Yes It Is Tuesday, I Checked Twice!

 Yes It Is Tuesday, I Checked Twice!

Haa! I saw a commercial where there was a Millennial woman yelling to her mate that it was Tuesday, he responded " How did that happen AGAIN?"

How many millions of us relate? We are still observing strict Covid protocols even though we are fully covid vaccinated so that we can sty in the bubble with our 4 and 7 year old grandkids. Until they are vaccinated we continue to wake up to an almost identical day, of course, the Texas weather and our at home, at neighborhood, or at Grandkids home changes part of our everyday lives but only a double or sometimes triple check can reveal the day and date. Thursday trash, compost and recycle days help keep us tuned in however as this event is seemingly more important in our lives We only shop at two stores by curbside, our neighborhood Home Depot and HEB. Amazon brings the rest to our doorstep. We do not drive anywhere except our Austin family's' homes. We walk a 2.7 mile route through our neighborhood most days, and We tend to our vegetable garden, do some landscaping and lots of tree trimming. We occasionally chat across the street with neighbors or do a small house projects. We have seen a lot of movies. I get several hours of guitar practice in and, The same things will happen tomorrow. The Admiral wakes up in the morning and says "here we are again". It feels weird to us all when nothing else is in sync. Shortages, billionaires making record more billions, social chaos of sorts a constant change where all the things that need to change stay stagnant. Few can get a good nights sleep, the anxiety, stress or just whatever seems to wake us up at the weirdest times of the night.

Much of the rest of the world is ginning up, a lot more traffic but it is crazier than ever since they have room to go fast and change every lane. Parking lots full and its every person for themselves when it comes to social distancing and mask wearing. We don't get out of the car since we use curbside service but its easy to observe what is happening out there. The reality of the remainder of 2021 has exposed itself as a significant percentage of the population has not been convinced to be vaccinated and so many countries around the globe have barely even started their vaccination programs. We will be fortunate if the world can return to freedom of travel by the end of 2022, just consider India with now the largest population in the world, getting their population vaccinated to the point where travel between countries is safe.

We are optimistic that we will be able to travel back to Washington State again this year, but the date is still elusive.

We had a vegetable garden in this spot for about 5-6 years, then soccer became the family pastime. It later served as extra parking when our kids got their first car.

Our grandkids love nature so it was a no brainer to recreate the garden. Here the garden has beene planted and the walkways mulched.

see video: https://youtu.be/6yo0QNwZggY

This is the planting guide I worked out. The broccoli, cauliflower, kale, was consumed early by the local insects so they will not be on the menu next season.

Drew was excited to help.

Here all the seedlings are popping out.

March and April was incredibly rainy so very little watering was required until June!

A low tech rain gauge keeps up with the total rain fall to date

Since we are on a corner lot we have a few more trees to take care of, and since the adjacent properties are leased to tenants we assume the responsibility of keeping the fence lines clean from the volunteer growth that springs up. We worked together 2-3 times a week in March and April to control the all the growth the rains brought.

Drews Uncle gifted a Evil Knievel kit, so right away we built some ramps.

see the video: https://youtu.be/JIyXS54j4SU

She couldn't care less about Evil Knievel

A Mud Kitchen creates some tasty delights.

This little guy made a good friend for the day for our Naturalist.

Now certified to operate a shop vac.

Another great friend.

Rhinoceros Beetle entertains  for a while

Texas Alligator Lizard can't catch him!.

The Garden starts producing.

First up Radishes

A trip to Ft. Worth to help Big Dave, the Admirals dad, with his project to do list. Here we take a break and hike the trails at Eagle Mountain Park.

The park and trails are on the North end of Eagle Mountain Lake (There may be an Eagle but can't see the Mountain from here).

its kind of difficult to appreciate the Lake after living a couple of blocks from Puget Sound for seven years, the sky is beautiful though!

Way down in the center of the lake is obviously the Ft. Worth boat club hosting a Sunday race.

It was a great hike and perfect timing, Sure do not want to do these trails in June, July, August or September!

I had some free time so I drove out West of Ft Worth on HWY 20 to find the old Pearson Equipment Company. There was so much new development I was not sure if I could find it, but just down a small hill there it was, just deserted now.

I take Guitar Lessons from GuitarTricks.com, now working on intermediate Blues, a series of blues licks from the greats. Anders Mouridsen is the instructor: https://www.andersmouridsen.com/

Listen: https://youtu.be/pIAr1y4KwPQ

Some neighborhood Xeriscaping,  it's the way to go. We are doing small yard projects to limit the need for watering. With so much new development in the Central Texas region water is a big issue.