What does a workamper do all day anyway?

Soooooo, just so ya know, today is July 31st, and we have left the Refuge.  (Insert frowny face here, and yes, it was a bit more emotional than we/I had anticipated.)  But, since I hadn't really been keeping you up to date while we were ON the Refuge, I thought I would share a bit of what we were doing during the time of self-isolation and quarantine.  (Jennifer, please be patient, you've already seen most of these photos, but none of our friends have...)   Btw, let's all welcome our Volunteer Coordinator to the blog - hellloooo, Jennifer!  And Candice, too...our neighbor from Crystal River, FL, whom we miss dearly - howdy, Girlfriend, 'sup??!!  Ok, let's get back to work now...  So, the Refuge Visitor Center has been closed since mid or end of March (can't remember, and it really doesn't matter, it's been quite a while now), and the staff has mostly been working from home.  I say mostly, 'cuz if you're a fireman or maintenance specialist, it's darned near impossible to telecommute, and so they have been coming onsite to do their work.  However....their work does not include making things presentable and pretty, sooooo, that falls to the volunteers! The Russian Sage bush is way overgrown and the butterfly garden is full of weeds, so off to work we go! 

And here is the railing - all poopy and chipped, and just generally not pretty.  Since I have to use it to get up the steps, I wanted to spiff it up some.

And so, we waited till a Friday night, prepped it with our fancy recycled box spatter shields, and our spray painter extraordinaire got busy.

When all was said and done, it was shiny and looked brand new!

The next morning we trucked on over to Marble Falls, about 23 miles away (only 11, if you go by crow), and picked me up a hand pruner to make it easier for me to work in the flower bed.  That's the closest Lowes Home Improvement store, and the ACE Hardware that is in Lago Vista doesn't have a pruner worth a dime.  We know, 'cuz we bought the one they had, and pardon my French, but it sucked.  It got returned the day after it was purchased.  While we were at Lowes, we found a rack of scrawny, half-dead, dried up tomato plants.  For a dime each.  Ever searching for the perfect homegrown tomato (yes, STILL), Driver just couldn't resist.  We came home with two!  And a couple bags of compost and dirt.  There was a discarded pallet on the burn pile, so we salvaged that and turned it into a planter box.

And planted our 20 cent tomato plants.

Later that night, we still had some energy left, so we signed up for a Zoom square dance.  This would be our second one, so, thankfully, we were better than before.  We still had a time or two where we stepped out of camera range, and while muted, we had a discussion about where our phantom corners should have been.  Darn those phantoms, they could sure use a few lessons!  LOL, probably us, too, ya think?

Remember that Quilt of Valor I did a dedication block for?  If you don't just click on that there link, and you'll go right to the post that contains the original block.  I'll wait.  Well, apparently, it, and its quilt, turned out so well, the maker was tasked with recreating the whole thing for another Veteran.  In a month's time. So she sent me some more fabric, and as soon as it was received, I whipped out this little puppy.  I thought maybe we should change up the motif at the top, to more accurately reflect the land-based Army, rather than the ocean waves of the Navy, but she said the stars and scrolls were find, so who am I to argue.  Besides, I still had all the threads selected and readily available, so, BAM, plug in the new dude's name, and Save and stitch away.

The next day, or maybe another day, I don't really remember, but it was a working day, so it was Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, we decided we were going to work on an area of the Refuge that was open to the public, but was about 15 miles from our campsite area.  To get there, we traveled down Cow Creek Road, and we got to see this beauty.  

and a baby....

So, you see here, there is a sign posted, suggesting that the area behind the sign was closed to the public.  No trails were here at Shin Oak Observation Deck.  This area is basically just a gazebo to shelter the crowds from the hot sun or sporadic rain showers that might pop up.  The area is dedicated to the Black Capped Vireo, a small and endangered songbird that nests exclusively in this area of central Texas. People come from all over the world to catch a glimpse of this shy little bird.  We never did see or hear one. 

But, we did fix it so that people would know to stay out of their territory.

While we were there, we got to see one of the Prickly Pear flowers up close and personal.  (Actually, Driver got REALLY up close and personal with one of the prickly parts, and it's a good thing I have tweezers.....)

This is how we found the boardwalk to the Observation Deck...

And this is how we left it...

This is how the parking lot looked when we arrived (you see all that trash around the edge??)...

And this is how it looked after we did our thing...

Back up at Warbler Vista, another area that is open to the public, we found another hidden sign....that we uncovered...

And, again, back at the Visitor Center, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the hedge trimmer to take care of these bushes around the foundation...

It was hard, strenuous work...

but so very rewarding in the end...

And, speaking of rewards...remember back when I was making all those masks, and I got a kit of 50 from our MagneShade friends?  I had agreed to sew them all up and return some or all back to them in North Carolina.  Well, the kit came, and I put out a Facebook notice to all our friends that I would have masks available in a week or so, and just let me know how many they needed of blue or pink.  John and Lora asked for 2 (I'm pretty sure I made them 2 each, but it's been so long, I just can't say for sure) to be sent to them at Happy Trails, in Arizona.  They offered to pay me for them, but, since this whole project was a charity thing, I didn't feel right accepting money for the masks or shipping.  I suggested they just buy lunch for a cop or a bag of dog/cat food for their local animal shelter.  Well, in typical Lora fashion, she told me that there would be a surprise waiting for me at the Marble Falls Post Office when we arrived here.  It.Never.Came.  First we went there (remember, it's not even close!), TWICE, and there was never anything there....and finally, we started calling.  And calling..and calling.  And there was never anything there for us.  Eventually, Lora ordered another surprise for us, and lo and behold, this one ARRIVED. And, boy, what a surprise it was!  While we were in Sedona, AZ, we had the pleasure of tasting freshly-squeezed Prickly Pear lemonade, remember?  I rather liked it, Driver was on the fence about it. (but if you pressed him, he would admit to liking it better than the mineral water lemonade of Mineral Springs, CO) Well, now I can make my OWN Prickly Pear lemonade!  Or, pour the syrup over pancakes.  Or make my PBJs with the jelly she so generously sent.  Oh my, what a prize this surprise was!  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lora and John!!

