Day Two Hundred Twelve

Eddie kitty (that's what I'm calling him) was so laid back asleep on this cushion in this seen-better-days wicker rocker that, honestly, I thought he was dead. Then I saw his little fat belly pumping, so I didn't have to do kitty cat CPR. I had to take this picture through a window of the patio door (or porch door--we have no patio) because I knew if I went out there, he'd wake up and lose this cute pose. I tried sneaking out the front door, but by the time I got around to the back, he was already alerted by the snapping of twigs and branches (I'm not very stealthy). Oh well. That's why I photograph mushrooms.

Day Two Hundred Eleven

Afternoon fun at Mom's place....

These juicy red cherry tomatoes are only a small part of the harvest taking place in my sister Ann's summer garden. And those cute hands holding the bounty belong to grand daughter Shelby.

A flock of Canadian geese hang out where my mom lives. They love the pond. These geese are banded and I'm guessing someone is studying their flight patterns and migration habits. My niece Julia and I were trying to take some pictures of them today. We managed to get a few shots, but we also ended up spooking them into the pond. Here some of them flee to the other side.

And they promptly take off and fly away, probably to another quieter pond where there is no paparazzi.

Ann took all the kids up on the hill for the traditional rock tossing into the pond. Son in law Kerry pulled off some pretty impressive rock skipping as the rain drops began to fall on our heads.

Caught a snapshot of one of Kerry's rocks in mid skip as it traveled the length of the pond.

Peace Lily says, "Peace, y'all!"

My sister Jane helps Snuggles the resident cat strike a reluctant pose on the front porch. If looks could kill....(We all refer to him/her/not sure which as Persian because it seems to be a Persian type cat--it's sporting its summer haircut).

Day Two Hundred Ten

Progress.....

This is not a pretty picture. I heard them coming two days ago--their back hoes and bulldozers and other weapons of mass destruction. And I hoped it was just something they were sent to fix at one residence along our old street. But they kept on coming and today they landed in front of my house and spent the afternoon digging up the street, the sidewalk and the front yard. As it turns out, they are moving all the water meters off the sidewalk and into the yards of each residence. I'm still not clear on why this must be done. The guy in charge assured me they'd replace the pavement and the sidewalks and the grass in the front yard. Something it seems we already had until they tore it all up just to move a water meter three feet. That's progress, folks.

Day Two Hundred Nine

Sidewalk chalk artist Elijah. He told me this is a pumpkin which led to a conversation about how he was Elmo ('Melmo') last Halloween.

And here he is wearing some of his sidewalk chalk. It's a good thing I got a picture of his artwork, because a gully washer of a flash flood washed it all away later this afternoon.

Day Two Hundred Eight

Happy 24th Anniversary, Jane and Don!

My sister Jane and her husband Don were married July 27, 1985--24 years ago today! Here they are back in the day when they first started dating. Jane doesn't look old enough to date, and Don reminds me of Dan Fogelberg in this picture (that's a compliment, Don). And here they are 24 years later, still the loving couple and a role model for a great marriage, only with grayer hair!

God bless you today and always. I love you both. You guys rock!

And as an added bonus in today's post, my mom's recipe for Lemon Icebox Pie. She used to make this pie often and we all loved it. Today I made it with limes instead of lemons. It's very easy to make and can be ready to eat in minutes. Try it. You'll like it!

Day Two Hundred Seven

'Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire' is one of my favorite movies in the Potter series. ABC Family Channel reruns the first four pretty often on the weekends. I can't resist watching them. I mean, no matter how many times I've seen them...

Of course, another reason to watch 'Goblet' is that Robert Pattinson (also known as Edward Cullen in 'Twilight') is in it, playing the doomed Cedric Diggory. Poor Cedric. He never had a chance against the evil Lord Voldemort. If you've never read the Harry Potter books or seen

the movies, you're missing out on something truly excellent. I highly recommend them all.

Day Two Hundred Six

Peekaboo!

Day Two Hundred Five

Random pictures from today...

Kay's been into the mushrooms again...

I think they're cute...

Hard downpour came up suddenly this afternoon. Neil and I

sat on the back porch and enjoyed the show. Love those new

gutters!

Between a rock and a hard place...The screen mesh

has come loose from the lower corner of the screen

door. The new kitty comes in through the gap and

climbs the kitchen door, wanting to come in. He usually

can't find his way back out. Duh! Neil calls him Sherman.

I like the name Eddie or maybe Ernie. Buddy doesn't like

him no matter what his name is!

Speaking of Buddy, he's checking out the makings for

our BLT's. He could smell the bacon frying and wanted

in on the action.

My sister Ann brought tomatoes from her garden to us this

past Thursday. They were huge and red and juicy and the

first thing I thought of when I saw them was "BLT!" Thanks

for the tomatoes, Ann!

The BLT made with tons of crispy bacon, crisp lettuce, lots of

mayo (the real stuff!) and a big slice of Ann's tomato on fresh

whole grain bread. And on the side a bowl of tomato soup and

a glass of icy Coke Zero. Doesn't get any better than this, folks!

Day Two Hundred Four

Ever feel like life is a bubble and we're all sitting on it? I

blew some bubbles today. It was fun.

