After counting the flowers....

peel them off the wall. As Troy peeled the paper off the breakfast area walls he realized that at some time in the past all the woodwork in this house was natural wood with wood stain and varnish. Imagine how expensive it would be to restore it all to it's former beauty!

Counting flowers on the wall......

but not for long. In a few hours they will be gone.

A few hours later......

all the wallpaper is gone and the first layer of mud has been applied. On the bottom half of the wall where you see blue in this picture, it will be a different color when we are done - maybe Classic Burgandy, maybe a dark green. I'm still trying to decide.

Now the Work Begins

That's Troy, the painter, ripping wallpaper off the dining room wall. It had to go - it was so busy you couldn't hang up a picture - they clashed!

Neighbor's Backyard

These neighbors have lived here for 34 years. I look at this beautiful sight while I'm cooking and doing dishes. Most days at least a couple of their 6 great-grandchildren (all under 5) are out there chasing a big ball or each other. Hope I haven't bored you to tears with my introductory tour. I wanted you to see why we feel so fortunate to be here in Palestine!

And more flowers....

Wonder if I can grow yellow crook neck squash, hot peppers and tomatillos in a pot?

More of My Container Gardens

My flying pig is watching over the tomatoes, the herb pot and some flowers. These are at the edge of the patio so that they get some sun.

The Union Pacific

Yes, you are looking at a locomotive engine through those trees. On the west side of the creek our property goes uphill and on the ridge are the railroad tracks. The trains roll quietly by several times a day. They don't blow the whistle, so the only noise we hear is the engine when it passes by. The other cars really don't make much noise. I love trains, so I think they are a bonus. On the other side of those tracks is a neighborhood where everyone has 5 plus acres. We can't see any houses but we can hear an occasional rooster and a mooing member of the cattle family. We've driven through that area and many of the people have horses, too.

The Creek

Today the creek has more water than this in it because it rained last night. East Texas is still having a drought. Of course, to a former Arizonan an inch of rain overnight doesn't seem like a drought. But we begin to worry when we go 5 or 6 days without any rainfall. We don't want to see the creek dry up. Our neighbor has lived in his house for 34 years and he says only twice in all that time did the creek become almost dry. And then there were the years when it overflowed its banks. One day in Feb. or March Joel went down to look at the creek and there was a blue heron in the creek bed. They are very large birds - he said it was quite a sight watching that bird fight his way through the tree branches to take off.

Beehives in the Shade of the Trees

There's four hives on a palette down there by the creek. We decided my niche in the "Honey From the Rock" bee business will be comb honey. So my bees are happily filling what's called a Ross Round - a round frame that will fit into a crystal disk. I've already had one health food store owner ask about comb honey. Often people request the comb honey - I think it is a nostalgia thing. Like me, they remember spreading the comb honey on toast and then chewing the wax like chewing gum. Yum!! I'm hoping to have a second palatte of hives soon.

The Barn and the Greenhouse

We also have a greenhouse. I'm looking forward to using it this winter. Folks around here use them to "winter" their container gardens, their hanging ferns, etc. And do notice the fence - that used to be a cream color, too. Joel painted that last month!

Our Red Barn

This is our barn. Joel painted it last week - it was a cream color. We thought a barn should be red, so now it is. Notice how thick the trees are behind the barn. There is a creek between the barn and those trees.

Container Gardening

I noticed the neighbor to the south of us had a number of nice plants in planters on her patio. There is a reason for that. With all the trees and the grass there aren't many areas to dig where there is no root system. So these 4 planters have annuals like petunias, salvia, alysum, etc. for color. They really liked the rain we got last night. In the background that's a bird house for martins and they have been busy going in and out. The white barn belongs to the neighbors.

Front Entry

The large tree on the left is an oak. The smaller tree with the red leaves is a Japanese Red Maple. I haven't identified all the plants yet, but I was pleased to see hostas coming up near the front door. I had a beautiful hosta garden in Prescott - hoping to repeat that here.

View from the Driveway

As you drive up the driveway you can't miss the azaleas - they are just about done blooming now - my dad always fed his pickle juice so I'm going to have to eat a lot of pickles to keep all of these fed!

Welcome

Yes, this is the Yellow Rose of Texas. Our home sits on 2.3 acres and there wasn't a single rose bush on the property. Those who know me well, know that I love roses, so the first thing I planted was 4 rose bushes and the first one to bloom was this yellow Peace rose. I dug up a rhubarb root from my Kingman garden and planted it the same day I planted the roses and it already has 4 stalks with more developing. So far gardening in east Texas is way more fun than in AZ.

GreenAcresInTexas

It might seem pretentious of me to set up a blog, but we've recently moved to beautiful east Texas and most of our family and friends live at least 1300 miles away. This seems like a great way to share the beauty of our two green acres and the many beautiful sights we will be enjoying in this part of the U.S. So I hope you will check in often, send us your comments and just enjoy the pictures we'll be posting.