Category: My Country Life

  • It might seem unusual to wander through a cemetery on your birthday, but that's what I did yesterday. There's a small one dating from the 1850's down the highway toward Marble Falls. When I heard it was blanketed with bluebonnets, I couldn't wait to visit it. There's just something about wildflowers growing beside a headstone that…

  • Butterflies flitted around me on my walk this morning, hopping from flower to flower too fast for me to capture in my camera. (The one above is from last week!) I imagined they were celebrating the beautiful morning… dancing a springtime jig of joy. It was contagious – I felt joy rising inside of me…

  • Tom and I have gotten into the habit of an afternoon walk down to our pond and along our little creek. The blue skies, golden light and exploding colors are irresistible. First, Max wades into the pond up to his neck, letting the water penetrate his thick fur and cool him down. Belle ventures to…

  • I spent this glorious spring day with Tom and dear friends Shari and Robert driving through the hill country… ooh-ing and ah-ing at fields of bluebonnets, hiking up Enchanted Rock, and eating in Fredericksburg. I'm sunburned and dog-tired, but happily so. (Pictures to follow… you can probably imagine how many I took!) I have to…

  • Last week on a morning walk, I heard the neighborhood hawk calling. I ducked through some bushes to this pond, but instead of the hawk, this bird flew out, squawking, startled.  In turn, I was startled, and even though I lifted my camera and snapped a couple of shots, they aren't good photos. I thought…

  • I haven't blogged in a whole week. I think that's a record.  Snippets and ideas for posts have popped in my head – random words are scribbled on scraps of paper all over the house and in the car – but I haven't been able to stop long enough to work them into full posts.…

  • This afternoon I sat on a sun-warmed rock beside our pond, watching tadpoles scurry about just under the surface. A finger of wind traced ripples, sending drops of sparkling sunshine scattering like shooting stars in front of me. Butterflies flirted with flowers. Dragonflies flirted with each other.  Max and Belle waded, drank, relished the cold…

  • I'm late with my sweet!s. It feels like a whole month was stuffed into last week…highs and lows, late nights and early mornings, and miles and miles on the road. I've only been home long enough to sleep the past few days. I haven't even gone on a morning walk with my puppies since Friday!…

  • Bonfire sparks drifted up to the sky where clouds parted like curtains and stars crowded the stage, accompanied by the singing creek beside us. No moon softened the darkness – the pitch wall of night rose just beyond the reach of the firelight.  There was a time not too long ago when I would have…

  • Valentine's Day Eve… Tom made the cookie dough. I peeled the wrappers off the milk chocolate hearts. He formed the balls, rolled them in sugar and placed them on the cookie sheets I lined with foil. He kept an eye on their baking, but together we topped each cookie with a heart and popped them…