Critters and other Interesting things from Saturday

What would a day be without Wendy's critter photos....

This is a Water Scorpion...I had seen one the day before when Fred and I were down at the swale hole and thought it was a walking stick and almost picked it up, really glad I did NOT pick it up...I was looking it up to see what it was this evening and yes it is a member of the walking sticking family but called a water scorpion because yes it does sting...UGH!! He was moving fairly quickly today and that is why I didn't get a really decent or close up shot of it and NO I was not going to pick it up either, LOL...
This frog was under the impression that he was hiding but I was laughing at him as I could see him quiet well and was having fun taking photos of him...

A blue dragonfly or as the book says a skimmer.

A rosetta Skimmer (dragonfly)...See Helen it's got purple on it and pink and red too...everytime I see it I think of Helen because she likes purple.

I saved the best for last....it's a Caroline Wolf Spider (I think) and when I first spyed it I thought it was a tarantula...This spider was HUGE!! I spent quiet a bit of time trying to get a decent photo without it jumping on me, LOL...It didn't appear to be aggressive so I had fun!! Isn't she beautiful!! The book says it is the largest wolf spider in the United States...

I hope ya'll enjoyed my photos today...I enjoyed taking them!!

Okay as you can see I left my job duties for a bit and walked down to the creek...Fred and Michael went back to the house for a bit and I shut the pump down and took off for the creek, lol...

The water is almost down to what I call normal and above is a photo of the what we call the kids pool...This is where Michael normally fishes and where all the smaller perch and bluegill hide out...I did see a very large turtle in it when I came down the path, probably the same turtle that scared the heck out of Michael and me this spring...Fred called it a mud slider turtle, all I know is the thing is HUGE and is probably in there eating our fish, Ekkk....
Above is a photo of my favorite fishing spot...there are some good sized bass in there...

Above is a photo of the tree with the fork and the one I use to compare the water levels when it floods...your looking at the gravel bar that is in the top photo of the kids pool...

This photo is my favorite of the day!!

I was walking the path and saw this MONSTER down in the creek...I was so tickled when I saw how well the photo came out...It is a Spotted Gar...They get to be 3 Feet long and can weigh as much as 8lbs...they can live up to 15 yrs. This one was about 2 ft long maybe more....just gorgeous.... here is a link if you'd like to read about them

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/spottedgar/

I showed Michael the photo and he ran to his fishing pole and said lets go get him Momma, LOL...I've never caught a Gar but from what I've been told they are fighters and to me probably like hooking a Northern Pike...I'm sure it would be fun!! I'm just itching to go fishing!

Butterflys ~ Birds and Wildflowers from Saturday

Taos Swallowtail Butterfly

Some type of pea wildflower, not sure and couldn't find it in my books.

Skipper butterfly on a Guara.

Golden Aster

Chickadee

Dusky Wing.

Viceroy with Gulf Fritillary fluttering by...I love this photo I made Fred and Michael stay back while I was taking photos of the Viceroy and as I snapped this photo I saw I caught another butterfly fluttering by....

Longtailed butterfly

Scarlett Sage with grasshopper.

Viceroy butterfly.

Mistflower down by the creek.

And the work begins...

Fred has been working on this old disc his father gave him for several weeks...He thought he could get away with putting a couple hundred dollars into it and use it...well after he found out how much everything was going to cost to fix it he decided to give it up...So today he tore the disc down to take back to his dad...I was in charge of pumping water out of the swale hole and in between watching the pump and water I wandered around and took photos...we are hoping to be able to put culverts and gravel in the swale hole in a couple of weeks so that we can have access to the creek and so I can go fishing, LOL....Michael was busy helping his father, sitting in the truck to keep cool and coming and checking on me every so often...On one of our runs back to the house I sat down in the truck and it seems there was a bee in my shirt and I got stung...sigh...I took a benedryl instead of waiting to see if it was going to affect me (allergy to bees here) and before long I was walking around in a groggy state...so after all my photo taking and watching the pump I went back to the house and Michael and I had a nap...

