Enchanting

On Friday afternoon my next door neighbor came over and invited Bradley and me to visit her backyard garden. She’d been out watering and discovered the trees were full of Monarch butterflies. Donna knows how much I enjoy the creatures out in the garden and thought I’d like to show the butterflies to Bradley.

He was very serious while watching them flit around and would point to them in the trees.

At one point I was able to get one onto my finger and hold it closer to Bradley. It only stayed 2 or 3 seconds, but it was cool to hold it.

I had noticed several Monarchs flying around that morning when I walked down the alley, but didn’t really think anything of it. There is a lot of milkweed around the area and that’s what they feed on, so it’s not out of the ordinary to see a few around the yard.

Of course I had to Google for facts about Monarch migration after seeing this gorgeous display. Here’s a condensed version regarding their migration from http://www.monarchbutterflyusa.com/Migration.htm:

“Across the USA monarchs soar and glide in the warm sunshine from March through October (depending where they are born), but what happens in the fall when the brisk cold winds set in and winter looms in the air? Monarchs cannot survive cold winter temperatures of the northern states. So what does a monarch do to keep warm? It MIGRATES south and HIBERNATES! This means that it rests, with a very slow heart rate, just like bears in their hibernation caves. Monarchs east of the Rockies migrate 2500 miles to the Oyamel fir trees of Mexico. Monarchs west of the Rockies migrate to southern California to the eucalyptus trees of Pacific Grove and surrounding areas.

The monarch's flight to Mexico has been compared to the migration habits of birds flying south for the winter. It is the only insect that can fly 2,500 miles to a warmer climate. Their unique wing structure and yearly life cycle makes it possible for the fall generation monarchs to travel thousands of miles (on those amazing little wings) to the warm nesting grounds of Mexico and southern California.”

I am always appreciative and amazed when allowed to witness the wonders of Creation such as this. Hopefully that appreciation is being passed down the generations. Many thanks to Donna for thinking of us and letting us join her in this experience!

Keep on Brushing, Baby

Jessica is doing a fine job of instilling good dental habits in Bradley. He currently has seven teeth and must be working on some more, what with all the drooling going on.

He loves to have his teeth brushed using “training” toothpaste. This toothpaste has no flouride and is safe for him to swallow. He has a couple of toothbrushes – one sent home for him by the dental hygienist the last time I had a check-up.

Tonight he decided he’d brush his own teeth and his mama got a little video (aren’t cell phone cameras convenient?).

(The voice you hear is Jessica.)

Once he got to try brushing his own teeth, he didn’t want to stop, but he was too tired to keep on for long and gladly traded the toothbrush for a bottle. :o)

A Walk Down Memory Lane

This title is almost literally what I did one day a few weeks ago. I walked down memory lane in Harrison Park, and I went back, way back to a time of swimming at the pool, running the trails, and Girl Scout day camp near the creek.

Lots has changed in that park since I was a kid. The pool is gone now and you can’t really even tell it was ever there:

What seemed like an enormous concrete monument to summer didn’t really take up all that much space. I did get a little ache in my stomach when snapping this photo. So much of my childhood was spent here.

The pool isn’t the only thing that is gone – all of the play equipment up by the former pool entrance is gone, too. There is just a concrete walking path and a bike rack now.

Off to the west side of that path you can still see the trails through the trees, though. As children we ran those trails, playing in that little bit of wild forest available in the prairie.

Further down the path we come to the one thing that hasn’t really changed about this park, and that is Beaver Creek. Still nasty.

My brothers used to get in there and fish out the wayward golf balls from the country club golf course just to the west. Then they’d sell them back to the club house. I’m not sure they made enough money to justify the icky water and leeches, but that’s what they did. They also used to catch crawdads and bring them home, asking Mom to make them for supper. Thank goodness Mom always declined!

Down in the bottom of the park there were swings and a merry-go-round. This is where we had Girl Scout day camp each summer, and many a picnic. It’s been renovated now with new play equipment, sand volleyball, and a horseshoes area.

If you look closely at the left side of the photo, you’ll see the old merry-go-round – same one from when we were kids.

Bradley enjoyed coming along with me on my walk down memory lane. He was tired and ready for a nap, but listened to me babble on about what fun that park was for me when I was a child, and how much fun he was going to get to have there – different fun, but we’ll make great memories just the same.

 

Cat On a Hot Asphalt Roof

The other day I walked outside just as Tucker was readying himself to jump from the back deck rail onto the garage roof. Really? Is 4 cat years really like 12 human years and I’m dealing with a headstrong young boy who knows no danger?!

He barely glanced at me before hopping up onto the roof, then sauntered to the peak and laid down. Then he just watched the birds fly around and cars drive by. I’m thinking to myself, “The cat laid down on the peak of the garage roof. If he can’t get down, I’m NOT going up!  Good thing the fire station is just down the alley so I can call for them to rescue my cat…”  

Of course it wasn’t necessary to call for rescue. After a few minutes Tucker sauntered down and hopped back onto the deck. Then he scolded me – for what, I’m not sure, but he was quite serious about it.

Max watched all this while lying on the deck step. He was not about to get into any trouble…

“See Mom? I’m the GOOD cat!”

Use the Fork, Brad

A couple of days ago I gave Brad a little fork to use with his lunch, and noticed that he was using it to eat. Had to get out the camera and get a video. Guess that put the hex on fork usage…  Anyway, here’s a short video of him having lunch and me encouraging him to Use the Fork, Brad.

Sunrise on the Prairie

This is why being up early on Sunday morning is awesome:

I know there is no way with my little point and shoot camera that I will capture the colors – plus this photo was taken while I was sitting in the car, pointing the camera behind me. I wanted a shot of the sunrise so you’d appreciate this:

This is the reflection of the sunrise on the clouds. It was so pretty I had to stop in the middle of the road and just look at it.

