Wouldn't you love to know the history?

This is from back in May, a place we came across that I just loved. And would love to know more about. You can tell that it is well loved. Everything was so neat and tidy all about the place.
I don't understand the chains hanging down between the porch pillars/posts. I am really curious about that.

Evening sunlight

I liked the way the evening sunlight hit this--not sure what it is. I am wondering if it is sawgrass. I have tried to find a good image of it and no luck so far. Feel free to tell me what it really is in the comments if you know. It was growing at the edge of a cattail pond/big puddle. I am not sure what the correct term is...not really big enough to be called a pond, but bigger than a puddle. I am sure if and when the frequent rains stop, that they will be dry, but for right now seem to hold just enough water to keep things going.

I am enjoying a semi-lazy day...do have some things I need to do but had rather just sit and do nothing. Roger fixed a pork roast on the grill while I cooked breakfast, so after a bit, we will have it along with whatever else I decide to fix.

Roger's buddy taught him a way to fix pork roasts. Of course there are no measurements...but he coats the outside with black pepper, sage, and garlic. Then cooks it on low heat on the grill till it is done. The outside is usually sort of crispy, and the inside tender and juicy, and is delicious. I have not decided which pork roast is best for fixing this way...we don't fix them that often and I forget which was good and which was just so-so.

I had best get moving, and try to do something constructive. Little Miss Lorelei keeps me busy through the week. She is such a funny little girl...she looks for Shelby when we ask her 'Where's Shelby?" and she almost always smiles at her, and sometimes laughs. There seems to be no certain thing that makes her laugh.

And either Wednesday or Thursday, I had given her her mid-day bottle and had put her up to burp her. She started snuggling down into me...hard to explain it but it is just something she does. Then she laughed a little bit. Well, I keep a hand mirror sitting there so I turned it to where she could see herself and she really started laughing. I called for her Grandpa to come see and hear. He started talking to her and then there were these big belly laughs....I had him get me the phone and I quick called Sarah so she could here. I laughed till I cried....

Then Friday both her mom and dad came to pick her up early, and Jeremy was singing the song Lorelei by Styx to her, and using a crazy voice to sing in, and she was totally captivated. Her grin could not have been any bigger. He is such a good daddy to her.

Camera Critters

Another weekend and I actually thought of camera critters, so thought I would join. If you want to see more animals or to participate, click on the badge above.

As we were coming home from Illinois yesterday evening, we made just a very slight detour through the strip pit area.
I had my camera with me, and stopped to take a few pictures. I even got my first half decent picture of a dragonfly.
The milkweeds had lots of activity going on...the monarch caterpillars were really active on a couple of them. I should have counted how many there were but didn't think about it at the time. Plus there were the other creatures.

And I know I have posted pictures of the Dickcissel before, but I cannot resist these from last night. They just seem to be one of the happiest little birds.
They sit and sing their heart out. Even if they become frightened and fly, they only fly a few feet and promptly start singing again.

I am far behind on blog visits...night before last we had a storm move through. Even though the storm did not seem that bad, we had a power outage for just a minute. When that happened I went ahead and unplugged the computers....even though everything is on a surge protector, I just do not fully trust it.

Then yesterday morn, I got up, plugged everything back in, and tried to sign on before Lorelei got here. It just wasn't happening on my computer. I finally got on Rogers and got signed on, but never did here. To make a long story short, some how or other, the settings on the router had gotten changed. I half way had it figured out, but didn't want to chance doing what I thought should be done till I talked to my brother Neal. And to do that, I had to wait till Lorelei went home.

Hopefully, I will get a visit in to everyone by the time this day is over. I do have tons of stuff to do, though so visiting will be just a few here and a few there.

SkyWatch Friday!

I am actually going to attempt to join Skywatch again....not sure if I will get it done or not. With babysitting our granddaughter, time passes so quickly and I get very little time to be on here.

Please click and enlarge for best viewing.

However, as many of you know I make regular visits to a place I call the strip pit area which is a former place of coal mining. The land is privately owned now and all my photos from that area are taken from the road.
If you click on the label strip pits, you might see the reason I return there so regularly. There is quite a bit of wild life to be seen most of the time, and sunsets never fail to impress me. I will swear to myself that I have enough sky pictures, but I don't think I have ever came home from there without having taken some sky pictures.
So here more for your enjoyment....at least I hope you enjoy them.

If you want to join the fun, click on the badge at the top of this post. Skywatch is hosted by Fishing Guy, Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, and Louise.

