Dry as a Bone

 

It almost rained.  

The clouds got darker, the sky was hidden, and then...nothing. 

The clouds blew away.  No rain, not even a misty drop.

The grass in my yard is crunchy.

  There are huge cracks out there that I swear 

go all the way to the devil. 

The weather folk are teasing us with another rainy forecast.  

I no longer believe any of them. 

Sharing with Yogi for Skywatch Friday

Ranch Rounds ~ So Long, Farewell

Out at the pond:  

This youngin showed up a few days ago just floating around in my pond like he owned the joint.  Big, big, BIG thank you to USFW (USDA, I'm not exactly sure which one)for giving him a lift back to the river.  He was 5 feet long, and the guys thought maybe he got kicked out of his congregation by older males.  Very territorial, I assume. 

            

Bye bye, little dude. :)

Out in the yard: 

Sorry so blurry!  I got to see my Purple Martin babies lined up before they all took off for South America.  They left a little early this year for some reason. I miss their chirping at dusk and their singing during the day.

front porch: 

Speaking of territorial ~

Sometimes you just have to call a truce...if only for a second or two.

 

sharing with   Michelle for Thankful Thursday &  Eileen @ Saturday's Critters

Ranch Rounds & Storm Clouds

 

Mark's garden is doing well, 

considering the amount of rain we have gotten. I'm thankful for that rain. 

  That's a Sonic billboard tarp under his gro-bags. 

:) 

Purple hulls are about to turn

Bitter melon

(Someone at the farmer's market gave it to him)

This little girl was watching me mow. 

She appeared to be a statue, just frozen. 

One of our baby martins that just wasn't quite ready to fly. 

I'm imagining it's hiding from it's family because 

they will dive-bomb the heck out of it to make it fly

(He finally took off)

I didn't get any photos, but we have a couple of hawks that are very interested in our babies.

I've listened to them screech out front and the other day they tried to cruise over the houses but thankfully  the martins came out in force and chased them away.  

Just a few more weeks and the birds will all take off for their winter vacation.  I will breathe a big sigh of relief that the predators here didn't kill any.  

I'll finish my rounds with these storm photos from the other day. 

Nothing came out of them for us, but others got a ton of rain. 

I'm thankful for small blessings- here, there and yonder. 

Have a great weekend, y'all! 

sharing with   Michelle for Thankful Thursday ,Eileen @ Saturday's Critters,Yogi for Skywatch Friday, and NixPixMix for Sunday Best

Thankful Thursday

I finally got a mum to survive over the winter.  

(recognize her? Pumpkin pie mum from November!)

and my Limelight Hydrangea is still struggling, but slowly coming back to life. 

I'm thankful today for small victories, and maybe I have earned
one green stripe on my brown thumb? 

HA HA 

sharing with   Michelle for Thankful Thursday