Mowing in the Dark

I may have mentioned before that my neighbor behind us and to the south is...odd. She is the one who had raccoons living in her house when she was in the house next door to us (to the north). She wouldn't close up the corner hole in her roof under the eave because birds and squirrels made their homes in there. She wouldn't let us trim the viney stuff that climbed from her tree across the fence and onto our deck. That's not to say we didn't do it anyway, but she threw a fit about it afterwards. Same as when we tried to trim the low-hanging limbs from her trees hanging over our house....you get the idea. We aren't "tree-killers" or against nature or anything like that, but we also don't want nature crashing down on us or living in our attic. That makes us bad people in her eyes. Generally, people know that most trees and bushes need a bit of trimming in order to grow and remain healthy...except for her, of course. She likes to keep things in their natural state. To this end, she doesn't trim any of the vegetation and when she mows she doesn't also weed eat, she just mows around everything so there are patches of tall grass all over the place. She also doesn't move tables, chairs, bikes, or the pieces of whatever thing has broken and been thrown outside - she just mows around it. Of course when the grass gets tall enough it kind of hides the junk, so I guess it's working for her. She's a bit of a hippie, and the neighbors who were around then tell us that she let her children play outside naked well up into elementary school and they didn't stay in their own yard with their nakedness, either. (Apparently the neighbors frown on this type of behavior...Good to know ;) LOL.) The front porch of her house she's living in now is some kind of greenhouse - it's been glassed in and there are grow lights and it is lit up all night with that purplish glow. I know, it looks really suspicious, but I'm pretty sure she isn't growing weed in there...

So anyhoo, the weather has been really hot here lately and very humid. It's normal for folks to either mow very early before it gets hot or in the evening when it cools off some, right? I think we can agree that mowing after dark without a light of some kind is not only difficult, but potentially hazardous. This woman only mows at night. I kid you not - we have never seen her mow during the daylight hours. We have occasionally seen her begin to mow at twilight, but mostly we go out late at night to let the dogs out and she is out there mowing...in the dark. We honestly don't know how she's doing it without a light. A lot of times, we go to bed and her yard is un-mowed. When we get up, it's been mowed - almost like the yard fairies came out and did it while everyone was sleeping. Hubby gets up really early to go to work and it's mowed. That means sometime during the hours after 11:00pm and before 5:00am she has mowed. Last night she was out there in the dark, no flashlight, and no headlight on the riding lawnmower. How does she do it? Why? I don't think she mows naked or anything, so why only mow at night when it's dark and nobody can see anything, including yourself? Weird, right?

Magicicada www.magicicada.org

Annual or Dog Day Cicada www.marietta.edu

I still haven't seen many fireflies out - just one or two at a time, really. Not enough to put in a jar and admire, certainly. Usually by now they are thick! Locusts (cicadas, really, but remember that people here call them locusts) will be thick by August and they are loud! Apparently there are two kinds of cicadas: periodicals and annuals. Periodicals, or Magicicadas, are the ones that stay underground for 13 to 17 years and emerge in late May to early June on a schedule in large numbers. These are somewhat smaller than the annual or "dog day" cicadas that emerge every year here in midsummer, and they look a little different, as you can see by the photos. If you're interested, you can read an article about an anomaly that occurred in Kansas a couple of years ago with the periodical cicadas emergence. It said that those that were due to emerge in 2011 didn't show and there is supposed to be an emergence of periodical's this year (2013) as well. It doesn't say, but it seems to this average Joe that there's something wrong this year as well, because I haven't seen or heard any at all, and according to the article's information, I should be hearing them. At the bottom of that article is a link to a chart about cicadas, their brood numbers and locations, etc. Also, since I'm tossing out links, http://www.firefly.org/ is a good place for info on those magical little creatures.

I'm leaving you with a shot looking out over Kansas farmland taken from the back of the motorcycle a while back. You can see a long way into the distance as there are no mountains that interrupt the view. In this section of Kansas we have low rolling hills, so we aren't as flat as Western Kansas. I'm from California originally and we spent a lot of time camping in the mountains, so I miss them a lot, but an unending view of the prairie is quite lovely too.