Notice the weeds and the corn are both taking on a brownish hue – you know what that means – AUTUMN!

YIPPEE!

Summer Revue

It has been awhile since I caught up with you all here. I hope someone will read this and that you haven’t given up on me since my last post a couple of months ago!

‘Twas a busy summer, and Bradley has kept me running for most of it. When he took off walking at 8 1/2 months old, I knew I was in for trouble. Not the way I’d planned to spend the summer, but no complaints here. It has been an enormous blessing to watch him grow and learn.

Instead of me writing a novel to catch up on the past few months, lets do it in pictures, shall we?

Went to Sioux City to celebrate Reese’s first birthday,

and Taylor’s third birthday.

Took Randy’s kids to Little Diggers:

Greg built a new swingset for Bradley:

We took a field trip to the Lincoln Children’s Zoo:

There was blue rock shooting (Ben, Alan, Nick),

and target practice:

Of course there was swimming!

(Brad and Jess)

(Taylor)

(Taylor, Grace, Reese)

and Abbie stayed a few weeks.

We took Abbie home to Texas where we enjoyed our first visit to Joe’s Crab Shack…

At the county fair, Bradley fell in love with the baby chicks in the FFA animal tent:

At home, he LOVED sweet corn!

We got to know Scott a little better.

Let’s not forget the flowers

and the vegetables in the garden. Bradley has become an accomplished tomato-picker!

So there you have it, a glimpse into what has been a fun and busy summer around here.

I have several projects planned for this autumn, and there will be fun galore with the grandboy as we prepare to celebrate his first birthday in a few weeks. I hope you’ll stick with me as I get back into the blogging groove!

Boy + Box

Who needs expensive toys?

When you can have an empty box to play with…

for hours of fun!

Thrifted Treasures

A few weeks ago Bradley and I stopped in at the local Goodwill store and we found a couple of treasures.

First there was this stack of pretty glass bowls:

I just love the lacy look of the outer rim. They have no brandname or markings of any kind, and I have no idea if they’re old or not. I just really liked them, so at 99 cents each, they came home with me.

I have an internet friend, Rhonda, who recently began collecting old Pyrex mixing bowls and such, and I thought of her when I noticed these pieces:

A gravy boat with saucer, and what I assume to be a sugar bowl and creamer?

I don’t collect Pyrex, but again, these were 99 cents each, so I bought them. Maybe I should have said I don’t collect Pyrex… yet. :o)

Peony Season

In looking at past posts about the garden, there has been little mention of the peonies, one of my favorites. I’ve always loved their sweet smell and big, fat flowers. Mom always said the peonies should bloom by Memorial Day weekend. Some years that’s true, but I have had times when it was a week or more into June before we had flowers.

They always get beaten up by the wind, every year. They’re situated on the West side of our property, and not sheltered one bit. Doesn’t matter, they still give a show, every year.

These are especially meaningful to me because we dug them out of my mom’s yard the summer after she passed away.  They need to be divided, so we’ll dig them up this year and spread the love around to other parts of the yard. :o)

Yard Work

The first morning of the first day of our long Memorial Day weekend was spent out in the hot, hot sun with a chainsaw and the Bobcat as we eliminated a tree out front and a huge weigela bush out back.

The tree was a yew, and was planted by the front deck steps 13 years ago when it was a wee, tiny little thing. It was a memorial gift from a dear friend, given to me when my mom died. You can understand why I was reluctant to take it out, even with Greg telling me for the past few years that it was too big and needed to go.

It had gotten too tall for me to prune by myself, and was lopsided on two sides because of the branches I had to cut. See where the branches grew through the rails by the steps? 

Here you can see how the magnolia kept some of the top branches on one side from growing.

An objective look at the tree last week had me finally agreeing to take it out.

We started cutting off branches. Greg had borrowed his dad’s little electric chainsaw that was lightweight enough that I could use it with no problem, yet heavy duty enough to take care of a 13 year old tree. This was my first time to use a chainsaw, and while cutting tools and I have a checkered past, I’m happy to say I did not lose a limb while cutting down this tree. (Get it? “Lose a limb”? Heehee.)

It seriously took just a few minutes before that big yew was reduced to this:

Randy arrived with the kids so they could help clean up branches, and Greg recruited him to help pull out the stump with the Bobcat.

You can see how it was in there so deep and so tight that it lifted the back wheels off the ground. They decided to cut it off at ground level instead…

Around on the other side of the house, I asked Greg to remove this huge overgrown weigela.

I think we planted this about eight years ago? Maybe less, but there was a lot of dead branches inside and a couple of good-sized trees growing in the middle. Besides, we need the space for Bradley’s new swing.

We made short work of this one with the chainsaw, then Greg just used the Bobcat bucket to dig out the roots.

Doesn’t that look better? You can see the chainsaw on the bench – a handy little thing to have around!  Did you also notice the 20-ish year old Little Tykes picnic table? My dad gave that to my kids for Christmas when Jess was 2 or 3 years old. It went through daycare kids, several years at Head Start on the playground, and looks a little worn, but is still in great shape! Anyway, like I said, this will be the spot for Bradley’s new swing. (If you click on this photo and enlarge it, you’ll see the nail ball in front of the bench. Yeah, that’ll have to be moved if we have swings back there…)

So having things in your garden and then removing/replacing them are normal cycles, and as much as I hated removing that yew, I’ll choose to put something there that brings me joy. This way I’ll still have that warm feeling of remembering my mom when I look at that spot.