Hibiscus

Here's a shot of the hibiscus flowers that we have on our patio. They're about the size of a small dinner plate...very pretty. My only complaint is that the blooms only last for a few days before they fall off.

Aphidlicious

So after shooting some pics of our hibiscus flowers, I walked around the back of the garage to see how my rose bushes were doing and I spotted the culprit that has been snacking on the buds...I think it's an aphid. Let me know if I'm wrong though. It is about half the size of a grasshopper.

Which shot do you like the best?????

Never mind...it's not an aphid (I just did a little research). I'm still not positive what it is but it most likely resembles a baby grasshopper or katydid. Do they eat rose buds though??

Make sure to click on the pictures to enlarge them to see the crazy detail. I love my camera!

The sequel

As for all good things...there must be a sequel. This week, Deb played the lead role in "Debbie Does Austin II". This time around, we spent much of her visit hanging out at the house. We ate a lot of good food including cupcakes (from "Hey cupcake"), and Amy's Icecream...yum! We also rented Semi-pro (don't recommend it) and saw the bats. Besides that, and a whole lot of shopping, we didn't do much beside hang out and relax.

She helped us pick some plants and pots to decorate our patio and Eric hung the rope lights and set up the tiki torches that you can see in the picture. It really makes for a nice vibe when everything is lit up and the tiki torches actually do seem to cut back on the mosquitoes (which are horrid). We purchased and installed (go Eric!) a back door mission style lantern (not shown) which really compliments the architecture of the house nicely. We wanted to light the fire pit and roast marshmallows but it was a little hot for that (if you consider 98*+ hot??). Now that our back deck/patio is complete, we can concentrate on the inside.

All in all, we had a really nice time.