Leftovers

Well, it's done: the in-laws are moved. All day  (7am to 6:30pm) Saturday was spent finishing up the packing, loading, cleaning and throwing away. We all wound up a lot more of their things, but to them it was as if they weren't getting rid of them as long as family had them. I can understand that. Still a lot of things got thrown out, too, and I think a lot more will be as they sort through the unpacking process. We were all so tired by the end of the day that we could hardly move. In fact, we ordered the boys a pizza, and hubby and I ate leftovers, then we all fell asleep in the family room, dragging ourselves to bed around 10:30 when the TV shut off.

New-style Crispy California Roll

Let me tell you about the left-overs: Friday night we went with some friends back to the Japanese steak and sushi place. Yeah, we got them hooked on it :)  The food was fabulous as always, and as usual we took what we couldn't finish home. I managed to get off a couple quick snaps of the sushi:

You can see the blue flames at the left end of the roll on the Mama Mia. The photo of the California Rolls is missing a roll, because my husband grabbed one just as I was taking the picture. Impatient man! Hubby tried out the chop sticks but eventually abandoned them. I didn't bother as I stink at using chop sticks. Besides it's a messy way to eat the larger portions of sushi such as what these are. I didn't particularly want to attempt it while sitting with several the other people at the table I didn't know. Pretty much everyone used their fork, I noticed.

Flaming Mama Mia Special Roll

We had a great time and went to Michael's (arts and crafts) and Lowe's (home center) afterwards to walk off dinner. I picked up a few things for my upcoming Life Drawing class, and a pretty candle that supposedly smells like the sea. Well, it's someone's cleaned up version of what the sea smells like. You know, without the kelp lying on the sand of the beach in the hot sun rotting and/or any other once living things that have washed up. Or seagull poo. It does however accurately summon up that salty scent that the ocean produces. However they managed that is amazing, really. 

Sunday after church we went through and organized some of the things that we received from hubby's parents and then in the evening went for a short motorcycle ride. It was great to get away for a little while even if it was stupendously hot and windy. 

I'm a little nervous about the Life Drawing class - I stink at drawing people! This class is all about the human form and I know my forms will look quite a bit less than human. And as a bonus, I will have to draw myself, I'm sure. Why else would I have to purchase a full length mirror?? Yikes!

Encounters of the Stupid Variety

Do you ever wonder how some people survive? I do, in fact sometimes I think I would like it better if I was surrounded only by animals. They can be better listeners and definitely more entertaining, plus they don't lie. I have just about had my fill of people today. Ever heard that phrase "too stupid to live"? - well that has been rolling around in my mind a lot today. I haven't actually said it - yet! I've been trying to show some restraint. One small example of the stupidity I have encountered today: I explained to one person that they shouldn't park in front of the ramp in the garage as when the hearse and limos come back from the funeral, they can't get in and will have to go around and back in from the other door. A lot less convenient. What does someone else who should know better do? Yep - They park in front of the ramp. Ugh!

Oh - I remembered what I wanted to share from yesterday! My fantasy: that someone will show up at our house and rip off all of the old siding and put up brand new Hardiboard siding by mistake. That way, we could take the money from the insurance for the siding and put it towards new windows all the way around. It could happen - we've had no fewer than three incidents of roofers roofing the wrong house, so why not siding? I'm quite honestly surprised it hasn't happened more frequently considering the number of contractors in the area and houses needing repair. Most of these people aren't from around here so one hail damaged house looks just like another one. Also, not all of the addresses of houses are marked. Our local emergency personnel just know how to find places or they know the people, especially those who have been around awhile. Remember: everybody knows everybody else around here. Everybody knows what brand toothpaste you buy, and they know if you have athletes foot, dandruff, or dentures. They are snoopy - they will check out your grocery cart and comment on it. If it's interesting enough, they will share their discovery and blab to their 30 closest friends, and your worst enemy, just to see if it sparks something new to talk about. Something else I've discovered - they either forget or they don't care that their windows are open and everyone can hear what they're yelling at their kids about, or hear what's playing on TV. It's quite illuminating what you can hear on a not-too-hot-not-too-cool evening walk and the air conditioners are off and the windows are open...

