Things are happening

and I'm excited.  Five years ago, the neighborhood ACC approved an extension to our patio and walkway to go through the single gate we were about to add.  We added the single gate, but never got around to the patio.  The patio is coming... fingers crossed.  I say fingers crossed because they started digging on Monday and on Friday when they were waiting on the cement truck, it started raining.  They said they'd be back tomorrow to pour.  Guess what.  There's 80% chance of rain tomorrow.  I have already scheduled to take the dogs back to the vet for boarding tomorrow too.

Anyway, here's where they removed our pavers and will pour the walkway.

Doesn't that just make sense to have that gate right there?  And with a walkway?  I don't like getting my feet dirty and everything about this makes me happy.  And before we had the fence replaced, the only gate on that side was the double gate way in the middle.  Ahh...

So, here's where the extension to the patio will be.  Come through the gate and walk straight to the patio, no more booby traps from the dogs to deal with.  Also, now people can easily come straight to the back yard whenever we have stuff going on back there.  No more listening for the doorbell and all that jazz.  Gathering in the backyard?  No problem, come on back.

Here's another reason I wanted that concrete there so badly.

Look how dirty the brick is where the dogs would dig. Yuck. 

And here's the other side of the patio.

I'm going to add potted plants to hide the sleep aid window unit.  I need to find new storage for the water hose too.  That metal thing isn't going to stake into concrete.  I also already have plans for the stacks of stepping stones and pavers.

Before they cleared this area out, I didn't really think that would add much.  Once it was cleared, that spot looks a lot bigger than I'd imagined.  I can't wait.

Speaking of those pavers and stepping stones, there's one more thing happening.  I'm going to make a small platform to put in the yard.  Looking at that last picture, it'll be up against that fence but down to the left.  On that platform will be containers.  Containers of what, you ask?

I ordered a few seeds and I'm going to see how they take off.  Once (if) they start growing, I'll transfer them to containers and that will be the beginning of my container garden.

I read that roma tomatoes and zucchini are good for starting in July in this zone, so that's what I have.  The 5 egg holes on the right are roma tomato seeds and all the other holes are zucchini.  I also have zucchini in a little pot by my herbs (that'll mainly get shade) and I put some seeds in the flower bed too.

*not chives

Those will mainly get sun.  I'm hoping with the different areas, something will work.  By the time they're ready for a bigger container, I'm counting on the platform being ready.  My building skills aren't near as good as my gardening skills... and my gardening skills aren't good.  It sounds like the theme for July is high hopes.  Like needing a walkway for a gathering when gatherings are pretty much outlawed.  Oh well, I'll be ready when it's time.

So that's a few of the things keeping me busy and excited.  Once all this is done, I'll get back to trying to keep the dogs in the yard.  Did I mention they dug another hole and Archer went out along the back?  Yeah, that happened, right after I'd been bragging about how smart he is by not doing that again.  Whatever, I'm focusing on my concrete and plants right now.

I was out looking at

my plants yesterday and there's something in the cilantro and I'm pretty sure it isn't cilantro.  It looks similar though.

Here are the little baby leaves of it.

Here are the bigger leaves of it.

But look at it from back here.  The cilantro is on sprigs and this thing is a stalk.  It looks like parsley but I'm thinking it's a weed.  I guess I could smell it to make sure it isn't cilantro.

I don't know.  I opened my plant app to see and all the suggestions weren't anything close.  I guess I'll just pull it out and throw it away with the weeds.

I also used my app on these things growing on the neighbor's tree.

I figured out they're loquats.  I was tempted and picked one to eat.  I thought I was being sneaky but then realized Maggie's been eating them all along.

She spits out the seeds when she gets to it.

This wasn't the only seed on the ground...

Then I saw a caterpillar and ran inside.  My Earth Day outing was short-lived.  I think I'll stop being so curious and stick to the fruit I buy from Kroger.  I'll leave the backyard to Maggie and (for now) caterpillars.

Sure wish I had an orange right now.  Oh, I think I might have apples.  Oh!  I think the daily photo challenge prompt might be apples.  I love it when things fall into place.  It might be an okay day.

then reality hit and

my celebration of spring was halted.

