A Trip and Flowers

 Tomorrow, Ward, Wally, Theo, and I are going on our annual family trip. This time we're going to the Poconos for the week. We have a few things in mind to do, but per usual, we will play it by ear. I will check in here if I have time and internet. If not, I'll catch up with you again when we get back.

And not related to the trip, I'm going to leave you with a few flower pictures from the yard. 

I just love the color of these beauty berries.

This flower bed will probably go away when we get the drainage fixed around Ward's shop.

I never got around to pulling the spent pepper vines; lucky me, because they are producing again. 😊

The weather is playing tricks, and the lilac bush is blooming.

...as is the apple tree.

Instead of a pink tint, this rose bloomed with pink polka dots.

These mums are in full bloom...

And these are on their way...

As are these.

A volunteer.

This iris blooms in both the spring and the fall.

Well, I'd better get back to packing.

Until next time...

Monday Morning

 Good morning.

I am waiting for sunrise. We will see if the clouds obscure it or make the sky more colorful. In the meantime, there's a chill in the air, and it feels like fall. For once, the calendar and weather are in agreement. Now onto this and that. 

The repairman came and looked at our stove and, of course, he had to order a part. If all goes well, it should be fixed in about a week. It was interesting watching him work. He used his phone and was on the line with someone from GE, exchanging pictures and information. 

Yesterday, I went to book club, where we discussed Theo of Golden that I reviewed last week. Everyone in the club liked the book, with several people giving it a 10/10. We found the biggest difference in opinions came from whether or not you listened to the book or read it. I won't give any more details of the discussion in case someone still wants to read it, but the ending prompted the most differing opinions. 

Last time, I mentioned the Coal Miner Memorial, dedicated to the miners of the area who lost their lives in the mines. We visited this after our rail bike ride in Frostburg, Maryland. Coal mining was a dangerous, very difficult job, and it was sad to read all the names and ages of the people killed and the families they left behind. Many were children, as you were allowed to go to work with a family member at age 12. The visit was both an informative and sobering experience.

The Miner Memorial Park was located next to the rail trail that you see along the fence.

Well, the dawn has broken without much fanfare, with the sky lightening to a dull grey. So instead of a colorful sunrise, I will leave you with a few colorful pictures from around the yard. 

A praying mantis on some basil, which, by the way, I used to make pesto last week (the basil, not the praying mantis 😀).

A volunteer Peruvian zinnia. This is only one plant. The blooms are small, but abundant.

This marigold is also a volunteer. 

This rose bush is blooming despite the feast that bugs are making of its leaves.

A rose bush in another part of the yard is faring better with the bugs.

I finally found the spot where the lantana is happy. It has done well here this year and last year.

The beauty berries have formed. These will be good food for the birds this winter.

The butterfly bush blooms match the color of the berries.

The anemones always provide good fall color. However, they are invasive, and after fighting with them for years, I will probably pull them out.

And speaking of fall bloomers, the mums are just starting. 

In another part of the yard, a grasshopper is hiding among mums that are still buds.

I guess it's time to get on with my day and go feed my sister's cat while she's out of town.

Until next time...

Wordless Wednesday, A walk around the yard

This and That

 Otherwise known as Speed Blogging or a Check-In (with unrelated flower pictures from the yard)

Allium

Has anyone else been having this problem with Blogger? It used to be that the blogs I followed would show up in my reading list pretty much as soon as they were published. Now, they are hours or days late. Yesterday, I got notice of some posts that had been published four days earlier. And when I get notice for the late ones, they don't show up at the top of the list. They nest themselves in the list with the time they were published. All of this means that I am missing some posts and/or not commenting on them until days later. This is certainly a small problem in the grand scheme of things, but I find it annoying. You are my friends out there, and I like checking in with you. I guess I could do some research and see if there is a fix for this. But you know how it is; it's always easier to complain than to take action. 😀

The Japanese beetles have found the roses.