Big Shawnee Creek

Weekend before last when we took off on a drive, we really had not particular plans to go anywhere. We ended up heading north....
and it kind of reminded me of when I used to run back and forth to Purdue University when the kids were there. And thinking of that reminded me of Big Pine Creek that we visited last year. It was a creek we crossed over every time the trip to Purdue was made.
So, in the back of my mind I was heading to find that creek....last year when we were there we didn't have our fishing poles with us. Now, we almost always have them with us the same way I have my cameras.
I am not sure what made me notice it, but I noticed the Big Shawnee Creek on the map...and started directing Roger on the turns to make. I eventually told him what I was trying to find.
The first place we found it, there was no place to park without parking in someone else's yard, so had to back track and find a new place. We actually found two more places, but this was my favorite. We did throw in our lines from the bridge, and kept getting hits on our little jigs. We definitely want to go back sometime when we have more time.

It was a very pleasant place to be, but with that name, I wondered about its history. I wondered if Tecumseh ever crossed this creek, and how many times.
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Lorelei was her usual cheerful self today. She was asleep when she got here, but that didn't last long. It was not quite so humid so we started the day sitting out on the porch in the swing, and Roger put an outlet out there, and brought the fan in from the garage before noon. We used it later in the day. She totally enjoyed being out there....she is her mama and grandmama's child for sure when it comes to that.

And once after her bottle she just sang and sang to me...I put her up to my shoulder to burp her, and she lay there against me and just sang and sang. Then I started singing and she sang along with me. We honestly think she was singing and not jabbering. I sing little crazy things to her all the time--at least that is what I call it. And she doesn't know the difference yet.

Then when I was telling Sarah about it when she called on her break, and she said that Jeremy sings to her all the time...only he can really sing. I have never wanted a camcorder or anything like that, but I have a feeling I am really going to want one one of these days. I would love to have a way to record her little voice for everyone to hear. I told Roger if she does it tomorrow, we are calling Sarah even if she is at work.

I hit the jackpot!

The other evening at the strip pits, I seen these milkweed bloom pods so I went over to bet pictures of the bloom. But as I was trying to take a picture of the milkweed itself, I seen movement. I got to looking and first only seen this moth.
So in taking pictures of it, I seen the other bugs. I am not sure how many different bugs were on it, but there were several. Just click and enlarge these and see what all you see.
I have not had time to look up what any of these are, so feel free to comment if you know. I am sure I have looked the ones in the middle picture up before, but for the life of me I cannot remember what they are.
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It was another hot one here in the Midwest....for sure here in Indiana. The humidity makes it miserable to be outside. Though Lorelei and I did sit outside for a while right before she was to go home and she enjoyed it. I got to thinking that Roger has a fan out in the garage, so am going to have him bring it for the front porch tomorrow.

I did a load of clothes and hung them out and they were practically bone dry in less than two hours. It sort of surprised me with the humidity being so high. I still love to hang clothes on the line, even though I don't do it as much as I used to.

When we were kids, mom had a wringer washer and used it even after we got an automatic washer. Things were done in a certain way...from the washing to the hanging on the line. Not sure I can remember just exactly how things were washed...I think sheets were washed first, followed by towels and then underwear, or vice versa, then our shirts and dresses, followed last of all by the jeans which could sure get dirty with farm work.

Mom wanted sheets hung over the line of course down the middle, and towels were hung from the top...I think everyone hangs them that way....but the wash rags were hung just from one corner so as not to take up to much space. Our dresses she wanted hung from the shoulder seams, as well as the t-shirts. And jeans were hung from the waistband. And she wanted each thing hung together...shirts with shirts, dresses with dresses, etc. Not a shirt, then a dress, then another shirt.

Mom usually hung a load or two out, but would have me hang up the last loads....it just now crossed my mind that I wonder if she hung out the sheets cause she didn't want to risk me dropping one on the ground. Probably it was more that she liked to do laundry and liked to at least hang a load or two.

And we used to bring it in and a lot of it had to be ironed...we would bring a load in in our arms and either throw it on the couch or the bed, and hang what could be hung, but a lot of it we sprinkled with water and wadded it up in a ball to be ironed the next day or so. I must say that I never loved ironing then and I don't love it now. Unless it is to do with quilting...

I think now about how much less water was used with a wringer washer...there are times I wish I had a good wringer washer now. I still enjoy laundry as a rule...there is a smell I love when I walk in someone else's house and they are doing laundry. For some reason I don't notice it much when I am the one doing laundry.

