Charlotte Will Be Jealous!!

Sssshhhhhhhhh!  We won't tell her!!

   I went to breakfast with my son Jonathan.  (Only mom gets away with calling him that, otherwise he is Jon.)  We went to Cafe' on the Park.  We both enjoyed a different "Skillet".  That was a yummy way to start the day. :D

   We came back to Farmville and I showed him the floors that Aunt Deedee had redone.  He was pretty impressed!!  And he liked the work that she had done in the Grand Entranceway, too!

   Then we walked around the porch outside and admired the flower beds that his brother Jeremy made, and all the flowers that Aunt Deedee planted for me.  She had put in the last of the new flowers the night before.  When the heat breaks, Jeremy will be able to finish the beds around the other side of the house.  Slowly but surely, even with this 100+ heat, things are getting done!

   So then we headed for Camp Clark.  Jonathan was pretty impressed with the campsite and the camper that belongs to his Aunt.   To his surprise, even though the woods was so overgrown, there was a path!  Right away he started walking on it.  I told him that his brother, Jeremy, had cut that, too.  Jonathan asked if we had a pair of blades that we kept just for the path, and I told him there will be as soon as this set is taken off to be replaced!  Then we will sharpen the old beat up set, and put it back on for trimming the woods, only!

   We tried looking for fungi, but it was too dry.  They had dried up and some had fallen off the branches.  Others that Magga' and I had found were gone!  We inspected the fallen trees and he even found an apple tree with little apples on it.

   It was a good walk.  There were hardly any mosquitoes!!  The weather is just too dry for them.  That is a first for me walking in the woods during the summer.  Dave and I used to take walks back there and would almost be eaten alive! 

   That is why we aren't telling Charlotte.  I would probably be on her "no good" list, if she knew that we walked back there without her!! 

Yesterday......

All my troubles weren't so far away....


   This is a harder month for both Dave's family and myself.  David passed away this month, two years ago.  I can't believe that it has been two years.  Where have I been? 

   As I struggle to regain some sort of balance, I decided to take Charlotte for a walk down to the campsite.  I wanted the shovels for the herb garden, dirt and manure.  It was such a nice "cooler" morning, so we just kept walking.  Charlotte loved sniffing everything out.  I was missing my camera, for it was back in the house on the table. 

   It was so peaceful. 

   Yes, it is overgrown, with no horses to eat it down and walk through it.  A friend's husband suggested that I do a controlled burn.  Not during this drought, of course.  I wonder if I approach the fire dept, if they would do it as a training exercise?  Hhhmmmm.

    On this walk, I checked the milkweed plants for any Monarch crysalis.  I wanted to find one for my sister, Colleen.  I used to find them as a little girl.  I would keep them till they emerged and then I would let them loose.  Mom taught me that it wasn't good to keep something wild as a pet because it wasn't fair to them.  She also said that they would be happier being free. 

   That brings to mind that saying, “If you love something let it go free. If it doesn't come back, you never had it. If it comes back, love it forever.”  I just did a little research on that phrase.... The original phrase really is "If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they're yours; if they don't they never were."  Originally, it was derived from Richard Bach's work. Okay, I digress...

   So, I was looking for the elusive crysalis.  Colleen and I were talking about how her cousin Sue had one hatch and she was releasing it.  She may have had 3 or 4?  That would be cool to watch again, and for Colleen, I think it would be a first. :)  I wasn't able to find one, so I will have to keep searching! 

   Charlotte and I finished our walk and I grabbed the tools, and we headed back to the house.  What a pleasant way to start the day.

   Here is a pic of a Monarch that Colleen took.  It is posted on her Curb Photography page.  Enjoy!

  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=256520667781262&set=a.256518654448130.42426.214592271974102&type=3&theater#!/photo.php?fbid=256530731113589&set=a.256518654448130.42426.214592271974102&type=3&permPage=1

   Here is a picture I took of a Monarch caterpillar, on a previous walk around Farmville.