Four inches of rain fell here in Central Texas over the last two days, and the rivers are finally flowing again! Woohoo!

So today we took Sadie, our dog back to the North San Gabriel River in Georgetown, to check out how full the river was. We were not disappointing!  (These pics were taken with my phone camera so excuse the quality.)

The river was full and flowing rapidly,……. and the vegetation was green and revived.

There were even a couple of little fairy pools open for the season.A lovely sight to see.

Last month when we visited this river it was painfully dry. So dry in fact that we actually found some Dinosaur tracks in the river bed. How cool is that??

Standing on dinosaur tracks in the middle of the river bed.

Today however, the river looked gloriously different, and although the dinosaur tracks were now covered in many inches in muddy water, it made for happy canine frolicking in the shallow rapids!

At first Sadie was a little cautious……. carefully scrutinizing the water, making sure nothing scary was going to grab her.But when she finally decided no danger lurked beneath the muddy waters, she was off! Racing through the water like a berserk bear hunting for salmon.Running onshore just to splash us….

and then dashing back in again.

And to think 3 months ago this dog wouldn’t even get into a tub to be washed….barely could stand her drinking bowl.

After an exhausted swim session we took the soggy dog back home for a much needed bath! Oh the mud that came out of that mutt.

After a vigorous towel dry… and romp on her mat…..

Exhaustion set in…..and off to dog dream land she went. Ah what a wonderful day it was.

Late summer in Central Texas – a tough time for us imported humans from New England. It’s still extremely hot – over 100 degrees almost every day – no rain and the plants in my gardens are just biding their time, laying low until some sky juice falls and the temperatures drop.

The gardens look dull and lack luster…Although the Rock Rose and Flame Acanthus are enjoying the heat – thank goodness! Otherwise the hummingbirds, bees and butterflies would have nothing much to sample from. Please excuse the messy boarders of my beds. I have to go out there and weed-wack the nasty KR Bluestem grass down. No excuses except for the hot temps. Tisk, tisk….

The Yellow bells are doing well too. What a great drought tolerant, low maintenance plant to have. They truly enjoy the heat.

As I said – a dull garden indeed. The Lantana is slowly budding out – waiting for the fall rain and lower temperatures too.And I hope both happen for us real soon. I remember back when I lived in New England – right around this time – I would start getting seriously depressed. I would be mourning the loss of sunlight and warm days,  knowing full well what was to come not too far ahead: Snow, ice, bone chilling temperatures and dark grey days that seemed to last an eternity. Thinking about that, makes me grateful I am here again, and the current drought – even tough this is a serious one – does not seem too bad. At least I can go outside, start my fall veggie gardening and appreciate the lovely fact that in less than a month my perennials should be in full splendor. If we’re lucky and we get a couple of inches of rain, Fall is the best time of year for gardeners here in Central Texas. It is also the time for the Monarch butterfly and hummingbird migration season, and they usually do a pit stop right here to load up for the long flight south. But for now the garden is dull.

Thankfully to cheer me up I just have cast a glance at my pond – ahhhh – sweet relief! What a difference water makes! It is truly a soothing balm for the brown and dry weary soul.Everything is looking so lush and green. The bog in the pic below, loving the hot weather is looking mighty fine right now – a safe haven for so many critters.

The Canna are just going crazy too.

Lots of action in the dragonfly department right now – lots of naughty nooky that is….

(Click on the pic above to see the cool eye-like structures they have on the front of their heads.) The male is the one in the front, while the female tries to dip her tail into the water and lay the eggs.And their not shy – they’ll do it practically anywhere! True nooky acrobats…Bystanders or no……So while the hot temps and dry conditions continue, and my garden waits and sleeps,  I will take refuge at my pond for the refreshing adventures that endlessly continue in its cooling waters.

Since getting a pond in the garden, there have been so many pretty sightings on an almost daily basis. Here’s a small sampling of some of the delights happening around here:

A shy waterlily bloom peeking out through the Lemon Bakopa (Bacopa caroliniana).  This is one awesome bog plant! Not only does this aquatic herb have succulent leaves that, when crushed, have a lemony scent, but the plant is edible, filled with healthy minerals and antioxidants to refresh the heat weary body.  And it provides a safe haven for fish and frogs to lay their eggs, protecting them from hungry predators.

This beautiful tropical water lily is just magnificent. And the lovely scent it exudes is one of the most fragrant in the garden.

Never mind this lovely hardy peachy orange water lily!

Water droplets on the Canna leaf after a surprise thundershower:

Beneficial damsel flies hanging out over the water – looking for small flying insects to eat and spryly avoiding hungry frogs:

Waterlilies peeking out of the rocks:

And of course the inevitable dragonfly bonanza! We had a dearth of dragonflies until mid July, leaving me wondering if something was wrong with the water quality. Dragonflies will usually only appear around unpolluted water. But thankfully one day they suddenly appeared in droves, zooming around in amazing aeronautical maneuvers and laying eggs in the pond with quick dips of their tails into the water.

There are also some strange sightings one runs into when a garden acquires a pond. Take a slightly closer look and alien-like things appear….

A dragon fly larvae. Freaky little things. I have another posting of how these guys transform into dragonflies here. Before I had a pond, creatures like this would have freaked me out! If they had crawled up my leg (which they occasionally will do when I am standing in the pond cleaning out faded water lily blooms) I would have screeched in crazy panic, frantically splashing and and making a complete fool of myself. But although I still sometimes will squeal at some things – like fire ants charging my foot, or an unseen slimy object brushing by my legs in the pond (Nessy!!) – these little fellas do not scare me any more. When I see them, I just smile and know that beneficial insects are diligently controlling the pesky mosquito and insect population inside and around the pond.

Here’s another strange sighting. A black pearly necklace draped around some water plants. These are the egg strings of this little fella right here – a Gulf Coast toad in full singing mode. In a few days little black tadpoles with hatch.I hear these fellas singing away most nights between March and September with a loud trill. They are also voracious insect eaters, mostly favoring black beetles. If you leave your porch light on at night though you probably have one of these guys hanging out below, cleverly plotting to nab an unsuspecting moth mesmerized by the light.

And here’s another picture of the pond when the rain is falling: I never get tired of this.  Ah, the lovely sound of raindrops falling on water.Makes me just want to smile.

Two frogs on the rocky section of the bog falls?Here’s a closeup of the same pic, ones under the rock and the other is on the ledge  – excuse the grainy quality.

Smart fellas are moving into the shade to get out of the 100 degree weather.

The bee inside this incredible tropical water lily:Here’s a closeup. This almost looks like a different flower.