The blackberries are really coming along! This is the plant we had last year - the two new ones we added this year are starting to put out new growth now, and one of them has a few flowers :) but the one from last year has been thriving. It’s also growing a little through the fence, so the neighbor gets free blackberries :)
A lot of folks from many different cultures, faiths & traditions are celebrating this weekend as something special. For all of you, I hope the divine grants you peace & prosperity but, above all, wisdom & forbearance. For those who see this a just another weekend, I wish the same.
Cheers!:
Seen while walking:
On this week’s episode of dog toy or sex toy...:
Free range chickens. That rooster crowed every time I passed by letting me know not to mess with his harem:
This blackberry bush has been mowed down so many times that it starts blossoming & trying to set fruit at three inches or so tall. A reminder that just because something is surviving doesn’t mean it’s thriving:
Second strawberry of 2023:
We got good news this week. The guy in the plot next to us gave up this year so we were able to pick up Plot 419 in addition to Plot 420. We spent Easter getting the fencing expanded to incorporate Plot 419. For future posts, I will refer to the combined plots as Plot 420 out of tradition:
The blackberry bush in our backyard is invasive and trying to swallow up our yard, but it's pretty amazing how much life it supports.
I counted a least 6 different bee species, including navtive bees. About 4 different beetles, spotted 3 different spiders, bee mimics, and a Swallow tail butterfly, all in the short time I was just standing there being a bio nerd and watching all the activity.
Here's some highlights:
Bee butt
Another Bee butt..
Some bees where collecting necture, other were collecting pollen. This lady was filling her pollen baskets..
Tiny native bee
This one totally kicked that little beetle who was just chillin on the leaf..
Dude was like, the fuck?
Somewhere out there is a beehive making blackberry honey..
And when all the blossoms turn into berries, the birds come for the blackberries. Guess it's time to learn how to make jam?
At the head of the trail, I could see the Bones of the Ancients standing on both sides of the path like silent guardians watching over a forgotten way:
Fragrant clematis growing on sumac:
As I crossed the grassy waste, I spotted an oasis:
People had obviously worked this land recently but now it looked abandoned:
Their harvests missed. The fruits of their labor slowly going to seed:
Grapevine:
Blackberry bush:
Overgrown garden beds laid out like forgotten graves. From left to right, peppers, tomatoes & tomatoes:
A parting glance:
"Hey! What gives you the right
To put up a fence to keep me out
But to keep Mother Nature in?
If God was here, he'd tell you to your face
'Man, you're some kind of sinner'" - Five Man Electrical Band:
Random bone... probably a sign of Feral activity:
Bagworms & pecan trees are like good & evil. “There never is one without the other”:
Why do so many new home developments sound like something from a dystopian novel?
Join us in The Colony. Become one of us in The Colony. Yes. One of us. One of us.
I mean we are living in a low budget production of a cyberpunk dystopia but why rub it in: