My sister has this noise she makes sometimes called her "Powerless Noise." It's a bit of a raspberry mixed with a sigh. That's precisely what I think of July and August, the two longest months of 2011. Do I really want to travel back there again? Will you venture with me? You're a brave soul. Well, then . . . onward! The hard times were just beginnin' on July 5th. In my most recent post, I stated we received good rain on Easter Sunday and then none after. Well, then it rained 1.24 inches in June, and it was over 100F for much of that month. The above one hundred temps continued through July. The caption of the photo below: "A touch of blue makes it cooler." Not much cooler I can tell you. Still, we weren't worried. We should have been. By July 9th, I complained I'd lost my...

Well, turn out the lights, the year is nearly over. Time to think of new things and see what changes occurred last year at the Red Dirt Ranch. Last January, I was dreaming of spring and greenhouses when I heard a bird sing. A bird is singing right outside my window even now. I still don't have the greenhouse, but I am a lot closer to my savings goal than I was last year. I shared a few writing tips which might or might not be helpful. It was a cold January unlike this December which has been so mild I feel like an Austin blogger. In early February, we had more snow than I've ever seen. Twelve point five inches--fell at one time on my land. It caused our temperatures to plummet to negative 17F the following morning. I've never been so cold, and neither had my crapemyrtles. Every...

Sometimes, projects don't go as planned. Bulbs don't grow at the same rate. Sometimes, houseplants die in their containers. If the latter happens, put them on the compost pile where they can live again as Carol of May Dreams Gardens suggests during what she terms "houseplant season." Amaryllis don't bloom. I have one amaryllis which hasn't even grown. Bought three at the same time. Planted them in the same container. Had this fantasy of three, tall, green stalks topped with gorgeous, red flowers. It was a firm bulb. Still looks good, but it's just sitting there, not moving, and not going according to my master plan. Frustrating, because I was going to photograph it for an article. As you can see, this container is so not article ready. Sometimes, I know why. Other times I don't. Nature is a mystery. It follows its own rhythms kinda like Eddie Van Halen...

Kay from Georgia Girl with an English Heart asked yesterday if I'd linked to my gluten-free, dairy-free, lemon squares recipe. Well, I realized I hadn't. So, just in time for Christmas baking, here it is. Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Lemon Squares adapted from Gluten-Free Baking Classics, by Annalise G. Roberts, one of my favorite cookbooks. Crust 1 cup of gluten free flour mix. You can either use the brown rice flour mix in the cookbook--which is excellent, or I like Pamela's Products Amazing Wheat Free & Gluten-free Bread Mix, which is also dairy free. Pamela's Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix, has buttermilk so I can't eat it, but if you can, I say go for it. If you do use either of the baking mixes, you can leave out the salt and xanthan gum. Both mixes have them. 1/4 cup organic sugar. I use organic because of chemical overload. 1 teaspoon xanthan...