IN Carmel

 There were big gaps in the night that I used it to look up information on the computer.  I learned a whole lot.  The topic was hip pain, and I discovered a correlation between breast cancer and bone cancer.  Surprise, surprise.                                                A snowball hydrangea I think in it's third or fourth year.                                                                                         Rain at the right time has made this a stunning display of snowballs.                                                                                                     This is a long ago plant from the church swap. That gave me a clue about what direction to go in the morning.  I left a message wanting a return call from my breast cancer doctor's nurse asking for Xray clarification.  Starting detective work with Dr. Schneider seemed to be a better fit instead of starting with an orthopedic doctor who knew nothing about my health history. The evaluation of the X

                                                                   Coreopsis once again doing it's thing. This morning, I spent some time with my new friend Penny the composer of the anthem that was commissioned for Doug and I. We learned a little more about each other and we traded garden visits.  Her garden is neater and mine is more this and that. I sent her home with some basil and two little starts of perennial geraniums.   Milkweed education tonight.  This one is called Butterfly Weed.  There are five milkweed plants waiting for Monarch eggs.  Last summer the Monarchs only used this kind of milkweed for their eggs.  Fussy little ladies I would say.  We discovered that the B Bird was once again on the nest and after flying out we saw 5 blue eggs.  That was a fast lay for sure.  It would seem that it went from three to five in one day.  Common Milkweed.  It's still a little early in the Monarch season but the one cat I found was on Common milkweed.  The count is one so far

 Another slow day.  No trips to the woods, Aldie's or anywhere.  Just a good old-fashioned day at home.  The day started early so I took it easy early also.  I did, than I sat, and then I did and ...you got it!  There was sunshine and clouds and then a easy rain for a little while.   I opened the B Bird house to count eggs.  I had a picture of one and of Mrs. B Bird sitting on some others.  Woo was I surprised.  She didn't budge.                                      Such a devoted mother not moving at all when bothered by a camera.                Mr. Piliated made a stop.  There is always an announcement before descending on the suet.  I worked in the garden transplanting a few last things.  Doug did another great job, this time trimming the Weigelia bush opening up some space around it.  I planted some baby Live for Ever succulents that were found growing other places needing a new home. Doug has a more clipping to do.  The big blue was full!                                  

For the important word...the number tonight is three.  Here's proof. This was the morning for visual work at church.  June is Pride month and North has provided support to the Gay community for years.  So once again the visual team worked in areas at church with Pentecost as the background of Pride coming to life.  We started work with a lot of catch up talk and then got busy with more color finishing our work just a little after 11 am.  It takes a village and that numbered six this morning.                                                               Noah's favorite.  He sent me this picture.                  `` I stitched together six banner we hang each year. At some point we added candles.  I invited Noah to work with us since school was out for him and I received a big yes.  Young legs are a huge help in such a big space.                                                                    This greets folks as they enter the church. This afternoon was a little slow.  I'

 Yes a holiday but when one is retired everyday could be called a holiday.  The morning was slow and cold and damp and wet.  But it got better when I decided to close the windows and put on a jacket.  That helped a great deal.  And the windows stayed closed, and the jacket stayed on until early afternoon.  I worked on filling the Noah Pond experiencing some ups and downs.  That job always has a learning curve.  And after a big hitch I was on my way to success.   Doug and I went to Rosie's to get some pond plants and I would say the final report for pond completion met with success.             Clean water with the solar bubbler working for the third year.  Fish?  The jury is out for now.  A walk through the yard once again told me that the very old but very beautiful clematis is once again doing its thing.  Blossoms are everywhere from top to bottom and side to side.  The trip to Rosie's included some thinking about how to finish off the new container.  The more I thought, the

 Another easy morning looking over the garden.  Then it was off to church.  I am amused when my phone tells me that in 21 minutes, I'll be at church taking Meridian Street where traffic is light.  And we arrived at about 21 minutes later. Traffic?  It seemed a little racy.  It was a good service with the choir as well as the five brass players providing music.  On the way home we delivered some carry out clams to R and B knowing they were not home but leaving them on the screened in porch.  Then another two miles got us home under a very cloudy, rainy sky.  Indy 500 is today and I certainly was glad to have a roof over my head.  There was lots of rain coming our way.  There was time for a nap and then I needed to do picture taking and caterpillar hunting.  One was positive, one was negative.  The B Birds second family is now a family of one.  There will be more.  The bird house on the patio with two doors is now the home of 4 expected Carolina Wren babies.                         

 Another great night of sleep.  Gratitude abounds.  This morning Ms. Daisy was transported to church arriving around 8:45 after taking another chipmunk to the park.  They just keep coming and we just keep moving them.  This afternoon the cutest little squirrel was on the patio about the size of a chipmunk.  Their tails are so big compared to their body.  There were times today when 4 or 5 noisy Carolina Wrens were flooding the patio at the same time.  What a deal.  They are noisy little birds.  Love in the Mist, Nigella.  The first seed pod that guarantees that there will be many more plants next year.  So pretty, making the flowerbeds come alive. Easy to grow by just letting them do their own thing. So the morning was full of Bread and Bowl work preparing food for those who would eat with us as well as hot meals to take home to eat.  The carry out meals were gone in thirty minutes and the food for eating in the community room lasted the entire hour.  We filled at least 60 plates along

 The morning started slowly.  The night had a big hole in it which is nothing new and something I just accept for now.  That's just the way it is at 10420.  Go with the flow.  So a slow morning was just right.       Just a little more edging to mark the path to the neighbors.  I've got to know where my feet are going. This is also the deer path discovering that a Tulip tree has had a serious nibble along with some day lilly flowers.  Oh, well there has to be something for everyone.  Good old Georgia needles in the picture. I began thinking about ground cover knowing that a job was waiting to wack back the ground cover that was lining the paths to the north side of the house.  It would be a job like Kathy was doing around her trees but not as difficult.  The shovel came out and I lined the paths again with an almost but not quite finished announcement.             One wing up and ready for take-off.  Kiddo remember it takes two wings to really fly.  The blue birds continue to wo

 I started the morning after breakfast with my little rake cleaning out some stuff.  And my neighbors from the other end of the addition were walking and stopped to talk.  They both are gardeners and moved here last fall.  We talked and looked for more than an hour about everything until it was time to leave for the doctors at 10:45. There were tons of words that included everything one needs to know about chipmunks. Doug took one of those and a baby squirrel to the park before we left for the doctors.                                          Another first for the spring of 2024.  Perennial Sweet Peas.   And there was a lot of doctor talk as well.  That visit included a left hip Xray hoping to figure out why it has been hurting for so long.  It's probably abuse but we'll know soon.  It could mean more selective PT with I U people who don't joke around strengthening the muscles around the hip bone.   After the I U North visit we went to church to pick up plastic bags to prep