Huge Mother's Day surprise

I've never celebrated holidays, nor encouraged my kids to. I guess society pressures people. Anyway, I knew my son from Austin was making a quick trip to Alpine to fix a bathtub in one of our rental houses, He told me he was going to the oasis afterwards and then head back to Austin today. I thought it strange that as busy as he is, he'd come to the oasis. I asked him why and he said he just needed a break from all the craziness (not his exact words). Well, this morning happened to be Mother's Day and he presented me with a plaque that my three kids had all chipped in on. After he installed it, I immediately couldn't imagine the house at the oasis without it. It just belonged, like the finishing touch.

The brass plaque was so heavy I could barely lift it. He anchored it into the wall, drilling deep holes, etc. Barring drastic action, it'll still be there a thousand years from now. I wonder if it'll feel different living there now. Will I feel the need to label heirlooms, and such? Maybe to make displays of old photos? Will I see my house through a different lens? Probably. I already made the comment that old trellis needs to go. I had never thought that before. Hmmm...

Back in Alpine, I discovered at least one duckling has hatched. Tomorrow I should be able to assess the situation better. Expect photos tomorrow. The mother is still on the nest, a storm is brewing and I couldn't tell much this afternoon. But I did see at least one rambunctious duckling jumping around in there. (I had today or tomorrow on the calendar, so right on schedule.)

Beyond exhausted

I spent the morning doing the watering so when my son arrived this evening I wouldn't have to water while he was here. Next my plan was to eat and take a nap. But when I went to the bathroom before my much needed nap, I noticed the wallpaper that's been on the ceiling for over 40 years was falling off. For years silverfish had been eating away at it and I wanted to take it off, but figured it would be an ordeal to scrape it off. I opted to let the silverfish eat it all off. But when I saw big clumps falling down, I pulled at some and discovered it was easy to remove. Suddenly, I couldn't stand it another minute, so I removed every last shred, then couldn't stand the bare wood, so painted it. A real killer! I can't move.

Naturally, since I didn't know I was going to do all that, I didn't take a before photo. It didn't occur to me until I started painting. All I had was my white tank Drylok sealer but it worked fine. I'm a messy painter and dribble a lot. That stuff dries in a minute or two so I had to constantly get off the chair I was standing on to clean it up before it dried rock hard.

The ceiling is just plywood and really rough, but that's OK. I'm not as picky as I was 40 years ago. Rustic is fine. The Drylok helped  smooth it some. If it bothers me I can patch it and repaint it someday. After all, I built the bathroom, did all the tile and wallpaper* myself, so what's a little paint work! Except that I'm 40 years older.

Lest anyone is curious, the bathroom is just a small, but perfectly adequate, under the stairs bathroom. 

When my son and his wife did arrive from Austin, they were big time social distancing. He's so afraid that I'll get the virus that he carried his bowl of "Mom's chili" outdoors to eat. Can't eat with a mask on. His wife's mother had the virus and was pretty sick with it. (BTW, his wife Morgan didn't want any chili.)

Got a slightly better photo of the American Lady I saw the other day. That's it.  All work and no play.

I'm a happy mother. Hope all you mothers out there are too.

__________________________

I had two grandmothers growing up. One was wealthy and the other was poor. I loved them equally and fit into either world. My poor grandmother made a living hanging wallpaper. I loved wallpaper. So when I built a rock and wood house, banning plasterboard or particleboard, it was hard to find a spot to wallpaper. My kitchen back-splash is vinyl wallpaper and the bathroom ceiling was regular wallpaper. That's all. I didn't know what silverfish were back then.

Migration is over

It appears that migration this year was less robust than usual and started, and ended, earlier than usual. First year I didn't have a MacGillivray's Warbler sighting, but maybe because so few eyes looking this year.

It's been so hot and dry lately, and yesterday so windy, that I haven't been inspired to take photos. Today I forced myself to take a few. When every vehicle you see has a hummer image on it you know you're at the right place. My pickup is on the left with my treasured Lucifer plates.

Saw a lovely fresh American Lady butterfly but it didn't cooperate for a satisfactory picture.