Losing It

I had in my mind this morning while I was putting on my make-up something that I wanted to write about, but now it escapes me. I truly hate when that happens. Everybody always says it because I'm getting old or some other horse poo like that. I think it's because I have too many things on my mind at any given time. I have too many thoughts in a day and they push and shove around in my head for position and they prioritize themselves. Because if I had my way, those random thoughts would take precedence. Unfortunately my thinking time is while I am taking a shower, putting on my war paint, and driving. By the time I get to work and the phones start ringing and little widows want me to read off all of the flower card information on all of the flowers for her deceased husband over the phone, it's no wonder I've forgotten what it was I had on my mind to write about.

As a matter of fact, today has been quite the day. Two funerals today and another tomorrow with a visitation tonight. One of the families is what I call "special needs" because they are obsessing and stressing over minutia. The daughter talks super fast - in fact she literally does not listen and speaks right over everyone, and attempts to answer her own questions, only stopping long enough for air. She obsesses over a minor detail and works herself to the point that she is almost incoherent. She makes me quite tired. And my boss (one of the two) who is mildly OCD (as I am myself in some ways) has begun studying the caller ID at his home in the evenings and mornings. I should preface this by saying that they each have a line to their homes from the funeral home so they can take calls during the night, etc. Many times they pick up on calls and listen to find out what it is about while I or Gary are talking. I wouldn't call it stealthy either. You can usually hear the one breathing and with other one it sounds like a fan is running right by the phone. Well, so #1 has been reading the caller ID and then either calling me to ask me what the call was about, or asking when he gets in office. He can't seem to stop himself from finding out. The biggest reason I think it is odd is because he asked me to let the phone ring once all the way through and answer into the second ring so he can see the caller ID and won't have to pick up. Well that's just not true because he's picking up anyway, lol! 

Purple Duranta

Oh!  Before it slips away from me, the gorgeous purple flowering tree/bush/whatever that I posted a picture of and didn't know the name of? It is called a Purple Duranta. Apparently it does well in warm  to very warm climates  with mild winters. I'm not sure how it would respond in freezes or snow, though. More research is needed. 

So anyway, back to my hectic day: I have Miss Gabby chattering endlessly, not stopping even though I have excused myself to answer the phone (I'm the only one in the office at the time), I take care of that call, she's still talking, the phone rings again, and it is my boss (severe eye-roll happening), having missed picking up on that call, wants to know what it was about, and I finish with him, and Gabby is still talking to me, or herself, or to the wall, I'm not really sure anymore if she even knows what she is saying or to whom. 

Well, I never did remember what it was that slipped out of my mind, this morning, but perhaps I will recall it at 2:00 in the morning. Of course I will have forgotten it again after I fall back to sleep.

Old But Still Useful

Last night's efforts to help the in-laws pack got jimmy-jacked half way through as a bad storm blew through, so I only got two boxes of glass collectibles and knick-knacks packed up before we had to quickly head back home and get the truck under the carport. 60 mph winds and hail - yikes! The hail and rain didn't actually happen at our end of town - just wind and boiling clouds.

As we are packing up things and throwing things out, the folks are giving us things as well. So far I have ended up with two glass tables, one of which I like, a whole drawer full of flatware, an entire cupboard-full of spices, a bread machine, a crockpot (that used to be mine), a carpet shampooer, some tatty fake flowers, a police scanner (yippee! mine's broken) and a DIY home repair book (the value of which has yet to be determined). Some of those things (many) I really didn't want but I didn't want to hurt any feelings. Hubby complains that I am a pack rat (I do so hate to throw something out that is still useful or that may be re-purposed someday) however he is the one bringing all of this stuff home. I will have to sort through some of these things for the those that are still useful and what needs to be discreetly discarded or perhaps sold.

