Bamboo . . .

Just like our friends Kim and Becca at Rain Lily Design (linked under "cool stuff" on the sidebar) said, the third year is the charm for bamboo - it started growing sideways and this year, all of the sudden, it goes vertical - YEAH!


Just for kicks, here's a shot from 2008

Plantings around the pool are really coming iin nicely as well.

Oh yeah, and finally got the remaining solar screen (the ones 10 feet off the ground) and ceiling fan installed on the porch too.

Wildflowers . . .

The wildflowers have been beautiful this season, albeit later than last year. Unfortunately the weeds have been pretty healthy too!! Here are a few pics from the richest area of our back yard.





A lovely, hand picked Mother's Day Bouquet from the yard . . .

solar screens and more growth . . . life is good in agave!

We thought for sure our soft leaf yucca was done for after the harsh winter (and being run over by a car earlier in life), but it's alive and well! Also moved some plants in our front planting area and added a few feather grasses.



We're also trying to control heat gain on the west side of our house in as cost effective a manner possible, so we're replacing all the screens on our porch with solar screen (only the middle and bottom screens on the 3 left hand panels have been replaced in the pic below).

We're using Suntex 80 on the bottom portion but will probably go with Suntex 90 on the top panels (the number indicates the % of UV blockage) . . . that is once I rent a ladder tall enough to get to those darn things! The 80% screens already make a nice difference, but when we hit June, July and August, having the 90's up top will be worth the slight loss of view. You can see a big difference between the original screens - still in place up top - and the Suntex 80s on all the middle and bottom portions in the pics below:

some new watch guards and there's growth in the garden . . .

Fondly named, Curly, Moe and Larry . . . KSS always wanted Pink Flamingos!


Things are growing in our garden . . . but some bugs are threatening!


KSS suspects subterranean termites . . .

New Project: Garden

With Spring threatening, we've decided to build a raised garden bed. We gained inspiration for the bed from my niece's company in California, heartbeetgardening.com. Now we just need her to come to Austin to plant and maintain the garden for us! Here are a few pictures of the progress to date(please pardon all the weeds and dead agave in the background - cold winter!) . . .

Luna . . .

Got a new camera for christmas (Nikon D5000) and need to learn how to use it better, so I'm experimenting
. . .

nothin new, but still great sunsets . . .