Nikki's Photography

Scarlet Runner bean vines overtake this abandoned barn in Denton Texas

It’s amazing that doves have survived to evolve as far as they have. For one thing, their nests are flimsy. They are also more comfortable nesting openly near humans than any other wild bird, at least here in Dallas.

Today this chick and it’s parent were sitting on the curb beside a very busy street. When I came too close the mother tried to fly across the road, and tried to appear injured as if to fool me. Uhh, better to create a less exposed, less vulnerable nest in the first place, Mama!!! Judging from the experience of doves nesting in the wreath at our back door last year, this chick is not ready to fly yet either. Perhaps they both fell from a nest in the tree. I wonder what their chances are for survival with all the cats, dogs, people and vehicles in the vicinity?

A little Wren chirps, perched on our fence every afternoon. Soft pink Myrtle trees bloom in the background.

The Sunflower plant has so much character. Here the flower heads droop with the weight of seeds against the backdrop of a spectacular sunset — silhouettes nodding and swaying against the sky. Amazing!

I was just coming home from shopping so I missed capturing the double rainbow arching over our neighborhood after a short storm. Both ends were visible, and rare sights like that are so electrifying! I hurried home to get the camera, then still managed a few shots of the golden glow accentuating everything as the sunset.

After two weeks away, one of the first things I did was inspect the garden, most curious about the cucumbers, because it’s the first year they’ve survived this far into the season. There I was at midnight, feeling around in the dark, and found a cucumber that had grown from 1/2 inch long to 8″L X 3″ wide during that short time. I expected to find a virtual Jack And The Bean Stalk situation this morning, but all the other cukes are average-sized. The heart-shaped cookie cutters I placed around some veggies have fallen off, so will have to try again; now able to monitor the progress of growth.

I have yet to see a tornado in Texas since we moved there, yet here is the first one I’ve ever seen, about to touch down in Airdrie, near Calgary Alberta while we’re on holidays. Watching it form is surreal, and though it’s not far away I don’t feel in any danger. It formed a perfect funnel then I watched it pull back again, spawning a skinny long string-like tornado, then dissolve. The associated clouds are ominous and dark in contrast to the sunny neighborhood where I’m standing. I learned later this afternoon that the tornado touched down in a farmer’s feild for a few moments.

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Arbutus trees, first thumbnail, only grow in the Pacific Northwest, here on Salt Spring Island, B.C. and in parts of China, nowhere else in the world. They are popular carve-your-name-in-the-trunk trees because the bark heals into a soft well-defined scar. A few trees on the island have been abused like this. Still, they couldn’t take the beautiful away! Groups of three and four Fluted Swallowtails spiraled in and out of the sunlight as I walked down the mountain road on Salt Spring Island. Fortunately one briefly settled on a fir tree.

Everything in the garden looks 10 times as beautiful with water on it.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…The Good: A beautiful orange flowering plant called a Sun Star. All the little unexpected surprises, like this toad that I never would have seen if it had not popped out of the hole at the exact moment I happened to be looking there. The clay container with a hole in the center is designed to coil and contain garden hose, but being used as a plant pot. The Bad: having no choice about mowing the lawn on a 98*F day, and keeping edges formally trimmed because the neighbors have it that way. Also Bad: Fire ants that bite before you know you’re standing on a nest with bare feet……but Good: Fire ants keep the tough Texas soil aerated. The Ugly: me with ant-bite blisters, taking photos, mowing and edging the lawn on a 98*F day.

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