THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER

Never a dull moment at the rancho. If the appliances aren’t failing, or the trees falling, then the white-tailed deer have broken into the back yard again. Indeed, the deer have returned, smashing their way through the makeshift lattice work I installed last summer to try to save money (always a big mistake) rather than [...]

Well, the freeze covers are on the four outdoor faucets, and I’ll snip off all the antique roses in bloom before dark, because the temp is forecast to drop below freezing after dark and eventually down to 24 degrees with winds gusting to 25 mph. A hard freeze of about eight hours altogether. Then lighter [...]

So we’re sitting in the kitchen last night going over some elementary school handouts for parents when we hear this big sound, just a big whoosh. We go outside to find it is the second Red Oak to give up the ghost in two months, except this one was two feet in diameter, versus about [...]

The Souvenir de la Malmaison is struggling in the heat of July to put back its leaves after they were eaten by hungry deer. The deer have finally been shut out of the backyard by three 8X4-foot pieces of treated cedar lattice. It seems like yesterday but it was two weeks ago when a tall [...]