native plants – The Hermits' Rest

Outdoor Projects Moving Forward

I didn’t write last night because I was chatting with my family. This makes me think blogging is what I do when there’s no one to talk to. Perhaps two occasions of that happening in one week aren’t enough data for such a sad interpretation. It is not the case that I have so few people to talk to in real life that I chat with an unknown audience. I have both friends and readers, many of whom ARE friends or step-sisters.

The weather is probably making me weird(er) today. It kept acting like it wanted to rain, then just displaying attractive clouds to distract me from the projects I was planning to talk about.

Before the projects, I’ll share a story of mama cows who are brave. There was a new tan calf this morning and I saw the vultures heading over to the pond to bother the mom and baby. Vultures look beautiful in morning light with dark clouds behind them (last tree photo above was the setting). The mother cow was looking unhappy and let out a weird short moo.

In response I hear hooves. The new white calf is running toward the new family. That calf is quite the zippy little thing. Her mother was right behind, mooing loudly. Mama walked right up to the vultures, lowered her big bovine head, and shooed the birds away. So much flapping! After that, everyone settled down for peaceful nursing and grazing.

Okay, so I did leave the ranch in time to do some volunteering over at the Wildscape project with some of the Master Naturalist chapter. There was a large pile of dirt to spread over a weed barrier, and there was also some cleanup to do as the team gets ready to plant new pollinator-attracting plants for the H-E-B pollinator grant we got.

I was not very helpful, but I did take some unofficial photos of everyone working.

Then I ran off to the bird sanctuary, which is hanging in there without our help. I wandered off to the area where prairie is being restored and found myself all alone and unable to see signs of humanity other than fences. That was good energy for the new year (Samhain and Día de Los Muertes).

I did go back and interact with people, plus get to connect with my friends Ann and Donna, who have been dealing with health issues that annoy them.

I’m glad I got to go help a little, even though it meant I missed a funeral. Lee was able to attend and convey my condolences, though. I always feel a lot of sympathy for spouses who are left alone after many years. I’m glad our friend who lost his wife has a large supportive family.

When I got home from my errands, I got to watch more work being done on my birding station. They had to go back for more wood again—I think the design has been refined. I was told the project just eats wood. Anyway, it now has siding along the bottom, so there’s just top and roof left, I think.

Exciting stuff, huh.

Tired, but a Good Kind of Tired

It was a fun day with a good balance of exploring the hidden corners of the ranch and being a people person. But I’m so tired I’m afraid this will end up as one of those typo-filled collections of gibberish.

I really enjoyed the coolest morning so far after the horrid summer. I went all over the more inaccessible areas of the Hermits’ Rest Ranch. I was looking for butterflies and certain specific plants. I succeeded in finding monarchs, a few other butterflies, and passionflowers (plus passion fruit). That’s a lot of beauty. Ooh do those passionflowers smell nice.

I’ll share more later. But I made good contributions to the iNaturalist 2023 Texas Pollinator BioBlitz. That felt good. I even got observations at the place where I went this afternoon!

I found the most interesting insect, the large-tailed aphid eater, or bird hoverfly (*Eupeodes volucris*)

And where I spent the afternoon was being a vendor at a showcase at the Little River Event Center, one of the two nice local venues that recommend our short-term rental, the Red House on Fannin. Anita joined me partway through the event.

We met some very nice folks, and I really enjoyed the young woman with a Photo Booth next to me. There were all the usual wedding vendors like photographers, event planners, florists, and caterers. They were mostly younger women with small children, but not all were.

The first thing I learned was that colors should be neutral. We were the only red thing in the venue. The second thing was that I need a sign. Otherwise it was lots of fun and we made good contacts, along with visiting with some friends.

This beautiful ranch is just outside of Cameron.

I appreciate the opportunity to get out and introduce people to our little house. It’s working out pretty well! I’m glad there are places like these event venues that will promote us, and we can return the favor.

Now to crash. Sorry if there are more typos than usual.

Alkali. It’s a thing.

Yesterday’s non-hermit activity was going to a nature place less than a mile from where we staying. It’s on a fascinating tidal lagoon.

The place was CRAWLING with wee ones. It’s actually one of the nicest interactive nature exhibits for children that I’ve ever seen. There was so much for them to do and see, from making kites to painting rocks to interacting with the birds and reptiles the place takes care of.

It’s the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation nature center, discovery center, or something. As I took photos of the native plants around the trail, which was relatively child free, I discovered that many of the plants are specific to the Pacific coastline. Lots of them have “alkali” in their names.

Interesting, huh? Carlsbad is actually famous for alkali water, which I didn’t know before. The area we were in consists of vernal pools, which have lots of marsh and alkaline-living plants. I learned something! Vernal pools are common in the Mediterranean, but are also found in California.

This gorgeous thing is Algerian sea lavender. Obviously introduced, as are so many plants here.

I really enjoyed the walk and all the new plants I discovered. It’s obvious that it’s very dry here. I can see why the fire danger is so high. The natural areas are so brown. But there’s beauty. Here are some more plants.

Later yesterday we walked around the resort. Again, I was amazed at how many Australian plants they’ve put here. There are lots of these tuckeroo trees with annoying seeds all over the paths. I guess they have other redeeming qualities.

And there are tons of eucalyptus trees. They smell just like eucalyptus!

Yep. This is an interesting place. I’m glad I’m getting to learn about these different ecosystems. That’s my idea of vacation fun.

The Wild among the Fancy

Here where I’m mostly walking and meditating, there is a theme park next door. That means many exotic plants that, of course, thrive in the Southern California coastal climate.

I took a long walk yesterday and managed to find some native flora and fauna. Perhaps the radish and fennel escaped from nearby farms.

I had to photograph some of the exotics. Not shown are eucalyptus, melaleuca, palms, pines, and other trees. Lots and lots of the cultivated plants here are from Australia. There are of course pines native to here. Maybe I’ll see some. Today I hope to drag myself out to see some nature.