Yuck, yuck, YUCK.

On the plus side, my cilantro looks pretty awesome.

Cosme had a brunch burger from Sonic a couple of weeks ago.  When we decided to pick up some breakfast over the weekend and he suggested Carls Jr., I said that was fine and I'd see if they had something similar to the brunch burger.  I'd never ordered one but something about a hamburger with an egg on it just sounded good.  We got to Carls Jr. and the only thing they had was with sausage and not a burger patty.  We went to Sonic.  I pressed the button to order and they let me know it was no longer on the menu.  WTF?  It was only there for like a couple of weeks!?  We left and went to Jack in the Box.  They do have a brunch burger... on a croissant.  I got it and it was good.

When Sunday rolled around, I had absolutely nothing scheduled.  Well, I had housework to do but as far as anything on the calendar, there was nothing.  I knew there was a storm coming so I got started on chores.  I wanted to take full advantage of the bad weather so I got what needed to be done out of the way and once the sky got dark, I started lighting candles and getting ready for the 60-70 mph winds, lots of lightning, and heavy rain.  Now, I'm not complaining about anything because I was not looking forward to any hail or tornadoes but that didn't last very long.  The best part was right before the rain when it got super dark, but then everything got really still and I didn't like it.  The lightning was pretty bad but a few minutes later, we were blowing out candles and getting out of nap mode.

I got a few more chores done and then I was determined to do something artsy but wasn't really sure what.  I did have an idea.  Those daily photo challenges I do, what if I used the topic for a different medium as well?  Fine, so what would I do?  I felt like messing with paints.  I brought this out to help me think...

Then I just started messing around in a sketchbook.  One of the weekend topics was in bed.  My photo was to the point.  Here I was in bed.

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in bed. #fms_inbed #fmspad

A post shared by madame72 (@madame72) on Apr 6, 2019 at 5:09am PDT

What else happens in bed?  You dream.  I wanted to get a little psychedelic with the eyeballs but the colors I had just didn't work.  I stuck with golds and silvers.  I still think it needs some crazy colors swirling in the eyeballs.  Maybe later.

It's not awesome at all but I felt better after doing something.  When I get that bug, it sticks around for a while.  The only other thing I can compare it to is being hungry but not knowing what you want. I need something sweet. A donut? No, that just doesn't sound good. A cookie? No, I don't know what kind.  Chocolate? No, just not right.  A white cupcake with white buttercream frosting?  Always.   Then after you have that cupcake, everything is fine.  In this case, the cupcake was paint.  I got it out of my system for now.  I really don't like painting but I was in the mood.  Maybe next time it'll be drawing.

So, that was the weekend.  If I keep talking about everything though, I'm afraid the bug will bite again.  That's fine and all but right now I don't have time and will be SOL.  I'm ending here and starting my weekday morning routine.  If I don't, there's a good chance I'll need that cupcake too.

i've been meaning to pick up

a cover thing for my windshield.  I finally did it the other day.

I thought the "fits most cars" would be too small so I got the one for trucks and SUVs.  It's a little too big, assuming I'm doing it right.  I was a little amused with the directions on how to fold it.

I never really fold tacos.  I tend to roll mine.  My crispy tacos are always folded but they come folded.  I don't actually do it myself.

And here are the directions in Spanish.

I don't think I've ever seen directions make reference to tacos.

I don't think I've ever seen bright, pink, shiny worms before either.

I was sitting out with the dogs and looked over at Maggie.

Wait...

Eww.  Yuck.

Bright, pink, and shiny, it really was an unusual color but ewww.  I hate worms.  I had to get a picture because I've never seen one like that.  Maybe I'll get lucky and never see another one.

Okay.  I've got to TCB now.  I went to Houston yesterday when Paige had her 4D ultrasound done and I am kind of behind on things.  I'm expecting prints in the mail today that need to be looked over and mailed out.  I also need to find a dessert to make.  I found a recipe for this thing that's a cross between a brownie and cookie but when I saw the recipe called for cheddar cheese, I wanted to vomit and erase that image from my head.  There are a couple of other possibilities but I need to check to see how much buttermilk I have.  Wow.  The cheddar cheese thing might have messed me up a little.  I'm trying to think of other things and I can't seem to get past it.  The big image of that worm isn't helping anything.

