On the second day of our celebration of spring weekend 2026, we attended the 35th annual RGV Big Bloom Home and Garden Show at the McAllen Convention Centre.
Even though this was the 35th year of the show, it was the first time we’d heard of it.
With over 200 vendors, this event featured literally everything from bedknobs to broomsticks and everything in between.
It was a wonderfully apt way to welcome spring.
This section had plants native to the RGVCreative use of BurlEvery cactus and succulent one could imagineFlower pot decorations Glass flowersHand carved military memorabilia Funky clothingMany food vendors, most with tasting samplesLawn furniture galoreBBQ’s and Smokers of every type and sizeApparently the leaves are used in India to make a med that lowers blood sugar This large outdoor courtyard was filled with plants and potsTalavera pottery – my favourite These ceramic plant pots caught my eyeHubs bought two for me 😊
Now that we know about this event, we’ll definitely attend again next year. It was a couple of well spent hours that truly brought home the feeling of spring.
Because the official first day of spring fell on a Friday, hubs and I decided to spend the weekend welcoming the new season by doing new things.
On Friday, we visited the Veterans War Memorialof Texas in McAllen, TX.
Hubs and I have passed this park many times over the years, but have never stopped to take it in.
The 3.5 acre site was opened in 1990 and pays tribute to the 1.4 million Americans who were killed or missing in action in every conflict the nation has been involved in.
There are 160 tall granite panels, each engraved with a plethora of historical information. To read it all, one would have to spend several hours there. Because it was a hot day, we browsed and read a bit from each plaza and I took photos of every block, so we could read them later.
Each plaza is made up of several granite panels arranged in a circle and has its own theme.
At the centre of the site is a 104 ft tall granite monolith. It’s named the American Spire of Honour.
There is a statue of a female officer at each entrance A Sobering experience Memorial to WAC and WAVE membersGeneral Bernardo de GalvezPatrick HenryGeorge WashingtonMartha Washington This shows the amount of engraving on each panel
This was well worth the stop and we’ll definitely visit again on a cooler day.
This is a late post for me. We had a busy day finding ways to celebrate the first day of spring.
We’ve actually decided to do something special each day over spring weekend 2026. More on that Monday.
Yesterday, I found a forgotten loaf of homemade focaccia bread in my freezer.
I defrosted it in the fridge overnight and this morning, set it out on the countertop to soften in the bag. When we got home from our day out of the park, I cubed up a slice for a decadent late afternoon snack. .
The slightly sweet and tangy notes of the aged balsamicvinegar floating in light olive oil made the perfect dip.
Spring weather in deep south Texasbasically happens all winter long.
One hint that spring is sneaking up on us here is the flush of white blossoms on our back yard orange tree.
Soon, we’ll be heading back to our home in Canada, where spring will become glaringly apparent by about mid April to early May.
There will likely still be snow when we arrive home in a couple of weeks. The nice thing about driving home vs flying is that we have time to acclimatize on the way north.
Jumping (via a flight) from the current mid 30° C (mid 90° F) temperatures in South Texas to our near or below freezing temps at home in Saskatchewan, Canada, would be too much of a shock to our systems.
On Wednesday this week, hubs and I hosted a dinner party for two couples in our park who we consider to be friends.
Sherry and Den are from Wisconsin and Sue and Pete from Minnesota.It was a bittersweet evening because Sherry and Den are moving to Italy soon. It’s always difficult to say goodbyes to friends, especially when you don’t know when or if you’ll ever see them again.
I decided to do a raclette meal, as it’s a fun way to dine and visit, while everyone prepares their preferred foods on the table top raclette grill.
I requested that our guests bring nothing besides their appetites because we had lots of everything.
Sherry did bring something … a beautiful bouquet of tulips. These have been my favourite flowers for a very long time because they’re the first sign of spring at home. Sherry had no way of knowing this, so that made the gesture all the more special.
I recall a nature photography class where the instructor (a professional photographer) said, when photographing birds, the key is to get a good shot of the eye and to be sure that the eye is at a junction of two grid lines. He said that this would give the most impact and that if that junction wasn’t set exactly in the photo, a post-processing crop could be done to make that happen.
I was fortunate that this pelican rested perfectly still on the pier railing, so that I could get close enough to set up the shot.
Most people with whom I have discussed pigeons hold them in low esteem. I have history with pigeons, or perhaps I would not even have noticed the small creature. The great gentleness I have found seems to have escaped most people’s notice. Of course, like most humans, I did not recognize their true worth at all until I got to know one very well.” ― Kathleen Knight, Sanctuary – Exploring the Magical World of Birds
Radically Retired 