Wordless Wednesday--My Summer Flowers

Grocery Store Bouquet

Angelonia

Marigolds

Hydrangeas

Impatiens

Volunteer Brown-Eyed Susans

Gwennie The Sheltie Speaks Up

Hello, Gwennie here. I would like to take this opportunity to say that I am making an effort to tolerate my feline housemates. It is difficult for me because my previous housemate, MacKenzie Cat used to torment me with his presence. We did not get along at all.

Now these upstart "kittens", as Mom calls them, are double the torment and irk me to no end. Mom talks in funny voices to them and gives them treats and toys and all kinds of attention. Even my dear sister, Lexie, may she rest in peace, used to PLAY with them, can you imagine the indignity.

But I have tried to put my best paw forward and have "allowed" Pyewacket to sniff noses with me. And he has a tendency to rub his furry body against mine, letting his tail fondle itself around my back. Almost unbearable, but I did NOT bark or try to bite him (that time).

Just wanted to set the record straight that I am being as indifferent as I can to their advances. I will attempt to tolerate these irritating friendly housemates, but do not expect me to be overly enthusiastic about it.

No, they are not cute. Do NOT trust them a minute. I mean it.

 

Yep, I Admit It: I Am Ready for Autumn

97 degrees F on Friday, after several days of high 90's. Unusual for our area. Then last night, severe thunderstorm warnings, high winds, lightning, downpours leading to the dreaded Power Outage. PB&Js for dinner and an early bedtime in the stuffy house. (power came back on just after midnight thankfully)

So, today I headed to my favorite bookstore, just to look around and see what there is to see. Always something there that I come home with. I found this wonderful magazine.

Autumn Cottage website

Beautiful!! And makes me dream of those glorious autumn days; just around the corner. Oh yes, I know I am big on encouraging the "live in the NOW", "enjoy each day of each season" and blar, blar, blar. But even I, a dedicated Wiccan and practicing Good Witch, has weak moments.

So, Autumn, I am waiting for you!

For Rent or Sale

One Fairy House, marvelous mushroom style, windows wide enough for standard wing span. Local fireflies available for lighting up the exterior at night. Good neighborhood. Nearby flowers, bumblebee approved. Direct inquiries to Twilight Realty, your Fairy and Toad House experts. 

Warning

I did some googling about gladiolus or glads. The beautiful summer flower on tall stems. They can be toxic to cats and dogs, but more so from eating the actual corm (as in the bulb). Regardless, I have removed the glads from the reach of the Kittens to be on the safe side.

Pixie-lated

Our little Pixie kitten has become much more adventurous and social. In the early days, when she first came to live with us, she was shy, scared, nervous and hated being touch, petted, picked up. These days even though she is still not crazy about being held for longer than a couple of minutes, she is very playful, talkative and always ready for fun with her brother. Today, I give you Pixie!

Hiding in the cereal cabinet

There is a rabbit on the front porch

Pyewacket is trying to tag Pixie who can be seen in silhouette behind the curtain

Pixie in one of her catnip frenzies, she is trying to get under the rug

 

Pixie feet

Blissful nap in the sun

Pixie is a dear little cat and an excellent familiar for a witchy type.

Bayberry Farmer's Market

Early this morning, before the heat and humidity can do a body in, I stopped by the Wednesday Farmer's Market in Bayberry, an area of Liverpool near my home.

Such delights!!

Of course I completely forgot to take photos of the Market (overwhelmed by the sights is my excuse).

Lots of homegrown veggies, flowers, fruits, baked goods, farm-fresh eggs, herbs and lots more.

Here is what I purchased this week: (click on photo for a closer look)

All fresh-picked. You can see home-baked biscuits and molasses cookies in the back

Gorgeous Gladioli (will they survive the Kittens?)

Breakfast--Fresh-baked biscuits with honey from the Lavender Farm

Visiting your local Farmer's Market is a good thing! You know the veggies are local. I always buy organic as well. Mother Nature grows things best!!

Off to bake a pie with those luscious blueberries!!

Stay frosty now!!  Bright Blessings from Robin.

AWOL

Yikes, I did not mean to be away so long from the blog. But I have been "absent without leave" for only good reasons. We are "in transition" here as my husband has started back to work. I drive him to and from and he worked 4 hours a day for two weeks, and this week he will be working 5 hours a day. It is wearing on him, and he comes home very tired and sore, but it is so good for him to be back at work. Everyone there has been celebrating his return and making him feel very welcomed again.

So my morning routine is different these days, but that's okay, except I lost track of computer time.

Yesterday, my honey and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary! Yep we got married on Bastille Day, lol. We usually go away for a long weekend on our anniversary, but this year we spent it quietly at home, though we took a little drive to Mexico. Yes, Mexico, NY. About 30 miles north east of here. Beautiful country side, fields of corn, cows, pretty farmland and farmhouses. It was a nice treat.

