Morning walk 4/25/2013

I didn’t walk yesterday except for walking around Walmart.  It turned cold, getting down to the high 40s and the wind was blowing making it seem even colder.  Too cold for me to walk.

It warmed up to the 60s this morning so I walked.  I went down to check on the hog trap and Jack is getting to be a real professional at trapping hogs.  For the second time in a row, he got two at once.

After checking on the hogs, I walked down to Paradise Cove to look for flat river rocks for my flower bed.  I found a few plus an interesting looking rock for one of my aquariums and one rock with fossils.  The green stuff in the picture is weeds, not flowers but I do believe the flowers are coming up a little.  I’m not going to pull anything until the flowers start blooming.  Since I don’t have a green thumb, it is hard for me to tell the difference between a flower and a weed unless it is blooming and then sometimes I still can’t tell the difference.  Some weeds have pretty flowers too.

I will try and take a picture of the fossil rock later.  It will take some time to set up the camera and lighting for a close up so you can see the fossils.

Morning walk 4/23/2013

This morning I walked down to Pebble Beach hoping to find some flat river rocks.  Last week I put in a new flower bed in the front of my house and planted some seeds that is supposed to grow flowers that attract Hummingbirds and Butterflies.  There is one place in the bed where the rain runs off the roof  and makes a hole in the ground where the water hits.  I want to put rocks there so it won’t make a hole.  I have a few there but need more. 

About half way to Pebble Beach, Mosquito joined me for the walk.  He walked with me a bit and then he was gone.  I am not sure where he went but a few minutes later, Blue joined me and then Mosquito came back.  We walked on down to the river and looked for rocks but didn’t find any that were suitable.  Tomorrow I will walk down to Paradise Cove and I am sure I will find some there.

On the way back I decide to go to the place that Darren cleared down to the river behind Margaret and Jack’s house.  I didn’t find any rocks down there either but did manage to get a photo of the huge Cottonwood tree.  I was only able to get about half of it in one frame. 

This is also one of the trees that has cactus growing in it.

Morning Walk 4/22/2013

This morning I first walked out to Jake’s Bluff so I could take a “before” picture of my next big project.  This huge tree fell and as you can see, it totally blocks the path to the bench I have set up on the bluff looking out over the river.  It is going to be quite a project since the majority of the tree is being held up by the grapevines down there and I will have to be very careful when I cut branches and make sure I am clear if the vines break and cause the tree to fall.  I don’t want to be buried under a tree.  I might wait until next month when Jackie gets back and let him help me.

After taking the picture I continued my normal walk and to check on the hog trap.  Jack is getting good at this.  He is catching two at a time now.

If he keeps catching them at this rate, we will be out of hogs in about 100 years or so.

Morning walk 4/21/2013

It was a nice walk this morning with the temperature in the mid 50s.  I walked down to the picnic area and then up to where the hog trap is and then I met the guests that are staying at Margaret and Jack’s house.  They were out for a walk and were hoping to shoot a hog.  I don’t think they were really expecting to shoot one at 9:00 am.

They asked about fishing and said they didn’t have any luck at Paradise Cove yesterday.  I took them to Margaret’s Path and showed them a couple of good spots along the Salado Creek.

We walked back to the house and I took them out to Jake’s Bluff and showed them the big tree that has fallen there but that is the subject of another day.

I did see some interesting flowers.  Does anyone remember these?

When we were Children, we used to pick them and blow on them and make the bloom fly off.

I saw these along the bank of the river at the Picnic area.  They look like flying saucers to me.

Morning walk 4/19/2013

When I started my walk this morning, the first thing I heard was a couple of dogs barking.  The sound wasn’t coming from Margaret and Jack’s house and it didn’t sound like either Blue or Mosquito so I figured it must be some of the dogs that get dropped off around here and end up running wild until they are killed by Coyotes or hogs.

Now some of you that live in the city will ask why we don’t call Animal Control and have them come out and pick up the dogs.  Animal Control will come out and pick them up IF we catch them and tie them to a place out on the main road.  We have done that in the past and it has taken them up to three days to make the pick up.  The last couple of times we have done it, we give them a deadline and then call our County Commissioner who has some pull because Animal Control is out here about a hour later.  The problem is catching the dogs.

Just like this morning when I walked down to where Jack has his hog trap.  There were two dogs being brave and raising the roof and barking at the hog that was caught in the trap.  The brave dogs ran off into the woods as soon as they heard me walk up.  I doubt the dogs would be that brave if the hog wasn’t loose.