Among the few migrants at the oasis today was this  male Broad-tailed Hummingbird.

Busy day

I was determined to get a photo of the rent house floors after being waxed today and since the new tenants are moving in tomorrow, I caught up on watering and servicing feeders at the oasis and came to town this afternoon. I had to take ibuprofen to get it all done so fast.

The floor was disappointing to me. Mostly because of the replacement tiles. The floors I had previously done didn't look as white, but they looked good in more of a beige tone. Here's the one I did several weeks ago. You can't really tell it has a buildup of old wax on it, or whatever.

Here's the one my helper did. Of course it won't look as good because of the replacement tiles. But which would you rather move into?

I guess my main concern is that the new tenants had seen the previously done rental, and leased this current one based on what they saw in the previous one, being told they were the same. Well, basically they are, but some difference too.

Anyway, enough of that. Back at the oasis, it got up to 105° today. It seems we had an early migration this year that is winding down early. However, supposed to be a north wind tomorrow that may bring down good warblers. The acacia is ready for them. It appears that I have 3 different variations of catclaw but I don't know how variable they are from bush to bush of the same species. In this next photo the bush in the back seems to have larger, whiter "brushes" on it, whereas, the shorter bush in the front seems to have smaller yellower brushes.

Then a nearby bush seems to have whitish brushes with red bases. Guess I'll pose this question to the Texas Flora Facebook group and see what the experts think. I'll let you know.

Going back to the oasis tomorrow. I have a friend visiting, plus I'd like to take some time to enjoy the place for a bit. Maybe photograph something interesting. Really need rain.

Braving the heat at CMO

I hadn't been to the oasis yet this May so was anxious to start my May butterfly and dragonfly lists. I arrived around 2 PM (after seeing to the rent house) to 105.° My first inclination was to take a long nap. I'd been up since 5 AM. But fearful that I'd miss something good, I went down the hill to the oasis and hung out. Nothing interesting and the few insects I tried to photograph were faster than my ability to focus. All I got a photo of today was this worn female Red Saddlebag. That's it.

I also try to acclimate my body to the heat so I don't miss out on so much. Winters are bad enough. Don't want to waste summers too.

My helper at the rent house was a lifesaver for me. Worth the $180 we paid her. What we couldn't redo we blended in. Not ideal, but acceptable. My husband is going to wax it tomorrow. After it's waxed I'll post a photo, unless the new tenants take possession before I get back to town.

Gotta water the trees tomorrow. Gonna be another scorcher. Maybe I'll get a lifer dragonfly or something tomorrow. At any rate, the morning won't be hot, so I'll water half in the morning and the other half Tuesday morning.

A weird problem to have

Have to have the rent house finished tomorrow. Since my shoulder is so bad, I hired a woman to help. I did one bedroom, she did the other. I did the kitchen, she did the living room. Well, I hadn't previously, in all these years, noticed that my inability to bear down on the scouring pad was leaving the floors less that clean looking. Now the line between her work and mine isn't acceptable. No time to redo my work.

Another thing, I learned from my helper is to spray heavy and let it sit for awhile. Then it comes off easier. I was always using as little as I could to reduce fumes, and always hurrying to get done. Not paid by the hour like she is. LOL

Helper's work before any work done to floor, and after

It would be fine if the whole house had been done by her, and now there isn't enough time before the new tenants are scheduled to move in. So here's my work compared to no work and her work. Left: mine, Center: no one, Right: helper. Obviously my work isn't acceptable beside hers. I always thought I was getting the floor as clean as it was possible. I didn't have a clue.

My work always looked good. Got lots of compliments on it. Tenants were happy with it, but it won't look good at all beside hers. Obviously I'll never be scouring another floor.

In my defense, here's a photo showing the house I scrubbed several weeks ago beside the one we're working on. (We haven't leased it out yet only because the previous tenant broke a hole in the fiberglass bathtub. My Austin son is coming next week to fix it.)  I thought the floor looked good and there's no difference between the work I did on it and my work on the one we're doing now. It'll get waxed like the one on the left has been, of course.

