We have about three weeks left here in South Texas before we start our trek home to Canada for the summer. Where did that time go?

There were so many things I wanted to accomplish this winter that are very delayed or just didn’t get done. We were so busy working on the house and enjoying time with our many visitors, that lots of things got away on me.

I absolutely need to use up whatever pantry supplies that I can so we’re not wasting. I’ll be baking almost every day now and treating friends, neighbours, and the park staff.

Something else that’s very delayed, but finally “in the works”, is some palm husk painting. I took up this new hobby last winter, and several friends here in our park collected and delivered husks to me over this winter. I’ve decided to prep them all at once vs one or two at a time, in hopes of speeding up the process. I’d like to get all of these done and sealed so they hold up well over the summer here.

The first step was to scrub each one with a wire brush to remove all debris. Next, I washed all of them with warm soapy water and a softer brush, followed by a thorough rinse. Then, they were all laid outside to dry for 48 hours. I was very lucky that those 48 hours weren’t windy, or who knows where these would have ended up.

I know there’s a never-ending supply, but my wish was to honour the people who put the thought and effort into collecting and then delivering these to me.

I took some prepped husks home with me this past summer to practice. You can read about that experience here.

Photo Note: Our concrete patio in the back needs lots of work (another year’s project). The many flaws and discolourations in the cement look nasty and distracted from the subjects in the original photo, so I tried to edit out as much as I could in the Touch Retouch app. This app works very well to erase things you don’t want in a photo, but, like everything, it takes practice. I didn’t take as much time with it as I normally would, but it did help considerably.

“He who every morning plans the transactions of that day and follows that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life.”

Victor Hugo