Crepe Paper Petals

If you’ve seen my drought pictures recently,
you might have an idea why this is a beautiful little scene to us(!)

We woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of raindrops on the roof!
The thunderstorm didn’t last long,
but we got maybe half an inch of rain –
the most we’ve had in quite a while.

This morning the ground under the crepe myrtle trees was decorated
with what look like little crepe paper petals washed off the branches by the rain.
If you look closely, you’ll also notice that the driveway still looks damp
instead of dry and dusty, as usual!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank you, God, for Your refreshing gift of rain.
Thank You that, in Your time, You will send us more!
♥
…and thank you all for stopping by to visit Little Things.
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Weekly Photo Challenge: Flowers

This is a re-post of some pictures from our yard last summer,
when Southeast Texas actually had enough rain to sustain normal blooming habits of the crepe myrtle!
They are very heat tolerant trees,
but during this year’s drought their blooms have been smaller and less prolific than usual.

Some people spell the name “crape” myrtle (the English version); others use “crepe” myrtle (from the French)…
and many people around the world call the trees by their botanical name “Lagerstroemia”!

I have always preferred the “crepe” spelling,
because the frilly edges of the tiny blossoms remind me of the decorative edges of crepe paper.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank y’all for stopping by to visit “Little Things.”
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!
♥
I hope you have the beauty of flowers in your life –
whether growing outside your window,
cut and nestled in a container of water in your home,
or portrayed in artwork and fabric in your environment.
Life began in a garden…
and flowers have always been God’s natural gift of beauty for all mankind to enjoy!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A Study in Contrast

Sorry, y’all! I really had not planned to publish another blog post about this drought!!
However, the longer I sit and watch our cypress trees turn brown,
the more I am compelled to take pictures of how they are changing!
This is how they looked three months ago, in May.

This is how our cypress trees looked today.
Sometimes, even late in the year, they remain green.
We’ve never before seen their leaves turn brown and fall off in June, July, and August!
(The 107.3 was the temp on our back porch this afternoon.)
Still no rain!!

Before I sign off,
I want to give credit to our beautiful crepe myrtle trees,
which continue to add color and ‘life’ to our landscape!
They are suffering and don’t have as large blooms as they would have with plentiful rainfall,
but they do ‘keep on giving’ — and we surely are enjoying their beauty!

If you’d like to see more photos of these showy trees,
here are a few links to posts from last summer:

CREPE MYRTLE

CREPE MYRTLE BARK

NATCHEZ CREPE MYRTLE

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank y’all for stopping by to visit.
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)…
and a little beauty, too!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Too Bloomin’ Hot…

 …but still bloomin’ !!!

In spite of the continued intense heat and drought in our area, there are a few specimens that just keep on keepin’ on.
One of the showiest and most prolific is the crepe myrtle.

These are all pictures from an early evening walk a few days ago. 
When it’s so hot like this and I’m carrying a water bottle,
I usually don’t fool with taking the camera along. 
We usually wait ’til almost time for the sun to go down,
so there’s really not enough light for much good photography. 
However, here are a few snapshots taken with my camera phone, to document our little outing. 
I will try to get clearer pictures of the flowers later with my camera.

This is a “little” shot of the moon, just to set the scene.

Now back down to earth and the reality of this persistent drought!

We’ve been watching this pear tree for a while. 
It seems to have held up pretty well with such a long period of upper 90 to 100+ temperatures.
You might say it’s growing ‘roasted pears’(!)

We were amused when we came across this tree, which seems to be pointing to the sky. 
The top is rotten, and there are a number of woodpecker holes around that upper part of the trunk. 
It looks like some of the holes were probably pecked after the tree began to deteriorate. 
I wonder what the woodpecker thought when he had drilled and drilled his beak into that tree –
only to come out on the other side and see blue sky!!

Back home now, and entering the gate by the side of the house.
We have two confederate jasmine vines that cover an extensive area of our side fence.
We don’t notice these seed pods every year, but here are a couple that have appeared recently.
I hope they will remain on the vine to dry and turn brown.
If so, there will be some very interesting-looking seeds inside,
and I hope to be able to show you pictures of them later.

It’s said that “good fences make good neighbors.”
That’s especially true if there’s something pretty blooming on both sides!
Our side of the fence has the confederate (or star) jasmine;
our neighbors have pink honeysuckle on their side.
(Just for the record, we are blessed to have good neighbors!!!)

I’m always happy when I see the first pink blooms peeking up over the fence. 

This is a close-up of my favorite color of honeysuckle!

One more picture from that evening — a bright yellow hibiscus that we purchased to plant along the back fence.
We have another hibiscus that seems to be thriving in the heat (as long as we keep it watered)…
so we decided to try this one, too.
We both really like the brilliant color!

By this time, the mosquitoes had gotten really hungry and obnoxious,
so it was time to call it a night and get back into the air-conditioning!!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank y’all for stopping by to visit.
May your life be filled with lots of little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Natchez Crepe Myrtle

Crepe Myrtle Bark

  

This is the second in a series of three ‘crepe myrtle’ posts that I’ve been working on.  If you missed the first one, you can find it here.  I hope to publish the third entry soon.

 

After a crepe myrtle tree has reached maturity, the bark will slough off to reveal the smooth and sinewy texture of the wood beneath.  This exfoliation process will often leave a “paint-by-number” design as the dead bark peels away.

 

So — as you can see — sunburned bodies aren’t the only things that peel in the summertime !! 

 

Crepe Myrtle