Simon's Cat 'Fly Guy'

I just have to share this....I found it by accident today. I have seen the other three Simon's Cat videos, but this was new to me. Cats--you gotta love 'em!

Pretty + Prettier

Our surprise lilies really are a surprise this year...I do not know why they have been so beautiful. It has been years and years since I have had a full crop. The above photo is about half the bed of them. As you can see below, I don't think there could be another bloom possible.

And here is the real beauty....she is so funny. She totally wore me out one day...just her. Just wasn't happy no matter what. But the rest of the week she has been a normal happy baby. She has laughed and laughed today...at Shelby, at me, just everything would turn her gigglebox on.
She does this thing where she jabbers from the back of her throat and that is what she is doing in the above photo...just having a good time. Her belly is full, her bottom is clean, and her grandma is paying attention to her.

Not sure if I will get time to visit tonight...I have things I need to do. My Cougar used me as a race track early this morn till I got up and let him out. I am worn out...so I need to get to bed early if possible. But will see how that goes.

The sun.....

Please click on picture for best viewing!

That is the sun....trying to penetrate the fog that was hovering over and around the Wabash River as we left town the other morning. The picture was underexposed, so I used fill flash to lighten it a little bit. I liked the under-exposed version, too.

Have you ever seen a house like this?

The other day on our detour coming home from Indianapolis, we passed this little house. I shot this through the window....sort of wish now that we had stopped. Enlarge it and look...have you ever seen a house finished like this? Do you know what causes the 'bumps?' I really have no idea why it is like this. I am wondering if I will say 'Duh' once someone tells what is actually going on.

From the back yard garden spot

I decided to see what was out in the garden this afternoon...and thought I would show you what I brought in...
or most of it. I did gather a few more full-sized tomatoes but did not try to fit them in the picture.
I could not believe all the cherry tomatoes...they are big cherry but little when compared to a regular tomato.
I have never used them to make salsa, but they seem to have lots of flavor. And I actually used enough of the Super Fantastic tomatoes to make more than half the salsa. So, it should have lots of flavor. My salsa has a lot of juice, which is what I like. I just hope I get to can several more jars.

As for the bell peppers, we cleaned them and I cut them into strips. I put a handful in a sandwich baggie and close the flap. Then I place all the pepper filled sandwich baggies into a large gallon sized Ziploc baggie and freeze for later use. I use them in chili and sometimes spaghetti sauce. And instead of making stuffed peppers, I make a bell pepper casserole. I also will use them in stir-fry if I don't have a fresh one available.

I sure enjoy eating tomatoes straight from the garden...right now I am eating them with salt. Later I will start using Italian salad dressing part of the time. And have you ever taken your favorite veggies-- in my case it is tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, onions, bell peppers--anyway, cut them in bite sized pieces. Use a big bowl that has a lid, and cover with Italian dressing....let soak over night preferably. They are so yummy and refreshing on a hot summer day.

Green Township Public School: the remains

Coming home from Indianapolis the other day, we decided to get off the beaten path for part of the way home. We never know what we will see when we do that. That day was no surprise...out in the middle of farm country we came across what remains of this old school.
It had been the Greene Township Public School at one time....it looks to have been a fine school from how it is pictured here in these top two pictures.
But looking at this mess, at first glance it is hard to even see that there is a building there, or I should say the remains of a building.
It was a jungle in front of the building...I picked my way through it in order to try to snap some pictures to show the actual building. It was sure a sad sight to see.
Everything seemed to be falling in on itself. That is the roof in the picture below with all the green weeds growing on it.
And below is one corner of the building...
The actual building is mainly enclosed in a cow pasture, so is not as grown up around as is the front.
One can't help but wonder why it was let ruin--maybe it was full of asbestos? I know a couple elementary schools here in Clinton were unusable because of that. But to me, this appears to have been let go long before the worry of asbestos.

An Illinois sunset

This is from the beginning of July...not too far from the Indiana/Illinois state line.

Another barn

At first I was just taking pictures of the barn....
then on closer inspection, I saw this. It is another Amish farm in Parke County.

Weekly chore

One of our drives was on wash day for the Amish in nearby Parke County.
Sometimes I think about what it would be like to live with their beliefs...the restrictions in clothing would sure remove a headache in ways. I think what a chore it is when I want to find new shirts/blouses. I just absolutely hate going shopping for clothes. If I lived their way, it would be pretty much set and I wouldn't have to make choices.
I also wonder what they think of us...running to and fro. But then, they hire English drivers and still use our ways, even though they may not have them right in their home.