Meanwhile, my poor daughter and her husband had a flood in their apartment at two a.m. The apartment above them sprung some kind of leak and Raethan's apartment became inundated with water. I am waiting to hear today how they are managing. What a mess.

Hotter than Hades again here. Frankly, it is just as well I was unable to get a garden in this year, it would either have rotted from too much rain, or cooked to a crisp in the heat. My poor hydrangeas are wilting.

Keep cool if it is hot in your neck of the woods!!!

Oh, Yes It is Indeed Summer

Summer is here and there has been a lot of this:

Rain image source

And a lot of this:

Summer heat image

Of course, lots of this on the Fourth of July:

Fireworks Image Source

Naturally, there must be this:

Popsicle Image Source

And the glories of the summer garden:

Garden Image Source

Don't forget summer vacation:

Summer Bear(!)Image Source

(well, maybe not the bear)

Enjoy these days, even if there may be times one must complain about the heat or the humidity or too much rain or not enough rain; and perhaps a two-week vacation goes by in a flash. 

 Nature needs summer. And so do we.

Summer Fields Image Source

 

King George III Responds to the Colonies

King George the Third's response to the Declaration of Independence The Court of King George III London, England July 10, 1776 Mr. Thomas Jefferson c/o The Continental Congress Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Dear Mr. Jefferson, We have read your "Declaration of Independence" with great interest. Certainly, it represents a considerable undertaking, and many of your statements do merit serious consideration. Unfortunately, the Declaration as a whole fails to meet recently adopted specifications for proposals to the Crown, so we must return the document to you for further refinement. The questions which follow might assist you in your process of revision: 1. In your opening paragraph you use the phrase the "Laws of Nature and Nature's God." What are these laws? In what way are they the criteria on which you base your central arguments? Please document with citations from the recent literature. 2. In the same paragraph you refer to the "opinions of mankind." Whose polling data are you using? Without specific evidence, it seems to us the "opinions of mankind" are a matter of opinion. 3. You hold truths to be "self-evident" . Could you please elaborate. If they are as evident as you claim then it should not be difficult for you to locate the appropriate supporting statistics. 4. "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" seem to be the goals of your proposal. These are not measurable goals. If you were to say that among these is the ability to sustain an average life expectancy in six of the 13 colonies of at last 55 years, and to enable newspapers in the colonies to print news without outside interference, and to raise the average income of the colonists by 10 percent in the next 10 years, these could be measurable goals. Please clarify. 5. You state that "Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government...." Have you weighed this assertion against all the alternatives? What are the trade-off considerations? 6. Your description of the existing situation is quite extensive. Such a long list of grievances should precede the statement of goals, not follow it. Your problem statement needs improvement. 7. Your strategy for achieving your goal is not developed at all. You state that the colonies ought to be Free and Independent States, and that they are "Absolved from All Allegiance to the British Crown." Who or what must change to achieve this objective? In what way must they change? What specific steps will you take to overcome the resistance? How long will it take? We have found that a little foresight in these areas helps to prevent careless errors later on. How cost-effective are your strategies? 8. Who among the list of signatories will be responsible for implementing your strategy? Who conceived it? Who provided the theoretical research? Who will constitute the advisory committee? Please submit an organization chart and vitas of the principal investigators. 9. You must include an evaluation design. We have been requiring this since Queen Anne's War. 10. What impact will your problem have? .Your failure to include any assessment of this inspires little confidence in the long-range prospects of your undertaking. 11. Please submit a PERT diagram, an activity chart, itemized budget, and manpower utilization matrix. We hope that these comments prove useful in revising your "Declaration of Independence." We welcome the submission of your revised proposal. Our due date for unsolicited proposals is July 31, 1776. Ten copies with original signatures will be required. Sincerely, Management Analyst to the British Crown

Great Source of this Response

Image Source

Canada Day, Back to Work & Somebody's Birthday

Sending out lots of good wishes to all my Canadian family and friends on this great Canada Day!  My French-Canadian mother gave birth on Canada Day (though back then it was called "Dominion Day"). And that darling little baby grew up to be an amazing blogger. Yep, c'est moi!! Interestingly enough, my Canadian cousin Dave's daughter was born on July 4th!  Anyway, Happy Birthday to me and there had better be cake tonight!

My darling husband went to work today for the first time since March 11th. He is doing half days for the first two weeks. Poor fellow, his clothes are all too big for him right now, but hopefully a few more weeks of good eating will fix that. Isn't that great news?! Perfect birthday gift for me, to have my husband well enough to go back to work and give me some peace and quiet at home.

I did get signed up for Bloglovin' and am waiting to see what happens next. So far it doesn't look like anything has changed. I spent an hour on Saturday bookmarking every blog I follow. Just in case. I can be kind of obsessive that way.

Have a wonderful day!  Hugs from Robin.

Pixie and Pyewacket are so excited about my  birthday, aren't they?