Photos: Purple Coneflower, Tall Lavender Phlox

Journal: Quick Trip to South Dakota

Here’s a friendly little alfalfa snout beetle I spotted strolling merrily across my front porch.  I grabbed my camera, took a mugshot – and let him live, because I didn’t know exactly what he was until I looked it up.

Shoulda stepped on him.

This type of weevil is an invasive insect pest from Europe, first detected in Europe in 1896.  It’s highly destructive to alfalfa and clover.  In early summer, a single snout beetle will lay up to 500 eggs in the soil.  The resulting larvae feed on the alfalfa roots from mid-summer into late fall.  Adults feed on leaves and stems.  Pesticides were used to control them until this was deemed environmentally unsafe in the 1970s.  The beetle then spread unchecked, even though they don’t fly, wiping out entire fields.  Since alfalfa is one of the main foods for cattle, something had to be done.  Now nematodes (microscopic worms) are purchased and applied to fields.  If done soon enough and in quantity, field loss can be lowered to around 15% instead of 100%.

So... what made this bad bug think I was growing alfalfa, hmmm?

In my scanning of pictures, I came upon a shot of Larry’s red and white 1989 Chevy pickup, shortly before he sold it.  The red topper was purchased and put on as requested by the buyer.

Larry now has this truck again, and is gradually getting it all fixed back up after it suffered quite a lot of indignities, both mechanical and cosmetic.

Loren’s meal that afternoon consisted of a Black Angus burger with peppers and onions on half of a 12-grain little loaf, halved again, with Miracle Whip and some pieces of white and orange cheddar cheeses... Mediterranean blend vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, summer squash, and zucchini)... cottage cheese... Almond milk with banana... chocolate chunk/peanut butter chip cookies... and applesauce.

Home again, I went on scanning old photos.

Here’s Larry, working on the six-door Ford he built to take the place of the red and white Chevy.  He wedged the narrower frame inside the wider one and welded them together, making an extraordinarily strong frame that would never have that dreaded ‘sag’ in the middle, like a lot of limousines do.

It’s taking me a loooong time to scan pictures.  I have thousands and thousands of photos to scan.  I keep plugging away...

Pictures like this one encourage me.  This is Maria, when she was three years old, Easter Sunday, April 12, 1998.  I never gave it a thought that that adorable child might one day be my sweet daughter-in-law!

I’ve scanned numerous shots of flowers that were in my garden 23 years ago, in 1997, at our house where we lived in town.  (We moved to the country, 7 miles out of town, in 2003.)  Some of these flowers, I dug up and transplanted out here, and they are blooming still.

Tuesday night, I finished scanning an album I’d started the previous Saturday, completed one that belonged to Teddy when he was 12, and started a really big one that has somewhere around 800 photos in it.

I went on working on it Wednesday... Thursday... Friday...  It still isn’t done.  But I’m getting close!

Larry asked if I wanted to make a quick trip with him Saturday to North Dakota to pick up a ... ? ... ummm... a piece of machinery of some type.  A large hunk of metal with motor and wheels.  Larry likes large hunks of metal with motors and wheels. 

I considered the issue.  I like to go places, but nowadays I have not only the cats to consider, including Teensy with his hypothyroidism and the need for his medication twice a day, but also Loren and his need of a meal once a day.  He manages to fix himself breakfast each day; but there’s no telling how long that skill will last.

We could make the trip in a day.  So... Teensy would have his medicine early in the morning and later that night.  I could call Jimmy Johns in the afternoon to have them deliver a sandwich to Loren. 

I have checked into Meals on Wheels, and find that the price is quite reasonable...  but I won’t do that as long as I can manage to take Loren food myself, because he needs to see me each day, I think.

Loren still thanks me every day, and sometimes decides to pay me for food and gas (though he has trouble deciding on the amount), and worries over whether or not it’s ‘too much for me’.  He still has the same sense of humor, and enjoys stories about my children and grandchildren, my cats, and the birds and animals around the area.  So I will appreciate this, while we still have it.

I have found that if I gather up things of Norma’s while at his home, he becomes confused and wonders where she is, and if she needs more of her things.  So... I’ve decided most of that can wait.

While scanning pictures that day, I found a photo of Hannah wearing the wool and faux fur jacket I made in 8^th grade.  I was 13 when I made it; she was 13 when she wore it.  Neither of us have any idea what became of that jacket.  Dorcas wore it a year or so later; but I don’t think the little girls ever did.

Below are Hannah, Dorcas, and Lydia at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park in Norfolk.

We finally saw Comet Neowise, Wednesday night after church!  I convinced Larry (against his will) to drive up to the end of Old Highway 81.  We stopped at the end of the road, peered at the north sky for a few minutes... then went back to the house to get the binoculars, drive back, and give it another go (with lots of grumbling, none of it coming from me). 

“This could be fun!!!” I protested.

Said Larry, “I’m tired, I’m hungry, and there are mosquitoes!”

We stopped by the barricade and I bailed out with the binoculars.  Larry tilted his seat back, closed his eyes, and commenced to travel directly into the Land of Nod.

I panned the binoculars across the sky under the Big Dipper, where that comet was supposed to be lurking, but couldn’t find it.  Returning to the Jeep, I picked up my phone and looked up a diagram of the location, while Larry blithely continued sawing logs.

After getting Neowise’s location affixed in my mind, I walked back over to the barricade, lifted the binoculars – and there it was.  This is not my photo; it’s one of many posted on the Internet; but it’s exactly what we saw, as we looked through the binoculars that night. 

Yep, I actually managed to wake Larry up and convince him to look at that comet. 

“After all,” I told him, “It won’t return for another 6,800 years!”

“I can wait,” he muttered, not bothering to open his eyes.

“Come on, come on!” I exclaimed, tugging on his sleeve.  “You have to at least glance at it!”

He struggled out of the Jeep, moseyed along behind me to the end of the road, looked up at the sky sans binoculars, pointed, and said, “There it is.” 

“Well, why didn’t you help me find it in the first place?!” I groused, and he laughed.

Thursday, a friend was telling about a long drive she’d made in heavy rain, and how a few people were driving with their flashers on.  She wondered if people do that in Nebraska.

It’s not illegal here, but only the skeert-rabbit fuddy-duddies turn on their flashing hazard lights when it rains hard. 

A few states prohibit use of hazard lights while driving, because doing so can actually be hazardous – and here’s why:  those flashing lights may incorrectly signal to other motorists that you’re stopped in the roadway or otherwise traveling much slower than other traffic.  People may think they’re doing everybody a favor, but in reality they’re creating confusion when it’s already hard to see, particularly at night.  In some cars, the bulbs for hazard lights may be the same as the one for brake lights or turn signals.  Plus, hazard lights generally turn off your ability to use your turn signals.

One time when I was little, my parents and I were on a trip somewhere, and out in western Nebraska it started pouring down tumbleweeds, bumblebees, and pumpkin seeds.  We, traveling with TravelAll International and 31-foot Airstream camper, slowed to about 55 – and suddenly and startlingly came upon a car traveling 15-20 mph, hazard lights flashing.

Daddy, braking hard and then passing that car, exclaimed, “I declare!  It’s Mr. Riddlesdorf’s (name changed to protect the guilty) twin brother!”

I, innocent and naïve, was surprised.  “I didn’t know Mr. Riddlesdorf had a twin brother!”

Daddy replied, “He doesn’t.”

I debated that a bit, and finally decided Daddy meant that that guy was acting like Mr. Riddlesdorf.  Rigsby Riddlesdorf was known for such things as putting on a security harness before climbing a three-rung stepstool, donning a safety helmet to take out the trash, and turning off the main circuit breaker to install a light bulb.

Thursday morning, I headed out to work in the flower gardens at 6:30 a.m.  The first order of business was to drag a large old dilapidated wading pool from the far corner of the back yard around the house to the front lane so the garbage man could pick it up.  Been meaning to do that for a long time. 

I got all of the front flower gardens weeded, along with part of the garden on the west side.  After a couple of hours, I fizzled out, came inside, and took a bath and washed my hair.  The front yard looks good – except a whole lot of the hosta leaves are scorched terribly from the sun.

Here’s a picture I scanned that day – Teddy with the neighbors’ puppy.  It was taken February 20, 1998, so Teddy would’ve been 14.

This picture of Hester was taken March 03, 1994. 

Why do people regularly give men flashlights for gifts, but hardly ever do they give women flashlights?  Well, except for those cutesy little flashlights with rhinestones on them, lights that barely glow in the dark.  I think I’ve gotten one (o.n.e.) (1) flashlight for a gift in my entire life.  See previous sentence regarding rhinestones and such.

