Friday, November 2, 2007

Movies and Gardens and Pets. Oh My!

Last weekend a friend and I went to the Alamo Draft House to see the movie, Lars and the Real Girl. It was a sweet, quirky movie and of course the Alamo Draft House is always a fun, uniquely Austin place to visit. If you've never experienced ADH, please give it a try.


After the movie my friend introduced me to a great shop called Ten Thousand Villages in Austin. As we walked from our parking space on The Cir we noticed this lovely xeriscaped garden...


These look like orange cosmos to me.



This tall mystery plant was popular with the butterflies.

As was this milkweed...

Their agave looked healthy and beautiful!

At the end of the day we left for our separate homes and families. Awaiting my friend were her two Dachshunds. Both finished in a 2006 Weiner Dog Race in Buda Texas. Please note their synchronized tail-wagging...


Meanwhile my Slacker Siamese seemed to say, "Oh. Were you gone?"...

I suspect Lily has been raiding the fridge in my absence. Oh, the Humanity! ;-)

With friends, families, gardens and pets, life is good.

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." ~ Marcel Proust

10 comments:

Priscilla George said...

I have yet to visit Austin. The mystery plant is a Hyacinth Bean Vine. Xeriscaping is so very interesting. The wiener dogs are cute and so are you cats.

Mary said...

Thanks for the tour in Austin. My daughter's boyfriend was raised there.

I love the dogs at the window - cute! And the cats? I miss them. We haven't had cats in our house for several years. Love em!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Darling pet photos.

I would love to be able to have agave grow in my garden. I have one that I bring inside every year. It doesn't do well becasue of lack of light.

Someone told me that it would live in our zone 6b but they don't. I found out the hard way. Luckily I had kept a pup of it inside too.

Unknown said...

Your mystery plant looks like a hyacinth bean vine going to seed. :)

Anonymous said...

So you were in my 'hood today, huh? The purple-flowered/podded vine is Dolichos lablab, aka hyacinth bean vine.

Anonymous said...

I've been to the Weiner Dog Race, and it was a hoot. Your cats look very content and good for snuggling with as it gets cooler this week.

Nancy said...

The tall mystery plant is Hyacinth Bean... the milkweed is known as Butterfly Bush down here. It is a major host plant for the monarchs.

:o)

I do like Austin's gardens.

Libbys Blog said...

As much as I adore my cats, theres something about coming home to a waggy tail!!!

Dawn said...

Hi Vanillalotus,
I hope you're able to visit Austin someday soon. Thanks for helping to name my mystery plant. :-)

Hello Mary!
Austin is a fun place to live. I've had cats all my life...minus 4 years in college. Not sure what I'd do without my eating & sleeping machines. ;-)

Dear Lisa at Greenbow,
Your agave is lucky to have you. What it lacks in light it has gained in love.

My mother (in Missouri) is big on having tropical plants she must move inside every frost. I'm trying to talk her into moving herself to Austin so she can keep more outside. Would save on back-aches I should think. And I'd love the company.

Thanks L!
It's such a treat to have so many gardeners let me know the names of these plants. I've still a long way to go on my learning curve.

Hello MSS!
We surely were in your hood! I even said, "Hey, I know a lady who lives down that street," as my friend sped by on Barton Creek.

Hi Pam!
Glad to hear you've been to the Weiner Dog Races. I really want to attend next year. I bet it's hilarious. LOL!

Thanks Nancy!
I have the milkweed in my garden as well. Unfortunately we didn't have any monarch caterpillars this year, but we did have lots of butterflies drink the nectar on the milkweed and passionflower.

Hello Libby!
I agree with you about the wagging tails. The only thing my friend's weiner-dogs lack is the ability to purr.

>^~,~^<

Happy Gardening!
Dawn

Andrea's Garden said...

Thanks for the great post. I love coming home and see our cat anxiously waiting for us as we put the key into the door. Just unconditional love. Take care, Andrea