The Unbelievable Chalk Man!

This man is artistically talented beyond the 

visual boundaries of sight...and he does it all

on sidewalks with colored chalk!!

The depth perception he gets on a flat surface boggles the mind...a fantastic artist!

My Deck Garden 2016

In an earlier blog I posted the damage a severe hailstorm did to our home and my deck garden. I replanted and replaced all the shattered pots and it has responded. I have been taking photos of it and the birds and squirrels that visit.

We have had an unusual wet Spring with a number of severe thunderstorms with hail around the area on several occasions and I'm hoping I luck out and don't have to deal with that damage again...but am very happy we are finally out of our drought and our aquifer is 10 foot above average for the first time since 2010. Yea!

Derby Day At Retama

Kentucky Derby Day At 
Retama Park 
In San Antonio

My son, daughter-in-law and Several friends and I have been going to

 Retama Park Raceway every year on Derby Day the last few years and that's usually the

only time I go. I most often come home with less

money than I took but I consider it worth the fun we always have every year.

Today it reminded me of a fiesta. There was a big carnival for the kids and lots of 

food and craft booths scattered outside and inside.

Everyone has their favorite tracks to bet on simulcast tracks all across the country so we need  lots of programs. Mine are usually the tracks running I'm closest to the monitor to...

easier to see my money run down the drain.

I have no idea what started the big fancy hat tradition on Derby Day but it's alive and well. This year most of the hats appeared to be homemade and they were usually very large  and creative. The blue one had twinkling lights. All the ladies I asked for a photo

were very sweet and accommodating when I told them I might do a  Derby Hat Day blog.

This sweet young teenager eating lunch with her Mom was very proud to show off the one she totally made from scratch with paper, fresh flowers, and net. I thought the little racehorses surrounding the brim were so sweet and that fit her shy personality perfectly. 

Thanks Ladies for your kindness in happily

sharing your lovely creations with us.

The favorite Nyquist won the Derby.

Texas Hail Storm

Since we had such a mild South Texas winter I was able to plant my annuals early and had the whole deck garden done by the middle of March. I left for Austin the middle of April to spend the week helping my daughter finish up her taxes. The night I left our neighborhood had golf ball to baseball size hail and I returned to this dismal scene below.

14 of my flower pots were totally shattered and some of the others damaged as were a lot of the plants. Only the row along side of the house where the red petunias look happy survived the deluge. I was amazed at the damage hail that size could cause in a very short period of time. Two of our family cars were totaled and the other damaged but worth repairing. We were lucky we only had a couple windows broken, our neighbor had ten. Our two skylights shattered and the roof will have to be replaced. Below are some close ups of how much force that ice came down with that shredded six of our window screens.

I was so pleased with how well my patio tomatoes were doing. I've already replaced these and the poor pepper plants.

...and the Marigolds and pot.

I think this purple plant will survive...the pot not.

I think I'll buy a red pot to replant the miniature Christmas tree in that escaped much damage. That should cheer me up.

The stone that hit this one had to have been big because the hole is very deep in the dirt as were a few others. 

I was sad for awhile but these are all material things and can be replaced. My grandson was very sad about his beloved high performance turbo charged muscle car he kept polished like a mirror was totaled, but fate was kind to him. He works at a car dealership, between his college courses, and as luck would have it, right after he started a state wide search for a replacement, a nice dentist traded in one where he works exactly like my grandson was looking for that has been kept clean as a whistle also, with no dings, and grandson seems even prouder of the new silver one than the demolished black one he cherished. It has even more bells and whistles he likes. Seeing him that happy took all my sadness away in a hurry.

I am very grateful no one in the storm area was injured, though every roof in our huge neighborhood has to be replaced...and a lot of windows and car windshields....

and I'm certain flower pots.