Wow, I haven't updated this blog all year!  In truth, the recovery from surgery has kept me from doing much that was noteworthy.  But, thankfully, Randy has been a real gem and done everything needed around the house and gardens.  He even tilled, planted and kept up the tomato garden.  We had a good harvest, not a big harvest but a great variety of wonderful tasty heirloom tomatoes that has kept us happy.  Alas, the tomato growing season in Houston is short because of the heat and it is coming to a close.  We plant our tomatoes in February and the temperature at nights gets so high so quickly that by the mid-May that the plants stop setting fruit.  So, the very end of May until the beginning of July is our entire season of harvest.  We've enjoyed everything from small teardrop shaped "Yellow Pear" tomatoes, to big 3 pound fruit from the variety "Mexico".  We always race the squirrels for our tomatoes.  This year I felt so lucky to have those big fruit from the "Mexico" which grew close to the trunk and were almost completely hidden by the foliage.  The "Mexico" fruit hid from the squirrels until the end of last week.  Over the weekend, we had 4 big "Mexico" green tomatoes hiding under the foliage.  Monday morning, the squirrels had partially eaten one while it was still on the vine so I cut it off and we 3 left.  Tuesday morning, I cut another huge fruit which the squirrels had partially eaten and we had 2 left.  Tuesday afternoon I walked to the garden as was greeted by this trophy sitting on the top of our fence.

Now there was one left.  (Actually, when I look way up underneath the foliage I find one other small one hidden far up in the middle so technically there are two although it might be too hot for the small one to finish growing.)  I left the trophy on the top of the fence, hoping it will keep the squirrels busy and they will leave the rest alone.  So far, the squirrels have moved the trophy around on the fence, continued to eat it and have left the rest alone (at least they were all still there when I checked this morning.

Ah, well, one year the squirrels ate every single tomato that my seven plants produced so we do feel lucky to have harvested what they have let us have.

It's snowing in Houston!!! 

This might not seem like a big deal to most of you, but we have a very tropical climate here and it snows about as often as pig's fly!  So, the photo to the left shows you my flying pig in the snow!

Bleeding Hearts in the Snow.

Here is how we make snow angels in Houston!

Happy Birthday to my son, Nathan, who turned 28 today!!

He was a foodie from the start!  Milk wasn't enough for him we couldn't shovel into his mouth fast enough.  He said "Numm Numm Numm" between every spoonfull!

1990 at Randy and my wedding.

This cattleya hasn't quite opened yet this year....which is terribly late as it usually blooms late August - early September.  I assume the hot weather has slowed it down.  There are about 10 bloom spikes (a lesser number than usual) and two blooms will probably be open in a couple of days.  These are two of last year's blooms.  It had about 35 blooms last year.  It is extremely fragrant once it heats up in the mornings.

The color of this vanda is always striking!

It's been a long hot, dry summer in Houston.  In fact it was one of the hottest summers on record.  I just read that we had seventeen days with a temperature of 100 degrees or warmer!  It was so hot that no one wanted to walk out of the air conditioned house, including the dogs!  But fall seems to be here and the rains have started to fall again.  Today is expected to get up to 83 degrees and it is cloudy.  Saturday was lovely....cloudy, but no rain and a high of only 75 degrees.  We were happy with that because Randy and I sponsored a table at our neighborhood's first wine walk and the weather was perfect, as was the setting in a fantastic neighborhood backyard, set on about 1 acre of land and sporting a huge water-feature with waterfall, a bridge, koi-filled pond that was outlined with luscious plants.  The entire yard was filled with luscious, green and blooming plants as well as meandering rock and brick walks.  We had a lovely time and were glad to help raise money through our sponsorship.

Along with the cooler weather, the orchids in my garden are beginning to bloom.  The hummingbirds have returned from their summer vacation homes in the north.  I love watching the hummingbird wars from my computer.  Hummingbirds are very territorial and they are terribly protective of our feeders.  One will swoop down on another while she feeds and before you know it they are doing this death spiral kind of dance, facing each other, bodies held vertically, as they dance around each other to the ground.  Once they touch the ground, both will zoom off in different directions.  Sorry I have no photos of the hummers, but the little guys are so fast that I can't seem to catch them.

