LifeScapes

Here at LifeScapes, Susan blogs about life at Meadow Knoll, the homestead she and husband Bill Albert settled more than 30 years ago, deep in the Texas Hill Country. She posts about the landscape and the many creatures that share their 31 acres, as well as local and planetary environmental issues. She also writes about her life as a writer, publisher, and teacher. For more about the Alberts’  wildlands, woodlands, gardens, farm animals, and (of course) writing, read her memoirs: Together, Alone: A Memoir of Marriage and Place and An Extraordinary Year of Ordinary Days.

The Senior Chronicle: Coming Soon on Substack

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As many of you already know from the latest LifeScapes post, I’ve decided to move my blogs  over to  Place & Thyme on Substack. Place & Thyme will launch on Aug. 7, with the August issue of “All About Thyme.” SusanAlbert.com is a good catalog of my books and resources, but WordPress doesn’t make it […]

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Place & Thyme: A Substack Project, Coming to You Soon

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Did you ever happen on a phrase that suddenly kicked something off in you, way outside its original context? That’s happened to me more than once–most recently, when I was interviewing Janet Tyson about her work on Elizabeth Blackwell, the historical character in Hemlock. Janet began her research project in her mid-60s, she said, so she have […]

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From the Homestead: In Bloom This Week

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This fragile-looking beauty–blooming all across the Texas Hill Country this week–is Centaurea Americana, the basketflower. And yes, if you’re thinking it looks a lot like a bachelor’s button or cornflower, you’re right on the money.  They belong in the same family. It got its common name from the intricate interwoven pattern of bracts on the underside […]

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From the Homestead: In Bloom This Week

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In the Texas Hill Country, May is the loveliest month. This May is one to remember: the blooming, buzzing bounty, I’m sure, of our rainy December. Remember? April showers bring . . . Here, it’s October-November-December showers that bring May flowers, and for the past few weeks, we’ve been surrounded by them. The coreopsis–the cheerful […]

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Work In Progress: May 2023

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The current cross stitch work-in-progress–Charles Wysocki’s “Quilts for Sale”–has slowed a bit because the chart isn’t quite accurate and I’ve had to make some fairly major adjustments. This happens, when the pattern maker uses software to convert a painting or photograph. Artificial intelligence (in whatever form) makes mistakes. Takes a human eye to spot them […]

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Just One Thing After Another

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The pyracantha is especially beautiful this spring, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Here’s a bee, gathering pollen from this prolific early bloomer to take back to feed her friends and ensure the continuation of the hive, at the same time that  she helps to ensure that the blossoms will produce those […]

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In Bloom: First Day of Spring

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Well, bluebonnets, of course. And pyracantha, yellow Missouri primrose, daffodils, paintbrush, Texas mountain laurel, redbuds, dogwood, and more. Late March and early April paint the Hill Country with lovely swathes of color, before summer blasts through and turns everything brown. These are among my favorite days of the year here at Meadow Knoll, where the […]

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Work in Progress: March 2023

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Here we are, almost the middle of March–how does this happen? Is it a function of being immersed in something so deeply that time telescopes in the doing? Or of keeping busy with too many tasks? Or of too many events in our world, too readily reported to us, too many to keep straight? Or […]

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Sandhill Flyover Day 2022

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Bill called me to the porch a few minutes ago to watch a flock of sandhills on their way to their winter home in the Rio Grande Valley. Sandhill Flyover Day is an important personal event for us every year, marking the turn of the season. Their wild, warbling call is always a reminder to […]

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