Day Two Hundred Three

These mushrooms have been growing on the front lawn of Jefferson Avenue church of Christ for
probably years now. I especially noticed them tonight because they're so large! The grass has
grown up around them and they'll most likely be mowed over at some point this weekend. I've
heard something like this is called a Fairy Ring or Fairy Circle, so I looked it up. Pretty cool stuff.
By stepping into the ring to take the close up picture (cell phone camera), I may have brought bad luck upon myself. Or I could have made a wish. Either way, who knew? Now I know.

A "fairy ring" is a circle found in a lawn or pasture land thought to have been caused by dancing fairies. Scientific explanations for this widespread phenomenon are less poetic; the must usual is that it is caused by the spreading mycelia of a fungus (Marasmius oreades). The fairy ring may appear only as a depression in the grass but may also include sprouting mushrooms. If a human steps into the ring he or she is compelled to join the fairies in their wild dancing, which would seem to occur in a few minutes but in fact lasts for seven years or more. The unfortunate mortal dancer can be rescued by having someone outside the ring grab hold of his or her coat-tails. The concept is widely discussed in Celtic languages.

When circles of lush, dark green grass were seen in meadows, they were said to mark the place where fairies had danced, and anybody who set foot in one risked being carried off. Such rings are caused by underground fungi, which at times produce visible toadstools; they persist for years, getting steadily larger, and grazing animals avoid them. No serious belief now attaches to them; at most, a vague idea that it is unlucky to step into one, or, contrariwise, that one can make a wish.

http://www.answers.com/topic/fairy-ring

Day Two Hundred Two

Random pictures from today...


Shelby's trampoline action this morning...

Elijah's jumping high...

The flower and the bee...

Forever blowing bubbles...

Day Two Hundred One

It's A Boy!

After two weeks of thinking this kitty cat is a girl, it turns out
that she is actually a HE. Took him to the vet this afternoon
to have him checked out. The vet nurse turned him over and
said "Boy!" So Sally will have to be renamed something else
more manly, I suppose. I imagine Shelby will want to
call him Sammy after an identical cat she had when she was a
toddler. I'm thinking Sandy is a cute name. Stay tuned. His
little leg was shaved and the doc drew blood to test for feline
leukemia and heart worms--both negative, thank God! And he
got some worm medicine and orders to return in twelve weeks
to begin vaccinations and later on neutering. (ouch!)


Buddy cat did not want to leave the safety of his carrier. He knows
what's coming--shots in the bottom. But he took it well. He also got
worm medicine--this gel stuff they put on the top of his head. The
doc says it covers every kind of worm infestation. That's very cool.
Buddy is mad at me anyway, I think, because of the new kitty at the
house. On the way home from the vet, he was riding next to me in
the front seat in his carrier, and I looked at him and asked, "Buddy,
are you mad at me?" He just closed his eyes and turned his head
away. I think I got my answer. Like a knife right through the heart!
And now he's got another male to compete with. Bad karma all the
way around.


And last but not least, the installers made their final appearance
at the house this afternoon and finished off the siding along the
back porch and trimmed around the new door. We're so happy
with the results. Still got to paint some stuff. Neil put up a new
motion sensor front porch light and a new back porch light by
the kitchen door. Things are shaping up!

Day Two Hundred

My Big Backyard
Sunday Afternoon
Felt Like Fall Today
Sat On The Back Porch With Kelly
Played With Sally Cat
Snapped Some Pictures
One Of Those Afternoons You Wish
Would Never End

Day One Hundred Ninety Nine

Happy 8th Birthday, Shelby!

Shelby celebrated her eighth birthday today with her family

and friends at her home. She had a luau theme. Even though

it's the middle of July, the temperature here today was around

70 degrees and cloudy with a northerly wind. But that didn't

stop the kids from playing on the giant water slide her dad

set up. Here she is about to blow out her candles.

She received lots of great gifts and cards and loved every

minute of it. She is always thrilled when her day of days

comes each year. My precious grand daughter is growing

up way too fast. Happy Birthday, Shelby! I love you so much!!

Day One Hundred Ninety Eight

Renovation Chronicles.....almost there.......

The cedar (vinyl) shakes on the dormer turned out so nice,

the picture doesn't do it justice, so you'll have to come see it

for yourself. We're glad we did this. And I never thought I'd

gush over new gutters, but these are totally wonderful!

The hole in the wall. Double windows were removed to make

way for the patio door in our dining room. Sounds weird, but

there is method to our madness....down the road....eventually.

The mess that the hole in the wall made. Luckily, these guys

are also electricians. They spent most of the installation of

the door having to re route a few key wires from under the

window to over the door.

The hole in the wall gang. Once they got the wall cut down

to floor level, they checked out why our dining room floor

is so spongy in that area. Turns out the joist holding up the

wall here was totally eaten away by termites at some point

between 1927 and now. The damage was very old. The joist

looked like a piece of driftwood. They had to shore up the floor

before they could set the door into place.

The new door lets in a lot of light which is great since the

back porch is covered and tends to make the house dark.

Neil is standing there, staring at the wall he's going to have

to repair. They had to cut away a lot of wall where the door

had to be set. So there went our vintage wallpaper. Well,

it was new when we put it up. It's vintage now. We'll never

be able to replace it. They patched in sheet rock. Just

something else we'll have to figure out how to deal with.

It's going to take some getting use to having a door here now.

There's still a lot of work to be finished on this side

of the house. The door has to be painted (ugh!) and

the siding guys will return on Monday to complete the

siding and trim around the door. Still have to paint the

porch ceiling and posts. We're so happy with

the way the house is shaping up. It's long overdue.

And we'll be thrilled when it's all done!