Think Spring! Mid-February in Galveston

For my northeastern friends who are watching the snow fall, grow deeper and deeper, and prepare to drift, here's what's going on down here in Galveston today.

The orange harvest is nearing an end; as you can see, the competition for the last of the oranges is heating up between the critters and me;  this one the critters got before me, leaving only the empty shell.  Sorry to say, there are quite a few empty shells both on the ground and some still attached to the tree. 

There seems to be some disagreement between the thermometers;  under the tree it's reading 38;  the metal thermometer on the deck says it's 34.  Or maybe they are both right and there's that much of a difference between the two.

There are always some flowers blooming here;  how about the blue rosemary, the orange violas, and the more standard variety of narcissus now coming on full bore.

 The vegetable garden has some cold-tolerant goodies coming on too, here are my sugar peas just coming into full production.  Yum, the bigger pods will be part of lunch today:

Zootie and the birds have their own issues.  Here she is staunchly defending the bird feeders;  and you can see the birds staring back from the safety of the neighbor's orange tree or giving her some taunting chatter from the telephone wire 20' above her head.

 Doesn't take long after Zoot comes back inside for the birds to come back in droves, the smaller birds kicking seeds out of the feeders and the bigger ones, the pigeons and doves, to take up pecking on the ground. Squirrels participate too, it's a wild place I live in.  ????



And one more for you shivering folks, here are Ellen and Zootie taking in the Mardi Gras parade (Krewe of Barkus and Meoux) in 2011.  Ahhh, think of a warm day in the sun with the Gulf of Mexico in the background.  And that was February also.