IT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwiaRxqVRZ0

Today a friend posted a photo on FB of a small elephant which is commonly spotted frolicing in the beautiful waters of Mozambique.   This raised a couple of questions for me.   Firstly, if elephants are commonly seen swimming in the ocean, what do they eat?   Being raised in South Africa, I never questioned anything beyond the fact that elephants are herbivores.   Therefore, to find out that swimming in the sea seems to be something of which elephants are capable, is it possible they eat fish and are carnivores too?  There are some YouTube clips out there which have captured elephants most likely eating fish, so it's not entirely out of the question.  

Whilst elephants may look like they were neighbors with dinosaurs, they are not exactly old enough to be classified as pre-historic.   They certainly have pre-historic roots but what I find intriguing is whether or not it's possible that they were originally some kind of sea mammal.   For the most part, we see elephants in Africa bathing and drinking from watering holes out of necessity.   But think on this - if elephants had regular access to large stretches of water, would they choose to eat more protein in the form of fish and would they opt for joining their hippopotamus brothers and loll around in the water.
They certainly wouldn't need any diving gear!

WHAT? CHILI PLANTS IN JANUARY!

GOOD GRACIOUS!    For those who might not know, in addition to my photography of refraction I am also developing a small range of ornamental chili pepper seeds.   Last year was spent learning about the business and developing my own plants.   Around November last year I despatched a supply of seeds off to California to obtain my USDA certification.   Also around that time I started the rather laborious task of harvesting, drying and cleaning the seeds which are to be sold for cultivation in 2012.    This probably all sounds rather ho-hum.   What actually happened was right through Christmas we were busy devising methods to get all this accomplished and the holidays sort of flew by in a cloud of chili's!   When all was done and dusted I was hoping for a month or two off. 

Apparently this won't be happening.   Walking past last year's chili beds this week I see these hot little numbers have decided to get an early start to the year.   Now I do know that Texas has hardly experienced a winter this year and this is no doubt the reason why they've started growing so early - but two months off would have been nice ........  

Being the trooper I am, I'll go along with the plan.   So here's some photos of my Black Pearl and Calico chili plants.   They aren't big ......... just the product of the macro setting on my camera.   Right now they are about three weeks old.   Already they are looking pretty robust.   You will see that the plants in the top photo are purple and green.  These are the Black Pearls.   The bottom photo are my Calico Chili plants.   When they are a little larger, their leaves will grow purple/green/cream.   Both plants produce huge quantities of chili's later in summer.   I've been around them long enough to make the decision that these chili's will remain in the garden and there's more chance of me seeing pigs fly than popping them into the crockpot!   

It'll be quite interesting to blog their progress so watch this space.

SMARTCARS - ARE THEY REALLY THAT SMART?

Every time I see a Smartcar I automatically look at the driver because I have to question why someone would want to drive around in a hybrid.   No, I'm not even referring to fuel-efficient cars.  I just think these cars look like a cross between a running shoe, one of those large shopping carts that normally carry at least one howling kid in the grocery store and half an armadillo

I personally drive a hybrid for fuel-efficiency and really enjoy filling my tank about one a month so I recognize the merits of limiting our dependency on oil but I think there is a difference between being environmentally conscious and looking dumb.   To me  it looks like these cars took a wrong turn and should actually be driven on Mars.   Of course, the other very serious consideration is that I don't think these cars would hold up well in a wreck.   I'm not sure from a safety view point that there's much difference between driving one of these cars and riding a Harley Davidson.  Not for a moment would you catch me in one on the highway.   I once owned a Mini (poor cousin of the Cooper) a few decades back and believe it or not, a truck did drive over it, rendering it totally unrecognizable.   It was at that point that I decided that I would never drive anything that could be squashed almost to the point where I could take it home in a suitcase!

I worry that in an effort to reduce carbon footprint and introduce "smarter" options, that the motor industry is compromising other (more important) issues such as safety.   What say you?

GOTTA LOVE HOUSTON

What's up with this weather in Houston?   Hot, wet and windy when it should be cold.    Well, it looks cold out there and a very good friend of mine made some absolutely wonderful Thai food last night.   Mmmm ......... all those flavors getting happy together.    There's something to be said for Thai.   Anyway, if anyone has any influence with the sun, please put her to work 'cause I've got some photos I need to take.

HELLO WORLD!

Now I know most of you would like to know a little more about the photos above. I stumbled on this really cool way to create drama - without actually creating drama! You think I'm making this up? Well ........... it's partially true. There really are people out there who just thrive on drama and I guess I was one of them. One day I woke up to the fact that there was an easier way to get through life and if drama is an addiction, I'd better find another way to express myself. So .............. here we are. I found another direction and along with it came this fascinating hobby which I have turned into a business. By now I had hoped to have my website at www.myterratree.com up and running but don't you love it when webguys let you down! More about that soon. There's more than one webguy in the ocean, right? So, as a starter, I've posted my portfolio of photos on www.myterratree.etsy.com. Part of my vision for the future is to have a great trading site - kinda like one of those old trading stores with great finds. Not only photos but a bunch of different products that I believe in. Things that I like and I hope y'all will as well. So, in addition to the photos, I've also got a small range of fantastic chili plants. In reality, I'm selling SEEDS for fantastic chili plants. See photos down below. Although it's only relatively recently I can call myself a TEXAN, I have fallen in love with the climate and those hot, hot, hot summer days. For me, it's adapt or die - so I try to surround myself with beautiful things - to offset the discomfort. Summer for me means looking out over the pool and seeing a purple haze. No, I'm not smoking stuff! I plant dozens of my chilis around the pool and right through summer I get to enjoy the landscape. Makes me feel like I was born with twenty green thumbs - not really! Just found something that works for me and with a minimum of effort I get to pat myself on the back for doing a great job. More later but check out these chili bushes!