Heads up! Up high in Mountain City trees crowds of masked Cedar Waxwings hide in plain sight. They gorge on hackberries. RonTom and I have counted upwards of 100 in the cedar elm above our front yard birdbath, drifting up and down, with a dozen or more on the birdbath.
We saw a crowd of cows along the barbed wire fence that separates Lynn Cobb’s backyard from the neighboring ranch on the backside of Mountain City when we came in from church. The bovines were eating Christmas leftovers, the hay left from our Nativity scene. A laborer helping at our place tossed it over the barbed wire on Saturday, with the rancher’s permission.
What a surprise to see swallowtail butterflies this winter with native flowers still in bloom.
No wintering Rufous Hummingbirds have been seen at our hummer feeders this winter. Should they swing by, they’ll find a smorgasbord of blooms on shrimp plants, lantana, Turk’s cap, and coral honeysuckle. In the past, they’ve appeared on freezing mornings.
Does anyone in Mountain City have a catio? According to Travis Audubon, “a cat patio or Catio lets frisky felines exercise, play out hunting instincts and snooze in the sun safely. They can’t kill birds, and cats are protected from dogs, cars, coyotes, and other outdoor hazards. The screened spaces can be elaborate, freestanding structures outfitted with sunbathing perches, ramps and spiral staircases or a series of inexpensive wood and wire cubes.”
Travis Audubon is sponsoring a self-guided tour of Austin catios on Feb. 29, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Register for free at https:travisaudubon.org The suggested donation is $10 per person. Travis Audubon hopes to inspire cat guardians to have one built or build their own.
We may be the only Mountain City house with a fire hydrant as yard art. We brought it home to KissMe from an estate sale in Wimberley.
People ask how we find estate sales. Well, in addition to keeping an eye on this paper’s classifieds, https://estatesales.net offers weekly email notification of sales within x-miles.
How can you observe next Monday’s second Monday Council meeting, at the new 6:30 p.m. start time, without leaving home? At https://facebook.com, search for Mountain City TX. As the meeting starts, a Facebook Live option will appear. Opt “join.” Voila!
If you take a drive on FM 150 towards Driftwood, you may see that work has begun on the massive Anthem subdivision that’s slated to stretch from FM 150 all the way up to behind the houses at the end of Live Oak and Maple – and beyond. You may hear the land clearing equipment. The development is in the ETJ of Mountain City; Anthem will obtain water and wastewater services from the city of Kyle. It includes a pump station on the land, but no water treatment plant.
How can you contribute to Montage? Send tidbits to [email protected] (subject: tidbit) Thanks! Love to you, PTom
