About Robertson County, TX

Rural Communities are very dependent on volunteer fire departments for fire protection. These departments are often limited in equipment and dollars, but many of them make up for those problems with great effort and courage. Located between Hearne and Wheelock, Texas on FM 391 is the Blackjack Volunteer Fire Department. This department has done a great job of protecting the area it serves in Robertson County .

Well.. another "unofficial" Texas Aggie Bonfire came and went this past weekend in Robertson county, Texas. In case you don't know the real deal was canceled several year back after the official bonfire collapsed killing several Texas Aggie students who were working on the log stacking.The current event is just around the corner from our home near Blackjack community in Robertson County. One of the local land owners has successfully capitalized on this annual event by opening up a large hayfied for parking . Yellow buses were hired to shuffle several thousand Aggies attending from the parking area to the bonfire a few miles away. I am certain this helps cut down on alcohol related issues and car wrecks.

I don't know where all our blue birds go every winter but we really miss having them around They have great personality and rule the roost in the neighborhood.They do a great job of keeping the grasshoppers under control in the summertime. I suppose they head down a little further south to stay warmer. Evey now and then we'll see one this time of year . Maybe they just hide out during the winter time. Not too many hoppers to dine on right now .

Now is actually a great time to build and put out nesting boxes for bluebird so during spring they are ready to be occupied by a new family. Place the box in the open on a fence near a meadow or your gardens. These birds are great for controlling insects.

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Farmers and Ranchers in and around Hearne, Texas recently began cutting the last hay crop for 2008. The Hay business can be a lot like any other crop....... Supply and demand. This year was a fairly good year for hay in the area but many ranches had hay left over from last year. So the price may be lower. And to top things off the fuel costs could have forced many hay cutters to charge more for cutting and baling a large round bail.

Every year in September and October several types of bees gorge themselves in our flower gardens. These yellow flowers seem to be particular favorites of bumble bees in our area west of Wheelock, Texas. Bees can be hard to photograph because they just are so busy and seldom stop moving at all. One afternoon I watched these bees working the bush over and it took almost 15 minutes to find one that would hold still long enough to get a decent photo. Usually I had less than 1 second to get focused and the shot taken before the bee moved on again. And usually the only shot was of the bee's rear end. All the bees seem to have plenty of work right now so I guess business is good for the bees!

Have a prosperous week!