Spring Planting

The garlic patch is coming along nicely. Since it was so awesome last year, I quadrupled the amount!

This is a little brushy wildflower that grows in our yard.

These are the three flats of plants ready to go in!

The broccoli raab is flowering out, the bees love it!

This is the row of Cour di Bue heirloom tomatoes, one of our favorites.

Our other tomato mainstay is Celebrity, a modern hybrid that does great in Houston's climate.

The native honeysuckle is blooming nicely now too.

This little blue flowered stuff comes up on its own near the water spigot.

And, this red stuff (phlox?) is blooming nicely down by the bayou. Because of the dark color, it is hard to see unless you practically step on it.

Roast Fennel w/ Parmesan

Just start with some fennel plants...

Chop up the bulbs, reserving some of the tops...

Drizzle with olive oil, add garlic salt and parmesan cheese...

Bake till golden brown, then sprinkle on the tops. Outrageously good for how easy it is.

Winter Melon Madness

We had an insanely huge bumper crop of winter melons last fall. We are consuming them as fast as practical but they still take up most of the spare bedroom...

Huntersville 1969

While visiting my parents over Christmas holiday I found a book on their shelf called "A Week In Robert's World: The South". Apparently this was from a series which gave a slice-of-life look at children around the world. This book is about Robert from Huntersville in 1969. There were some interesting pictures of the town as I remember it in my earliest memories.

This is the only traffic light and the only policeman. A good view of Neil's Drugs.
The old high school building at Huntersville Elementary. You can see the newer classrooms off to the left.

This is the old downtown area by the railroad tracks. I think the building on the left is Ranson's Store.

A closer view of the store's door.

Inside the store.

If anyone has more information about these pictures, or if what I have said about them is incorrect, please let me know.

Birds of Australia

One picture of each bird species we photographed. Picture quality varies. The number in parentheses is the page number in the Morcombe Field Guide (Compact Edition).

Southern Cassowary (11)
Orange-footed Scrubfowl (12)
Australian Brush-turkey (12)
Magpie Goose (15)
Black Swan (15)
Australian Wood Duck (16)
Hardhead (78)
Chestnut Teal (20)
Pacific Black Duck (21)
Australasian Grebe (24)
Great Crested Grebe (24)

Pied Cormorant (68)
Little Pied Cormorant (69)
White-faced Heron (73)
Intermediate Egret (75)
Little Egret (75)
Australian White Ibis (78)
Straw-necked Ibis (78)
Whistling Kite (85)
White-bellied Sea-Eagle (92)
Buff-banded Rail (103)
Eurasian Coot (107)
Purple Swamphen (108)
Australian Bustard (109)
Comb-crested Jacana (147)
Masked Lapwing (148)
Silver Gull (157)
Bridled Tern (168)
Pied Imperial-Pigeon (171)
Wompoo Fruit-dove (173)
Wonga Pigeon (174)
Crested Pigeon (176)
Little Corella (187)
Sulfur-crested Cockatoo (188)
Galah (188)
Rainbow Lorikeet (189)
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet (189)
Eclectus Parrot (192)
Australian King-parrot (male) (193)
Australian King-parrot (female) (193)
Red-winged Parrot (193)
Crimson Rosella (195)
Pale-headed Rosella (196)
Eastern Rosella (197)
Red-rumped Parrot (200)
Fan-tailed Cuckoo (209)
Common Koel (212) The "stormbird"
Powerful Owl (215)
Tawny Frogmouth (218) with chicks!
Marbled Frogmouth (219)
Blue-winged Kookaburra (230)
Laughing Kookaburra (230)
Rainbow Bee-eater (231)
Superb Lyrebird (233)
Superb Fairy-wren (239)
Yellow-throated Scrubwren (259)
White-browed Scrubwren (259)
Little Wattlebird (272)
Helmeted Friarbird (274)
Blue-faced Honeyeaters (275)
Noisy Miner (277) Not dead, just sunning himself in a very goofy-looking way.
Lewin's Honeyeater (278)
Varied Honeyeater (280)
Fuscous Honeyeater (283)
White-plumed Honeyeater (283)
White-cheeked Honeyeater (283)
New Holland Honeyeater (287)
Eastern Yellow Robin (299)
White-faced Robin (300)
Willie Wagtail (320)
Olive-backed Oriole (326)
Figbird (327)
Australian Magpie (331)
Pied Butcherbird (immature) (331)
Pied Currawong (332)
Regent Bowerbird (male) (339)
Regent Bowerbird (female) (339)
Satin Bowerbird (male) (339)
Satin Bowerbird (female) (339)
Great Bowerbird (341)
Bassian Thrush (343)
Common Myna (344)
Silvereye (348)
Yellow-bellied Sunbird (349)
Golden-headed Cisticola (353)
Red-browed Finch (362)
Star Finch (363)