Quilt the Swamp

Quilt the Swamp is an annual exhibit at BREC Bluebonnet Swamp in Baton Rouge, LA. The exhibit featured small quilts inspired by nature. Many of the quilts were sewn by locals.

This picture (below) is my favorite! I thought it was the best quilt there. I especially love the Barred Owl at the top. The Bluebonnet Swamp has plenty of Barred Owls but I haven't seen one yet. After we looked at the quilts, we walked the nature trails and I spent the whole time looking for owls. I was sure I'd spot one since the trees are without leaves.....but I didn't see any!

The Bluebonnet Swamp also has tons of snakes on display! Thankfully they are kept in glass cages and can't get out. Most of the snakes are native non-venomous snakes, but some are venomous. The snake in this picture is venomous, I think he is a rattlesnake but I can't remember. All I remember is how big is he was! He was bigger than my arm!

These are newly built wood duck houses. I'm hoping the next time I visit I see some wood ducks!

I think this turtle is a box turtle, but I'm not sure. There is small pond near the front entrance parking lot and the pond is full of these turtles!

Spring pictures

January is a bleak month for gardening. In my yard, not too many plants are blooming and most plants haven't come out of winter dormancy. Basically I don't have anything to write about; so I've decided to post some flower pictures from a vacation we took to St. Louis, Missouri in August 2009. Enjoy!

Plants Don't Know Its Winter

A few days ago I noticed that several plants were breaking out of winter dormancy, which is not so unusual to see in south Louisiana as we have mild winters. Lately we've had day temps in the 60's and night temps in the 40's. Every now and then a cold front will move in and it will be cold, as in a day high of 40-50. Here are a few pictures from around my yard.

Here are pictures from two of my petunia hanging baskets. Last year's petunias set seeds and now the seeds are just beginning to grow. I planted these petunias 2 years ago and they always set seed! In a few months I'll have blooms.

This is the only flower in my garden! This is a dianthus and it mainly blooms in colder months.

Here is one of my hydrangeas putting out its first leaves of spring. The hydrangeas don't realize its still winter; I guess they have been fooled into thinking that it is spring since we haven't had very cold weather.

This is a new leaf bud on my Red Buckeye tree (Aesculus pavia). Its a slow growing tree and is always the first tree to leaf out in spring. Red Buckeyes also have very pretty red flowers. I'll be sure to post pictures of them whenever it blooms.

Fishing trip

Last Wednesday Dave and I drove up to Clinton, LA to our grandparent's camp. They own lots of land and the family members use it for hunting and fishing. The goal of our fishing trip was to break in our brand new baitcasting rod and reels that we bought at Cabelas. I wasn't expecting to catch anything because it was cold and windy and not a good day for fishing. We had been casting for about an hour when I caught a largemouth bass! I caught him on a white spinner bait and I'm guessing he weighted about 2-3 pounds. After the picture was taken, I threw him back in so he can grow big!

We didn't catch any more fish so we left around 1PM and headed to my grandparent's house. As soon as I got there, I showed them the picture of my fish. They said it was a pretty fish! I agreed....it had nice color and was fat. Then, we sat around the fireplace, talked, drank hot tea and ate cookies.

After that, we walked outside to visit my uncle's donkeys.

They love to be petted and I think they wanted some food, but I didn't have anything for them to eat.

Dave and I petted them awhile, then walked around to the other side of the barn. The donkeys followed us! They look so cute here.

We left the donkeys behind and headed for the back porch. We sat in rocking chairs and watched goldfinches root around in leaf litter. They got close to us and I was able to snap a few pictures. I'm not sure what kind of bird is in the last picture. Maybe its a female goldfinch.

Over the Levee

I live in south Louisiana, about 20 miles south of Baton Rouge. Saint Gabriel is a small town that sits across from the Mississippi River. We live on River Road. River Road is a very long road that follows the river as it winds its way down to the Gulf of Mexico. All along River Road is a levee that keeps the Mississippi River from flooding. Here are some pictures that I took this morning when I went for a walk up and over the levee and through the woods to the river.

The levee side that faces my house is nothing but grass, but the backside is solid concrete (for reinforcement).

Once you cross the levee, you will see a path that leads to the river.

I love cardinals. I spotted him while walking along the path and he stayed still long enough for me to snap his picture. He wasn't close to me...I had to use all of my digital zoom and most of my optical zoom! I also saw a female cardinal, but wasn't able to get a picture of her.

The cardinals were seen in the trees growing in this overflow pond. Every year the river floods (due to snow melt up north) and after the water recedes, a small pond is formed where the water wasn't able to drain out.

I'm not sure what kind of vine this is, but it was growing all around the pond.

Blackberry vines have pretty purple fall foliage.

The Mississippi River! Its very wide and deep here.

Fall color from sycamore trees. Sycamore trees are one of my favorite trees. I love how the bark peels off to reveal white wood underneath.

Brrr!

Its a cold day in south Louisiana....26 degrees this morning! The high is 55 and thats not too bad. When I walked outside this morning, there was a blanket of frost over the grass. I forgot to bring in some of my "not cold hardy" plants and I don't think they were able to survive the below freezing temps. I'm not too worried about them because they are easy to replace. I did remember to bring in my special plants, like plumeria, hibiscus, and a large jade plant. I keep them in the outside laundry room with the hot water heater and they are able to stay warm there. Thankfully, this cold snap is short lived and the temperature will be back in the high 60's by the end of the week!

Dianthus

Its been a while since I've written a blog, mainly because not much has been happening. Garden plants are blooming some, but they are not near as pretty as they were in the spring. The one plant that looks nice is my dianthus. Here it is in bloom!

One of the reasons I haven't blogged much is that I spend most of my time working at Cabelas. As Christmas approaches, Cabelas extends store hours to ensure that every customer has the opportunity to buy Christmas gifts or buy something for themselves. That also means that employees have to work long hours.

Christmas time = really good sales. Dave and I took advantage of the doorbuster sale this morning and bought two scopes (on sale $15 regular $50) and two rod/reel combos with a baitcasting reel. Thats a very nice reel! The rods were around $45 each, which is a nice sale. I'm hoping to catch a nice sized largemouth bass with my new rod.

Dave and I will soon be visiting the state parks for a mini vacation. We will catch fish, walk the wooded trails and photograph wildlife. I'm hoping for a barred owl picture! Stay tuned for state park blog posts in the weeks following Christmas!