Our Garden's Furry Little Train

Fuzzy, wuzzy, creepy crawly

Caterpillar funny

You will be a butterfly
When the days are sunny.

Wiggling, flinging, dancing, springing
Butterfly so yellow,
You were once a caterpillar,
Wriggly, wiggly, fellow.

by Lillian Vabada

The Bug Whisperer

I found some bright yellow insect eggs on the side of the van. I was going to scrape them off the van and place them in our bug catching jar to see if they would hatch. I forgot until the next day when I saw my dear husband washing the van. I ran out yelling at him to stop. I do think sometimes that homeschooling has turned me into a nut. Nah.

I placed the eggs in the jar and put them on the back porch and waited. I really didn't think they would hatch, especially since they had been washed! As the days went by, the eggs started to fade in color and developed a dark spot in the center. I wondered if they were maturing or dying.

Then one day I went out and saw little black spots in the jar. They were hatching! I placed the jar by the van, hoping they would crawl out and know what to do. They didn't. They all stayed in the jar. I moved them to the garden under a tomato plant. When I went back and checked, all but three had left. Remind you of another famous animal story? I got the remaining three to climb onto my finger one at a time and placed them on a tomato leaf.

They were so small it was hard to identify them, but I did google yellow insect eggs and I think they were ladybugs.

Another Bunch

I found these hatching on the back of a tomato leaf in the garden. I can't really identify them either, but they kind of looked like aphids.

Early Morning

Sweet Potato and Green Beans: The Purr-fect Combo

These were taken before the hot weather hit. I had walked up to the garden to pick beans and the cat followed me. Every time I would squat down to pick beans, he would jump up in my lap.

Fireworks 2007

My first attempt at "shooting" fireworks. I ran out of film and then the batteries in the camera died. Thankfully, I had more film and batteries. Hope you had a happy Fourth!

Tea Party

Clinging To The Rock Of Ages

This morning has gotten off to a bad start. I have had a cough for weeks that I have been blaming on allergies. Yesterday, I started feeling like I was getting sick. Today, I need to go trade and run some errands, when all I feel like doing is crawling back into bed. VBS is less than two weeks away and I am totally unprepared. There are dozens of projects waiting for me here at the house, that I keep pushing back because I don't feel like doing them. Youngest son has been having lows again and I am exhausted from getting up during the night. I could go on and on, but I just wanted to paint a little picture of why I am feeling so overwhelmed.

I opted for Lite coffee this morning, since I overslept and needed to jumpstart my day. I cut out most caffeine from my diet at the first of the year. Desperate times call for desperate measures. While on my way to the kitchen for my second cup of coffee, a little thought popped into my brain. Nothing attention grabbing...just a small, quiet thought...you need to pray. Now, of course I have been praying...I pray all the time, but this was different. This was that still, small voice that I am usually too busy to hear. This was my little connection that lets me know that God is so very real and that he cares about me and actually wants to hear from me. Me...on the way to my kitchen...with my empty cup in my hand.

Nothing in my hand I bring...Simply to Thy cross I cling...

Clinging to the Rock of Ages...that's how I feel this morning. Despite my circumstances, my soul is full. I will finish writing this article, pray it blesses someone, and then hit my knees and cling to the One that I know can refresh me. Pray to the One that I know cares about my every need. Lay it all out there at His feet. Fill my cup.

Rock Of Ages

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death,
When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold Thee on Thy throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

Augustus M. Toplady, 1776
Click to hear song.

Happy Birthday Dear Firstborn Son!

I cannot believe you are 22! Where did you go? While hunting through pix to post on the blog for your birthday, I came across this little poem that I had clipped from the newspaper just after you were born.

Your smile flits across his lips

While mine lights up his eyes;

His is like both of us,

A happy compromise

He is all himself,

And yet, the best of you and me;

In our little son I see

The one that two can be.

by Marian McPhee

I love you! Happy Birthday!

The Last Of The Grosbeaks

The rose-breasted grosbeaks are gone now. The stayed with us a little over a week.

The Peacock Family

I See The Moon And The Moon Sees Me

Small Town Life

I am sure we watch things on our local news that you would never see anywhere else in the world. We are a strange, but fun people.

Last night, the local news profiled this little restaurant in this little country town near here. The restaurant is right next door to an antique shop. The employees of the antique shop will call over to the restaurant and place their order for lunch. One of the employees of the restaurant will kick the wall when their food is ready.

