I did everything I hoped to do in yesterday's work-in-the-yard day : Hurrah! I have discovered that I can step over the weeds in the sidewalk cracks, while saying, "Not on my agenda." Ha! I can walk by a rose bush and not deadhead it because it was "Not on my agenda." Ha! The weeds alongside the side fence in the back yard were not on my agenda either, but I did put them on the Husband's. It got him outdoors on a hot, but pleasant in the shade, day. He got a break from reading maddening and heartbreaking current events. That's a good thing. All in all, the Husband didn't mind the weeding and, before we went in for lunch, he agreed to eventually clear out all the weeds along the fence, including down the driveway. Thank you much! While the Husband weeded I repotted our Christmas tree who we've named Mister Alton. The poor guy. He was tightly bound in his quart-size pot. It was very slow-going loosening the dirt from his roots. When he

  After I finish distracting myself on the computer, I'm heading back outside. Today, I've decided is a work-in-the yard day. First on the agenda is to pick up the bougainvillea branches that I pruned this morning and tossed willy-nilly on the walkway, effectively blocking passage to the front door. Next, I shall deadhead a couple of small daisy bushes. Then, I'll go find all the empty pots hidden under bushes and cart them to the backyard. That done (I figure an hour), I'll re-pot the tiny evergreen Christmas tree into a larger pot. We bought it last month. Now is the time to purchase potted Christmas trees for cheap. They may be on the dry end, but with patience and sweet coaxing, they may be smiling happily by the yuletide. So I think. I also want to prep our 1960s wheelbarrow (which belonged to the Daddy) into a planter for succulents. That will mean playing with the drill, bzzzz, bzzzz, searching for small to medium size rocks in the yard, and seeing what s

Happy Summer Solstice, Dear Readers! 

"Agathe, welcome! Thank you for coming all this way," said Xuxa the Xantus's hummingbird, meeting her heavily breathing friend at the top of the high knoll outside of the Honalee Bay Aquarium and Garden. "Xuxa, dear, you look lovely as usual." Agathe the Aardvark blew kisses as she readjusted her red hat. "Oooh, the photos do not do justice to how chic and pert your hat is." Xuxa twirled as she would on a fashion show catwalk. Blowing kisses to Agathe, she said "Merci beaucoup for my red Parisian beret. I love, love, love it." Agathe and Xuxa sat in the shade where the Xantus's hummingbird had placed water and snacks. Agathe sighed contently, taking in the changing landscape from the canyon to the distant mountains. "I do love your view, Xuxa. I must come and visit you more often." "Anytime. You have carte blanche in our meadow," said Xuxa. She pointed to the mound by Agathe. "Fresh termites, Love?&qu

Tired, I am. Happily pooped though. The Husband and I have been out and about lately, a few hours here, a few hours there of wandering about, doing errands, or hanging with friends. It's summer, after all. Today, my plan is to drag myself out to the backyard and deadhead the geraniums. It'll do me well to sit under the trees and breathe in deeply. It might be the ticket to pull the tiredness out of me. Aren't those tiger lilies pretty? We saw those on the greenhouse tour we took two Saturdays ago. I wonder if I can get them to grow in our yard.

Through a Depot Hack Darkly? Remember the phrase through a glass darkly ?  There you go. What's a depot hack? In this instance, a 1925 Ford Model depot hack. That's the handsome mechanical creature through which I took the above picture.  By the way, my objective was to take a photo of the spires of the Methodist church, which is several years older than the vehicle, through the depot hack's window. The reflection of clouds and another 100+ year old building was an added plus. Okay, back to the depot hack. The owner told us that a hack, which body resembles a wagon, was a taxicab and a hack that served passengers at train depots was known as a depot hack. When train depots became known as train stations, the depot hacks eventually went by the name of station wagons. Ohhh! Yup, the Husband's and my mouths dropped in wonder, too. I bet this particular depot hack's owner waits for that moment every time he tells the story. No doubt he has told it a lot.

When the Youngest Niece was quite young, she pronounced her y's as l's. Yellow was Lellow, for instance. It was darling. Today, I share with you the two lellow things I saw this morning. The photo above was of some owners and their antique speedsters driving to their start-up line in downtown this morning. The Husband and I actually got up in time (7:00 a.m. which is early for us) to check out various antique Ford speedsters and touring cars before they took off on their annual countryside tour.  The speedsters were doing a 200-mile loop, while the touring cars, 80 miles. Then when we got home, these sunflowers posed prettily for the camera. Click. It's time for All Seasons , a weekly meme hosted by Jesh at Artworks from Jesh St.G . Click here to check out Jesh. For the participants list, click here . Thank you, Jesh!