When I need a flashlight, I have to hunt high and low, and then low and high, for one of Larry’s.  I may or may not be fortunate enough to find one with actual working batteries in it.  His good ones are in his trucks.  And his trucks are rarely here when I need a flashlight.  If I do happen to find one, I must wash my hands in turpentine to remove the grease and tar and grime when I’m done using it.

So...

I decided it was high time I indulged myself with a new flashlight.

I ordered a High-Power [sic] Handheld LED Flashlight Super-Bright Spotlight/Side Lantern Floodlight/SOS 2-in-1 Rechargeable Large Battery.

Yes, the description says ‘Super-Bright’.  Yes, the reviews unanimously said, “It’s bright.”  They said I might be able to see into my neighbors’ houses at night.

‘Bright’, for cryin’ out loud, is a British understatement.  I just signaled another planet. 

Furthermore, the SOS light flashes back and forth from red to blue and rivals police-car lights for brightness.  I could make a semi pull over, even if he was in C. W. McCall’s Convoy.

The mother tongue of the author of the manual is not English, however:

Product Introduction:

This Flashlight are design accordingly to people operation habits.  This Flashlight use strong bright LED, low energy consumption, built-in rechargeable large-capacity lithium battery, long workings times, aluminum alloy shell, high heat radiating affect, ensure the longlife of the entire lamp.

This Flashlight illuminating long distant, high brightness, please do not illuminate light directly to eyes to avoid injury to eyes.  This Flashlight is IPX4 water-proof, but do not soak into water.  Ideal light for home, outdoor camping (as opposed to indoor camping, I presume), marine, boat, hunting, fishing, hiking, searching, work light, SOS.

Please read instructions with carefully before the use.

Product Definition:

Light source:  Super bright high lumen CREE LED

Light mode:  High brightness/low brightness/flashing mode

Battery type:  Rechargeable lithium battery

Lighting time:  10-32H

Charging time:  about 10 hours

(a bunch of blah blah about volts, amps, and mms), which I’ll skip)

USB output:  could use as power bank to charge mobile phone etc.

Waterproof Type:  Splashing water proof, rainproof, not allowed to soak into water 

How to Use:

1.      Lighting

Front Spotlight:  Press Spotlight button to turn to on light, and then press again to switch modes of high brightness/low brightness/flashing mode, and press again to turn to off light.

Side Light:  Press SideLight button to turn to on light, and then press again to switch modes of high brightness/low brightness/RED BLUE LED flashing light, and press again to turn to off light.

2.      Charge the flashlight:

When the light is weak, please to charge the product.  When charging, the charger red indicator is to on, after fully charged, the charger indicator changing to green.  Charging time is about to 10 hours.

3.      USB output to charge the phone:

This flashlight has USB output interface for power bank function, can charge phone, tablet etc.

USE TIPS:

1.      If the charger gets lost, it could change another charger. 

Charger or car charger with output:

DC 4.2V or 5.0V, 1A can charge this flashlight.

2.      This flashlight circuit board has a protection board to prevent to overcharge to protect circuit board damagement.  Wrong charger or wrong cable may result in overchargement, overchargement will activate the protection board to shut off the entirely circuit, and flashlight will not turn to on.

At this condition, re-charge the flashlight with appropriately charger will re-activate the circuit board the flashlight will work again.

3.      Please do not make flashlight battery run out, it is not good for lithium battery lifetime.  Please charge with the power is low.

4.      This flashlight is IPX4 waterproof, rain-proof.  After rain, please wipe clean.  It is prohibited to be soaked in water.

5.      Do not disassembling flashlight or charger to prevent damage the electronic parts.

6.      Keep product away from corrosive liquids, high temperature, high humidity environment.

7.      Front spotlight has glass and aluminum lamp cup is big, do not fall flashlight, it may cause lamp cup deformation.

Service Description:

Product problem caused by improperly maintenance, man-made disassemble, drop, falling into water, is out of warranty responsibility.

Trouble shooting:

Unable to boot light:  Check the power, please charge!

Weak Light;  Please switch to High Light mode, or due to low power, please charge!

After-Sale Service:

Warranty:  1 Year.  If you have any problematic with this order, please contact us by Amazon message before leave review. 

Or our email:  amz_review@sina.com.

Share your review about this flashlight on Amazon:

If you like this flashlight, you may leave your review to hope others get more inform.

 

Anyway, ah haff a LIGHT!