As much as I am looking forward to an end to the current stresses of living with Hubby's parents practically out my backdoor, I realize that this is both a relief and also difficult for Hubby. Possibly we are exchanging one set of stresses for another, but in all reality this is the best thing for them both. Hubby's sister is a nurse and able to take excellent care of them, they will have access to a lot of senior programs that are unavailable here, and they won't have to stress over money. 

They are a little resistant, mainly Father-in-Law because he knows he can't pass the Oklahoma driver's test with his eyesight the way it is so he won't be driving. Younger folks here will be thankful that he is no longer on the road, as he has a habit of driving about 15 mph everywhere and creating long lines of traffic behind him. But then, we're used to it. It must be one of those old-guy things because our town has had a long history of old gentlemen (term used loosely) driving slowly and collecting irate drivers in their wake. The most notorious was Wally, who did it for sport. After he passed away, there were a couple of others who took up the torch, but only a handful who made legendary status. Rex was one and Father-in-law is another. I don't know who will take up the torch now that Father-in-Law is moving away. Most likely it will be his best buddy Fred who always rides shotgun. We shall see.

Arrivals and Departures

The lightning bugs are finally out! I saw about 3 of them this past Saturday night in the back yard. Now that I have a decent camera, I might try photographing them. Or I might try taking photos of them in a jar. It all depends on how hard it is to get them in the jar. I've never done it before and I don't want to risk damaging them. It can't be that hard, though, right? I'm so happy they have finally arrived :)

Our neighbor to the south is getting her roof replaced. Actually they started last Thursday evening. Yeah - they didn't show up until 6:00 pm and worked until 11:30 pm. Hubby goes to bed by 8:30 on work nights since he gets up super early for work and he didn't get a whole lot of sleep with all of the banging around and talking. Then Friday night they did it again, not showing up until the evening and working until 1:00 am this time. Saturday they showed up at 6:20 am and worked until the rain started and still didn't get it finished. Now it's been half finished for 3 days. I think she went with them because the guy is a nephew, but he's certainly not doing right by her, making her wait this long to get her roof on! She'll be lucky if it's done by July at this rate! I'll be glad when their done - my dogs are easily distracted and spend their time barking instead of doing their business.

In other news, my in-laws are moving! They're moving to Oklahoma this weekend - I've offered to help pack...LOL not in an ugly way, of course! They need help getting stuff packed up and there aren't a lot people who are able to help because of work or whatever, so I offered. I want to make sure that when they leave, I've not given them any fuel for ugly talk against me. They have boxes of old family pictures that no one even knows who the people are in the photos and none of the kids wants them. I have this thing about throwing pictures away, and I know she didn't want to do that either, so I agreed to take them. Hubby wasn't so thrilled, but it made his mom happy to know that family still had them and they weren't thrown in the trash. I'll have to keep my eyes open for some cool crafty things that can be done with them.

I'm leaving you with a pretty picture of a plant (looked more like a tree to me) that was a gift to a family at the funeral home. I had to take a picture because I'd never seen it before and also I couldn't read what the card said it was. All I got was "Purple ...something starting with possibly a D...Bush." But it is so lovely and has gorgeous leaves and delicate deep purple flowers. 

Visitors and Time Well Spent

Mr Turtle

I had a little visitor yesterday morning who was steadily making his way across the back yard area towards a tree in the neighbor's backyard behind us. He had his eye on the tree the whole time, and was quite focused on his target. I didn't have time to get my Rebel, so I grabbed my Droid instead. Turtles may not be super speedy, but they are steady and will get away from you faster than you think. There aren't any ponds in our neighborhood, and the closest lake is the one at the college which is quite a distance away for a little guy like this - probably 1/2 a mile. The lake is small and has a walking trail around it. They do stock it with fish, though, and there are usually several people out fishing from the one dock and around the banks. And yes, there are turtles  there. I just can't quite figure out why this little guy would come so far away, in the wrong direction, from water.