Anyhow, Jack caught himself another hog.

Morning Walk 4/14/2013

I opened my garage door this morning and stepped outside to be surprised by the Owl flying from my right and then landing in a tree directly in front of me.  The Owl was about 50 feet away from me and just sat there looking around.  I got out my camera but wasn’t able to get a very good picture because I had to zoom in a lot and wasn’t able to hold the camera very steady.

Many of you are going to think I am a liar when I tell you that seeing an Owl is very rare around here.  This is only the second time I have seen one in the 15 years I have been here.  I hope to see them often and maybe get a better photograph next time.

 

After the Owl decided that the photo session was over, I continued my walk.  I hadn’t got very far when Jack drove up behind me in his truck.  He was going to check on his hog trap.  He told me that a friend had come and got the hog yesterday and he had re-set the trap.  I showed him the pictures of the Owl and he left and I continued my walk.

I walked down to the picnic area and saw this pretty flower growing on the bank of the river.

I don’t see a lot of red flowers growing wild and these were the only two I saw today.  I walked on up to the hog trap and saw that it was empty so Jack will have to put some more bait out this afternoon.

I walked on up the road to my normal turn around point and came back home without anything exciting happening.  It is going to be another great day.

Daily walk 4/13/2013

My normal morning walk turned into something a little different today.  Margaret and I went over to see Mom this morning and visited with her for a little while.  She is doing good and ask about her family and friends.  She knew who Margaret and I were this time.

After visiting with Mom, we went to the Japanese Sunken Gardens.  This is one of the most beautiful places in San Antonio, in my humble opinion.  It is a place where Mom and Dad used to take family when they would come to visit us back in the 40s and 50s.

 

This is Grandma Bradford and Aunt Maggie at Sunken Gardens many years ago.  This is what it looks like today.  The waterfall is new, still a beautiful place.

 

 

Morning Walk 4/12/2013

This morning I walked up from Four Corners to Scenic Overlook.  I thought that the San Antonio River would be flowing normal after the rains but as you can see, the gravel bar is still there and the river is still having to flow up the Salado Creek before finding a path back to normal.

I walked on down to Paradise Cove and looked for artifacts but didn’t find anything.  Jackie has done a good job of making some steps down to the gravel bar which makes it fairly easy to get up and down.  Thanks Jackie.

I walked around to what we call the Rapids.  Don’t laugh, it is the closest thing to rapids we have here.  It is a nice place to sit in on a  hot summer day and let the water flow over you.

I am always amazed at how this big stand of Bamboo got here.  It is the only place on the ranch that I am aware of where this stuff grows wild like this.

This picture is of the cliffs on the opposite side of the river.  You can see how high the water can get when we get a bad flood.  It is also the place where we think the people from San Antonio River Authority found the Wolly Mammoth bone several years ago.

I left Paradise Cove and walk through the Picnic area and checked on the Hog trap.  Jack has been baiting it for about a week and he finally got one.  It looks like it will go about 150 lbs.

Morning Walk 4/11/2013 Mission San Jose

Since the roads were muddy this morning, I decided to go to Mission San Jose for my morning walk.  It is a nice place for walking and watching people.  It was cold to me and I put on a light jacket.  You could tell who the tourists were from by the clothes they wore.  The Yankees had on shorts and the Texans had on coats.

As I was walking up to the Mission I noticed two ladies who were about to take a picture of each other standing next to the sign.  I offered to take a picture of the two of them together.  They appreciated the offer and both of them handed me their camera.  They thanked me and then another couple asked me to take their picture and then another couple.  This went on for about 10 different couples.  Once I turned around and found people taking pictures of me taking pictures.  It was funny and I was just trying to be Texas friendly.

I finally made it to the inside of the mission.  They have been working on the front of the Chapel for several months and have finally got it finished.  They did a  good job.

 

You can see on the right side of the photo where they are working on restoring the Rose Window.

Apparently the people working on the restoration had sense of humor based on the things they left behind.

Morning walk 4/9/2013

Mother Nature is coming out with some more wild flowers due to the little bit of rain we got last week.  We are supposed to get more rain this evening or maybe early tomorrow morning.  I hope the forecast is true this time.

These pretty white flowers are blooming along the driveways and roads around the ranch.

The San Antonio River’s normal flow is dammed up by gravel bars.

The San Antonio River is having to flow up stream into the Salado Creek before finding a path back to normal flow.  If we get the rain they are expecting, I am sure the river will clear out the gravel bar and everything will be back to normal.