The Monarch butterflies are back and stripping our Mexican Butterfly Weed of all leaves.  We found a new Monarch stretching and drying out its wings after breaking out of its chrysalis just the other day.  The Gulf Fritillaries have, likewise, stripped the passion flower vine (which is a huge vine) and I'm finding their chrysalis hanging from the top of our wooden fence.  The Fritillary chrysalis looks like a dried leaf, so they are perfectly camouflaged against the aged wood of the fence.

Round Top Antiques week has come and gone.  This year, I must say that it was a beautiful show with lots of good Americana sprinkled in with the decorative stuff that has basically taken over so much of the shows.  I understand that a lot of the dealers had very good shows, which is certainly a good thing for all of us who love antiques.  Some Eastern dealers came down for the show....which is definitely a plus for us Texans who love good antiques.  We all need to continue to patronize antique shows if we want to continue to find good antiques on the market.  No Americana sales means no Americana sellers....and some dealers make their livings traveling to these shows.  I'm thankful for the success of this website and the fact that I can make a living without show biz....exhibiting at a show is like moving a 3 bedroom apartment four times!  Also, thanks to those of you who patronized my business while you were in the area for the Round Top shows!  I do miss doing the shows (but not set up and load out) and am always thrilled to be able to visit with you face-to-face!

Last week was the annual Houston Garden Club Bulb & Plant Mart....which was even better than usual.  I came home with Louisiana, and Dutch Iris, yellow lycoris, yellow rain lillies, daffodils and narcissus, a huge Australian tree fern, another exciting orchid (in flower spike but not yet open).

I'm leaving you will photos of my favorite backyard orchids.  Enjoy!

This vanda is blooming right now!  It stands about 15 feet tall.  It used to be taller but the plum tree that it grew on went into decline and had to be removed.  I had to cut the vanda back and repot it.

This is last year's blooms but this striking red cattleya has two flower buds emerging from a flower sheath and another sheath filling up.  We should have blooms in a couple of days.  It has a lovely sweet fragrance.

This little guy has been a frequent bloomer and is blooming now.  The flower starts out very lavender in color than slowly changes to this pumpkin color.  It is a little fragrant.

This phalaenopsis just finished blooming.  I'm very proud of it because I usually can't grow these and it has lived in the backyard for two years and bloomed twice a year.  These are generally grown indoors in Houston because they don't like our heat and humidity.  But I don't grow anything indoors.  Each blooming last for about 6 weeks.

Not an orchid, but our tecoma yellow bells have bloomed beautifully this year and the hummers love them!

I know it's almost time for the hummingbirds to arrive when my cypress vine starts to bloom and that, when it starts to die back, it's time for the hummers to head across the Gulf of Mexico to their winter grounds in Mexico.  Unfortunately, it's starting to die back now so the hummers will be gone soon.  We always hate to seem them go!

Well, this blog entry is for Mandy.  Mandy doesn't have a job yet, but she's still young.  She will turn 2 years old next month and she has been with us for 1 1/2 years.  She loves to have her picture taken and she loves her brother, Deeder, more than anything in this world.  Mandy is a tiny Sheltie....she only weighs 17 pounds (as opposed to our last Sheltie who was normal size and weighed 27 pounds).  Her tiny stature doesn't keep her from getting after her big sister Edie as you can see in the photo below.  Mandy also loves to be dressed up.  If you have not yet seen our annual Christmas cards, the dogs always wear costumes and Deeder and Edie run to hide when the costumes come out.  But Mandy loved being Santa Paws and she can't wait until next year!  I must admit that some nights, after dinner, I tie my napkin on her head like a babushka and she happily runs off to play with Deeder while wearing her kerchief!  She really needs an 8 year old girl to dress her up regularly!

