Tag: Dec2023

I ran across this book at a garage sale and bought it having previously heard of the Snake King. I am glad I did because a recent search located only one for sale on the internet for $500! That’s because of its limited distribution, having been published in Brownsville by the son of the Snake…

In August my husband, Paul, and I had the opportunity to stay with our daughter on the Pacific coast of western Costa Rica for two weeks. My activities there reminded me of some of the experiences and surprises I had while living in Texas over the years.

On November 12, 2023, bird enthusiasts and wildlife officials were saying that the first rare and recorded sighting of a Cattle Tyrant in the United Sates was reported in Corpus Christi, Texas. Birders posted pictures of the bird on rooftops, ledges and sidewalks, and a particular dumpster of which it seems to be fond.

With the recent increase in cochineal, I now have plenty of scale insects available to be harvested. This will now afford me the opportunity to pick up with a natural dyeing experiment using cochineal that I put on hold about a year and a half ago. There are many resources, both in print and online,…

On recent ranch trips over the last couple of months to El Mesteño Ranch and Arboretum, I began noticing what seemed to me to be an extremely large amount of cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) on the prickly pear cacti (Opuntia engelmannii var. linderheimeri)—significantly more than I had noted in previous years. Here in deep South Texas,…

While kayak surfing waves along the South Padre Island jetties, I decided to paddle out into deeper waters and back into the Brazos Santiago Pass. With excitement, I sighted dolphins approaching me. But, as they neared me, they weren’t dolphins. Their fins seemed odd. In the clear water the huge fins and bodies of manta…