me when I was a kid.

Bigger than life in my memories.




It was fun to watch the kids show their livestock. This little girl was probably outweighed by her Boer goat at least 2:1. If not more.

She did very well in the show ring as did all of the other exhibitors. These kids will look back on their time in the show ring with fond memories.




The stock show is still alive and well in Burnet, Texas. Thanks to all of the support that it receives from parents, grandparents, adult sponsors, and the local businesses.

It is my understanding that the show was a big success once again this year.

That's good.

It's nice to know that some things really don't change after all.




later...

2007's Top Ten Lists...

The Year of Our Lord, 2007, has come to a close.

Our home in Oklahoma is for sale, and the kids and I are staying with Mom and Dad.

There's a lot of stuff that needs to be done and it seems that I run out of time to do it.

My brother, Don, was able to come up and we all dewormed the cattle yesterday afternoon.

So that is taken care of.

We will need to get the goats all up and take care of them as well. We also need to vaccinate the kids and castrate the billies.

But I don't know when we will do that.


I missed my usual timing for my EOY (end-of-year) post. I always try to get it done on New Year's Eve, but it didn't happen last night.


Mom and Dad are taking a nap right now, so I thought that I would at least pull a few things together, today, on January 1st.



Top Ten Lists


I haven't added too many new photographs to my Flickr page, but I still really do enjoy watching the stats on the pictures.

As of this posting, my photographs have had a cumulative total of 4,611 views.


Top Ten Photos

#10

348 views

Timmy the Chihuahua Celebrates Christmas
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

#9

362 views

Timmy the Chihuahua is a Christmas Angel
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

#8

369 views

Norma Wants to be a Beauty Queen
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

#7

383 views

Surgical exposure of a urinary catheter in a feline bladder.
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

#6

395 views

Timmy the Chihuahua is a Christmas Angel
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

#5

456 views

Norma the English Bulldog wants to be a Beauty Queen
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

#4

567 views

Removing Stone from Incised Bladder
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

#3

661 views

Norma the English Bulldog is Ready for the State Fair
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

#2

1592 views

Norma the English Bulldog Wants to be a Beauty Queen
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

#1

1929 views

Timmy the Chihuahua is a Christmas Angel
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

Timmy the Chihuahua is really excited that he came out as "Numero Uno" this year, beating Norma out by what appears to be a comfortable margin. Of course, he is a lot more excited that he has almost 2000 views as compared to the 144 views that he recieved from last year!

Congratulations Timmy!



I know that I had promised you guys that I would keep a better tally sheet of my top ten posts but...

As ~life~ would have it, I have not been diligent enough to keep up with the sheet.

And...

I'm still too cheap to upgrade my free Sitemeter account to help me keep up with the page rankings.

So I suppose that, in lieu of actual hard core numbers, we will have to go by what I have observed to be the most popular posts that are visited by my search engine visitors. As always, it is my hope that someone was helped in some way or another by the information and/or links that I have provided in these informal articles and blog posts.



2007's Top Ten Posts


#10

FDA Announces: Melamine in Tainted Pet Foods...

In 2007, I followed the unfolding events of the tainted pet foods and had written several posts concerning the tragedy. While this crisis has certainly passed I do still receive a few visitors on these posts. It is quite possible that this series of posts are number one according to visits because there was one day in which I had over 1000 visits. However, the number of consistent visitors on a weekly basis has fallen sharply, so that is why I have placed this post at Number 10.


#9

Swiffer Wet Jet Rumor is an Urban Legend...


#8

Cytauxzoonosis aka Bobcat Fever...



#7

Today's Mailbag...

The National Scholar's Honor Society must have a HUGE direct mail program. I certainly would not be surprised if this post becomes number one for 2008.


#6

Subcutaneous Emphysema in a Canine Patient...


#5

Metropolitan Who's Who aka Metropolitan Registries, Inc.

I still keep loose tabs on these folks. Can you believe that they were able to get themselves off the the Better Business Bureau's list? This observation of mine is a post in and of itself, because I truly do believe that the BBB was paid off (or something) in order to get MWW's information off of the internet.

And this has got me to wondering...

How honest is the Better Business Bureau really?


#4

Commemorative Speech...


#3

A Bite of Reality...


#2

Bladder Stones in the Canine Patient...


#1

Chronic Renal Failure in Dogs and Cats


I haven't been able to do any extensive research and write any new articles lately. Perhaps 2008 will provide me some of that time.



I really don't have the time today to place my top designs from my little online store at CafePress.

Especially since I have already had to save this one post several times today as it is.

But I will tell you that I am very happy with my little store and that I have actually received a few checks in the mail from them this past year!

**woo hoo**


2007 has been quite a year in more ways than one for me and my family. And I will have to say that I am hoping that 2008 will be very quiet and calm for all of us.


I need to find some time to update my links to fellow bloggers on my sidebar. There have been several who have found that 2007 was the year to quit blogging. I truly do understand why a person would do that. Especially if you are a person who doesn't want to throw just anything out there.

Blogging really can take a lot of time and effort.

And to those who have quit blogging, I would like to say that it was really nice to meet you and I wish you the very best.


Happy New Year everyone and I pray that you and your families are richly blessed.


later...