A Trip to Natural Gardener

This weekend's rain inspired me to think about gardening again. I would usually be planting a fall vegetable garden now, but with more rain not in this winter's forecast, I decided instead to focus on replenishing my herb garden.

So the World's Cutest Baby (who has now become the World's Cutest Boy) and I headed out to Natural Gardener this morning. I remembered it was Support Your Independent Nursery Month so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone--garden and blog.

Based on the boy's interests, it would appear that we were celebrating Support Your Independent Farm month (not a bad idea either, given Texas's drought). We saw the goats
and stayed a respectful distance away.We also checked on the chickens, which had the featheriest feet I'd ever seen on a chicken.We then went looking for the donkeys, who seemed to have a new home. We heard them before we saw them.Over in the butterfly garden we spied a snake in the firebush.Before we left we stumbled across some miniature longhorns who almost came home with us.At this point I'm sure you're wondering, "But where are the frickin' plants?!"

No fear, the plants are there, waiting on you to buy them. The Natural Gardener is a wonderful place to visit and shop but not the easiest place to take pictures and keep a toddler out of trouble. Most of my plant pictures look this one:I was able to corral him long enough to buy French thyme, English thyme, dill, bronze fennel, cilantro, Italian parsley, Greek oregano, and Mexican oregano. I also bought some Revitalizer Compost, which really has its work cut out for it.
I didn't buy any but there were lots of fall vegetable starts just waiting for more intrepid souls than I.

The Natural Gardener is just one of many places that make Austin unique. I'm happy to support it.

Amazing Anole

Earlier this evening the World's Cutest Baby™ was exploding the meaning of cuteness as he splashed with his dad in the wading pool. I was able to tear my eyes away only because I spied the World's Cutest Anole™.Look how cute he is, stretching his legs, testing them not unlike the World's Cutest Baby™.
He's either stretching his legs here or trying to get away from me. (For now, I'm going to pretend I don't have enough information here to determine conclusively if World's Cutest Anole™ is in fact a he.)Slowly coming to believe that he really wants to get away from me.Hmm, okay, apparently flexing his throat fan is the anole equivalent of giving me the finger,and yet I can't pull myself away from the cuteness. I think his attempt to look tough makes him all that more adorable.He finally gives up and agrees to pose for his own "Hang in There!" motivational poster.

Gone Fishin'

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that my husband, baby, and I recently spent 10 days in Puerto Rico. My husband has been traveling there for a few months now on business.What you wouldn't have learned on Twitter is that that trip was a dry run for a much longer stay. A two- to three-year stay, depending on my husband's project.While Puerto Rican beaches are not as beautiful as the sugar white sand beaches of Pensacola (even typing that sentence makes me feel spoiled), they are still Caribbean beaches with the smells and sounds that make my heart sing.The chance to walk out the door and walk onto a still very pretty beach is too irresistible to this island girl at heart, currently landlocked in central Texas.I'm excited to finally be forced to learn Spanish, to explore more of the island and other islands in the Caribbean, and to have the boy learn about a different way of life.

He's already shown us that he's a huge fan of the beach, that he loves Puerto Rican dishes like mofongo and ceviche, and that he has the flirting skills to ingratiate himself with every Puerto Rican he meets.I doubt I'll have much time or opportunity to garden while we're there. We haven't finalized our accommodations yet but if we have to choose between ocean view and garden space, well, there really isn't a choice. But we do plan to find a place with a guest bedroom so please consider this your invitation to come. Execpt for a few pesky hurricanes, the weather is near ideal, high of 80, low of 70, even in August and September.So I won't say goodbye, just à bientôt! (Oh wait, that's French; guess i better start cracking on the espanol.)

Oops, my husband just pointed out that I forgot to add my usual disclaimer to this post: I've done this before 2010, 2009,and 2008. An extended sojourn in San Juan is within the realm of possibility, but we have no plans currently. You can't get rid of me that easily!