Herbs into the Good Earth

     Got the herbs into the ground this week. This small patch should meet all of our needs for the coming summer and fall. I had to "Deer Proof" them with a homemade chicken wire cage. Although the deer have been known to knock cages down to get to sweet basil!!! (Can't say I blame them). There is a very protective Catahoula Cur piled up within ten feet of these herbs though so I think they will be fine this year..... I planted Greek Oregano, Triple Curl Parsley, Tuscan Blue Rosemary, Santo Cilantro, and Sweet Basil. Had to fight off the aphids last year with Dawn Dish Detergent in a spray bottle with water, so we will see what happens this year. Really looking forward to fresh herbs in my salads this year though! May go snap off a piece of sweet basil right now to snack on!  Take care everyone. Peace.

East Texas Spring Fishing!

     Was able to slip away this past Saturday for a few hours to Dragonfly Lake and stir up a little trouble with the bass! The spawn was in full swing. I tried plastic worms first and was unable to get a single strike, which is very uncommon at this lake. I tied on an over-sized top-water bait with rear prop and the bass started to slam it that afternoon. Not sure of the name of this top water bait but it is one of my favorites. I need to buy some of the old Wooden Devil's Horse's by Smithwick. I lost all mine over the years and they are another favorite of mine. They can be picked up on Ebay for under 10 bucks shipped, and are well worth it! Good luck to all with their Spring and Summer Fishing this year. Have Fun!

Trinity River Sand Bass!

The Sand Bass are running on the Trinity River so I took the boys today. We had a blast catching Sand Bass all morning and spending time together. The weather was just perfect in the 60's & 70's. There were lots of folks out fishing today! Everywhere we looked people were catching Sandies! We are going to go back next week and take the Kayaks. We were fishing small jigs on light line. The bass seemed to prefer the yellow and white ones. We gave our fish away to others, but next time we intend to cook up a mess ourselves!

Friend in the woodpile

Flushed this guy out from his warm winter spot in the woodpile by accident today with the leaf blower. Not sure what type he is yet. He was none to happy to be blown out of his nice warm spot. It actually was very mild today for January in Texas. It has been in the 70's all week so the reptiles are getting very restless. We normally get at least a few Copperhead Snakes around my place this time of year when the temps swing like this. Otherwise they are mostly nocturnal. I am going to work at getting more posts up this spring of lots of goings on around the place. My schedule has gotten a little better at work so that should help. I need to get some birdseed into my feeder so the Black Capped Chickadees and the Woodpeckers will drop by! If I get any pics of a copperhead I will post them to. I usually take them deep into the woods and release them away from my kids and pets if they visit! Good excuse for a day hike to!

Cajun - Nathan Abshire - Pine Grove Blues - Accordion

D.L. Menard sings The Back Door with L'Angelus

My 6 year old Daughter Sawyer asked me to help her clear a small plot of our land behind the house to plant some Watermelon Seeds she had. I must say with our poor East Texas "Sugar Sand" I did not have much faith of her reaping a harvest as I struggle to even get "Common" Bermuda Grass to grow here. Boy was I to be proven wrong. Her Vines have exploded with little more than a bit of rain, and the melons have been a sweet addition of home grown fruit to our diets. Needless to say I have encouraged her for her efforts, and look forward to many more melons off these vines. I would say she has about 100 Square feet of healthy vines now and they are continuing to thrive. We will no doubt plant an even larger patch of Watermelons next year! The yellow "Acid Free" Variety of Tomato has done well this year for me also. I really enjoy them and the deer don't seem to crave them as bad as they do the red ones. We have finally had a few nice rains, so I hope the wonderful showers will continue into the long hot summer! Take care everyone.