Morning Walk 4/7/2013

This morning’s walk was uneventful for the most part.  The rain has helped the wild flowers a bit.

I think these are some of the most beautiful wild flowers.  I wish they would grow more in fields like the Yellow one or Blue Bonnets but I will take them as they come.

The Red Ants are coming out so I am guessing that it won’t be long before the snakes come out too.

Some creature didn’t make it.  I have no idea what it was.

The Cactus are starting to get new growth.  You can tell by the size and the different shade of green.  It always amazes me that the new growth is soft to the touch while you sure don’t want to be touching the older stuff.

It was a nice walk and hopefully it will be another great day for all.

Woody the Woodpecker

I was watching the news this afternoon when Margaret called me.  I stood up to answer the phone and looked out the window to see Woody the Woodpecker on a tree in my front yard.  I took  a few pictures through the window and then stepped outside to try and get a better photo but it flew off.   I don't see a lot of Woodpeckers around here so it was worthy of taking a picture and sharing it with you.

Morning walk 4/6/2013

The roads are drying out a little more but still muddy in places where the sun doesn't shine down.  I stepped outside and hear Turkeys and the Peacock but didn't see either.  As I was walking past the hunting blind that Darren put up several years ago, I thought about how ironic it was that the feral Hog tracks and rooting was taken place right in front of the blind.  I am not sure if you can see it in the picture but the ground is torn up in front of the blind from the Hogs rooting the ground or maybe they were just wallowing in the mud.  Either way, it was too bad for Darren that he wasn't in the blind and good for the Hogs that he wasn't.  Of course, if anyone had been in the blind, the Hogs would have been there either.  Funny how that works.

Lucky day for birds

This morning I got a rare sighting of the Peacock and then this afternoon, I see an Owl land in my front yard.  We hear the Owls all the time but rarely see one.  As a matter of fact, this is the first one that I have seen much less have time to get a picture.  A beautiful bird.

peacock 4/4/2013

The Peacock was around the house this morning.  I saw him out my front window and managed to get one picture before he fled.  He walked towards the back of the house but I didn't see him out my kitchen window.  I walked out the front door and quietly walked around but I didn't see him again.  He is a quick, big bird and beautiful.

Morning Walk 4/2/2013

 

Remember, you can click on the pictures to make them enlarge.

This morning I walk towards Pebble Beach.  It was 67 degrees out according to AOL but they didn’t tell me the humidly was going to be so high.  They are predicting 50% chance of showers this evening so I guess I should have known.  I went for my walk regardless of the high humidly.

As I was walking past Margaret and Jack’s house, I remembered that Darren had been out a few ago with his Bulldozer and had cleared off the land between the house and the river.  I hadn’t seen the results yet so I walked down.

This is the road from the house going towards the river.

At the bottom of the road looking to the left.

And looking towards the right.  Most of the clearing was done on the right side so that is where I walked.

Jack had Darren pile up the dirt as he plans on bringing his dump truck down and loading the dirt and then using it for fill dirt around his house.

 

To the left of the clearing, Darren cut a road down to the river bank.  I am happy to report that he didn’t get stuck this time.

Picture of the river looking right.

Picture of the river looking left.  It looks like a good place to go fishing.  We will have to check it out someday after the suns comes out and dries it out a  bit.  I sunk down a little when I got too close to the bank.  I am sure that the rain they got in north, west and east San Antonio last week caused the river to rise and got the bank wet causing me to sink.  No, I didn’t get stuck.

After that walk and I must say it is quite a walk.  The river bank is at least 40 feet down from the house so walking up and down was like spending time at the gym on a stair stepper.  I walked on down to Pebble Beach and saw these pretty flowers on the way.

Mission San Juan

They have completed the restoration of Mission San Juan.  They are still working on the landscaping but the Chapel is finished.  They have also opened the walking and bicycle trails along the San Antonio River.  I didn’t go that route today.

This is near the new entrance to the park.

They painted the Chapel but left the rest in it natural state.  They said that there was no plans to do the other buildings and there were no plans to paint any mosaics on the Chapel like might have been painted by the Indians.

The bells are still there.

Inside the Chapel.

Some of you might remember the huge crack in the wall of the Chapel.  It has been repaired.

I took the walk next to the Chapel that has been there for a long time.  I am sure many of you remember it.  There were not any flowers out this time but this little fellow wanted his picture taken.

Then I came home and found this little guy waiting on my gate to greet me.  It has been a good morning.