Day 183: Backyard Lounge Chairs

I'm SO going to miss this when summer yields to fall and winter. . .

Day 182: Men and Barbeque Grills

. . . a skill worth encouraging!


This has been one of those beautiful Sunday summer afternoons. . . .

Day 181: Birthday Celebration

Darling husband, dear sweet, totally awesome husband, and his 60th birthday. Part of our celebration involved a meal at The Thai Orchid in Fargo, having their Feast for Two.


By the way, after yesterday's post, there was an article in our local paper about the Happy Face (aka "Smiley") tower. The tower was painted by a man named James "Ozzie" Osmundson, who died this past May. There's a 21 day old peregrine falcon, now named "Ozzie", the first hatched in Grand Forks, living on top of the tower with his parents, Bear and Terminator.

Peregrine falcons came off the endangered species list in 1999, and there are now 200 nesting pairs acoss the 13 state area. Restorationists had started placing nesting boxes high up on tall buildings and towers, to help protect the peregrines from great horned owls.

But Bear, the male peregrine falcon resident for several years, was a bit of a loser. Much to Bear's total mortification, his loser reputation in attracting a female, was noted and tracked by area birders. Finally, Terminator, (a rather feisty 2 year old female), from Brandon, Man, hooked up with Bear this year. Their hatchling, Ozzie, is white and fluggy-feathered, and won't be able to fly for another 3 weeks.

Day 180: Be Happy; Don't Worry

. . . so says the Grand Forks Water Tower.


But the water tower doesn't have to reconcile the years when we're told to worry about Killer Bees, followed by the years we're told to worry about Bee Colony Collapse Disorder.

Day 179: The Extravagance of Honeysuckle!

Summer is just bursting with colors and fragrance!

Day 178: The Pinks have Arrived!

I just love when the pink peonies finally bloom. . . .

Day 177: More of the Adorable Ms. Ada Bailey & Scuba Adventures

I just find this little sweety to be adorable beyond words. Her mom let me photograph her while Ada stopped by my workplace, and I have a nice little pile of photos to show you.

Another photo of her toe explorations. They just crack me up! I predict many manicures in her future.
And she has the best facial expressions!
And feet!
And this is my friend, Sheila, smooching away with her grandaughter.

And now you get another odd photo of moi. Mainly, I want you to note the cool split fin fins I'm wearing on my feet. Not exactly a flattering photo, but it represents what I did this past weekend. I decided to take a scuba diving class! And believe me, for me, this was quite challenging! I completed the classroom and confined dive portion of the PADI dive certification, 6 -11 pm on Friday, 8am to 8 pm Saturday, and 8am to 1pm Sunday. Wonderful but exhausting!




And let me boast just a bit by saying that the next oldest person in the class was 3 decades younger than me! (AND teaches water aerobics, and is the manager of a weight loss program.)

And then there was me. I was so excited the first night I could only get one of my contacts in my eyes, and that I've not actually ever learned to swim, plus I'm a clutz, and terribly out of shape, BUT I DID IT ANYWAY! For about 2 years, up until 2 years ago, I was having a great deal of trouble walking, was being misdiagnosed with stress fractures, and finally got the right treatment for an inflammatory arthritis. I'm so delighted with how much better I'm doing, and I just recognize that we really shouldn't ever count on the window of opportunity to do things being open indefinitely. REALLY, REALLY CONSIDER learning to scuba dive, if you get a chance. It's incredible! If I can do it, anyone can!

So, after my adventures in Mexico, I decided to give this a try. Now I have to decide about, and schedule, an open dive in a lake somewhere. Preferably before the lakes around here freeze over solid. I suspect it would be much harder to scuba through solid ice.

I also decided that if I really wanted to dive in a lake, I should get more physically fit. . . and competent in the water. So I've signed up for a water aerobics class. Sadly, I'm not likely to get any actual pool pictures of this! Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Day 176: Hostas, Heucheras, and the Lovely Ms. Ada Bailey

This is another photo of a blooming Chocolate Ruffles Heuchera.

I have several of these around a tree, mixed in with hostas, some annuals, (and please ignore the crabgrass creeping into the photo.)

This is slightly wider shot of the tree, and you can see a taller plant just behind the hosta on the left. I think it's a delphinium. . . . it'll bloom later this summer.

And this is a sneak preview of some photos I got to take today of the Lovely Ms. Ada Bailey!

She's a total cuddle bunny, and is as interested in her adorable feet as I am!

I had so much funny photographing away with my 105mm 2.0 lens! I've pretty much only used the lens on flowers and plants, but it really was fun to use it with this precious little person!

Day 175: Summer Hostas

Hostas are one of the plants that I strongly associate with summer. They grow well in shade, and come in such a range of varieties! The only problem with them are icky, slimey slugs. Slugs gross me out.

You can supposedly put a little dish of beer under the hostas and the slugs drink it, get drunk, fall in and drown.
Just what I want! Pools of dead floating slugs in my garden, smelling like beer! This is one time when I go straight for the chemicals, as soon as I see the leaves of my hostas looking all chewed up by slugs. BTW I really don't plan on posting a photo of a slug.

Day 174: Inside of an Umbrella

I just like the way the inside of our yard umbrella looks. Sorry I'm being a little lax this weekend in getting to others' POTD. . . I'm taking a weekend scuba diving class, and if I took a photo of me now, you'd see a very wrinkled up human being!

Day 173: Not-So-Secret Life of Bees

Pretty blue catmint. . . and BEES!


Only for POTD would I have stuck around photographing this critter!




Until another one showed up and then I was out of there!

Day 172: "Chocolate Ruffles" Heuchera

Here are a couple photos of the foliage of the "Chocolate Ruffles" Heuchera. I have some of these mixed in with hostas, around a tree. I'll have to get a few more photos of how they are around the tree. . . . but wanted to remove a few weeds first!

Day 171: More Summer Sparkle

Yesterday's lilac was a variety called Miss Canada Lilac.

This is the bloom in the middle of a "Chocolate Ruffles" Heuchera.

And these next two photos look sort of other-worldly. They're the blossoms on a cranberry bush.

Day 170: Lilacs

I just can't resist posting flower photos. Here in Growing Zone 5, our WINDOW of opportunity to enjoy flowers is really itty bitty. These are a few shots of a lilac bush I planted a few years ago. The flowers only last a few days, but smell glorious! The photos are a bit blurry (a windy day), but I'm really going to enjoy these photos (or torture myself with them) come our long Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, March and April days!

Day 169: The Love of a Father

Doug, Dianna and I went out to eat Saturday night. But Dianna was going to go bowling, and leave for it directly from the restaurant.

But she was wearing sandals and hadn't brought socks.
I was wearing sandals, no socks.
Doug had on new, clean socks. So of course, he gave them to Dianna.
Right there in the restaurant, under the table. Are there no limits to the love a dad has for his daughter?
And she bowled a 150.
Doug is such a great dad!

Day 168: This Can't Be Good. . . .

What IS he looking at? Out our window, into the yard, with binoculars. . .


Uh oh. Remember the storm I mentioned yesterday when I said I'd better post early before our power faltered? And remember also the flower I posted, which I learned from many is a Lupine? Well, after the storm was spent, this is what happened to the lupine and how it looks now. . .



I guess it needed support of some kind. Or maybe these are just short-lived blooms? It just looks kind of broken. . . .

Well, at least I got some photos of it yesterday before the storm!