I had to go out and take a look at

a park in WC the other day.  I was sending pictures to someone so they could get an idea of the location for portraits.  While there, I was being haunted by something from my childhood.

Banana Spiders.

The pictures aren't the clearest because I had my phone and it's a little hard to focus in on something so small while standing way back.

As a kid spending time in Brazoria, and needing to get to a friend's house, the fastest route from the house at the dead end of one street to the house at the dead end of the next street over was cutting through the yard that separated them.  That's what we did and it seemed like banana spiders were everywhere.  We always paid attention to where we were walking even though they were hard to miss.  Banana spiders are huge and so are their webs.  I'm mean sure, there are bigger spiders but compared to what I see in the house, they're huge.  They always kept us on guard.  I don't think I ever walked into one as a kid and I'm hoping that when I go back out to the park for pictures, that won't change.  I would hate to freak out right there in front of people.

Okay, time to think about other things...  I don't know what, but just other things.

Laundry.  That's a good start.  I'm going to do laundry and get these spiders out of my head.

look at this, will

you just LOOK AT THIS?

I'm on the iMac.

This is a bird I was watching a few days ago and took pictures with my camera.

I contacted Adobe and they sent me another link to install on this computer.  I'm back in business.  I'm in a quiet corner of the house and not in the middle of the kitchen but who knows, I might get used to that.  I don't have a window beside me but I do have one behind me.  I also have a ceiling fan above me.

I had decided a while back that I was done with Apple.  I knew when the day came for my Macbook to crap out, I wouldn't get another one.  One of the reasons was that mine is a 17" and I think the largest they have now is 15".  This iMac is 27".  There is no way I'm going smaller than a 17" now.  This is kind of awesome… just don't remind me that this computer is older than my laptop.

Okay.  Time for lunch.  I just had to get on and get back with the program.

can we just take a moment

to appreciate my gardenias?

I planted this shrub... I don't remember when.  It was years ago, maybe ten?  Anyway, it's blooming right now and it smells so good.

I also think my watering schedule is paying off.  The grass is looking better.  I like watching the sprinkler when the sun is coming up behind it.  I guess it's just a chill kind of thing.

What is not a chill kind of thing is when it's still dark out and I'm moving the sprinkler and come back to the house to turn it on and see a bug.  (Said bug was probably a tree roach but seemed flatter.)  What's even less chill than that is when I used my flip flop to swat him dead, he somehow flipped from the house to my shoe to MY SHIRT.  I swatted him off and killed him WAY dead, no acrobatics this time.  I ran into the house freaking out and pulled my shirt off as soon as I shut the door.  I had to get the roach cootie shirt off.  That was definitely not chill.

A little later I came in here to open the computer and started hearing a noise.  It sounded like a sprinkler's stream hitting a window.  That was weird because I didn't have it set to hit any of the windows.  I went outside to check and somehow the sprinkler had come loose and scooted its way out of the ground at an angle.  It was watering the front flower bed and front door.

Anyway, the roach and sprinkler mishaps are over and done with.  The rest of the day will be awesome.

In Vikings news, we finished.  Now we are waiting with the rest of the world.  That show is good.  I can't believe I couldn't get into it the first time I tried to watch.  I've decided though that if I'd been a viking, I'd probably be the person who walked around beating the drum.  Luckily, I wasn't a viking and I'm the person who only needs to eat breakfast and wash clothes.

I've been on the computer a lot

trying to take care of wedding stuff.

I went to the website where I found the bagpiper for Dodo's funeral to try and find a vintage car that could take Eric and Paige from the church to the reception.  How pretty would an old Rolls Royce be?  It's just so classic.  Well, I didn't find anything like that.  I searched vintage cars and chauffeurs and got nothing.  I thought I'd try searching driver.