During the segment, they interviewed a little man who was eating kraut and weenies. He told the interviewer that he wanted rolls with his meal, but the waitress refused to bring them. She brought him a piece of cornbread and told him that cornbread went with kraut and weenies, not rolls! She told him he wasn't eating at Burger King! He couldn't have it his way! You can bet that cornbread didn't have sugar in it either.

And that's the way it was...

Mr. and Mrs. Rose-breasted Grosbeak

We have been blessed with a whole flock of these beautiful birds. We last counted five males and several females. These pix were taken through a dirty kitchen window!

Spring Bird Watching

The first hummingbirds of the year came on May 1, my birthday. According to my nature journal, they were almost two weeks later than their first appearance last year. We usually see the first ones in April.

I was very excited to look out the kitchen window and see one male rose-breasted grosbeak with three females. This morning, while making my coffee, I looked out the window and saw two males! I took pix of the first sighting. I am hoping they turn out so I can post them here. We rarely see these birds and the fact that they have hung around the feeder for a couple of days is very exciting.

We have at least one pair of Eastern bluebirds. This is also rare for us. We usually see them once or twice in early spring and then not again. I am hoping they are nesting nearby.

A couple of birds have left. I haven't seen the Carolina wren for a while, and the ruby crowned kinglet is gone.

One cowbird showed up a while back and then left. This was the first cowbird I had seen in years. Cowbirds do not raise their young. They lay their eggs in another bird's nest and then that bird raises the babies.

I haven't seen the mockingbirds in a while. Dear husband saw them in the lane just above our place. I still put out apple halves for them. I heard one last night before dark and tried to count how many calls he ran through, but I couldn't keep up with him.

We have one brown thrasher who is just beautiful! He came after I switched the suet to the kind that is not supposed to melt.

I spotted a pair of house finches at the seed feeder. They appeared to be healthy. We used to participate in a survey that tracked house finch disease by Cornell University. It can affect house finches and gold finches. I have to mention here that I love Cornell Lab of Ornithology's address. It's Sapsucker Woods!

The ducks that were in the creek left and never came back. We do have a one kingfisher.

Then we have all the regulars that we tend to take for granted, but are all really beautiful creatures. We have bluejays, cardinals, downies, red-bellies, titmice, chickadees, song sparrows, mourning doves, and white-breasted nuthatches.

For the past few days I have been watching a pair of cardinals. The male has been feeding the female. I am hoping he will bring his babies to the feeder when they fledge. He will be in charge of feeding them for their first few days out of the nest. They will sit and flap their wings and cry until he breaks off bits of suet and places it in their mouths. He is a good father and never gets ruffled. He will gradually stop feeding them and make them eat on their own.

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention...we have a mourning dove with an injured foot. I don't know what happened to cause the injury. It eats like a pig, so I am pretty sure it will be OK. It comes to the feeders on the pumphouse roof and sits a while and eats a while.

And of course the phoebes. One is still roosting on the front porch at night, but no nesting has started. We hear him during the day calling for a mate. I hope he has better luck this year. My sister already has a pair nesting on her back porch for the third straight year.

Anyone else birdwatching? Please tell me about the birds in your area.

Westerns

I like western movies. I would blame it on living in a house full of men for so long, but I think it goes back beyond that. My dad loved the old Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns. We would all pile in the car and go to the drive-in. We were so young that after the cartoons, we would fall asleep. In those days, cars were big enough to live in. My sister and I would sleep in the back, and my baby brother would lay in Mom's lap. Once we were all down and quiet, Dad was left to enjoy Fist Full of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, Hang Em High, and of course The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, which in my opinion has the best theme song and the best ending of almost any western.

Westerns have such great dialogue. You just cannot beat them for quotes. Here are some of my favorites:

Blondie: In this world there's two kinds of people, my friend. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Josey: When I get to likin' someone, they ain't around long.
Lone Watie: I notice when you get to DISlikin' someone they ain't around for long neither! The Outlaw Josie Wales

Lone Watie: I didn't surrender, but they took my horse and made him surrender. They have him pulling a wagon up in Kansas I bet. The Outlaw Josie Wales

Tuco: I'm looking for the owner of that horse. He's tall, blonde, he smokes a cigar, and he's a pig! The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Stranger: Somebody left the door open and the wrong dogs came home. High Plains Drifter

