And More....

I will run out of all of these photos to share from Arizona fairly quickly and then I will be back to waiting for spring to arrive here.  Right now, outdoors is not a pretty site....barely green grass, bare trees, although the weeping willows look like they may start blooming soon and I think I saw my neighbors yard with little snow drops peeking through.  Yesterday I spotted my first Robin a sure sign that Spring cannot be that far away.  But for right now, I am still basking in the glow of the desert if only thru my photos.  And today is my birthday, so I am happy the sun is shining and I am here to enjoy it.  I have lost some friends this past year which has been a constant reminder to me how precious life is and that we must enjoy life to the fullest.

A couple of more pics of the butterflies....the one below was basking in the sun and apparently loving the warmth from the rock.

 I love this zebra butterfly against the yellow and also to see his proboscis (that elongated tubular appendage that the butterfly uses to feed with) slowly unfolding.

Many, many flowers were in bloom....

Everyone is friendly in Arizona....even the little ground squirrels....

Hope you all have a wonderful day today, I am.....

Linking up with Nancy over at The Rural Journal for "My Sunday Best"....

"There are only so many tomorrows."  ~  Michael Landon

Until next time.......

No White After Labor Day

I wore my white capri's for probably the last time this year, you know what they say, 'NO WHITE AFTER LABOR DAY"...at least that was the fashion when I was growing up.  No white pants, shoes, purses etc after Labor Day and certainly not again until Easter.  Didn't matter if Easter was in March or April, just not before the official "it's ok to wear white now" Easter Sunday.  It does sound silly and I am shaking my head, but I tend to fall into that category of not wearing white "stuff" after Labor Day.  There are some fashion drills your Mother taught you that you just can't seem to shake.  Sometimes I envy the young women of today, they wear white anytime of the year they want without any hesitation or feelings of guilt, and then again I take a second look at what they are wearing and I cringe. I am going to stop now before I get myself in trouble.

I meant to write about the end of summer and images of just that, but somehow got off on fashion.  So to switch from white fashions to what is in fashion in the garden right now.....

These Hostas were given to me by both neighbors and friends, I think it is one of the original and very common Hostas, first to peek their leaves out from the early spring earth and last to bloom in the summertime.  I love their lovely lavender lily shaped flower (say that fast 10 times).  Have you ever looked closely at the flowers from the Hostas?  My daughter always snips them off, but many of them have beautiful blooms to enjoy.  Look at that stamen, how perfect. 

A terrific bloomer right now is the ever-faithful Gaillardia.  I bought this at Home Depot a few weeks back and thought I had killed it, but I watered it, spoke kindly to it, and it began sprouting new buds and now is in full bloom.  The blue in the background is the blue birdbath that I bought earlier this summer.  Looks great next to the bright yellow. 

I mentioned a couple of posts back that I had put out 2 new bird-feeders and hopefully would be posting great shots of all the birds gathering to eat.  This was the only thing that gathered around the birdfeeder and promptly ate the entire feeder, in one day, I might add.  I went out yesterday morning and there was nothing but crumbs left in the bottom of the feeder.  He climbs the pole and hops right on.  So....my little brain began to think how could I possibly deter this little pole climber.  I decided to try PAM, you know, the stuff you spray in pans before you bake or fry something in order for the food not to stick.  Well, I thought it might work the same on the pole.  Tried it, and it worked.  Haven't seen the little chipmunk all day and the feeder is still full.  If anyone else has a better remedy, just let me know, but for now, the PAM is working. 

Another great day, joined another friend for lunch I had not seen in almost 3 years.  We had a lot of catching up to do.  Such a sweetie she is, we vowed not to let 3 years go by again without seeing each other.  We did much more talking than we did eating.  Probably a good thing for my diet, but then I came home and gobbled down 4 chocolate chip cookies that my friend Marti made.  Oh, Deanna....

"Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it."  - Philip D Stanhope

Until next time,

Sunday Evening

The sun is slowly setting, the weekend is coming to a close and I sit here thinking back over the last 4 days and marvel at all that has taken place in this short period of time.  Our son Lane flew into town on Wednesday evening, bringing along a girl/lady (I never know when to start calling a girl, a lady) that he has been dating for over 7 months.  Our son is almost 44 years old and never been married, came close a couple of times, but never quite made it.  I had pretty much given up hope that anyone special enough to catch Lane's eye would ever appear.  But serendipity happened and Nellie entered his life.  Apparently it was instant attraction and as they begin dating and getting to know each other they both felt the right one had come along.  I suspected marriage was in their future, but was midly surprised when I asked Lane, "so, you think you and Nellie will get married someday?"  And his reply, "well, Mom, yes we are and the date has been set, it is Dec 3rd."  Well, my immediate reaction was wow, that is so wonderful, and my second thought was, Dec 3rd of this year??  That is only, gulp, 3 months away.  Apparently, and I can't disagree, they are not youngsters, so why wait.  The wedding will be small and they both want to keep it simple so there will be no blow-out wedding reception, but a simple gathering of a few people.  Nellie has made my son very happy, I can see it in his smile.  And Lane has made Nellie very happy, I can see it in her smile and the fact that she told me what a great son I have and how wonderful he is several times over the course of the last 4 days.  Ofcourse, that makes a Mother feel mighty special that another woman besides his Mom thinks the same way about her son.  I always knew Lane would be a great catch for someone, and Nellie is that "someone's" name. 

Now, don't these 2 look happy??!!  The soon to be Mr. & Mrs. Lane & Nellie

They have gone back home to California, but I will be seeing them again in 3 months time. 

I walked around the backyard this afternoon and found a couple of visitors, Nellie and Lane had left but Miss Dragonfly and Mr. PrayingMantis decided to hang around for awhile.  I also added 2 new bird-feeders to the backyard, so hopefully in the near future, more bird photos will begin to appear here. 

These are 2 different angles, but the same dragonfly.  First of all, it's red...I did not realize that dragonflies came in such a variety of colors....blue, golden, red.  And 2nd those 2 white dots on his head are obviously eyes.  They moved, must have been watching me, in the shot on the left the white spots were on the side of his head, in the shot on the right, the white spots were in the front.  I just never noticed this before, but then again, I never had a camera that captured these lovelies so closely.

I think this is a praying mantis, but it could be a grass hopper.  Whatever it is, it was highly interested in the rose, but then again, who isn't interested in putting their heads in the center of a rose?  We may not put our heads in the center, but I am sure guilty of sticking my nose in the center and drawing a deep breath hoping to get a whiff of a rose scent. 

These last 4 days were happy times with lots and lots of pictures, I will post more later, but right now I think I am going to shower and crawl in bed to watch Masterpiece Theatre with Inspector Lewis.  Hope your week is filled with surprises and happiness. 

"Your children are always your babies, even if they have grey hair." - Janet Leigh

Until next time.......

Some Saturday thoughts.....

The heat that was so, so oppressive has finally become tolerable, allowing us once again to enjoy our screen porch....see the smile on my face.  Eventho the weather forecast was for 90+ degrees for the last 2 days, it never got out of the 80's....for once I am glad the weathermen were wrong.  I still have the air conditioner running (boo!!) because the humidity levels are still uncomfortable.  Here I go again, talking about the weather.  I sound like my Mother....that seemed to be her top priority.  Always her first question..."what's your weather like?"  Is this an age thing?? 

The rain and humidity has been great for the geraniums that adorn our front porch. 

More from my collection of daylilies...I just think these are "make a joyful noise beautiful". My entry for  "A Rural Journal's Sunday Best" this week. 

The Black-eyed Susans have begun to bloom, they have always had a timeless appeal in many mid-west gardens.  Don't ya just love their name!!

Another shot of one of the many, many, many chipmunks that absolutly drive Toby crazy.  They are cute tho.  I had a wonderful hummingbird that visited the garden at least 3 times this morning...did I get him on camera?  No...he was always way too fast.  So, you will just have to be satisfied with a chipmunk. 

The sky was exceptionally blue this evening a true cerulean splendor.  And I thought the cloud formations were stunning.  The 2nd one reminds me of angel wings.

I was watching, well more listening than watching, to our PBS station (Channel 11) as I was writing this post and the program was entitled "Chicago Food".  I didn't know and I bet you didn't either that Dairy Queen originated here, along with McDonald's, the hot dog, Italian beef, caramel apples, and I can't remember what else.  All foods to be particularly thankful for.....  I don't know about you, but Dairy Queen Blizzards are pure yumness in this household in the summertime.  And there is a DQ about 3 blocks from our house.  Is that a good thing or a bad thing?....haven't figured that out yet.  The McDonald's McFlurries are pretty darn good too, and they are less than 1/2 mile from our house.  Can you tell I like ice cream?? 

Oh, I hear the rain again...it has rained the last 3 days.  The grass, crops, and gardens are indeed drinking in the most needed moisture.  I can do without the thunder and lightning, but I will sure take the rain. 

"If you want the rainbow, you've got to put up with a little rain."   - Dolly Parton

Until next time.......(comments always welcome)