No luck there but just in case we ever need a Dr. Phil impersonator...  I wondered who else there was.  They've got Sylvester Stallone too.  You know, just in case.

I was also trying to find cups.  I had something in mind but of course, I found something different that I really liked that cost more.  I told Cosme.  He replied with "figures" and then I replied, referring to the time Dodo was proud of me for picking out expensive china.

Samsung tried to take the wheel, but, no.  

Later on I got an email.  Tripadvisor confirmed what I've been telling everyone for a couple of months now.

It was online so it's true.  I need to show Cosme.

And in things totally unrelated to technology, I found this in the flower bed by the front door.  I wish I would have focused on the outer shell rather than the inner shell.  Yuck.

I'm wondering if there's a nest in the rain gutter.  I would look but I don't feel like being attacked and falling off the ladder.  I've got better things to do, like letting the dogs out so I don't have to clean a mess out of the cage.

like i mentioned

yesterday, we didn't go to the Astro's victory parade on Friday.  I wanted to, I really really wanted to but it just kind of sounded like it would be 10 minutes of excitement and three hours of misery.  It honestly had nothing to do with me scanning the radio stations on the way up to Houston with Tragedy by the Bee Gees playing or the next song I came across called Day I Die.  It also didn't have anything to do with the Metallica song I settled on.  Okay, I might have been creeped out a little when I listened to the lyrics, "see our mother put to death see our mother die", seriously though, it had nothing to do with that.  So, not knowing for sure that we weren't going, I told Cosme that they should get a snack because we won't have time to stop for lunch if we go to the parade.  We met at Eric's and they had their Whataburger and we decided not to go.  The city predicted a crowd of 750,000 people.  I should also mention that a lot of the parking is still out of commission from Harvey.  Anyway, we didn't go and I was bummed.  I got some lunch (after complaining about being the only hungry one), we watched an episode of Stranger Things and then we headed home.  Still bummed and feeling sorry for myself, I asked Cosme if he wanted to ride out to Brazos Bend with me for pictures.  We got there.

Thanks, Harvey.  They let us know the park would open on Tuesday... today.  We left.  I laughed because, of course the other thing I wanted to do didn't happen either.  We drove out to the wildlife refuge and I took a few pictures out there but nothing great.

We got there a little after 5:30 and they close at sunset so...  We made a trip through and left.

We went for seafood afterwards at The Red Snapper Inn.  Cosme was going to have a beer and asked if I was going to have a drink.  They have beer and wine, neither being one of my top choices.  I went with iced tea.  Then I caved and said screw it.  I ordered wine.

Dinner was good.  I had broiled shrimp with a baked potato (and brussels sprouts that I didn't touch) while Cosme had snapper in a Greek sauce over rice (and brussels sprouts that he didn't touch).  After dinner we came home and I looked on fb and saw all the complaining and pictures shared by people who'd gone to the parade.  Not only was it packed but people were standing on parked cars to see, breaking windshields and leaving dents.  So yeah, ends up I'm glad we didn't go.  As for Brazos Bend, if they'd been open, we wouldn't have ended up at the beach having seafood so I guess it all worked out.  I should also mention here that after we got home, I wanted to continue on with the next episode of Stranger Things.  Netflix had other plans.  It couldn't play that episode.  Whatever.

Now I need to figure out if I can get by without going anywhere today.  If I leave, I'll have to stop for an inspection and registration sticker.  I'm two days late... seven if you count the grace period.  If I have something in the pantry that can go with chicken, I can get by with putting it off another day.  Also, if I put it off until tomorrow, it might be raining.  Do they still not do inspections if it's raining?  Maybe I'd be better off doing it today and just getting it over with.  Ugh.  I shouldn't have to do either but that's a rant for another day.

I will share one thing because I don't know if I shared it before.  I thought I did but when I went to look for the pic I couldn't find it.  I searched everywhere and found it buried deep in my computer.  This was taken in October of 2015 as we were driving by the fairgrounds.

That has absolutely nothing to do with anything but just thought I'd put it out there before I lose the image again.

Now I'm off to ponder.  To leave or not to leave?

the other day I pulled

into the driveway and noticed a butterfly sitting on the walkway.  I got out and took a picture with my phone.

