NEWS ALERT: ARTFUL JOURNEY COMES TO AN END

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this important message: My baby came back! My Wild Girls Circle Journal, which has been gadding about the country for most of the year, finally found her way home -- and two days before the USPS had predicted! She really packed on some weight while she was gone.

Would you like to see some of the souvenirs she picked up along the way?  The first person she visited was Janice in North Carolina, in July of last year. Janice added this:

Next she traveled to see Libbi in California:

In  September she hopped halfway across the country to see Melissa in Ohio:

In early October she went off to be with Ruthie in S. Carolina:

From there she headed north to New Jersey, to see Susan:

I guess it was too cold for her there, so she headed back to California to spend early November with Pam:

Mid-November she actually came back to Texas -- Lindale, to be precise -- to spend time with Raquel. So close, and yet so far!

Love those crazy flowers! By then my little journal had completed half her journey, which is as good a place as any for us to pause. Until tomorrow!

THE PATIENT THEY ALL HATE

It's a good thing I've had grandpuppy Guinness here all week. There's nothing quite like the feel of a puppy's silky ears, to soothe one when things aren't going well. And this whole apnea dental appliance thingy? It's definitely not going well! It seems I'm turning into every dentist's worst nightmare. It's not that I'm not perfectly cooperative and obedient. It's just that I have, well, issues.

Number one issue, or at least it used to be, is that I am a major gagger. You really don't want to be the poor schmuck who gets stuck trying to take a set of impressions from my teeth.

The newest issue arose when my dentist made a night-guard for me, to keep me from grinding my teeth. The second night I wore it, I woke up with big itchy welts around my midriff, and I could think of no foods I had eaten recently that I hadn't had a million times before. I stopped wearing the appliance until the welts went away, then tried it again. The welts came back.  I quit wearing it altogether and asked the dentist for an info. sheet describing its contents. Turns out it was made from acrylic.

Skipping past a bunch of boring stuff, I found myself in need of treatment for "positional" apnea. Meaning, it only happens when I'm on my back and my lower jaw slides back, blocking my airway and causing me to "snort" myself awake. Sleeping on my side helps the apnea, but is not good for the pinched nerve I got from schlepping too many heavy pots and statues around when I was a merchandiser at a nursery. Like I said, issues. But other than these few tiny things, I'm as healthy as a horse! Which is good, 'cause I really, really hate going to doctors and dentists, and most of all, hospitals!

Anywho, the good news is that apnea is no longer an automatic life-sentence to sleeping with a c-pap machine. There are simple mouth appliances which can help in many cases, and which would solve my teeth grinding as well, which, as it turns out, might well be a symptom of the apnea. What a deal, right?

Sooooo, the first thing I do when I go to meet the special apnea dentist is whip out my info. sheet on the night-guard that gave me problems. "Hmmmm", he says. "The appliance itself is not made from acrylic, but the stuff we use here in the office to do repairs and adjustments is." He decided to test a bit of it on me, leaving a little wad taped to the inside of my arm while he finished my examination.  By the time he removed it, it was beginning to sting, and had left a red spot. At least it wasn't all in my head! He says "No problem. You can still wear the appliance. We'll work something out." Famous last words.

Geez, this is turning into the world's longest post, and I'm feeling the need to rub some silky ears. I guess I'll continue this tale tomorrow.

SUMMER'S HERE!

So what're you going to do, to make the most of it?

Me? I plan to beat the heat by taking advantage of my newly earned "senior's discount" at the Blue Hole every chance I get!

TA-DAA!

Out of desperation, since I hadn't bothered to bring my trusty point & shoot camera along on my walk that day, I finally figured out how to take a picture with my phone. 

'Cause, seriously, you just don't pass something this gorgeous by, without taking note, now do you?

A STITCH IN TIME

If you happen to live in the Austin area, and have been toying with the idea of learning how to sew, need to brush up on some rusty skills, or just want to see what's new in the textile world, head straight for Stitch Lab. My daughter Lex couldn't sew a stitch when she first walked through their door and signed up for a beginners class. Within a few sessions she was whipping up stuff like this...

and this.

 Best of all, she has a total blast every time she goes there. Try it -- you'll like it!

AN AUSTIN ANNIVERSARY AGENDA

#1) Go see John Favreau's wonderful new movie Chef, which was partially filmed right here in Austin. I guarantee you'll come away smiling!

Uchi's take on chips and salsa -- hydroponic baby romain with edamame-jalapeno dip

#2) Go check out the new Trader Joe's that opened there recently, and nab some yummy scones for Sunday's brunch with friends.

Bacon Steakie -- pork belly, watermelon radish, citrus, and Thai basil

The most amazing Brussels Sprouts ever!

#3) Have a fabulous free dinner at Uchi, one of Austin's best restaurants, thanks to an overly generous Christmas gift card from brother Bill. Then use the free champagne provided by Uchi to toast 39 years of wedded bliss, and congratulate yourself on being astute enough to recognize "The One" at the ripe old age of 17! 

Hama Chili -- baby yellow tail, ponzu, Thai chili, orange supreme

Peanut Butter Semifreddo with Apple Miso Sorbet

#4) End the day loving on a sweet puppy dog who has come to spend the week being spoiled by Mimaw and Papaw, while daddy is away on business.

 Here's to many more to come!

THE SIX STATES OF TEXAS

I have planted gardens in south Texas, Houston, west Texas, Dallas, and now, central Texas. Each time it was like starting all over in a whole new country, since the climate and conditions in each part of Texas are all so very different. Thankfully, I've never had to learn to garden in the Texas Panhandle, cuz that would be, like, moving to Canada!

