OK, even for me it's too hot. I'm sure I'd be fine if it wasn't so muggy. We turned on the air this afternoon and it's still running. Tomorrow and Wednesday are supposed to be worse. And of course if it's muggy we can expect more thunderstorms. More water we do not need.
I got the paths laid out in the new bed today and that was all. There was a new tiny caterpillar this morning. This evening I couldn't find either one. There were lots of butterflies though.
The silver lining - we went out for dinner.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Perfect Day
Today was just perfect. I slept all night and slept in late. It was warm but not muggy. The sun was out all day long. I had to stake several plants that yesterday’s storms knocked down. While doing that I found the monarch caterpillar had been washed down several feet from the milkweed plants so I put him back and he’s back to munching away. I managed to catch up on almost all of the weeding. Hopefully I got all of the poison ivy behind the shed. I pulled several buckets of wild strawberry vines that the weed killer hasn’t touched. The new bed should be ready for seeds by the end of the week. I spent the afternoon going through my seeds and bidding on more. My blue glads have started to open, only they seem to be burgundy! The oswego tea that my sister gave me has already started spreading and the red salvia that I started back in March is finally blooming which should make the humming bird happy. The yard was full of birds, butterflies, dragonflies and toads.
Hopefully the rest of the summer will be filled with days like this!
Hopefully the rest of the summer will be filled with days like this!
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Happy Birthday Mom!
Mom turned 81 today. We went down to see her in the morning while it was still relatively cool. It rained during the night and again this morning so I was worried that the flowers I planned to cut for her would be ruined. I was surprised; the gladiolas’ still looked good.
There were plenty of zinnias; several that the bugs hadn’t started to feast on yet. It was nice to be able to take her flowers that I had grown myself. We also took her a book and some candy and had a nice visit.
We had heavy rains yesterday. More rain last night. Two heavy downpours so far today. We’re lucky we live on high ground (at least during these rains, come winter I’ll be complaining!) As far as I know the rivers still open but I won’t be surprised if they close the Oswego canal again for a day or two.
While John was grilling dinner yesterday I was poking around the garden and found a monarch caterpillar on one of the tropical milkweeds. I got quite excited and got the camera. I made him come and look at it. He humored me but I could tell this wasn’t an exciting event for him. My camera takes fairly good pictures of people but makes everything blurry if you try to get a real close-up. I’ve been playing with cropping some pictures and it helps some but it’s still a little blurry.
I originally thought that these butterflies were meadow fritillaries but now that I finally have a picture for comparison I think it is actually a silvery checkspot. Funny name for an orange butterfly!
There were plenty of zinnias; several that the bugs hadn’t started to feast on yet. It was nice to be able to take her flowers that I had grown myself. We also took her a book and some candy and had a nice visit.
We had heavy rains yesterday. More rain last night. Two heavy downpours so far today. We’re lucky we live on high ground (at least during these rains, come winter I’ll be complaining!) As far as I know the rivers still open but I won’t be surprised if they close the Oswego canal again for a day or two.
While John was grilling dinner yesterday I was poking around the garden and found a monarch caterpillar on one of the tropical milkweeds. I got quite excited and got the camera. I made him come and look at it. He humored me but I could tell this wasn’t an exciting event for him. My camera takes fairly good pictures of people but makes everything blurry if you try to get a real close-up. I’ve been playing with cropping some pictures and it helps some but it’s still a little blurry.
I originally thought that these butterflies were meadow fritillaries but now that I finally have a picture for comparison I think it is actually a silvery checkspot. Funny name for an orange butterfly!
Friday, July 28, 2006
Kids "Night" Returns
The kids have been complaining about the suspension of kids night for the summer, parties that their parents also attend don't count! Since I'm home from work by 1:30 we decided we'd have kids night in the afternoon on Thursday.
BJ and John brought my glider over from PJ's last week and on it was the old pool we bought for Mike when he was two. John blew it up and we scrubbed it out. The boys promptly popped it Wednesday but John got it patched up.
They had a great time running in and out until one of them spotted an itty bitty spider.
Mike and Liz spent some time being super hero's. Mike lost both of his front teeth on Wednesday. The Tooth Fairy has gotten very generous over the years.
Alex and Nikki. It was unusual for them to pair off this way. She is still an inch or two taller than him (she's leaning in here) but won't be for long.