I couldn't tell if he was alive or dead.  I don't know much about butterflies but this one seemed dead.  But why is that big body attached to him?  Why were his legs on his backside?  Are butterflies really that hairy?  Anyway, a little bit later I left and he was gone.  When I got home he was back again and in the same spot but he still wasn't moving.  I don't know.  I figured it must have something to do with all the mosquito spraying being done, maybe it's making the butterflies comatose or something.

On my morning walk I saw this guy on the sidewalk in the back of the neighborhood.

Still not moving and just sitting there.  I was trying to take advantage of all these weird half-dead butterflies and get even closer when this one decided to flutter off in my face and leave.  I guess he was fine after all.  I guess the other one was fine too, just making me think he was dead.

Oh and this is what it looks like when you think you're getting a picture of a butterfly on the sidewalk and then he decides to come back to life and scare you.

Also, the one on my walkway hasn't been back.  I guess he's done pranking me.  The joke's on him though.  I already got the picture I wanted.

to weed or not to

weed?  That is the question.

I've been noticing a weed growing that I kind of like.  I've been pulling it but it keeps coming back.  It's less like a weed but more like ground cover.  I think it's pretty.  When I was out pulling weeds yesterday, I looked at it and thought that maybe I should just leave it there.  Would the neighbors think I'm crazy for growing weeds as plants?  Would I be similar to a crazy lady who keeps "critters" for pets?  (Speaking of which, I scared Cosme last night when I saw a gecko go across the bedroom floor.  After researching, this variety is actually a house gecko and they eat bugs and mosquitoes so I'm not on a mission to hunt and kill.)  So yeah, I probably won't be the lady keeping possums or mice as pets but that weed might just make me the one with the weird yard.

I took a picture of it and googled "weed or ground cover" this morning.  What do you know, a picture of it came up in the images.  This weed has a name, Purslane.

I really like the waxy look of the leaves and stems.  After reading up a little (when I say "little", I mean a few paragraphs on wikipedia), I see that it's also edible.  It's added to dishes in other places, mainly Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Mexico.  Now, I could say I want to save time and not pull it OR since I'm 98% European (thanks, DNA testing) I can fall back on that and leave it.  In Greece they add it to feta, onion, garlic, tomato and olive oil.  That could be delicious.  It also has more Omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy vegetable.  It's also full of vitamins and dietary minerals.  Now, considering the fact that I was about to have a Little Debbie for breakfast the other day, none of that vitamins and mineral junk really does much to push my decision one way or the other.  I'm thinking of the important things here: it's pretty and it's one less thing to worry about.

Maybe I'll let it get a little out of hand and see how it looks when there's more of it.  If the flower bed starts looking like a crazy lady lives here, I'll pull it.  Who knows though.  I have an extra pot.  Maybe I'll put some in it over by my herbs and see how it does.  It's not like adding healthy stuff to my food will kill me... unless I'm totally wrong about this being purslane and this is actually a poisonous weed that has instructions somewhere to "absolutely, positively, DO NOT ingest".  If that's the case, learn from my mistake and eat the Little Debbies... and don't take advice from wikipedia.*

*I will definitely research this a little more before putting it in my mouth.

Side note: I like how my next level of research is asking friends on Facebook.

i ended up making that

quick trip to the wildlife refuge yesterday.  I didn't see much but I'll show you what there was.

There was this guy on his morning swim.

And then there was this guy.  Blurry, I know.

And while I couldn't focus very well since I was fighting off a butt load of mosquitoes, there's another blurry shot of this guy's bath time.

There were lots of bubbles and ripples coming out of the water and I was hoping to see an alligator emerge but the best I got were those guys flying through the sky.

This guy was just standing there thinking.

And since I had to keep the windows up and the air was on, my lens was a little foggy by the time I was exiting but this guy was sitting on the sign so I got a hazy picture of him too.

Then he did like me and left.  I can't tell you what any of these birds are, I just like to take pictures of them.  Next time I'll take my little mosquito repellent gadget and try to do better.