Hubby has had a about 4 days off in a row because he switched days with another officer who needed to go out of town, so while Tucker has been gone to Oklahoma he has been taking Sully fishing every morning. Sully is always kind of lost when his older brother isn't around, so we try to keep him occupied. It's not too hard during the daytime between my husband, my dad, and myself, but at night when it's time to go to bed is a different story. The boys have shared a room since Sully was 2 years old, so he has a little trouble going to sleep when he's not home. He gets up several times to use the bathroom or to get a drink of water - typical kid ruses for staying up. so sometimes I just let him fall asleep on the couch and then I wake him up and drag him to bed. He stumbles around like a zombie and I have to guide him around obstacles and into his room. Sometimes watching him climb up into his bunk is like watching a miniature drunk who has lost his depth perception: that foot trying to find exactly where the step is, raising and stepping down into air in various places until he finally finds it. 

So, the two of them have enjoyed their fishing excursions, and although my husband's plans for tiling the new kitchen counter top section had to be let go along with a few other things he wanted to tackle, it's been a great 4 days. Not much more than getting the mowing done got accomplished in one sense, but that's because greater things were happening: hubby was busy being a dad and that's far more important. The counter and the squeaky doors can wait a little longer. ❤

The Honeysuckle Vine

Ruby Sue smelling the Honeysuckle

Close-up of a Honeysuckle blossom

We had quite a thunder shower in the wee hours of Sunday morning, but other than that, it was a peaceful weekend and the days and evenings were beautiful. My soon-to-be thirteen year old went with the church Mission Team again this year on Friday so that made it even quieter with him out of the house. I sat outside for a little while on Saturday and read my Kindle because Ruby Sue didn't want to come inside. She is my Basset Hound and she loves to sit under the Honeysuckle and smell the blossoms and lick the sweet nectar that drips out of them. She's kind of a chunky girl - kind of shaped like a sausage. My husband says we got took by the people who sold her to us. Her ears aren't as long as most Basset Hounds and her body shape is shorter and thicker. But I don't care about that stuff :) She was a little trimmer, though, back when we had a couple of litters of puppies from our Lab Lucy (who got stolen). She would spend her time playing and running with them. She really loved those puppies. She didn't start getting hefty until a while after we sold all of the puppies and she wasn't doing the constant running and playing any more. And walking just doesn't do it for her. I've tried putting her on a diet, but that doesn't help either, so I think it is just her genes. Her and Stella don't really play, and Toby wants to play but he's so big and plays so rough she winds up getting mad and chasing him, which would work, I guess. But he likes to take those big paws of his and smack at her and she just hates it. I'm kind of afraid he will accidentally hurt her so I don't encourage them to be together. 

A younger (slimmer) Ruby Sue

I try to stay away from the honeysuckle vines because in amongst them somewhere hidden is poison ivy. I think it is mainly along the fence line on the north side of the house, but you can never be too careful when it comes to poison ivy. Before we built the carport in the back, the dogs had access to the entire yard, including the north side. I seemed to have a never-ending case of poison ivy every summer and fall and I couldn't figure out how on earth I was getting it. We figured out that it was coming from my little darlings when they would rub themselves along the honeysuckle vines on the fence and then wipe it on me whilst giving me some love. Yeah - the gift that keeps on giving. Once they no longer had access to that side it pretty much stopped. Unless I had reason to walk along there anywhere, and then it was like it reached out and spit on me because never fail I would get it just that easy. I haven't had it in a couple of years, and so far my up-close-and-personal with the honeysuckle hasn't backfired on me.

