Tag: houston

Tiny Tuesday!

We lost a LOT of botanicals during the big freeze, including many potted plants more than twenty-five years old. I have a hard enough time growing things, without this insane climate chipping away at our efforts.

I already showed you that we’d cleaned out Aaron’s garden, and we–meaning mostly Tom–have been trying to take care of the various beds around the house to clean them up and prune things until we have the time and inclination to find more plants for our pots.

In case you don’t remember, this is the book that kicked off Tiny Tuesdays however long ago that was.

And I spotted this page in it.

While I don’t have an actual flower garden, I have been casting a critical eye on one of the beds next to our house where heavenly bamboo grows. It’s not actual bamboo, but the nandina shrub, and people just call it heavenly bamboo. (Not so heavenly if you’re a human, cat, dog, or bird who ingests the toxic berries. Or maybe a little TOO CLOSE to heavenly. Hmmm.)

So I started cleaning it out and pruning, and when things got beyond my reach, Tom did his part to finish. I didn’t take before photos of how overgrown these were, or how the bed was covered with last year’s leaves. But once it was pruned and cleaned out, we moved a couple of the ferns that survived the freeze to join the nandina.


The larger bush had actually been covering most of that window and is now cut down to merely brush the sill.


Another angle. Maybe we’ll put some potted flowers in there, too, later. We’ll see what can take the sun there.

On the other side of the house are the little trellises where my ruellia vines grow. They were a HUGE mess after the freeze, as well as because of other invasive vines that were choking them out. Once again, I failed to take a before picture, but thanks to Tom, they are much tidier now, although the trellises themselves may not last another couple of seasons. The vines will be safe; we can always get new trellises. I hope they bloom again this year, but they may need more recovery time. The flowers are favorites of bees and hummingbirds.


Our fence, on the right, looked just like the one on the left only three years ago when it replaced the old fence after the Harvey flood. Our neighbor replaced hers in the last few months. The sun and climate are so brutal here.

Here are some of the leaves and cuttings that Tom and I cleared out, in the only lawn bags approved by the city of Houston. If you put the wrong bags on the curb, they won’t pick them up and will slap stickers on them to let you know you need the environmentally friendly bags. This means everyone driving or walking by KNOWS YOUR SHAME.

Stay tuned as we continue to reclaim our yard and flowerbeds and replenish our pots.

Complete the story.

I don’t how or when I’ll complete the story, and I’m fine with that.


Just found a new book, though, that has writing prompts. Some of them look like a lot of fun. However, I won’t be playing for now, as it might provoke a couple of people to demand I send a new chapter from my work in progress.

Still, this is an enticing beginning, and I encourage all you writers or aspiring writers or just humans with some time and creative energy to have fun with it. (If you have trouble reading, I can put the text in comments.)

In my own personal continuing story, today I received my second COVID-19 vaccination. The hope is that based on the timeline of other Houndstooth residents and friends, there may be actual socializing in our small group by the end of April.


Arriving and being checked in. Hi, Luke from Nebraska–thank you!


Just after shot. My other National Guard were from Idaho, Georgia, Washington State, and Germany. They said they are meeting so many new Guard and appreciate the opportunity to help. They also said Houston has been really good to them. =)


Vaccination tents in my rearview mirror as I stop for the 15-minute post-shot waiting period. They do that in case of reactions. If you blow your horn, a healthcare worker will come to assist you, and they have portable rooms set up on the spot for that.

I remain in awe of their organization, efficiency, and upbeat attitudes.

Other news this week

On Tuesday, we celebrated Debby’s birthday. I have a photo on my phone of her wearing the crown I loaned her, but I think she liked the cake better than being royalty for a moment. Tom, Tim, and I shared a birthday dinner with her.

Here in Houston, I had signed up to get in the queue for my COVID-19 vaccinations at five hubs, one drugstore chain, and my healthcare provider. This morning I was awakened by a text letting me know that I could make an appointment TODAY to be vaccinated at NRG Stadium. They had a soft open on Tuesday, their first full day yesterday, and for the next three weeks, seven days a week, they will vaccinate 6000 people a day. For the three weeks after that, they will be giving second shots.

