Vacations

“A Change of Scenery”

ESPatch Jul 10, 2014 6 comments

Dragonfly wings,

buried in the sand?

It could mean only one thing,

we were off on vacation,

and we had survived the “6 Harry Potters” worth of car-time to get there.

The 12 hour journey was accompanied by the repeatedly repeated phrases from the parental units trying desperately to hold it together…“If you do that again you will loose the iPad for one Harry, do you understand?” and at every gas station: “Did you go to the restroom…did you go to the restroom?“

And “stop that humming!”

followed by the final blow…

…”you have lost the iPad for a Harry”.

Oh yes, if it wasn’t for the sporadic in-car reading (courtesy of my wife) of the poaching exploits of

I think we all would have all permanently lost it.

We had arrived at Gulf Shores, Alabama.

They jumped out of the car and were on the beach before you could say sunscreen.

I was not far behind them with my fishing rod.

A couple of pompano on my second cast (really it was) caught the attention of this Great Blue Heron down the beach:

I released the fish back into the water but only one made it back to the deep, the other was gracefully harpooned by a formidable beak.

The heron never left my side after this.

It was like the evil penguin on Wallace & Gromit.

Always looming.

This Remora Shark Sucker fish did escape the beak. These funny looking fish have a sucker pad on top of their head that is used to attach themselves to Shark, Snapper, Cobia etc…they are cleaner fish.

If I had known this at the time I may have attached a couple of these fish to the seat-belt-smudged tattoo that ended up EVERYWHERE.

The tattoo apparently lasts a month!

Her hidden agenda at the beach naturally involved lots of these:

and precisely seven of these:

Time to get some refreshment at our favorite hangout…

Let me guess, something to do with Minecraft and American Girl Dolls?

Every so often a buzzer would sound and this would happen which was good as it was noticeably fading the tattoo smudges.

result Final day blues.

Thank you D&J, we had the best time.

We decided to break up the return journey and splurge with an evening in New Orleans at the

hotel-monteleone-new-orleans-hotel-french-quarter-entrance-732x428

In the heart of the French Quarter.

Lets just say it made a dramatic change to the Best Westerns we were accustomed to.

Jaws dropped entering the foyer, and off to the side was the amazing

hotel-monteleone-new-orleans-carousel-bar-lounge1-640x428

Carousel Bar & Lounge where patrons circumnavigate at one revolution every 15 minutes.

The biggest hit was the mandavilla lined rooftop pool

followed by fresh dressing gowns and chocolates that were found on the bed.

Next morning it was Beignets at Cafe Du Monde,

and a walk through Jackson Square with its specimen multi-trunked Mediterranean Fan Palms.

Chamaerops humilis

Hmm, I think I may not have given mine quite enough space – good job they are slow growing.

Are those…it can’t be…

…Oleanders…the size of trees!

This is not what we looked like after the drive back to Austin.

Stay Tuned For:

“Oh Drupes!”

All material © 2014 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“The Doll House”

ESPatch Feb 23, 2014 4 comments

Okay now that that is out of my system, and the tune now firmly stuck inside your head,

I will begin.

I have resorted to singing Saruman’s tune every time he sticks his face into mine and pushes his front tooth toward me at an alarming angle, he knows it bothers me…

“Trol-lol-lol-la-looo

la-la-loooo, la-la-loooo…etc, etc.”

The tune (like his tooth) seems oddly fitting.

She had been looking forward to this day for a long time, it was her birthday and we were going on a road-trip to Houston to visit the American Girl doll store (or ‘AG doll place’ if you are YouTube hip).

I really had no idea what to expect,

I had heard talk of a hair salon and restaurant,

but I had no inclination it was where you took ‘your dolls’ for a makeover and a spot of lunch.

I contemplated the long list of $20 doll hair services, then glanced over and saw the tiny salon seats and I must have immediately glazed over. The next thing I knew I was being dragged over to one of the large doll cabinets – she had located the new doll that she had been coveting,

doll #33 apparently.

#33 was quickly renamed Avery, Edith, Ruby, whatever…and she immediately became part of the family.

I was just happy she was new and did not require any hair services…at least this time.

We stayed overnight at a friend’s apartment on the 24th floor (thanks B) in downtown Houston.

It was an initial shock to the sensory system stepping out onto the elevated patio.

You can see from my white knuckles how comfortable I am with heights.

Back on the ground:

Birthday dessert,

then to bed…

for we rise at daybreak.

Back in the Patch:

I found this poor anole floating upside-down in my stock tank and quickly netted him out.

A few minutes in the sun and it took off into some gopher plants,

that are flowering right now.

A couple more Quince went into the Patch this weekend along with another hardy red oleander and some pink jasmine.

I would usually wait a few more weeks to make sure the temperatures were not going to dip again but with an 80 degree day this past weekend, well I broke down and swung the steed immediately into the local nursery.

African hosta is also on the move:

Along with datura,

and the mountain laurels.

The hell strip is also gearing up for some spring color courtesy of poppies and larkspur.

Oh and I almost forgot,

…third and final place for the ‘most aesthetically unpleasing plant after a freeze award’

has been awarded to this buckled, oozing brown aloe…

…fantastic,

and well done!

Stay Tuned for:

“Running up that Hill”