If you look at the next photo closely you can see the kitchen areas on both houses look similar (other than the wax and replacement tiles.  And one has a black range and the other has a cream colored range). Then on the right photo (current project) there's a dark strip between what my helper did and what I did. What I did looks like the previous house, other than the wax and replacement tiles.

If I could have physically done the whole house alone I would have. My shoulder hurts real bad, but I didn't take anything for it. My helper did take Tylenol for hers.

Photos taken with room lights on after dark. Previous
 two photos in bright daylight with no indoor lighting

UPDATE: I called my helper and she said she'd redo the kitchen floor tomorrow. Really, we don't have a choice, and I'm going to try to blend the doorway between the living room and hall (not on photos). I just hope she is able to do the job. We're obviously in a jam right now. I'll take more photos tomorrow during daylight, hopefully one with this floor clean and waxed.

Deer at our ponds this evening at dusk. I was driving past and just had my cell phone on me, so not a good picture. Just didn't want this post to be nothing but floors.The houses (and floors) are just across the street from the deer. What a contrast!

Alpine mulberries

Our mulberry trees are loaded with mulberries. This limb above the patio roof sounds like a hail storm when a gust of wind blows, causing the berries to pummel the roof.

Lots of birds in the trees of course. Mostly Cedar Waxwings, Western Tanagers and anything else that can get past the mockingbird police.

My town schedule got all messed up. I had three days to get a rent house detailed. Would have worked on it today but a woman said she'd help this afternoon (for a hefty price). Since I have all my energy in the morning, I forced myself to take a midday nap. Got up dreading the ordeal so took ibuprofen to help me make it through. Then my husband tells me the woman called and canceled while I was napping. (I only take ibuprofen in dire emergency situations). So she's supposed to come in the morning, but if she doesn't, then instead of having three days to scour the floors with oven cleaner, I'll have only two days. And I refuse to take ibuprofen two days in a row. Hopefully she'll show up and we can get it done tomorrow. It'll save my knees and shoulder a bunch to have help. I've never hired help in one of the houses before, but it's such a killer for me. I just did it all two weeks ago. My husband does the painting. I do the floors, stove, refrigerator, shower, sinks, toilet, etc. We're hoping to sell the houses since it's hard on both of us, but the pandemic put a hold on that.

Lucifer display shots

What I lack in quality I make up for in quantity. When I happened upon this courtship display my camera was set on continuous shoot. Here are a few of the 50 or so I shot.  He tried for the longest time, in vain, to impress her. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to take video. Next time I will.

The leucistic hummer tried to feed this morning but the Lucifer males wouldn't allow it. Didn't get good pics either.

Gotta go to town later today. Really hate to.

Life still weird

My sister and I went up the mountain at daylight. The wind was raging so hard that up on the ridge it actually caused me to lose my balance a couple of times, even using a walking stick (my trusty hoe). Here's a photo of me applying gray spray paint to rocks along the trail. Now I finally don't have to worry about people losing the trail.

When I arrived back at the oasis a couple of local birders told me about a spotted hummingbird they had seen. So, ready for a nap and to get out of the wind, I, instead, sat and got photos of the bird. When the wind dies down I'll try to get better shots of it. Apparently it's a "greying leucistic" bird, probably a Black-chinned. Very weird!

This photo of a Green-tailed Towhee isn't in great focus but I love the pose I accidentally captured. That'll never happen again.

Hordes of cowbirds are gobbling up the bird seed.

This female Yellow-headed Blackbird was among the migrants.

Another great migration day

As I approached the oasis early this morning I spied a Turkey Vulture sunning on one of the agave stalks. So many birds use them, but hadn't seen that use here before.

Warblers are starting to come through. Had the first Townsend's Warbler of the year. Right as the acacia are starting to bloom profusely, as usual. I was busy watering and then it was too hot so I didn't pay much attention.

Sparrows are still here in large numbers. Finally got the IDs all sorted out. The Savannah Sparrow is always a hard one for me. Kelly Bryan once told me to ask myself why it's not a Savannah, and if there's no good reason, then that's what it is. 

Cassin's Kingbird

Tomorrow is my last hurrah... if I even make it. Going up the mountain one last time to mark the trail for posterity. I'm determined to make it. Taking my sister for safety.