Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[jinman]

Mike,
So the seeds need to be heirlooms to plant and then save their seeds for the next year? I remember trying to save seeds and they didn't germinate the next year.
hugs, Brandi

Brandi, if hybrid seeds germinate year-to-year, they will go back to the strongest part of the hybrid chain or un-hybridize themselves. Some do it quickly and some take longer. You do have to start with heirlooms to keep heirlooms.

It's kinda like hybrid bluegills in a pond. After so many years and reproduction cycles, you'll just have bluegills.

 

[mikim]

like jim said ....or...some hybrids just will not germinate. They're made like that so you have to buy new seed every year. how do they do that? ...i dunno....I don't have a garden yet. Workin' on it! So the idea of heirlooms is purposely to be able to save next years crop seed. And you will pay more for heirlooms than annuals BUT the link you posted seems really $$ to me.

 

[Western]

iIt was down right warm today for march, I had a high on the back porch of 96*. Went ahead and changed the batteries on both the receiver and the temp gauge, still showed 96*, did you guy's show temps like this??

 

[bindian]

Thanks guys! I'll just buy heirlooms from now on.

Dennis,
I don't know for sure. My kids and I were headed east towards Woodville this afternoon and the OAT (Outside Air Temperature) gauge in the truck said 81.
hugs, Brandi

 

[texasjohn]

dunno, but I will...today ordered wireless weather station which will connect to PC and internet, keeping records 4/7.

got this one, cheap enough, will see if it is reliable

Ambient Weather WS-2080-2-KIT Dual Zone Wireless Home Weather Station

 

[txdon]

iIt was down right warm today for march, I had a high on the back porch of 96*. Went ahead and changed the batteries on both the receiver and the temp gauge, still showed 96*, did you guy's show temps like this??

As we were driving around central Texas the car temp gauge only hit 86˚ today.

 

[Bird]

NWS shows Denton got up to 82 and I think that's about what it was here on the patio. I know it got to 81 inside the house and I turned the HVAC to cooling for a couple of hours.

 

[txdon]

First BLUEBONNET of 2013 on our sand hill.
Jim, did you get a bluebonnet picture with you grandkids?

 

[ronjhall]

First BLUEBONNET of 2013 on our sand hill.
Jim, did you get a bluebonnet picture with you grandkids?

Going to miss the flowers this year in TX. No flowers for a while up here. Overnight temperatures below freezing for a least the next. Where is that ground hog so I can ring his neck.

 

[jinman]

First BLUEBONNET of 2013 on our sand hill.
Jim, did you get a bluebonnet picture with you grandkids?

Don, my bluebonnets are still very small plants down next to the ground. It will be 2 weeks minimum before they even put up bloom heads. Your warmer weather and heavier rainstorms have given yours a head start. It's amazing the difference in vegetation from here to there. My oak trees are just starting to bloom and leaf-out. Even the trees in DFW always seem to be ahead of us by 2 weeks or so.

I had a ball with my grandkids on Saturday and Sunday. It's so rare to have just them here without having a lot of other people to look after. I admit that being around 4 young and pretty girls sure makes me feel young. . . right before it makes me feel very old when I am tired and they are just getting going. They made the big hike around our property and I drove the Kawasaki Mule.

I took my granddaughter who is staying for a week fishing for her first time yesterday. I couldn't keep her hook baited fast enough. She caught a 4-5 lb catfish (her first one ever) and then we both managed to catch one at the same time. Her's was 2-1/2 lb and mine was 1/2 lb. I took a picture below. She wanted to hold the fish in the gills like I did instead of use the stringer, so the fish picked up some dry grass flopping around while she got brave enough to do it. It kinda grossed her out, but she was determined to pick up that fish. I think we may be back fishing again before she leaves.

My pond in the background is so low that you can see the edge of the rocks I put into it for structure. I'd estimate the depth is still around 8' in the middle, but it is down about 4-1/2'. We really need some rain with runoff. I'm hoping for lots of April showers, even if Ron Hall and Betty aren't here to bring rain like they normally do.

EDIT: Don, notice that she is a child of the times. She has a fish in one hand and her I-phone in the other. As you mentioned earlier, you can't separate kids and phones these days.

 

[txdon]

She has a fish in one hand and her I-phone in the other. As you mentioned earlier, you can't separate kids and phones these days.

The bad thing about that is the fish tale did not have time to grow. I bet all her friends (favorites/contacts) had the picture of her fish before it even got off the hook.
Gone are the days when you spread your hands to show the size of the fish you caught.:dolphin:

 

[jinman]

The bad thing about that is the fish tale did not have time to grow. I bet all her friends (favorites/contacts) had the picture of her fish before it even got off the hook.
Gone are the days when you spread your hands to show the size of the fish you caught.:dolphin:

I would love to have had a video of her. Her eyes got as big as saucers when she caught that big fish and it started fighting. She just froze up on the reel and started running up the bank. Those experiences are rare and wonderful.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Figured since spring thread would show some of the newest calves

 

[Western]

Now that's a "stocky" white calf!! Almost looks like some chianina blood! Like the White face mama too:thumbsup: I always did better at the sale if my calves had a little White on them.

Havent seen hide nor hair of a Bluebonnet or Indian paintbrush here yet, but the pears and Redbuds are at full bloom.

 

[Lou66]

Talking about calves,, here is a couple of book ends.. lol.. the other is the sire bull of both.. different cows,, both were bald face blacks..Lou
View attachment 309042
View attachment 309045

 

[Western]

Ahh... looks like a little Brahman in their somewhere:laughing: They sure took after "dad". I liked some Brahman blood in mine, seemed easier to keep in our environment.

 

[foreman Etexas]

White colfs dad charolia(he got one cow before salebarn) and the other out of the new black angus bull I got last year,just for the heifers. Also have another older reg.6yr old black angus bull on the cows..

I like to have a cple cows bred to a braham,neighbor had one that got a cple cows one year and they sure looked good but was bull calves,would have kept the heifers. He went to red angus bulls this year...

 

[bindian]

Well, I think I have rested long enough after getting home at 1:30AM yesterday morning. My daughter, Rebecca and I went to see George Strait's last (what I hear) concert in his............"The Cowboy Rides Away" tour. We got there early to see the end day of the Livestock show and see the Ag Mechanics contest projects before they went home. Well, the last projects were loading up on trucks and trailers when we got there.

I sure wanted to see all of them and the sheep dog trials Sat. afternoon, but didn't wanna brave the crowds on two days in a row. Anyway.............we did catch the dog and disc (or frisbee) contest. We kept walking back and forth from the seats there to the stadium, in what became a hot and very windy day, to see if the gates opened at 4:30, at 5:00, at 5:30 and at 6. I think the gates finally opened for 80,000 fans a little after 6 for a concert that started at 6:30. Poor pregnant Rebecca's feet hurt from all the walking. They did the same thing in the summer of 2009 when George opened the new Cowboy stadium in HOT June. That time we didn't have an air conditioned Reliant Center to retreat into.

Anyway, we had a blast and we both wore our green T shirts for St. Patrick's Day! Rebecca and I have journeyed to 5 different George Strait concerts now. It is one of our traditions. We didn't get to go when I had 3 surgeries in 2 years three years back. I would post the video of George coming back out for an encore with all the hollering going on, but it is just too big of a file even to email.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Western]

GS made some great music!! I could understand the "old" songs, a little tougher with todays music

 

[bindian]

GS made some great music!! I could understand the "old" songs, a little tougher with todays music

Exactly. I put the radio on some country stations and I swear, for a minute, the radio is not on a "country" station. I listen to the oldie station mostly.
hugs, Brandi