Keith, Korrine, and the kids went to the Grand Canyon, and Keith sent me pictures.

“Hey, that’s no fair!” I wrote back.  “I’ve wanted to go there for so long... wanted to ride a mule down to the bottom.  Probably too old to do that now.  Maybe a short ride...”

It was a bit stormy there, but nevertheless looked as spectacular as always with the sun peeking through the clouds, and the rainstorm in the distance.

Meanwhile, Bobby and Hannah and their family, along with Bobby’s sister Esther, went to Colorado last week, and have been tantalizing me with their photos.  ß

Keith said there were a lot of visitor centers closed due to COVID-19. 

We have seen nice public restrooms closed – and PolyPortables set up instead.  Real brainy.

Juliana, Joseph and Jocelyn’s little girl, who’s 6, took this picture of her mother and me.  First, she made a careful search for the effect she wanted... then when she took the shot and looked at it, she cackled in delight, silly little girl.  Just look, she matched those flowers to my shoes!

Friday, before heading upstairs to scan photos, I washed dishes and clothes, and then vacuumed the rugs.

Here’s Joseph, age 9, at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park in Norfolk.

Supper that night was grilled chicken, broccoli, scalloped cheesy potatoes, peaches, and pecan sandies.  😋

Keith sent a couple more pictures that day – of a tornado!  “Look what we just witnessed,” he wrote.

I promptly retorted, “Look here, now you’re just bragging!  That’s another thing I’ve never seen, and never had the chance to photograph.  (I do hope you stay safe, of course.)”

The tornado was a few miles north of I40 near Kingman, Arizona.  They were heading to Hoover Dam.

Here are Lydia and Hester at Indian Cave State Park, May 30, 1994.

The story:

After Hester, almost 5, helped Lydia, almost 3, up this little hill, they came rushing to me, and Lydia exclaimed, “Hester took me on a really loooong---”

“—and steep,” added Hester –

– “and steeeeep!!!” Lydia went on, “hike!”  And she proceeded to give a loud huff and puff, for good measure. 

Hester grinned at me.  (Little sisters are so funny.)

I sent the picture and story to Hester, who responded, “🤣 for some reason this reminds me of Carolyn and Violet.”

“Yes,” I agreed, “they tickle our funnybones, just like you and Lydia did.  😄”

By 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning, we were on our way to Leola, South Dakota.

When we were almost to Yankton, South Dakota, a little before 11:00 a.m., we turned west toward Gavins Point Dam, where we would cross the Missouri on the road over the dam.

It’s one-lane traffic for a short distance by the powerhouse gates, and there are red and green lights to alternately let north-goers and south-goers cross.  We waited in line... then the light turned green and we headed across.

At the light on the other side waited a pickup with a fairly big boat on a wide trailer – and the trailer’s wheel on the driver’s side was a good foot into our lane.  The lanes are narrow.  There are tall square curbs on each side of the road.  No way was our wide trailer going to fit.  Larry slowed to a crawl and moved over as far as he could, waiting for the other driver to go forward and pull farther to the right, in order to give us the room we needed. 

The other driver sat without moving.

Finally Larry had to come to a complete stop, because the trailer tire was immediately behind a square curb that was jutting into the lane.

Fortunately, there was a park ranger in the lineup behind the pickup and boat.  Seeing what was happening, he jumped out, hurried up to the other driver, and told him to pull forward and to the right.  “Your wheel is a foot over in his lane!” he said, gesturing. 

The other driver crept forward, moving over a few millimeters. 

We backed up and tried getting the right trailer wheel around the square curb. 

There was just no fitting through, with that guy who wouldn’t move over enough to allow us both to fit on that narrow road.  So... Larry slowly and carefully pulled the trailer up and over that big curb.  Good thing we didn’t have the forklift on it yet!

Whataya bet guys like that never, ever pull a trailer except once in a blue moon to haul their boat to the river?

There was a flotilla of sailboats in the Missouri, so pretty against the varied blues of water and sky.  It was a pretty day. 

At 12:30 p.m., almost to Mitchell, we crossed Enemy Creek.  I had already taken 454,553 pictures of barns, 36,428 pictures of silos, and 584,636 pictures of red trucks.  (rough estimate)

In the middle of the afternoon on that hot day, we indulged in Dairy Queen Blizzards – a small Snickers Blizzard for me, and a medium New York Cheesecake Blizzard for Larry.  He went in to get them.  When he returned, he informed me that the restaurant not only has size large Blizzards, but also EXTRA-large.

