Those Kipps!

         Do you see this handsome couple?

         They're the Kipps, Rosie, Lamar, and their dog Maggie?

        I thought Rosie looked especially pretty in her new Sunday-go-to-meetin' dress and Lamar always dresses handsomely for church too.

         Sometimes, for church, I like to curl my hair then pull it back in a comb. So, long about nine o'clock this morning, I put the hot curlers in and came back out to the kitchen table to wait for them to cool. Ginger sat there and had a really confused look on her face. She acts like this is the first time she'd ever seen me in curlers. I had to laugh at her.

         And just so we are clear...

         No, God doesn't care how you look or what you wear to church, but out of love and respect for our Lord, we should care about how we look and dress for Him.

         Now I'll get off my soapbox.

         Those Kipps!

         I'll tell you what!

         It was because of them that I didn't get my blog done on time!

         Let me explain and as always — let's take the long way around!

         Mike and I have been spending afternoons on the patio playing Rummikub with a Rummy-O game. Yes, they have all the same game pieces but no, they're not played the same way. We like the Rummikub rules so that's what we play.

         One hot afternoon we had a gentle breeze to keep us comfortable and half a cold watermelon to munch on as we played.

       My mind couldn't help but drift back to the time, two years ago, sitting on the patio at my sister's house, eating watermelon, playing games, and mourning the death of our daughter. And, coincidentally, today is the two year anniversary of that life-changing event.

         But I don't dwell.

         Things are never quite the same after you lose a child, no matter the age of that child.

         And life does go on.

         Another afternoon, while we sat on the patio playing, we watch a little Carolina Wren. I knew I had a bird going in out of the beautiful birdhouse that Rosie painted for me, but I wasn't able to get her picture until this week.

         "She's got a twig!" I was surprised.

         We watch as she tried to put it in the box. She cocked her head one way. Clack! The twig hit the sides. 

       She cocked her head the other way, Clack! It didn't fit that way either. 

       Then she pulled back a little, hit the gas and tried to ram it in! I had to laugh as her feet raced and her wings fluttered.

         Then she turned her head to the side and started walking her beak down the twig, but it became too heavy and she dropped it.

         She flew off.

         After a while she came back with another one. "Look Mike! She's got another stick and it's even bigger than the last one!"

         Our game stopped as we watch the antics of the wren.

         She tried to get it in the hole the same way, with the same results. Then she started to walk her beak down to the end, and again it became too heavy and she dropped it.

         Off she flew.

         We went back to our game but I was watching for her to return.

         "Here she comes!" I picked up my camera and captured her mid-flight.

         She had her way of doing things and that's how she was going to do them! She tried to push the stick in, but it hit on both sides. She cocked her head to one side and gave it a try, then she cocked her head to the other side. Then and only then did she walk her beak down to the end and this time it worked! She disappeared inside with the stick in tow.

         "It's kind of late in the year to be nest-building, isn't it?" I asked.

         "I'd think so," Mike replied.

         Well, that goes to show you just what I know.

         Nothing! That's what!

         As it turns out, Carolina Wrens can raise anywhere from one to three broods in a year, the males are the nest builders, the females are the interior designers, aka they line the nest.

         And here's something else I didn't know. A bond can form between a nesting pair and they will stay together for life.

         I so enjoyed watching the wren.

         I so enjoy game time on the patio.

         The only thing that could make it any better is having friends over to share it with. "Let's invite the Kipps for lunch and games," I suggested.

         Mike agreed, the Kipps agreed, and we set the day for yesterday, Saturday, Peg's pre-blog work day. I usually spend Saturdays downloading hundreds of photographs from my camera, sorting and picking out the ones I want to use, cropping and editing them if they need it, and resizing them. Then, if there are flowers, bugs, or anything else that I don't know, I'll spend a few hours researching it online. If I get that all done, I may even start to write on Saturday.

         "Well Peg!" you say. "Why did you plan a lunch on your work day?"