I'm getting a little concerned about the lack of fireflies and locusts. Still nothing seen or heard of either of them. My husband says it's because it hasn't gotten hot enough for them yet, but we've had plenty of hot days and warm evenings, and humidity to boot. Last year it was so hot and dry! A lot of yards and plants died, and ponds dried up. Even  watering at night didn't always help because the heat of the sun was literally frying the tops of the plants. This year we have made up our rainfall and are looking good, but I'm afraid the damage has been done and we won't see very many (if any) of our favorite summer visitors. Okay, I'm not looking forward to locusts getting in the house or watching (and hearing - ugh!) the dogs eat them, but I still like to hear their buzzing at night. The crickets are out - I don't think even a nuclear event would kill off a cricket, would it? - and I've heard other night bugs, and even some frogs. But no sign of my ethereal little lighted friends :(

It must be an old-guy thing, but I've noticed lately that my dad has started jingling the change in his pockets. It drives me nuts, but I try not to say too much unless it gets too loud and there are people around. Today, another old-guy-type came into the funeral home to sign a register book and he was jingling the change in his pocket too. Why would you want to carry around a bunch of change in your pocket like that? My dad has to actually load that into his pocket everyday in order to walk around with that much change at 8:00 in the morning. My husband does it, but it's because of the pop machine at work. But he doesn't jingle. I'd like to keep it that way.

Should I Be Concerned?

I know it sounds like I'm trashing my neighbors all of the time, but well, this is a small community and neighbor-watching is what is done here. When you see odd behavior (and really that's about ALL you see here) the mind automatically tries to figure our what's up - at least mine does. 

So, getting to the point, last night about 10:30 Toby (my extra-large German Shepherd) sat at the French doors that go out back onto the deck and growled and eventually started barking. I opened the blinds and looked out and didn't see anything. But Toby started growling again so I looked out again and this time I saw movement in the yard next door (neighbors to the North). I opened the door and went out onto the deck and realized that a vehicle was parked back there in the alley and two men were moving some kind of material from the back yard into the vehicle. I couldn't really see them all that well - it was dark and they didn't have any lights on the vehicle at all and only the back porch light of the house was on - but I could hear two male voices. Now, the last 2-3 days the contractors have been at both of our homes doing our roofs, so there might be left over materials like shingles or whatever out there, and technically if they are done with the work and material is left over, it's yours to keep or do whatever you want with it. But why would you haul it around at 10:30 at night? In the dark? 

I should point out at this point that this is not the first sign of bizarre behavior we've been witness to. The oldest boy next door has begun using his bedroom window as an alternate entrance to his room. My husband caught two girls crawling in his window one day and they were laughing and giggling hysterically the whole time - especially since they were falling all over themselves getting in. Later that day after I got home, I was letting dogs out and when I turned around to look, the guy (who graduated this May) was smoking a joint out his window. How do I know it was a joint? Well, I guess I don't know-know, but it was skinny - thinner than a cigarette, had no filter, looked irregular and kind of bumpy, and he was holding it between his thumb and index finger close to his lips in the classic pose. And then there is the fact that when I came back to my back door he had moved away from the window and was hiding behind the curtain. Both his parents smoke and I've seen him smoke out on their front porch, so if it was cigarettes, why suddenly hide?  So the girls climbing in his window that morning were probably high, which would explain why they found everything SO funny. Now, he has placed a step ladder outside his window to make it easier...yeah.

After the hail storm, I subtly brought up the subject of the step stool to his mom when we were both in our back yards one evening by asking if they damage to his room from the hail and mentioning that I noticed the ladder. She just laughed and said "Oh yeah, he thinks it's fun to go in and out of his room that way."  "Really? And do you also think it's funny that he's smoking weed out his window?" is what I wanted to say. But I didn't, because more likely than not,  the answer to that question would have infuriated me. But really,  how smart is that? Smoking weed when your next door neighbor is a cop? 

