I hopped out of the car on a Hill Country back road this weekend in Austin to photograph some longhorn cows. I looked down at one point and this unusual flower(?) was growing out of the dry, cracked earth.

I thought this spiky cactus looked amusing in front of this sign.

I'm down in Austin with Jim for a rare long weekend alone together. This morning we went to Country Living's 1st annual Austin Fair. They had two longhorn steer in a round pen, but this one in the photo was the most spectacular looking steer I have ever seen. He was not too happy about his current living conditions though, and if you got close enough to the fence, he would tap his horn on the ground, paw the ground and charge the fence. As we were leaving we couldn't help but notice they were putting an extra barrier up to protect the public.

A birdhouse in the morning light hangs in our red maple tree that's just come out in leaves.

My white bleeding heart is blooming. I don't know why I prefer them to my red, but they are my favorite.

I have two apple trees right outside my back door. They are Columnar apple trees, so they grow tall and straight unlike traditional wide apple trees. I moved them from my old house where I'd planted them before I married Jim, which would make them almost 20 years old now and at least 15 feet tall. Goats LOVE apple trees, so last year they took a real beating. So far this year they are looking amazing.

I took this picture 3 years ago, during India's first year at Teton Valley Ranch Camp. It was the end of the girl's season, and her roping rope and well-worn roping gloves were tied with her dirty bandana. The backdrop of the beautiful wood log cabin added to the beauty.

I spent the last 2 days in upstate Connecticut and New York revisiting 2 of the 3 boarding schools India is trying to decide between attending next year. I had never seen a vulture in Connecticut in my life until last year. I think today alone we probably saw 10 or 12, and they all weren't Turkey Vultures; about half were Black Vultures, which are supposed to be rare around here. Was I just having a lucky day in all of these sighting, or are vultures invading the Northeast?

My three youngest kids attend Teton Valley Ranch Camp in the summer. It's about 1-1/2 hours outside of Jackson in Dubois in a stunning area. This photo was taken as we were driving out of the long, 4 mile driveway one afternoon. Not a bad view.