Today, we will look at the winter configuration of the trees in the neighborhood. (yeah, it’s a slow activity day here) We can see things that are usually not in view in the summer. We are catered by Ramin Del Barrio of Austin. Our entertainment is The Bangles.
(All Ramen Bowls come with onion, lime and cilantro)
CARNITAS TONKOTSU – Shoyu tare, pork bone broth, mixed carnitas, grilled pepper, and onions.** Best for first-time guests!
CoChinita Tonkotsu – Shoyu tare, cochinita pibil, pickled onions, avocado, tortilla strips. Best for first-time guests!
Menudo Tonkotsu – Guajillo tare, honeycomb tripe, hominy, arbol chilis, tortilla strips. Pa la cruda!
Mole Tsukemen – Mole negro, karaage, Tortilla strips. Dip the noodles. Don ́t dump the broth over the noodles pendejo.
Contains peanuts
Chilaquiles-men – Dry Ramen. Thick noodles tossed in a tomatillo/yuzu-kosho
So let’s go.
Our first view is a close-up of the berries on a juniper.
Red berries on the pyracantha.
A squirrel’s nest in a deciduous tree.
Lots of mistletoe in the trees.
Some more red berries on Hawthorne bushes.
Red leaves on a Bradford pear.
Another mistletoe example.
A pair of trimmed junipers. (Sometimes called cedars here in Texas)
A live oak that keeps its leaves until spring.
Further away look at the juniper berries.
This is a patch of Bluebonnets growing wild. They will bloom in the spring.
A good example of ball moss in the tree.
China berry tree with yellow berries.
Another squirrel nest.
Nandina Bamboo with red berries.
Well, that is the tour. Sit back, have some food, and enjoy the music. I hope you have a great week.
Fiction Favorites 
I love being able to see the structure of a tree in winter, and those Bluebonnets remind me of something we have here in UK…
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I would love to see a photo of the UK version.
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I will see if I can find the plant I’m thinking of, John…
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Ours have a long way to go before blooming.
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We don’t have Bluebonneys here, I wonder what it looks like when in bloom?
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I’ll show you when it’s time.
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I look forward to it, John as those leaves are fascinating…
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I have an old photo but can’t seem to find it. I’ll keep looking though.
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That would be lovely…
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Excellent contrast of green and leafless trees.
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Thank you, Rabirius.
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Well, we are sitting in the single digits today, so I greatly appreciate this tour of someplace MUCH warmer!
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We have a low of 15 on Tuesday. This is not what we are used to for sure. 🙄
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Great photos, John. You can see the potential for spring.
I’ll try the Carnitas Tonkotsu but I would prefer they hold the cilantro.
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I think they can hold it but the chef may make an appearance.
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His name isn’t Tiny…is it?
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In a white apron with butcher knife in hand. The bellow could be heard for three miles. “Who the hell wanted me to hold the cilantro?” All eyes turn to Dan Antion.
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Yikes. Tell him I just wanted it on the side.
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Oh that’s different. Sure on the side. No problem unless you try leaving without eating all your cilantro.
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😂
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😁 There is a cilantro eating dog close by.
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Excellent
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😊
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I rarely look at the trees here because most of them are palms. I bought 2 Norfolk Island pines for the back yard to have something different, but thanks to our strong winds this year – I’m down to one.
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I had two Norfolk pines when I lived on the coast. They grew to 20 feet. They even survived Hurricane Harvey. I loved them. People walking in the neighborhood would always ask about them.
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I’ve always loved junipers. I don’t think I’ve seen ball moss before.
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Some call them air ferns too. Cousins of Spanish moss.
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Ah, got it.
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😊
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Thanks for the tour. It’s -11 here in Illinois at the moment, and your pix help warm things up!
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I lived in the Chicago area off and on for a total of eight years. Very familiar with the Illinois winters. We are expecting a low of 15 on Tuesday. That doesn’t even look like stuff we can handle.
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Excellent overview of our Texas trees. I’m keeping a PDF of this post. Thanks, John!