SO: good on the Texans football franchise for offering their stadium, Harris County and the City of Houston for working together through the health department to coordinate this, FEMA and the National Guard for helping organize and provide personnel to handle this many people, and HPD for helping people get to the right place and providing traffic control.

Here are some shots of things I saw before I got my FIRST vaccine!

The shot didn’t hurt at all. I had a little soreness in my arm later, and I’m tired, but that could be because I was on the go most of the day. I’m so relieved to have my first shot done. Debby signed up at this site, too, so I’m HOPING they get in touch with her. Then it’ll be Tom’s and Tim’s turns at whoever contacts them first, hopefully not too long from now.

Photo Friday, No. 742

Current Photo Friday theme: Water

The boil water advisory will remain in place through the weekend in Houston. With all the things going wrong, it was wonderful when we saw our water delivery guy arrive on Wednesday. We have it for drinking water for us and the animals, to make coffee, and for brushing our teeth. We are boiling water to use for bathing and washing dishes.

Meanwhile, for those who can’t boil water because they’re still without power, water distribution points and comfort stations have been set up throughout the city. So many people, from inside and outside of Texas, are helping during this weather crisis. I’ve read heartbreaking stories in the news, so learning about assistance and reading messages of care from all over the world are uplifting.

Thank you.

That beautiful water carafe and glass set was a gift to me from Lynne years ago. The two quilt squares you can see were signed by Jess (between one and two years old at that time) and Lynne for the quilt my mother made in the early 1980s. There is so much sustaining power in the tangible and intangible gifts of family and friendship.

Another word about creativity

ALL the time, I hear people say, “If I only had time, I’d write [poetry, my novel, a play, my memoirs],” and I agree that time is important. Yet so many writers manage to get that done while taking care of families, holding down demanding jobs, and even maintaining romances and social lives. I usually think it’s not TIME that’s lacking, it’s energy.

I don’t mean only the energy that makes us bound from bed and get cracking on our schedules. I mean the mental and emotional energy it takes to create. It’s a different kind of energy and sometimes discipline and time and inspiration are not enough to put us into a creative frame of mind.

And that is FINE. Sometimes our energy is needed elsewhere. It’s up to YOU to determine if your reasons are legitimate or simply another excuse.

You will never get that poem, novel, short story, play, memoir read or published if you don’t write it. But again, writing takes a lot of energy.

It was a little frustrating for me over the past few days to have so many other things to deal with that I couldn’t get into the zone I need to be in to write. I mean, if you are compelled to write, even when the power is out and the sun is gone and the water is frozen in the pipes, you will light a candle and grab paper and pencil and write. IF YOUR ENERGY FOR IT IS THERE.

We have a few more expected bad days coming to us here, and the water issue is far from resolved, though for now at least, we have power. And I’m absolutely fine with the times that Tom and I have just focused on managing to keep us and our animals warm, our toilets flushable, and our food source safe. We have sat in the dark in front of a gas fire that barely kept the chill away, devised solutions, and remained companionable throughout.


When there was daylight, I worked on this coloring page though I was shivering. When the power would come on for a while at some random time, I used the light to work on her some more. I felt as if her beauty and spirit kept me company and made me know that if I couldn’t write, at least I could embellish someone else’s beautiful drawing.

This is why I call it coloring therapy. It doesn’t rob energy; it helps rebuild it.

This is the book I took it from.

These are a couple of the dolls I picked up at the recent estate sale. I will definitely use their fashion as inspiration when I color more drawings from this book.

I have a count of my boxed dolls now, and a count of my Monster High dolls. I have all the others to count, so I’m waiting to provide a grand total on here. The prospect remains scary.

She once was lost…

Back in July 2019, I let you all know that Black Canary had escaped and was nowhere to be found. While YOU may have forgotten it, I’ve had to look at the empty box in my office every day since. You can’t just lose a superheroine without some self-recrimination.

It’s okay, though. Before the power went out and the water stopped flowing and WTFageddon hit Texas, this happened. The Bird of Prey is back where she belongs.