And I think about the phone...they don't have a phone ringing interrupting a meal, nor interrupting visiting with someone. Yet, if I were Amish, I would not be talking to my brother at least once or twice a week, or any other family member on a whim. It would be a great deal more trouble to talk to someone that was far away.

I guess if you have never known any thing different, you don't feel like you are missing anything.

Strip pits again==but not the last time I am sure

I thought I would share these from the strip pits. I took this one of the blue heron from inside the Rav. I tried to get out and get close, but soon as I stepped around the Rav, it took off.
The sky was absolutely amazing that evening. We had started out to go to this nearby little town to get an ice cream cone, not even realizing what the sky looked like. We took a side road trying to find a place to capture it....and I did take other pictures there, but none of them are very good.

So, we went on and had our ice cream, and before we got home Roger asked me if I wanted to go on to the strip pits. I never say no to that, so out there is where we ended up. Even when we got to the strip pits, the ones to the west and northwest are not as good as I wish they were. Even so, the one above kind of gives you a feel for it.
Then these other two are taken just about 3 minutes later, looking east and southeast. I need to do a collage of all the photos I have looking down this road...and the changing weather. I even need to get all my pictures labeled and just see how many are from out there. It would be a big percentage.
I don't have Bright Eyes for a few days...her mom just got through working 7 days and is off for two or three. We have things going on every one of those days though. We are having a cookout this evening when Jeremy and our other daughter gets off work. One to celebrate all the month's happenings: Sarah and Jeremy's 5th anniversary, Rachel's and Jeremy's birthday, and our anniversary at the end of the month.

I best get moving...I have to go to the grocery store to pick up things we need.

A couple of beauties

Just a couple roadside flowers....both beauties when you really look at them.
*****************************
Betsy asked me about my kitty, Cougar. She wondered if he stays home now. The answer is no, he doesn't. So far he doesn't leave as often, though I am honestly about afraid to say that. And he's skinny! He comes home with all kinds of little burrs. My older daughter was up and she thought he was Puss Puss he was so little. If you met him out anywhere, you would swear that no one loves him. He eats....he just don't put any way back on. Now he is even more like the Cougar he was named after. If he would only be like him--my original Cougar was never out of earshot that I remember. If I called his name, he would be here shortly.

I had something else happen that I was/am almost too embarrassed to tell. Remember I took Cougar to the vet for his cold, and that was on a Saturday? The following Monday, Bubbie was not at the door waiting, but when I stepped out the door enough to call his name he came from around the house, slinking in and looking back over his shoulder like something was after him.

He came in and ran to our bedroom, did not bother to eat. I went and got him, and brought him back to feed him, but he turned right around and ran back to our bedroom again. He did not eat nor drink, nor come out of our room for about 36 hours. We thought he was going to die, but decided to just wait and see. He came out a few times after that first 36 hours, I had brought kitty litter up from the basement because he just seemed to weak to do anything.

I forgot to mention that we could not find any kind of sore or sore spot on him. We checked him over two or three times. Nothing.

Remember this happened on Monday morn early, before Lorelei got here. Tuesday night and Wednesday he was out a few times, ate just a bite or two and drank a little bit. Then he spent another 36 hours in our room, not moving. I think he went to the kitty litter once. I get up before daylight Saturday morn, and he is in the living room, and barely breathing. I had to feel of him to tell that he was still alive...he did not respond at all. I got my pillow and laid on the floor with him for a while...finally got up and went back to bed.

I would not get up before Roger because I didn't want to be the one to find him dead. So laid there and waited, and Roger got up...and he didn't come back. So, I got up to see what was going on, and Bubbie was in the kitchen waiting for Roger to feed him. And he has basically not looked back; well he had one day of not being himself...but seems to feel fine now.

We both would love to know what happened...the first time he went outside after that, he was definitely afraid. He was looking up and around like he was afraid something would get him. He basically stays in the yard. He comes in and sleeps all day, and likes to go out at night. But almost any time I look out or go outside, he is somewhere near.

A buggy kind of day

I was fixing breakfast late this morn and glanced outside. I saw this this little drama going on out there. We always called these wasps bee wolves, but in googling that it appears to be the wrong wasp for that name. Tomorrow I will try looking in my National Audubon insect book and see if I can come up with anything.