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Thank you Grant. Glad you like it.
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The junipers look so pretty.
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They are a beautiful blue green.
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Lovely journey, John. Thank you for sharing. 😊
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Thanks for joining me, Gwen.
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I was just thinking of the Ashe junipers day before yesterday, when the wind switched to the north and I started some slight sneezing. It won’t be long until their pollen begins blowing about and turns into the annual affliction. The photos are great; some of the red-leaved trees around here may be Bradford pears, since they’re all in yards.
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In the early 0s Bradford pears were all the rage. Think of a tree that blooms in the spring but doesn’t bear fruit and then has beautiful red foliage in the fall. All was good until they matured and the limbs started falling on people and houses.
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The berries keep everything in a bit of color till spring.
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Yes and it is welcome. 😁
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I enjoyed seeing all the different trees and berries. It’s neat that you know what they all are. 🙂
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Google and I have become fast friends.
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I get the hint of spring coming from the Bradford pears! And I love tonkatsu!
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Oh good. Dig in. They are just now losing their leaves. Blooms in March will be next.
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I have several nandina throughout my yard, but did not realize they were in the bamboo family. Mine have stayed contained though, unlike the confounded wisteria that, after 28 years, I am still digging up and throwing out.
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Yes they are a contained member of the bamboo family. I always liked wisteria covered arches.
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I had wisteria covered everything. Everywhere. It had to go.
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Yeah. I can imagine.
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There’s lots to see in the winter months – you just have to look more closely. Silly me, I didn’t realize squirrels had tree nests!
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They usually build them in deciduous trees because the leaves are easy to gather. I would think they would like the cover of a live oak in the winter.
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Such wonderful trees and a variety of colorful berries too. Are there birds that come by to eat those berries?
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Yes the birds eat them. Cardinals mostly. Then in the spring the hordes of Baltimore Oriels (The motorcycle gang of birds) come through and eat everything in sight.
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Ooh, that must delightful to see those birds, especially the Cardinals!
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The mama’s and daddy’s are a treat.
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Lovely photos, John. I love the berries on the juniper and pyracantha. And you couldn’t have had a more beautiful day!
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It was beautiful. Thanks for coming along, Joan. Stay warm if you can.
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Those trees are lovely, John. You know, even though I grew up in the country, I didn’t know squirrels nested in trees until I was in Washington, D.C. one winter many years ago. I was walking around the Mall and saw a gray squirrel run up a tree. I watched it climb and saw it hop onto a huge nest cradled between some bare branches. Duh, I thought, so that’s where they go 😉
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Yup. That’s where they go. I can imagine those nests are pretty cozy too.
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Such a profusion of berries for the birds to feed on! I’ve seen squirrel nests here, too, now that the leaves are down, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen mistletoe in trees. Thanks for the memory, John!
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Mistletoe is all around here. At the coast it grew close enough to the ground that it could be cut and hung as a kiss magnet.
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Yep. Minus 15 with a minus 35 this morning. I think I’ll stay inside.
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MINUS 35??????? Yikes.
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Yep. Minus 15 with a minus 35 this morning. I think I’ll stay inside.
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I find it fascinating to see the what’s what of trees in their dormant states. I’m pretty impressed with your knowledge, too. (I’m sadly ignorant of most of the trees in my ‘hood.)
Wow. It’s the first time I can’t watch the video you provide! Stupid YouTube and the country rules crap.
Happy Sunday!
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I’m so glad you could see the video. Thanks for coming along, Dale.
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No, au contraire. I could NOT see the video! But hey, I enjoyed the ride.
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Oh sorry. Your comment lead me to believe you could. Mon Dieu
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Ah la la… Not to worry, mon ami. I know the song so…;-)
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But, The Bangles version is killer.
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What song was it?
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Hazy Shade of Winter
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Thank you 🙂
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Yes indeed.
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😁
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😁
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It is always fun to see where the squirrels hid their nests. The clear blue skies made a great backdrop for these interesting photos.
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Thank you, Jo. We are fortunate to have those skies. Have a great week.
