Thankful Sunday-August 7, 2016

I am thankful for my family.

My family, both extended and immediate, have priority over everything else in my life. I am lucky that I have a supportive and loving family because I know this isn't always the case. (Actually, you don't have to look very far in my extended family to see this.) 

So what brought all of this to mind is that both of my sons are here today visiting. These days that doesn't happen very often. So for family and their visits, I am thankful.

Second Look--August 3, 2016

They always say, be careful what you ask for. After not having more than a few sprinkles of rain for weeks, we had a downpour on Saturday. Six inches of rain fell over the area in just a few hours. That caused flash flooding that was particularly devastating for a nearby town. However, we were okay here even though I measured 7 inches of rain at my house. This measurement was taken with a stick and a weeding bucket, so I'm not sure that it was totally accurate. But we did get a lot of rain. The weather is now a little cooler, so the flowers are showing some life again. And so am I.

Here a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

This goldfinch was eating seeds from the zinnia in front of it. 

Tiger lily

Swallowtail Butterfly

Day lily

Remember the little yellow mushrooms from last week? They turned into this after the rain. The big one here is about 6" across.

Balloon flowers. Guess which direction the sun is.

Swallowtail butterfly. Among its legs and antennae, notice its proboscis going at a right angle into the marigold to collect nectar.

This butterfly is not using its proboscis. Notice how it has rolled it up into a curly cue

Thankful Monday--August 1, 2016

But I still have time to watch the critters.

I am thankful that blogging is not my job.

You may have noticed that Thankful Sunday has rolled into Thankful Monday. That's because I haven't had a lot of time to write here recently. We've been very busy with things that I will share with you in the future when it all settles down. (Don't worry, no life crises at this moment like it seems to have been for the last few years.) 

So for the fact that I don't have to post here regularly as a source of income, I am thankful. 

A Second Look--July 27, 2016

We continue to have hot and humid weather here with no rain. Even the promise of a thunderstorm has not materialized. And I'm getting tired of it. I generally try to be positive here, so I'm positive I am tired of the heat for many reasons, not the least of which I've had a migraine for about a week now. The heat is either causing my malady or most certainly aggravating it.

Okay, I think I'm done complaining.

Here are few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

While many of the day lily are turning brown, there are a few still blooming.

The house finches continue to dominate the feeders.

But other birds do show up like this mourning dove.

The blanket flowers bloomed for the first time this week. These are volunteers from last year.

I think these are the same kind of mushrooms that grew quite large a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to watch them carefully to see what they do.

Coreopsis

These are four different groundhog holes in the back of the yard. They all have been enlarged recently.

Lantana

The tiger lilies are in full bloom now.

Thankful Sunday--July 24, 2016

I am thankful for my iron skillet.

I grew up cooking in iron skillets. In fact, I didn't know they made any other kind. We crisped our bacon, fried our potatoes, and cooked our pancakes in them. We browned our hamburger, wilted our lettuce, and creamed our sausage gravy in those iron skillets. And every morning, we fried our eggs over-easy, and when the leaves started to turn, we fried our green tomatoes in them. too. Because they were well seasoned from years of use, nothing ever stuck.

A couple of years ago, I got one of my mother's iron skillets and I use it all the time. For this piece of family history, and very useful skillet, I am thankful. 

Note: The skillet belonged to my grandmother before my mother.