A blue heron

Last evening at the strip pits, this blue heron was one of the first things I seen. I almost missed him in all the mess. It don't look too bad from this angle, but from the angle of approach, he was hardly noticeable.
He eventually took off and went to the bank across the strip pit. There he really did blend in till he was hardly noticeable. Most of the ones I see out there take off before I ever have a chance to take a single picture. I don't know why this one stood around as long as it did.
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Lorelei was on the solemn side for her today. Just quiet a big part of the day. However, right before her mom picked her up she started laughing at Shelby. First Shelby came up sniffing of her feet and that got Lorelei started smiling. Then we were talking to Shelby and she was going from Roger to us, and back to him and she started laughing out lout at her.

It was hot and miserable here today...so hot we didn't enjoy sitting in the swing very much. And I think Lorelei definitely missed it. We are talking about getting a fan to have out there to keep the air moving around a little bit...but we shall see.

Right now, I am going to post this and head to bed.

If not a partridge in a pear tree....

Please click to enlarge for a better view!

If not a partridge in a pear tree.....then how about a bob white on a hay bale?
I had not been out to the strip pits in a little while so decided to make a run through this evening late. As I have said before I am not seeing near the critters that I was seeing, but still managed a few captures. I took about a dozen of this bob white...they all were similar so I just chose these two to show.

I was almost through my first run when I was headed down the hill and happened to glance at this these bales of hay and almost didn't see him perched up there. I took several pictures from my Rav4, but then got out...the top picture is the first I took and the bottom one is a cropped version of the last one I took of him. And it is a male...notice the white stripe above the eye and I call it a white beard.

I think most of us know the standard bob white call...and I did do that and he was stretching and looking. But there is another call that I used to could do that would for sure bring them in close...my brother George was who taught it to me. I have never heard anyone else do it, and I have been searching the internet trying to find an audio of it, but the only one I can find is the standard bob-white one, but I did find where they have several different calls.

I do think they are a handsome little bird....and does anyone else remember the book, Robert, the Quail? I read that when I was a kid and don't really remember much about it, except that I really liked it. Anyway, seeing this fellow brought it to mind, and maybe next time I am at the library I will look for it.

From the garden...over a week ago

See that little bitty bell pepper...this was taken on the 12th. Of this month. They are now at least 2 inches if not 3 inches long.
That little jungle of tomato plants is the little cherry type tomatoes...they were planted a couple weeks before the Super Fantastics below. The cherry tomatoes had several little tomatoes back then but so far none are ripe.
'My' tomatoes were blooming when I took these pictures, but now have several tomatoes. A ripe one is still a long way in the future...at least for these.
When I was a kid, I loved the tiny tomatoes....what we call cherry tomatoes now. I don't know why, but we never raised them...when I was a teen, I remember some coming up in the flower bed in front of the porch. I think they were volunteers...but by then they had lost a lot of their appeal to me.

Back to when I was just a kid, you know 8 or 10 years old...somewhere along that age...we had a neighbor that lived up the road from us. And every now and then he would bring a bag of those tiny tomatoes to us...I always had the impression at that time that he brought them just for me but don't really know it for sure.

His name was Zack, and it would either be him or his son, Leonard. Zack did not drive a car...but he had a Ford tractor. If he needed to run down to the store, he would get on it and we would see him pass by. If I was outside, sometimes he would throw me some change, other times he would yell something like "Loaded for Bear!" I don't remember if there were any words preceding those, nor do I have any idea how he came up with saying it. But I always smile when I think of that now. I think it was just his way of being funny.

And I am pretty sure it was him that would sometimes come down and sit on our front porch with a towel wrapped around him while our mom cut his hair. I actually think she did this for him and one other neighbor. She had no training, and I really do not know how good she was at it. I don't know who cut their hair the rest of the time, but I definitely don't feel like mom cut it all the time.

Going back in time....

I am going back in time a little bit tonight...I have been wanting to get time to think about how to tell this but the time is not happening so just going to start.

When we were kids, store bought anything was hard to come by.....snacks were few and far between for the most part. Every now and then, we would get to have a candy bar and a Pepsi...or ice cream and Pepsi. Pepsi was our choice of pop back then. That was back when candy bars were either a nickel or a dime. (Remember there was a time when there was a small candy bar for a nickel and a bigger one for a dime?) And pop was a dime a bottle...I don't remember what a half gallon of ice cream cost. I suppose there is some place on the web to look that up but just not going to try right now.

But the reason for the picture of the donuts is this. I seriously doubt if I ever have or see donuts that it don't take me back to childhood. Our mom and dad were friends with a couple by the name of Jot and Molly--Jot's real name was Clarence but everyone called him Jot. I have no idea why...and don't know how or when they all became acquainted...they were friends as long as I can remember.