         It's okay! If I don't get it done until Monday, you won't get it until Monday. If I don't get it done until Tuesday, you won't get it until Tuesday, and if I skip a week, I doubt it will make much difference in anyone's life.

         Besides, some things are more important.

         And spending time with friends and family is important.

         "Let's put the rug back down on the patio," Mike said wanting it to be nice for game day.

         I helped him carry the rug out from storage and laughed as he unrolled it.

         "What is that!" you exclaim.

      

         I know, right! You're thinking poop, and I was too. I had to look twice. Those are Kentucky Coffee Bean seeds; I use them making rosaries for Momma. Some little mouse worked hard carrying them into his hidey-hole in the center of the rolled up rug. We are finding handfuls of the seeds all over the place!

         Saturday I baked a chicken on the patio in my NuWave oven, which is great because you don't have to heat up a big oven or the house. Instead I het up the house boiling eggs and potatoes for a salad. (And I'm not going to mention the pineapple cake or peanut butter no bake cookies I made either. The cake because it helped in heating up an already hot kitchen and second because Rosie and I are on a diet.) Rosie brought her famous Bean Salad, which I love, and we had a nice lunch. Afterward we settled in and played a few rounds of Rummikub and Mexican Train Dominos.

         Rascal napped in Lamar's lap the entire time. If Lamar got up, Rascal waited until he took his seat again then jumped back into his lap.

         "Rosie, look at this cat," Lamar said with a laugh. "Crazy cat! He's got his back leg up over his head!"

         Lamar only had one hand to play with because he had to use the other to hold Rascal. Rascal gets so relaxed he'd slid right off if Lamar hadn't held him. 

         All in all, it was a good day with good food and good friends.

         "What about the rain?" I hear Rosie say.

         That's right! I'd forgotten. We had a light shower, which was kind of nice. It was just a gentle pitter-patter on the metal roof and little more than background noise. It didn't last very long. Then — holy cow! — we had a downpour! An ear pounding, can't-hear-yourself-think, bombs exploding, cover-your-head and hold-on-tight cacophony! We couldn't do anything except wait, hold our game board down, and watch the paper plates blow into the yard. Luckily, it didn't last very long either and was little more than a hiccup in our day.

        

         How about some photos from this week.

        

         Just before you get to the open grate bridge that crosses our little creek, there used to be a house there. I'm guessing someone had planted roses at one time and now the roses and lilies grow together there.

  

        "Momma! You'll never guess what the cats brought in," I told her on the phone one day.

         She repeated the question back to me, thinking about it, and bless her heart, she tried to play this silly game with me. "Let's see, what did the cats bring in...."

         "You'll never guess, not in a million years! It's something I've never seen before."

         "Well, it wouldn't be a bunny then because they brought one of those in before... I don't know!"

         "A kangaroo mouse!"

         "I didn't think we had any of those in Pennsylvania."

         As it turns out, we don't. However, what we do have is a Meadow Jumping Mouse.

         "Why have I never seen one before," Momma asked when I told her the next day.

         "Because these guys are mostly nocturnal and they sleep for eight months out of the year.    

         Meadow Jumping Mice are not aggressive, are good swimmers, eat mostly nuts and seeds, except when first coming out of hibernation. Then they'll eat larva. Most will die in the first year of life but they can live about three years.

         How cool is that!

         The heal-all is blooming.

         Look at the fabulous detail in these little flowers!

         Heal-all is edible: the young leaves and stems can be eaten raw in salads; the plant in whole can be boiled and eaten as a potherb; and the aerial parts of the plant can be powdered and brewed in a cold infusion to make a beverage.

                    Topically, a poultice of the plant can be applied to irritated skin, as a disinfecting agent and to pack wounds in the absence of other wound-care material. It's considered by the Chinese to "change the course of a chronic disease".

  

       I saw a Cedar Waxwing. I only got two shots of him before he flew off and this is the better of the two.

         Do you guys know what these guys are? They're tiny! The close-up shot is one on a grass flower.

         "It's a sweat bee," you say.

