Left: Children watch on as snake-wranglers demonstrate various tricks goading the rattlesnakes. Fangs have broken the balloons, foreground, during demonstrations at the annual Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater, Texas. The Texan cultural tradition, both horrifying and curiously fascinating, takes place during Springtime every March, when thousands of rattlesnakes are competitively captured each year and placed in pits inside the local arena, with wrangling demonstrations, milking, skinning, tables of bizarre crafts, the sale of deep-fried rattlesnake, and even a meat-eating contest involving Miss Roundup’s participation. Next photo: Individuality – each snake has its own unique markings and colors.
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Now that we are moving from Texas and may never live there again, I’m so glad we went. View more photos posted on March 15th 2009, the initial post of Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater TX.
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Green Pepper finally start growing in Texas when the weather cools. I like to cut the plants with veg still attached and bring them in as bouquet-arrangements combined with other veggies or seasonal flowering plants.
Kalanchoe, a large-leaved succulent that I take in during winter, when it suffers but survives enough to thrive for another summer. In ideal conditions the leaves can grow to about 8 inches long x 5 inches at the widest point.
Every year I have to actively discourage the fire ants from establishing their nest at our back door. The fire ants are always present, but two or three times a year they try to set up their home in ours. Rather than use commercial insecticides, baking soda and boiling hot water work great. If that doesn’t do the trick, bleach diluted in a spray bottle and pure tenacity do the trick. It may take days, going out every hour — each time a layer of ants comes to the surface I bombard them with one of the two solutions. They are not easily discouraged, but finally, living in our house is no longer an option for them…until next time.