Anyway, they would come by every so often and open up the trunk of their car...at least I remember them doing that one time. I am assuming that is how they did every time. Anyway, it would be full of things like white bread and donuts, and I think the little single packaged fruit pies. And probably other stuff, but I can't recall what all else they had.

We thought they went to Knoxville to buy all of it...and don't know if I knew it then or since then realized that they probably went to a day old bread store to buy the stuff...knowing them, they probably bought it when it was too old for the day old store.

But what I remember is the yeast donuts...packaged single. I actually remember mom buying them two for a nickel. And they were stale...sometimes we would heat them in the oven a bit and they would come back to life a little bit. But they were just sooo good with coffee. I drank coffee from as far back as I can remember....actually my brothers might say that back then I liked a little coffee with my cream but I don't think I was quite that bad. But then again, maybe I was.

To this day I like to get yeast donuts and leave the sack or box open and let them get a little stale...it doesn't get much better than that.

We saw this barn the other day...I almost think the above picture of just a portion of the barn is more impressive than the whole barn.

More from the roadside

Just something I already had ready to post...taken the same place as the thistle and the other roadside beauty.

Lorelei

Yesterday Lorelei talked the biggest part of the day....definitely noticed a change in the amount she jabbered. And even though she has been reaching and getting things, I noticed her early in the day really checking her own hands out. It was so funny---she was holding them up in front of her face and moving them around, more her left hand than her right....but her eyes would just get so big.

But the fun thing I have to tell about is when Sarah was about ready to leave with her, she wanted to change her diaper for the ride home. She laid her down and started talking to her; remember Lorelei loves to go have her diaper changed. She will almost always smile and jabber to me.

Sarah started saying 'Jujitsu' and 'Karate' to her and one or two other words...and she had a big smile on her face when she said them, and would do little motions with her hands. Every time she said them, Lorelei laughed out loud...kind of a belly laugh-giggle. Over and over! Her mom and I had tears from laughing so hard at her.

From the roadside....

I just thought I would show you these tonight...I need to get to bed shortly cause Lorelei is coming a little early tomorrow.
I want to have time to write more tomorrow night and give you The Lorelei Report. For now I will tell you that today was sure a fun day!

A thistle in all its glory

I know that thistles are generally looked on as a weed...I have thought of them as weeds all my life.
They are all prickly and will stick you without a thought....
but just look at these blossoms! Aren't they wonderful? Just so very beautiful.
I have been looking at images at google...I think these are different to the thistles we generally see. I wondered if they were milk thistle but cannot say for sure.
It is getting late and time for me to head to bed...Lorelei will be here in the morning. So I need to get some much needed sleep. If you get time, google thistle and see if you think this might be milk thistle. Or if you know for sure tell me. I also seen this spear thistle, but it didn't have an image of the flower....I didn't have time to do a thorough search.

Good-night for now.

How about some fungi?

Yesterday morn Lorelei and I took a little walk by the side of the house....I happened to look down where one of our trees had been.
There were literally hundreds of these little mushrooms...still with the dew on them. I took Lorelei inside and grabbed my camera and ran back to take a some pictures.
I actually did notice the fly on this one as I took the picture...which is an improvement for me. I would say that at least half the time I would not have noticed till I downloaded the picture.
In the same area, there were these little tiny things also. I would say that in real life, none of the tan ones were any bigger around than a pencil.
Here is the funny part....notice the ones that have already popped open? You might need to enlarge the picture...I did NOT notice them till I downloaded the pictures! I was just so focused on the others.

I went out later in the day when Lorelei was napping to try to get more pictures of the other little ones, and they were all gone. I think they die down once the sun hits them because there was not a single one left. Yet this morn, I noticed a few more--but I didn't think to look till later in the morn and the sun had done been up a little while.

In no special order....

I just had to post all of these...count your blessings that I didn't post more.
I just couldn't cut down any more than these. We were watching tv/dvds at the time. Not sure what we were watching at the time these were taken.
Part of the time I was the entertainment.
Part of the time the tv had her eye.
and she can have a sweet, serious little face at times.
This one was her grandpa's favorite....
I cannot pick a favorite. I sure look at these and smile though.

She does keep me busy; and I am worn out at the end of the day. But I miss her on the weekends. Part of the time we are the entertainment and part of the time she is. Sometimes I set her in the kitchen with me when I fix her bottle, and part of the time I will turn the TV on and see if she will be satisfied with it. (Even if she is watching TV she likes for one of us to be near.)

This morn I turned the TV on and went to fix her bottle, and you should have heard her laughing...and later in the day we had her out on the porch in her little rocker-seat. She sat and was content...then the wind started blowing and she started laughing out loud at the leaves/branches moving with the wind!