         I know right! That's what I thought too. But they're not. These guys are Hoverflies.

         That's right, it's a fly! These guys only look like bees and as their name indicates, they can hover. They can't sting but will try to fake you out by dipping their abdomen as if to sting you. 

         The elderberries are coming on.

  

         A lady bug beetle.

          While hanging laundry on the line I paused long enough to watch a couple of chickadees pick bugs from the old clothesline poles.

         "You take your camera when you hang laundry?" you ask.

         Well yeah! You never know when a photo opp will present itself.

         Hmmm. Someone got his mower stuck again and had to come and get me to rescue him.

         "Molly," I say, looking across the table. Her ears are just visible over the top of Mike's monitor and perk up when she hears her name. "You know you're not supposed to be on the computer." But she's old and I don't make her get down. 

   

      I've got cherry tomatoes! If I get nothing else I will consider my gardening endeavor a success this year.  

  

          I have some kind of a climbing vine growing up the outside of the kennel. It fascinates me how he sends out runners to wind around and anchor him so he can climb higher. I've decided to let him grow and see if he makes flowers or something.

  

  

       Do you know this one?

         I do.

         This is Pennsylvania Smartweed, sometimes called Pinkweed. It's in the buckwheat family and is an important part of the habitat for waterfowl and other birds, which use it for food and cover. At least 50 species of birds have been observed feeding on the seeds.

         At first, I thought this guy was a Yellow Winged Darter until I found out we don't have those here in the United States. So it was back to the internet I went and I think he's a kind of dragonfly called a Common Sanddragon.

         Females have a slender abdomen whereas males have a slight flare at the end of theirs. Females cruise along the surface of the water occasionally dipping her abdomen into the water, dropping an egg. Once the egg hatches the naiad immediately begins to burrow into the sandy bottom and that's how they get their name.

  

         It was while taking photos that day that I took this one and even though the dragonfly is out of focus and you can't see it anywhere, I rather like this picture. It's soft and dreamy and my current desktop.

         I know. I'm weird.

         I've got red lilies down at the pond that I've never seen before. But in all fairness, Mike is mowing in places he's never mowed before. Cut down the weeds and the flowers grow.

         Soon the bergamot 

and bull thistle will bloom. I know right! I can't hardly wait either!

         This one looks like a green flower but soon it will sprout arms and it'll turn into ragweed. Wait a minute... it's already ragweed, but soon you'll be able to tell.

  

       This is a moth. I knew that because he has feathery antennae. I suspect that he's a geometer moth, but that's a big group and I don't know for sure which one he is.

         A couple of beetles on the milkweed. Have you ever stopped to smell milkweed?

         Oh so sweet!

         Our wild girls, Sugar and Callie are often together, basking in the sun outside the cat room or lounging in the shade and cool grass at the edge of the yard if they get too warm.

         As long as I give them a wide berth, they will stay put and watch but if I get too close, they run.

         On a recent walkabout with Itsy and Ginger, my usual entourage followed. If I'm too long taking pictures of something or another, the cats find a shady spot and hang out, waiting for me to move on.

         This is Smudge, the black and white one, and the tabby is Spitfire. They are not brothers but they are cousins.

         As I said earlier, Mike is mowing in places he's never mowed before. One of those places is behind the upper barn. While walking through there one day this past week, I spot what looks like bone sticking up out of the ground. Out of curiosity, I wiggled it free, saw it was a skull and teaming with ants.

         Quickly I set it down near where I'd pulled it out. It was the home of a colony of ants and I disturbed them. I watch as the ants start grabbing the little ones and get them to safety. Aren't ants just amazing! Everyone has a job and in the event of an emergency, like some old woman pulling your house out of the ground, everyone knew what to do and they did it.

         The next day I went back and there wasn't an ant in sight!

         Old farm equipment.

         More stories but no more room! I'll save them for next time.

         So let's end with another sunset picture. The sky continued to deepen in color as the sun went down but I like this one because of the two doves on the wire.

         Let's call this one done!