Wednesday, July 13, 2011

A Second Look 7-13-11

A Second Look around the yard this week provided some disappointment. We have been carefully watching our first tomato ripen. When it was just a few days away from perfection, we found it on the ground with several bites taken out of it. We're not sure what creature helped itself, but we suspect a squirrel. Maybe it was hungry because the cardinals have been spending a fair amount of time on the bird feeder. However, the squirrel still looks fat to me. 

Also, we have seen at least two different fawns, and just recently we have seen one without its mother close by. I guess it's growing up.

Here are some things I found this week around the yard.


Disappointing first tomato


Day lily bud starting to open




Hosta Blooms


Tiger lily


Pink yarrow


White balloon flower with katydid.


Cardinal guarding the bird feeder
Adventurous fawn




Monday, July 11, 2011

Seeing Green

Recently, Ward and I went to an Irish Festival. We browsed interesting merchandise, heard Celtic bands, and observed many hot people.  But mostly, we saw green.



Friday, July 8, 2011

Food Waste Friday 7-8-11

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. 


Here it goes for this week.

Over "cooked" carrots
Since joining the Food Waste Friday group, I have been really pleased with how it has motivated me. It's only been a few weeks, but we are definitely wasting less food.  Let's see if I can sustain this momentum.

This week, we only threw away a few carrots. We took a trip over the weekend and had some carrots for car snacks. We forgot about them and they roasted in the car for several days. They did not survive the heat well.

Frozen watermelon
We were also able to sustain a near miss. A couple of weeks ago, we bought half a watermelon, and it was gone almost instantly. Everyone loved it. Next time I bought a whole watermelon, and wouldn't you know, the taste for it was gone. A little was eaten, but most just sat in the refrigerator. So, yesterday, before it went bad, I juiced it in the blender and froze it into ice cubes. I was planning on putting them into smoothies, but the family has discovered that they make good treats all by themselves.

 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Family Reunion, July 2011


Four generations...
Coming home,  
Eating good food,  
Wishing for name tags,  
Taking pictures,  
Playing in the creek
Remembering years past. 

 
 















Wednesday, July 6, 2011

A Second Look 7-6-11

This week, we finally had a little rain with a couple of thunder storms. It must be good weather for bugs because the bees were buzzing, the flies were flying, the katydid's were jumping, and gnats were annoying.

Also, our friend, Mr. Squirrel, has figured out our "squirrel-proof" bird feeder. If he keeps most of his weight on the pole, he will not trip the lever that closes the door to the seed. It might be my imagination, but he looks fatter to me.


Below are pictures of some of the things I found this week during my Second Look around the yard.



If you look carefully, you'll see several bees among the coneflowers.




Triple orange day lily (Kwanso) with katydid.


Theodore's picture of a housefly.
Bee (good bug) on balloon flower.

Japanese Beetle (bad bug) on balloon flower leaf


Fallen limbs

Katydid on New Guinea Impatiens.

Red day lilies.




Deer jaw bone



Fat, but clever squirrel.