“Good grief!” I exclaimed.  “How many calories are in that thing?!”

Merely a large Royal Oreo Blizzard has 1,320 calories!

“I don’t know,” answered Larry, “but the lady who waited on me has four a day.”

haha

In Aberdeen, we went in a convenience store that used to be an old gas station and vehicle repair shop.  It was all fixed up into a modern convenience store.  There was an old gas tank inside, along with a vintage Dodge Challenger R/T displayed high on the hoist that used to be over the grease pit.

I was wishing I would’ve brought my camera in – and then it occurred to me, Oh, yeah.  My phone takes pictures.  😄

Aberdeen is called the Pheasant Capital of the World.  As we passed through that area on the way home around dusk, we saw quite a few pheasants, both roosters and hens, alongside the road.

And then...

Aaaaaaa!  My eyes, my eyes!  Anyone who parks a red pickup in the drive next to a bright fuchsia-mulberry house should be arrested and charged with assault to the sensibilities of passersby.

A little before 4:00 p.m., I called Jimmy Johns restaurant in Columbus to find out if they would deliver food to Loren’s house, which is a little bit north of town. 

They would.

I called Loren to make sure he was home... told him to expect a food delivery soon... then called Jimmy Johns back and ordered a roast beef sandwich, an oatmeal raisin cookie, and iced tea.

When I called Loren back an hour later to make sure he’d gotten his food, he said he had, and that it had been very good. 

“Now we need to get ourselves sandwiches from Jimmy Johns,” I informed Larry, “to see what they taste like!” 

There was flooding on country roads in McPherson County, where the town of Leola, South Dakota, is located, from rains that had oversaturated the ground in the last couple of days.  As we traveled, I received several flashflood warnings on phone and tablet.

Leola, population 434, was founded on May 1, 1884, and named for Leola Haynes, daughter of one of the town’s founders.

The people who sold the forklift on the online auction didn’t bother to put in the exact address.  The woman with whom Larry talked on the phone told him, regarding the town of Leola, “If you blink, you’ll miss it.” 

But that’s not really true, for there are 13 avenues and 8 streets.  What’s wrong with simply giving a person an address, for pity’s sake?!

After a bit of wandering around, accompanied by a bit of grumbling, Larry spotted a sign on a big building that rang a bell.  He turned down that avenue – and soon spotted the forklift sitting on the drive in front of the building.

He attached to the forklift the propane tank he’d had filled in Columbus, turned the key, and pressed the starter.

It wouldn’t start.  (Do they ever?)

He pulled the seat out of the way and looked at the battery.  He hooked up his portable battery pack to it, and pressed the starter.

It wouldn’t start.  (Do they ever?)

He checked the oil.

It was overfull – and not just with oil, either.  There was plenty of water mixed in with the oil.

He rechecked the switches and the gears and the pedals – and discovered it hadn’t been in neutral.

He put it in neutral... pressed the switch... and the thing started making promising growly noises and rumblings.

In less than a minute, he had it running.  Not well, but running, nonetheless.

It puffed and snorted and smoked something fierce.  Through a billowing cloud of smoke, Larry managed to turn the beast around and back it up the ramps and onto his trailer, with a minimum of jockeying about.

After taking pictures of Larry, the forklift, and the old rusty truck across the street, I thought I’d plumb run out of worthy photographic subject matter – and then I spotted something lavender-tinted in the midst of a nearby stand of no-longer-blooming lilac bushes.

I trotted over there, posthaste.

Bellflowers!  There were bellflowers.  Bellflowers and lavender phlox and yellow wildflowers and tiny white catnip blossoms and chokecherries and clover.  I started pressing the shutter button.

There was a baby robin in the bushes, too, screaming for food; and his mother was nearby, scolding vociferously; but both of them steadfastly refused to come out and pose for me.

Suddenly, my picture-taking was interrupted by a loud clanking, crashing noise. 

I, hearing this dreadful din from where I was wandering about flora and fauna hunting, whirled around just in time to see Larry picking himself up from the ground.  He proceeded to dust himself off with exaggerated aplomb, then turned a 270° circle, peering around at all the nearby houses, hand shielding eyes from the sun, in a ‘this is so embarrassing, I hope nobody saw me’ mien.