The first thing I always do when moving to a new part of Texas is gather information, and the very best place to get that is from the local Texas Cooperative Extension agent. The Austin chapter put out that little booklet you see on the right -- An Earthwise Guide For Central Texas -- and it has been invaluable! They have them available at pretty much every nursery around. Best dollar I ever spent! Not only does it list all the best plants by category, from trees to groundcovers, it also tells you whether they are native, their ultimate size, light and water needs, seasonal interest, availability, maintenance requirements, the wildlife they attract, how deer resistant they are, and more! If you are determined to go native, I recommend that book on the left -- How To Grow Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest, by Jill Nokes. I should tell you right now, however, that I am not a purist. I love native plants, and have a ton of them here on our property: Live Oaks, Cedar Elms, Texas Mountain Laurel, Agarita, Texas Persimmons, Yuccas, Texas Sage, Prickly Pear, all kinds of grasses, Texas and Mexican Buckeyes, Agaves, Anisacanthus, Mexican Bird of Paradise, Fairy Duster, Beauty Berry, and at least a dozen more. But that is not all I have.

You see, as I said yesterday, design is very important to me, and the number one rule in landscape design is to plan it according to viewpoint. Where will most people be viewing the garden from? In my case, that happens to be above! No one can see it from the street. Mostly they see it when looking down from our balcony or dining room windows.

And, if I planted nothing but natives, it would be pretty much a sea of this...

fine-textured green foliage with smallish blooms. Yawn! Not too exciting, when seen from up above. So I work really hard to find plants that add contrast in size, shape, color and texture, but which aren't too appealing to deer. It ain't easy!

One of my very favorites is this guy,-- perilla 'Magilla'.

Looks just like a coleus, right? Only deer love coleus, and they never touch this fellow. You'll be seeing a lot of him in my garden pics. It is an annual, so I have to replant every year, but it is oh so worth it, and one big plant can be divided into two or three smaller ones, which grow really fast.

One of the hardest things to find in such a dry, sunny place is anything with really big leaves. I've found two that are semi-tropical, I suppose, but though they may die down to the ground in winter, they keep on a-comin' back! This one with the big heart-shaped leaves is Hoja Santa, or Root Beer Plant, and is actually an aromatic herb that can be used in cooking.

This next one, with big citrus green and yellow striped leaves, is a variegated ginger, though I don't think it gets the edible root. It really pops when you put it next to dark purple!

My two favorite groundcovers, which make for nice patchwork blocks of color, are this fuzzy grey Wooly Stemodia, which trails nicely over my tiers...

The taller lime green plant on the left is a new variety of our native Turks Cap, which gets bright pink blooms instead of red.

and this lovely lime green stuff which, unfortunately, I can't remember the name of.

I use lots of trailing rosemary too, as well as santolina, pink skullcap, damianita, winecup, a few sedums, and trailing purple lantana and verbena.

My two favorite vines so far are Crossvine (not to be confused with Trumpet Vine) and Coral Honeysuckle.

Favorite shrubs include Flame Acanthus, Bush Germander, Texas Sage, and Red Yucca. Though deer won't mess with the yucca plant itself, I should probably warn you -- they do love those tasty bloom stalks!

My favorite perennials include Salvia greggii (Autumn Sage), Salvia leucantha (Mexican Bush Sage), Mexican Mint Marigold, Esperanza (Tecoma stans, or Yellow Bells), Russian Sage, Texas Betony, Yarrow, and Purple Coneflowers.

Speaking of coneflowers, when we first put in the Cantina Garden, I had to fill the beds up a bit at a time. One bed was left completely empty so I gathered up a bunch of wildflower seeds and just tossed them in. Apparently there were some coneflowers in the mix, and they have since grown into several nice-sized plants! Most of the other wildflowers came back for a year or two, then fizzled out. One thing that does reseed itself reliably, though never in the same location, is Asclepias, or Butterfly Weed. If you want butterflies in your garden, plant that! Cosmos is also supposed to be a good reseeder, and when I spotted this new Chocolate Cosmos the other day, I just couldn't resist. Hopefully it will produce lots of babies!

Favorite grassy things are Pink Muhly and Inland Sea Oats. Love the dark purple grasses too but, alas, they don't overwinter here.

As for seasonal color, well, therein lies the rub. In another life I was known for my beautiful container gardens and seasonal color changeouts, but all of the plants I used in them  are like Golden Coral for deer families. So these days I have to make do with those streaky-veined petunias, verbena, Profusion zinnias, snapdragons, dianthus, my wonderful perilla, the occasional purple grass, and lots of gray fuzzy or herby stuff.

So that's about it for my Hill Country favorites. I guess I'll close by sharing a few things I had to learn the hard way:

• Don't even try to grow veggies unless you've got a really tall fence with no gaps, and either automatic drip irrigation, or a friend who doesn't mind hiking up your long driveway and dragging a hose all over tarnation whenever you are away. Except maybe asparagus. Not very thirsty, and deer seem to think it's revolting. Maybe they don't like the way their pee smells afterwards.
• Recirculating fountains have to be refilled way more often than you'd think. Like every dang day.
• Don't plant anything that isn't cold hardy down to at least 20 F. Running outside in the dark and bitter cold to cover up a bunch of tender plants gets old fast.
• Don't expect to grow much around your oak trees, 'cept maybe yuccas, inland sea oats, and perhaps a bit of Turk's cap, if you're lucky.
• Never try to outwit an armadillo. It'll make you crazy.