So now you've seen a little of what we did the first couple of weeks we were on the Refuge.  There's much more to be done, so stay tuned!

Stay well and safe out there!

All Around Camp and All in a Day's Work

Greetings once again!  See, I went quiet for a couple of months, now we have all this catch up to do!  So, I left you with a photo of Bailey, trying to get us to play Giraffe Toss with her, now here's another one, I guess I caught her mid-yawn.  This was all part of a 10 day challenge on Facebook.  She does look fierce, doesn't she?  Ha.  We know better.

Out on the trails, we find cairns periodically.  We have always enjoyed the creativity of others, and we often add to the pile, or create one of our own.  However.  We are now on Federal Property.  And operating under the auspices of Federal Agents of the US Fish & Wildlife Service.  And as such, we have a responsibility to discourage and destroy things of this nature.  :(  Bummer.  I know people put a lot of effort into building these, and they're often engineering marvels.  However.  One good, swift kick, and they rocks are scattered, creating more natural havens and refuges for the woodland nymphs and fairies critters that call these parts home.

Check out the snake charmer on that cutie!  Yes, that is my new collapsible walking stick, fully extended, in snake charmer mode.  We hope I don't have to use it for anything but climbing the hills.

These Ash Junipers are commonly known as Cedars, are the exclusive nesting grounds (as in, world-wide!) of the Golden-Cheek Warbler. They have been reclassified and are no longer on the Endangered Species list, but they are still pretty rare.  They use the strips of bark in nest building, so these stands of cedar are pretty important.  We have been here two months now, and we've seen (and heard) lots of birds, but we have not yet been privileged to spot a Golden Cheeked Warbler.

That's Lake Travis off to the left there...

And, what have we here?  This is a clump of daddy-long leg spiders.  I don't know what a clump of 'em is called, nor does Google, apparently.  They freaked me the Hell out, let's just leave it at that.  I'm going to try to embed my little video in here, and I hope it plays.  It's frikkin' freaky and I left the area fully freaked out.  Of course, I want you to share equally!

On the way out to Doeskin Ranch, we have the opportunity to travel Cow Creek Road.  Wonder why they call it Cow Creek?  Wonder no longer...

Once we got to Doeskin Ranch, we started hiking and got to see some more of the beautiful wildflowers of Hill Country.  I thought these were milkweed pods, but they're very low to the ground, as opposed to on tall stalks.  Further research determines them to be Verbesina Virginica.  Frostweed, to you and me. And, YES.  They exude a sticky, gummy sap that is white, just like milkweed. They are of special value to honeybees and butterflies.  But, they ARE sticky!  So, nooo, I won't be taking any seeds home with me.  Yes, I tried.  No, I couldn't stand the sticky.

This is an oooooold corn crib and Driver just couldn't resist opening the door to see what (or who) was inside.  Spoiler Alert....no one.

And this little Texas Spiny Lizard was just about invisible!

Off to the right, you can see the "balconies" or terraces of rock for which this area was named. Yep, we're headed up there.

But first, a water crossing.

It's quite the view from the top....

Our shadow selves were glad to take a break.  And very glad we had brought bottled water along...

Ah....we thought we were at the top, but, we were wrong.

Now we're REALLY at the top.  That IS a sigh of relief you heard.

And now we can head back down, right? 

We don't know why there were clumps of cedar stumps all along the trailsides.  We asked our boss upon our return (we didn't call here from here because THERE IS NO CELL RECEPTION!  ACK!!), but she didn't know either. It's not something we'll ever know, I suppose.

Ever on guard...boy, does she have it made.  All she has to do is wait for us to come home and feed her!

Saturdays, down in Cedar Park, by the mall (remember them?  I can't tell you the last time we went to a mall!), they hold a Farmers' Market.  It was nice to see masks required, as well as hand sanitizer stations at each end and the pavement marked off for social distancing while standing in lines.  Most stands were situated such that only one shopper could enter at a time (two, if they were together).

Back to work on Monday, Driver finally gets to run the Z-track, zero turn mower.  With a 60 inch deck!  Can you say, Happy as a clam in mud?

Hi Ho, Off to Work I Go!

Now here is a much better picture of a painted bunting.  Sadly, he had flown into our car window and stunned himself so badly that he couldn't move, even though I was close enough to touch him.  We fretted over him for a few minutes, I texted the boss to see if we had a rehabber on site or nearby (no answer), debated putting him in a box....in the end, we left him alone, and after a couple of hours, he had flown away.  At least, that's what I choose to believe.  But isn't he beautiful?  Yes, I know it's definitely a HE.  The females are not nearly as colorful.

So that's all for today....stay tuned for more adventures of Balcones coming up soon.

Stay safe, stay well, MASK UP!