So, now that I have observed some strange goings-on with two of my neighbors (remember the holes?), should I be worried? Am I in danger of crossing over and behaving oddly? Nah! Walking around my yard taking pictures of the sky, trees and plants at all hours of the day and evening surely wouldn't look strange to anyone observing me from inside their house, right? Not even if I'm in my jammies with my hair all awry? How about if I'm lying on the front yard with my camera taking a picture of a morning glory? Would that raise a few eyebrows? It might...then again they're all bonkers with their own issues, so maybe not  :) With one exception, I should qualify - my neighbor to the south is a lovely woman and she knows exactly what I'm out there doing, and she doesn't think it's odd at all. And she is probably the only sane one on the whole block. So hope remains for me after all!

So here's a shot of the Morning Glories in question, although they might not be actual Morning Glories. They aren't on a vine and they grow close to the ground. They might be a weed, but I don't really care. They are exquisite and they only open in the shade of the morning and close later when the sun hits them after a while so I'm calling them Morning Glories. 

Already?

Hard to believe it's June already. This past weekend was Good Ol' Days and the forecast was rain all weekend. In fact we were under areal flood warnings and river flood warnings until Monday (June 3rd). It usually always storms on the Sunday of Good Ol' Days, which is why last year and this year they aren't holding it on Sunday. That and most of the good vendors are gone by Saturday evening anyway. So Friday night was the kick-off parade up Main St and looping around down National. Horses, pickups, the Shriner guys in their fezzes and driving their mini cars, and antique tractors make up the bulk of the parade. Since Bobby is back on the P.D. he would have been working Good Ol' Days if it hadn't been his scheduled weekend to work. Everybody (PD officers) works it - no days off. You're either working your normal shift or you're working downtown. Bobby was glad because he hates working the event - it's always hot or raining and it means you're working without any days off.

Good Ol' Days is one of those things that you either love or hate. It really brings out the stupid in people, so a lot of folks avoid it. It's also inconvenient. Downtown is blocked off and parking is a nightmare. If you live anywhere near the downtown area, you have people parking in front of your house and walking through your yard (SO glad we live at the south end of town!) Because of where the funeral home is located and our huge garage, the committee for the event always uses our garage to park their golf carts. And because we have a large parking area, we have to rope it off so stupid yahoos don't park there - it doesn't matter that we're a funeral home, they don't care. People block our driveway into our garage, they come in asking to use the restroom, and even ask if they can go through and out the back because it's air conditioned in here and it will be shorter (true story!). One year, someone actually moved the ropes and parked - I had to go out and tell them that they couldn't park there, which is why it was roped off with signs saying "NO PARKING"...duh!

Now, having said all that, people DO want to come out to see the big events such as Dock Dogs, which was here again this year. Oh and eat Bar-B-Que - there are some really good smokers that come, and everyone has their favorites. There's also the kettle corn guy, the roasted almonds people, the funnel cake stand...hmmm - maybe we should have went...

We had a few hot days here and there, but the last three weeks has been pretty wet. Usually by now we start seeing the first lightning bugs and then maybe a few early locusts (Cicadas), but I haven't seen or heard anything yet. I'm hoping it means that this summer won't be so dry that we have craters in the yard like last year. It was so hot and so dry that people only came out at night to water their most precious of plants. It was like living in a post-apocalyptic world where everyone became nocturnal and anybody moving around in the daylight was suspicious. I would go out at 10 or 11 at night and see several of my neighbors out watering. As the summer went on, you watered at night because you didn't want to get caught at it due to the watering ban the city put out. Ninja watering - quiet, stealthy watering using the darkness as cover, hee hee!

Currently the weather outside is stormy again. We'd had a little reprieve from the rain but it's back. This is a problem because they put our roof on yesterday, but didn't get the carport finished and were supposed to come back today. Looks like it will be a while because this is socked in for a while. 

We think we have figured out what our neighbor is digging up in his yard: toadstools. We've noticed some popping up in our yard due to all the moisture. Apparently he thinks he can dig up their roots and prevent them from coming back - an impossibly futile endeavor.

I wanted to leave you with a close-up of the pretty pink peonies on the south side of my house that I took with my Canon and new macro filter  :)  They smell so wonderful!