Saturday Morning Hummers

I couldn't resist first thing this morning grabbing the camera and going outside with the hummingbirds and taking photos...I think Fred was a bit disgusted as he wanted to get busy and go to work down at the property...Oops!! It isn't the first time he's had to wait on Me and my camera and I know it won't be the last...(grin)

YeeeHaww!!

It finally happened, YES!! We had pre-school storytime this morning. They encourage the parents to leave the kids with the librarian and go out into the main library. I asked Michael this morning if he was going to do storytime without Momma this morning and he said yes. I didn't for a second think he would but guess What!! He went right in the library ran to the back room opened the door to the room and stayed in there!! YES!! I was so proud of him!! I sat at a table and watched through the windows and he was very well behaved for the most part...Listening to the stories being read and doing the finger games and dancing...I breathed a sigh of relief, my son is growing up!! No more baby, no more toddler, but a young man has emerged and I love it!! I strive for my son to be independent but it's so hard when we are home all the time. He has me and we play a lot together but today he took another step toward independence!! He did it without Momma!! Now maybe next time I can use the time to research and look for books without worrying about where Michael is and what is he getting into!! I am so proud of him and what he accomplished today!!

Butterflies, Bugs and Boy :o)

Today was a good day for the letter "B"....

Bumble Bee!

Michael found this grasshopper and just had to have a photo of it...Like there aren't a million grasshoppers all around!!
Michael playing around...and trying to sneak around!

Unidentified Red and Black Beatle...I thought he was cool!

Border Patch Butterfly

Hairstreak Butterfly

Border Patch Butterfly in the weeds and grass.

Skipper Butterfly

Sideview of the Skipper.

Beautiful Butterfly and other Misc photos

I was out picking chili petins (Chiltepins) when I spotted this beautiful butterfly on the wild mums next to me...I didn't have my camera so I just sat and watched it wondering what kind of butterfly it was...I then decided to run and grab the camera as it was staying on the plant moving from bud to bud...Thank goodness it stayed there until I got back. I was able to get a few photos before it fluttered off...

Gulf Fritillary on a Wild Mum bud.
The backside not as pretty as the side view. Hmm I wonder if that is what Fred thinks of my backside view, LOL.....

For all of you this is what I pick almost daily this time of year. While I'm picking the chili's Michael rides his tractor around and around...Zoom Zoom!! I have about 6 good sized chili plants and I pick the red chilis and put them in the freezer. They are pretty darn HOT and we don't eat them but Grand-Pocka uses them in tamales and makes hot sauce with them.

And of course what would a day be like if we didn't get a photo of Michael riding his tractor!!

Mischievous Marvin

My Mother has been sending me the Marvin cartoons out of her local paper for several years and I can't help but laugh when I read them as they remind me so much of our household...Above is the latest one and I thought I'd share the chuckle with all of you other Mothers out there....Enjoy!!

The Weekend

It was a fairly busy weekend. We had a load of gravel/rock/clay brought out Saturday morning and Fred put it in the dry creek bed. He did a great job and now if it's dry I can get my truck across. Now hopefully we won't have any more flooding as I think 6 inches of rain might just wash it out again, sigh! We are preparing to but a bridge back over it again and have several options we are looking at, stay tuned for that. I shredded/mowed the rest of Saturday and had finished most of the property by evening time. This morning (Sunday) I felt like I had a hangover...I was sore and my eyes were swollen from dust and pollen....If Fred had mowed he wouldn't have been able to get out of bed as his allergies are pretty bad. Maybe tomorrow I'll get photos of the work we accomplished...it looks pretty good. Today we spent visiting Grandpa and resting, lol...

This is Michael on the gravel! He was enjoying it and had actually thought we had it brought out for him, ha ha ha...little did he know....and then when Daddy starting scooping it up with the tractor and putting it in the Dry creek bed he was very upset and screaming at Daddy to stop...I gave Michael a shovel and this seemed to calm him down a bit...he wasn't too happy with us!!

I got Daddy to pose with Michael on top of the pile. Michael just thought he was king of the mountain...

The work begins and you can just see how tall the brush was and how rough the dry creek bed was!!