The pool didn't cool them off enough so they had to have pushpops.
Liz and Alex took turns being cranky. Liz won't play games by the rules which frustrates him. They both thought that we should cater to their every whim and that my rule that the sofa and chair should not be used as trampolines couldn't possibly apply to them. I'd like to start having Sprout over with them but I know these two won't like being the "big" cousins. Mike and Nikki played games together, colored and got along very well.
They finally settled down and made birthday cards for Nana. They had a good time and we enjoyed having them but I was very tired today. Why was it so much easier 20 years ago?
BJ and John brought my glider over from PJ's last week and on it was the old pool we bought for Mike when he was two. John blew it up and we scrubbed it out. The boys promptly popped it Wednesday but John got it patched up.
They had a great time running in and out until one of them spotted an itty bitty spider.
Mike and Liz spent some time being super hero's. Mike lost both of his front teeth on Wednesday. The Tooth Fairy has gotten very generous over the years.
Alex and Nikki. It was unusual for them to pair off this way. She is still an inch or two taller than him (she's leaning in here) but won't be for long.
The pool didn't cool them off enough so they had to have pushpops.
Liz and Alex took turns being cranky. Liz won't play games by the rules which frustrates him. They both thought that we should cater to their every whim and that my rule that the sofa and chair should not be used as trampolines couldn't possibly apply to them. I'd like to start having Sprout over with them but I know these two won't like being the "big" cousins. Mike and Nikki played games together, colored and got along very well.
They finally settled down and made birthday cards for Nana. They had a good time and we enjoyed having them but I was very tired today. Why was it so much easier 20 years ago?
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Butterflies
I saw several different types of butterflies today; Whites, Meadow Fritillaries, a blue Swallowtail and everywhere I went there were Monarchs. This one was chased away by Mike and Alex but decided to come back and let me take some pictures.
Monday, July 24, 2006
The Monarchs Have Arrived!!!
Over the weekend I saw the first monarch butterflies. I've also had a meadow fritillary, several cabbage whites and a large brown butterfly that I haven't been able to identify. Of course I haven't been able to get any pictures.
I was able to get these pictures though. In the first picture it's holding it's wings like a damselfly and in the second like a dragonfly so I don't know which it is. We continue to see dozens of dragonflies.
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I was able to get these pictures though. In the first picture it's holding it's wings like a damselfly and in the second like a dragonfly so I don't know which it is. We continue to see dozens of dragonflies.
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Friday, July 21, 2006
Fantastic!
Betty Ann and Sue Ellen meet up at their ten year reunion and start chatting.
Betty Ann – “So, Sue Ellen what have you been up to since high school?”
Sue Ellen - “Well first off I went to a very exclusive college.”
Betty Ann – “Fantastic!”
Sue Ellen –“There I met a very rich, very handsome man.”
Betty Ann – “Fantastic!”
Sue Ellen – “When we got married we had 400 guests.”
Betty Ann – “Fantastic!”
Sue Ellen – “We now have three perfect children. The oldest skipped kindergarten.”
Betty Ann – “Fantastic!”
Sue Ellen – “And last year I opened my own business.”
Betty Ann – “Fantastic!”
Sue Ellen – “ I could go on and on about how perfect my life is. So Betty Ann, what have you done since high school?”
Betty Ann – “Well right after high school I attended Mrs. Barbour’s finishing school. The first thing they taught us was to say Fantastic! instead of bullshit.”
Betty Ann – “So, Sue Ellen what have you been up to since high school?”
Sue Ellen - “Well first off I went to a very exclusive college.”
Betty Ann – “Fantastic!”
Sue Ellen –“There I met a very rich, very handsome man.”
Betty Ann – “Fantastic!”
Sue Ellen – “When we got married we had 400 guests.”
Betty Ann – “Fantastic!”
Sue Ellen – “We now have three perfect children. The oldest skipped kindergarten.”
Betty Ann – “Fantastic!”
Sue Ellen – “And last year I opened my own business.”
Betty Ann – “Fantastic!”
Sue Ellen – “ I could go on and on about how perfect my life is. So Betty Ann, what have you done since high school?”
Betty Ann – “Well right after high school I attended Mrs. Barbour’s finishing school. The first thing they taught us was to say Fantastic! instead of bullshit.”
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