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I’ll take a carnita, a guide to berries and some hand warmers, por favor.
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Coming right up. Mind those hand warmers. They are not designed for pant pockets.
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You got it Boss!
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😁
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Hi John, it is nice to see pictures of your local trees. I had no idea squirrels built nests. I thought they nested in holes in trees. You live and learn.
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If they can find a hole they like those too.
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Great idea, John. For once, your community doesn’t have something planned. Great choice with the music! I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I prefer the rock version of Hazy Shade of Winter compared to Simon and Garfunkel.
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I prefer the rock version too. Thanks, Pete.
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Fantastic photos, John! There’s apparently a huge market for mistletoe and they could make a haul here in Texas. Thanks for sharing!
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I think they could. Thanks, Jan
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Love these photos, John! Makes me think that I’m forgetting to look up more often:)
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Yes looking up does have it’s benefits.
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Hope you’re keeping warm, John!
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We are trying. Looks pretty bleak.
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It does.
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17 degrees this morning.
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In the teens here, too, with “feels like” zero. We’ve had about an inch of snow, here, just north of Dallas. Stay warm and safe, John!
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Yeah, Not fun. Stay warm too, Becky.
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Great pictures of the neighborhood, John. Squirrels’ nests always make me wonder how they survive a winter in them.
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I guess when you pack a bunch of leaves and then have a cozy squirrel in there is is comfortable.
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There is beauty to be found even among the trees of winter. A lovely tour, John!
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Thank you, Mae.
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Mistletoe… I never knew where it came from.
So, it’s like an uninvited tree guest?
All neat winter trees.
Hey, what happens when the oak sheds leaves in the spring? Do they grow back right away?
Ball moss?
Just figured those juniper berries on the first tree ARE the juniper berries and not little snow balls.
I love trees and I love this post!
🫐𝛘 🌳𝔁 ⚪️𝛘 🌳𝔁
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The live oak leaves grow back immediately. It is almost like the new leaves push the old ones off. Ball moss is a cousin to Spanish moss. Mistletoe is a parasite. Not very dangerous to the tree but yes- uninvited guest. I’m lad you like the post, Resa.
🌳X 🍁X 🍂X 🪵X
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I learned 3 things. Thank you!
🧐X 😲X 🤔X
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Thank you. 🧐X 😲X 🤔X 🌺X
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🌺X 💋
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😊X
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Congrats, John! You are have nice and very different kinds of trees there in Lakeway. Here we are more monotonuous, Siberian like. 😉 xx Michael
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Thanks, Michael. We do have a variety. 😁
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Ball moss is new for me. Nandina and I don’t get along. We had several at our last house, and they never grew an inch. My dad took dug them up and replanted them at his house. They flourished, lol.
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Sometimes plants have a feeling about where they are. The soil may not have been the best for them. Thanks for the laugh.
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That’s funny. In Nevada everyone refers to the junipers as cedars. We have whole forests of them mixed with pinion pines.
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People her call them cedars too.
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I love trees! Never seen ball moss before, nor live oaks that keep their leaves. Fascinating, John.
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The moss is a cousin of Spanish Moss. The live oaks are very different.
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Very pretty. And set off nicely by the blue of the sky.
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Thank you, Ankur.
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Nice wintery trees! And I danced to the Bangles all through the tour.
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Excellent. 😁
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Wow, the trees are still lovely in winter. It looks like you didn’t get any of the artic stuff going around North America? 🙂
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We have had three days below freezing. So , yes the arctic air hit us. 🙁
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Misery loves company, lol. 🙂 Crazy!
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Yes so we are in good company
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🙂
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😁
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Thanks for sharing these pictures! As somebody who lives in the tropics, I find them very fascinating. The music brought me back too. 🙂
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I’m glad you liked them.
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Wonderful pictures, dear John! Spring is in the air! 🥳🎉🍻🍤🍤🍤
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We are having too much cold for spring.
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Let’s hope it will be over soon.
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Thank you, Maria.
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