Day One Hundred Eighty Two

Here's Neil working hard painting the front porch rail. We painted the woodwork out there all afternoon and got the first coat of bright white paint on all of it. Looking good! Still have to paint the concrete front porch and the back porch posts and ceiling. We were blessed with beautiful weather today--sunshine, low humidity and a nice breeze which made the work so much easier. Looking forward to having new windows installed next week. Well, that's the rumor anyway.

Day One Hundred Eighty One

I had fun visiting my mom today at her place. Hung out with my sisters and niece and grand kids (first time I've seen Shelby and Elijah in a whole week!). Here is Jane, Shelby and Elijah laughing at a funny video of Jane's kittens playing at her back door. We sat outside on the front porch and enjoyed this beautiful afternoon--although the temperature was almost 90 today, the humidity was low for a change and there was a nice breeze blowing. The kids passed the time creating works of art with paper and markers. Ann took them on the hillside for the traditional throwing of rocks into the pond. Good times with family!

Day One Hundred Eighty

Even though our back yard is a jungle right now, there are little surprises of beauty and color here and there, such as this pink Dahlia--one of God's awesome creations that a picture will never do justice.

Day One Hundred Seventy Nine

Buddy cat takes it easy these hot and humid Summer days. I took this with my cell phone camera and used the solari (or solarize) setting. He's got one ear cocked. Probably listening to the little mama bird that fusses at him every time he's around her nest of babies inside one of the bird houses hanging around the yard. His nonchalance is deceptive!

Day One Hundred Seventy Eight

I noticed these cute little mushrooms growing outside my back door this afternoon. Had to get down real low to capture a shot of these. I looked them up on the 'net, and I'm not real positive, but they may be known as Copelandia cyanescens (a.k.a. "blue meanies" in Australia and New Zealand or "magic mushrooms"). I thought the "blue meanies" reference was interesting. Now, after all these decades, I'm making a connection between "magic mushrooms" and those crazed characters The Blue Meanies in The Beatles' animated movie 'Yellow Submarine'. A light bulb moment, folks. I'm not sure if it's life imitating art or the other way around. At any rate, and either way, they're cute as all get out.