He’d been on the trailer strapping the forklift down, ratcheting things down tight, when the hook on a chain slipped off.  He was pulling hard on the ratchet handle when the hook came loose, and he went flying, landing first on the fender and smushing it down almost to the tire, then tumbling the rest of the way to the ground.

The thing was, he’d tripped over something a couple of nights before when he was working on his friend’s vehicle in Genoa.  He caught himself with one hand, but jammed or twisted his little finger.  The whole outside edge of his hand is swollen.

After the spill from the trailer, his other arm was a bit sore – and I’m sure today he found a few more aches and pains as he was working.

There were some unique cloud formations on the way home, and the sunset was so pretty.  It was too dark to get pictures of the Missouri River by the time we got to Yankton, though.

We got home shortly before 2:00 a.m.

More pictures are here.  Keep clicking ‘Newer posts’ at the bottom of each post to see them all.

Several weeks ago, Hester asked if I still had the ‘Little Little Golden Books’ – miniatures – that some of the children had when they were little, as she thought Keira would like them.  She’d hunted for them, but they are no longer in print, and people are selling them for anywhere between $10 and $50 online.

I’ve been watching eBay, and a few days ago I hit the jackpot, finding a lot of seven of them at an affordable price.  They arrived that day, in exactly as good of shape as the seller had promised.  I gave them to Keira yesterday after church. 

She was very pleased with her little books, and gave me a big smile and a sweet little “Thank you.”

On one of the online quilting groups a couple of days ago, this question was asked:  What’s the most you ever ripped on a single project?  Why?

Here’s the story of the most ripping I ever did (and I’m glad I did it):

After putting the 19,200 one-inch squares onto the gridded, fusible Pellon, the center of the Mosaic Lighthouse quilt measured 160” x 120”.  After sewing all the vertical and horizontal seams (160 horizontal seams, 120 vertical seams), it measured 80” x 60”, and the one-inch squares were now half-inch squares. 

Do you remember what happened when I sewed the three sections of that Mosaic Lighthouse quilt together?  (I put the top together in three sections, because of the size limitation of the gridded, fusible Pellon.)  In each third, there were 180 horizontal seams.  In the right third, I took a smidgeon less than 1/16” too deep of seams on almost every seam.  That made for a slightly more than 10-inch discrepancy between that section and the other two sections!

But could I just take out the 180 horizontal seams that were too deep???

Nooooooooooo... because the 40 vertical seams were sewn after the verticals.  The vertical seams had to be taken out before I could take out the horizontals.

I consoled myself by added ripping and resewing time to my total construction time.  And by buying myself several new, fancy-schmancy seam rippers.

A non-quilter (and non-mathematician, evidently) wanted to know how I managed to count all those one-inch squares.  “I’d have to count a few, write them down, then count more.  An extremely daunting task!”

Well........... what you don’t do is sit and count squares, one by one, one after another. 

The mosaic part of the quilt, before borders, measures 60” x 80”.  The finished squares are ½”.  So you take 120 x 160.  Ergo, 19,200 squares.

Oh, and I should add, it took two weeks – somewhere between 80-100 hours – to rip all that out.

Crop dusters have been going over regularly for the last several days.  They often start at 6:30 in the morning.  One went down south of North Platte yesterday, killing the pilot.

Caleb once, at about age five, was telling about a low-flying plane that had startled him, when we were at a rest area somewhere out west:  “After a minute, I realized it was just a spray plane, and settled down.  But first I thought it was crashing, and really calmed up!”  (Opposite of ‘calmed down’ is surely ‘calmed up’, right?)

Rarely can I ever smell what the planes are dispensing.  If I ever can, I will get a headache before I even realize what I’m smelling.

Teensy is snoozing on the front porch, right on the edge.  His head keeps slowly slipping over the threshold, whereupon he flinches slightly and draws it back, never opening his eyes, and too, too tired to actually move a few inches back from the brink.

Yes, of course I ran for the camera, and set it on ‘movie’ mode.

The Rose of Sharon hibiscus has suddenly burst into bloom, after having buds on it for weeks.

I took Loren some food, went to the bank, and stopped at Cubby’s on the way home for milk and an energy drink, which I just polished off a few minutes ago.

We’re taking care of our neighbors’ animals this week while they’re gone.  After supper, I walked with Larry up to their place to get the eggs and give the goats some hay.  The goats informed us loudly that they were more than ready for their hay.

Back to scanning pictures!

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn         ,,,>^..^<,,,