We have dubbed Mandy the "Butterfly Princess" because she flits and flutters around without a care in the world (sometimes we wonder if she has a brain in her tiny head).  Anyway, we are pleased to say that our Butterfly Princess has called all of her subjects to our backyard this hot summer because we have hundreds of butterflies, caterpillars and chrysalis throughout the front and back gardens.  I'll share some photos of Mandy's subjects below....although they move much faster than Mandy and I've had a hard time capturing them!

After Her Photo Shoot

Babushka Girl

Gulf Fritillary

Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar

Pipevine Swallowtail Caterpillar

Pipevine Swallowtail

Perfect Monarch Chrysalis

Monarch Hatching

Monarch Hatching

Butterfly Princess Calling Her Subjects Next to the Passion Flower Vine On Which the Gulf Fritillary Lay Eggs

Here are some photos of Edie at work.  Edie is a Bouvier des Flandres which is a French-Belgium cattle-herding and cart-pulling dog.  Like all Bouviers, Edie has always needed a job.  One day about a year ago, I took Edie with me to our local Saturday Farmer's Market, and Edie decided that was her job.  Now, Edie has always been quite shy--but at Farmer's Market she loves to be petted and talked to by strangers.  Edie has always wanted to meet other dogs, but she's really big and she has always approached a little to quickly for most dogs' liking.  However, at Farmer's Market she only approaches dogs with permission (which is our rule with all of our dogs) and she is quite gentle about it.  (She has, however, developed a rather inexplicable love of Dachshunds of all sizes, colors and coat-types, and seems to want one of her own!)  Edie has always been my "wild child" even though she's been through multiple obedience classes, agility class and a heel class.  However, at Farmer's Market, people always comment about what a calm and quiet dog she is.  ...she's working....she needs to be quiet.  She stands quietly and patiently by my side as we wait in some pretty long lines to buy our produce.  She wears a back-pack and carries our groceries.  Edie looks forward to every Saturday morning so she can go to work!

The moral of the story is, if you have a big unruly wild child for a dog, find a job that they like!

May 26, 2009

Often people want to know a little about the lives of the people to whom they trust to help them set up antique collections.  After all, you are entrusting us (hopefully me) with lots of money and believing what we (hopefully I) tell you the real scoop about the things you buy from us (me).  So, for those of you who want to learn something about me personally (besides the fact that I'm obsessed with antiques and the research of them), I'm setting up this "Kind of Like a Blog" page.  It's kind of like a blog because I'm likely to delete parts as I add to it.  It will likely be filled with photos and adding photos can't go on forever on any webpage....or it will never finish downloading on your computer at home.

As you might have guessed from my family's annual Christmas cards, I'm almost as obsessed with my dogs as I am with antiques.  Currently, Randy and I share our home with three dogs:  a 5 year old Corgi named Deeder, a 4 year old Bouvier named Edie, and a not quite 2 year old Sheltie named Mandy.

This month, the Blog page belongs to Deeder.  He's an agility dog extraordinaire.  Deeder and I compete in agility fun, non-AKC matches.  The differences between what we do and real competition is the equipment is non-regulation; we compete for trophies and ribbons; and he won't ever win an AKC title as a result of his wins.  Most importantly, because we run for fun, Deeder competes with dogs of all sizes...including those with much longer legs who can cover ground much more quickly.  As you can see by the photo on the left, Deeder is just about the fastest dog on short legs!  He is definitely the dog to beat in our agility matches!  And he knows it!!!  He's the most competitive dog I've ever shared my life with.  After the match, when our teacher gets the scores together and approaches our group to announce the winner, Deeder stands at the end of his lead, watching her every move.  When she announces his name, he runs back to me barking (and, of course, expecting a treat).  If his name is not announced and he doesn't bring home a trophy, he is dejected for the next couple of days.

Deeder is an awesome doggie!

Next time I add to this Blog page, maybe I'll have photos of Edie working at the farmer's market.  She carries the groceries.