Anyway, it would try to fly with it and could almost take off, but not quite make it. Then it would crawl around and eventually try to take it through the cracks in the porch but it was too big to fit through that. It eventually got tired of trying and left it laying there, to be enjoyed by the cats later. Or at least Mama Cat...she batted it around for a while and then left it laying.
We made a quick run through the strip pits this evening and it was strange. Usually, the red-winged blackbirds are just everywhere you look. I don't think we saw a single one for the first mile or mile and a half. But there were chimney sweep/swallow type birds everywhere and they had not been there before. And little white butterflies were abundant, but this is the only monarch I seen. I took several pictures of it, with this being one of my favorites.
I am heading for bed...Lorelei will be here in the morning. Yeah! I can't wait to see her smile!

What to post....

I am having a time deciding what to post, and I just typed the title and hit the magical key that posted this without anything at all being in the post. So, since tomorrow is Sunday, I might as well post some photos of this church we passed over in Illinois on our way to Willow Slough the other day.
I don't remember the town it was in, and though we drove on two sides of it, we did not see a name anywhere. It was surely there, but we sure did not see it.
I really liked these features of it...I am just amazed at some of the architecture seen every where you go. But I thought this was an extra nice church. If I remember correctly it was a very small town...in the middle of farm country.
I always wonder who goes to churches this size out in the middle of no where. I don't know the size of the farms in this area, but I do know that farmhouses and barns are much fewer and far between than around here.

Will the real tiger lily please stand up?

I have called other lilies tiger lilies, but when I saw these, it made me wonder if they are the real thing. Does anyone know or is tiger lily just a general term as I have used it for years or does it belong to a specific one?

A lucky find!

A few days ago in our rambles, I glanced to the side of the road and right there 3 or 4 ft. off the road were these oyster mushrooms, or as we call them tree mushrooms. Roger stopped and we gathered /picked them....and had them two or three times as snacks over the next few days.

On over in the woods, were more but most of them were done past the picking stage. If not, we would have had some to freeze. We have frozen them before and had good success.

Wings

I captured these the other day...the dragonfly was actually at Willow Sough, and the hawk was on the way there.
I think it is a red-tailed hawk. If you know different, feel free to post in the comments. I am not at all sure of most hawks.

Lorelei is sleeping, but she usually doesn't sleep for long. About 30 minutes at most, twice a day. Every now and then, if I am lucky, maybe once a week she will go down for a whole hour.

I have a quick job or two I need to do, so thought I would hurry and post this.

Neal, does this bring back memories?

The other day, Neal responded to this post by telling me I forgot the smell of new mown hay--and he was right. It is one of those smells that I love and that take me to childhood. I never see loads of hay like this without thinking of my brothers....and them coming in all hot and dusty. It was a hard job but they did it and never complained that I ever heard.

We didn't own a haybaler or rake either, but my older brother helped two or three other farmers so much that he was always welcome to use their equipment, and I know one of them always baled for him, but don't know if they did the raking. I think he did the raking, and they started bailing, and when George got done raking, they started the process of loading and hauling in the hay.

I think they held the record for getting in the most hay in one day....Neal don't remember this, but I am almost positive I remember them putting up a bit over a 1,000 bails in one day. I don't know who drove for them, I am thinking it might have been my other brother....but it was just George and Neal to load and haul it and put it in the barn. That is the part that makes it a record in my opinion. It was well after dark when they got done.....but it was done.

Well, storms are moving in and Lorelei will be here shortly. I best get moving and get this posted till I can unplug the computers.

A real beauty

Roger has been wanting to go back up to Willow Slough Wildlife area so, since I ended up not having Lorelei today, we headed that way. We decided to do part of the route on not so well traveled roads, and this house was the first thing I wanted to photograph. Another history I wish I knew. I can't help but wonder if it was something more than a home at one time. And I wonder has it always been brick. And that window in the peak--I have not seen anything like it before. I wonder it is is original to the house, or added later.

Choices to make....

Please click and enlarge for the full effect of her smile!

I had meant to take pictures of Lorelei all week but just today got it accomplished.
It was hard to make choices of which to post, so I may be going overboard.....
but at least I made a collage of some of them.
She is a character as you can see...
I really need to have the camera ready when her daddy comes though...she is just soooo glad to see him.
But for now I will leave you with this and probably a smile on your face.