For the last month or so, I've been on a decluttering kick. In a few spots, it was because I was running out of room. However, in most places, it was time to open drawers and boxes and sort shelves that haven't been looked at in a couple of years or even decades. The work has been tedious, but I'm making progress. 

And so have the lantern fly nymphs.

First, I went through all of my clothes. I'm not a clothes horse by any shape, but I still found a lot to donate. Now that I don't have to worry about work clothes, I don't need as many options as before.

Next up was the family room. I went through every shelf and drawer in there and found more things to donate or recycle. I spent the most time going through old letters, emails I had printed, and notes from over the years. I guess you would call my papers a very large, unorganized journal. Much of it was recycled, especially emails that reminded me of some of the difficult times. I don't need to relive the details of them. Some of the letters and notes I saved with the idea that I would write up some of the stories about Wally and Theo's early years. They definitely exemplified the phrase, "Kids say the darndest things." But that will be a huge task for another day.

We aren't getting much action on our butterfly bush, but they seem to like the nearby coneflowers.

Next, I moved into our office. I started with a tall bookcase that is home to many more things than books. That has been sorted, including one of the important things: our gift card basket. We truly appreciate gift cards when we get them, but are not the best at using them. They go into the basket and are then out of sight and out of mind. We have inventoried them all and got balances on some of them. A few of them are old enough (no PIN) that we need to take them to the store to see their value. And unfortunately, a couple of the stores are no longer in business. I'm going to blame Ward for these because they were ones he got at the gym for winning some kind of contest. (Anyone remember Sports Authority?)

Balloon flower from Ward's grandmother. Yes, it's blooming in the middle of Lamb's Ear.

We are slowly starting to use them. We zeroed out a Domino's card and found out the store closest to us had moved several miles away. We didn't figure it out until we showed up at the old location to pick up our carryout. However, they moved in April, and I was a little surprised that we haven't ordered our pizza since then. 

Another day, we spent a Target gift card on some groceries. The card was a metal Star Wars-themed card that I think played music at one point. The young man who checked us out was totally fascinated by the card and loved it. I left the empty card with him, and he was very happy. Sometimes, it's so easy to make someone's day.

Well, my time is up. I need to go get ready for a line dance class at the gym.

Until next time...

Live and Learn

In a nod to my byline of Live and Learn, I occasionally share things here that I've learned.

 I am all the time looking things up of no consequence, so I suppose I am learning things all the time. But does anyone care how old a celeb is or what channel a certain show is on? (Yes, I am that shallow) Not really. So I won't share those bits of wisdom I learned this week. Instead, I will share other inconsequential things that were new to me. 

1. Outback Steak Houses are brightening up their decor with murals. Wally and Theo took Ward out to Outback Steakhouse for Father's Day, and Theo pointed out that there was a big mural on the wall by the bathrooms. It was quite striking, with a koala in the middle wearing a Maryland flag, surrounded by other Maryland-themed items. I looked up the artist, The Artist Jones, and he lives in Florida, but is painting these themed murals at different Outbacks all over.

Shown are the MD state flower: black-eyed Susan, the MD state bird: Baltimore oriole, the MD state crustacean: blue crab, the lighthouse from MD's Eastern Shore, and the MD state flag wrapped around a koala. 

2. A muster station is a gathering place on a cruise ship where everyone gathers for safety drills or in case of an emergency. Ward is on a cruise this week with one of our line dancing groups. I am very prone to motion sickness, so I didn't want to go. However, he has been wanting to try a cruise, so this was a perfect opportunity. He texted me that they couldn't leave the port until everyone was at their muster station. I had to look up what that meant. 

3. You can't always find things on the internet. I was chatting with Miss Landers, and she mentioned that she doesn't like the rubber bands you buy these days because they are coated with a substance that makes them bitter. This is to discourage kids from eating them. I thought that made sense, but I tried looking up the details before I mentioned it here. I couldn't find that confirmed anywhere with many different searches. Miss Landers is usually a very reliable source, so it may be true. Or not. Did I mention I was going to share inconsequential things? 

4. More things are blooming in my yard. 

Until next time...