Josey: Are you gonna pull those pistols or whistle Dixie? The Outlaw Josie Wales

Daggett: You just shot an unarmed man!
Munny: He should have armed himself if he's gonna decorate his saloon with my friend. Unforgiven

Jeremiah: [Jeremiah and Bear Claw hunt elk] Wind's right, but he'll just run soon as we step out of these trees.
Bear Claw Chris Lapp: Trick to it. Walk out on this side of your horse.
Jeremiah Johnson: What if he sees our feet?
Bear Claw Chris Lapp: Elk don't know how many feet a horse has! Jeremiah Johnson

Bear Claw Chris Lapp: Can you skin Griz? Jeremiah Johnson

Bear Claw Chris Lapp: Watch your top knot.
Jeremiah Johnson: Yep, watch your'n. Jeremiah Johnson

Crazy Cora: You know, if we're lost, you can tell me.
Matthew Quigley: We're lost.
Crazy Cora: I can take bad news. Just tell me straight.
Matthew Quigley: I don't know where the h___ we are.
Crazy Cora: No sense takin' time to make it sound better than it is.
Matthew Quigley: I reckon we're goin' in circles.
Crazy Cora: Wire things up and I'll see right through. So, just tell me honestly. Are we lost? Matthew Quigley: Nope. I know exactly where we are.
Crazy Cora: That's good, 'cause, frankly, I was gettin' a little worried. Quigley Down Under

And now to pay homage to my all-time favorite western, Tombstone:

Ike Clanton: What is that, Holliday? Twelve hands in a row? Ain't nobody that lucky.
Doc Holliday: Why Ike, whatever do you mean? Maybe poker's just not your game. I know! Let's have a spelling contest!

Johnny Ringo: Isn't anyone here man enough to play for blood?
Doc Holliday: I'm your huckleberry.

Wyatt Earp: All right, Clanton... you called down the thunder, well now you've got it! You see that? [pulls open his coat, revealing a badge]
Wyatt Earp: It says United States Marshal!
Ike Clanton: [terrified, pleading] Wyatt, please, I...
Wyatt Earp: [referring to Stilwell, laying dead] Take a good look at him, Ike... 'cause that's how you're gonna end up! [shoves Ike down roughly with his boot]
Wyatt Earp: The Cowboys are finished, you understand? I see a red sash, I kill the man wearin' it! [lets Ike up to run for his life]
Wyatt Earp: So run, you cur... RUN! Tell all the other curs the law's comin'! [shouts]
Wyatt Earp: You tell 'em I'M coming... and hell's coming with me, you hear?... [louder]
Wyatt Earp: Hell's coming with me!

Sherman McMasters: Where is he? (Referring to Wyatt Earp)
Doc Holliday: Down by the creek, walking on water.

Billy Clanton: Why, it's the drunk piano player. You're so drunk, you can't hit nothin'. In fact, you're probably seeing double. [Billy Clanton draws a knife]
Doc Holliday: [takes out a second gun] I have two guns, one for each of ya.

Big Nose Kate: I'm a good woman to you, Doc. Don't I always take care of you? Nobody cares for you like me. I'm a good woman.
Doc Holliday: It's true, you are a good woman. Then again, you may be the antichrist.

Wyatt Earp: What makes a man like Ringo, Doc? What makes him do the things he does?
Doc Holliday: A man like Ringo has got a great big hole, right in the middle of himself. And he can never kill enough, or steal enough, or inflict enough pain to ever fill it.
Wyatt Earp: What does he want?
Doc Holliday: Revenge.
Wyatt Earp: For what?
Doc Holliday: Bein' born.

Wyatt Earp: You gonna do somethin'? Or are you just gonna stand there and bleed?

I Used To Be A Babe!

I was born 46 years ago today. The hospital where I was born was torn down recently. My great grandmother was still living and decided to come across the mountain to see me. The nurses found out and tried to pretty me up a bit. I didn't have a dab of hair and had a huge pump knot on the side of my head from delivery. They cut off the tail end of my gown, used it to make a large bow, and taped it to the side of my head. I can only imagine what I looked like! Still, it was a thoughtful gesture.

I was almost a year old in this pix. I am playing with a camera box. My mom bought this camera with S & H Green Stamps. This pix was taken with it. Not long ago, she gave the camera to me.

Good Ripples

Good ripples is a quote from Joan of Arcadia, my all-time favorite show. Of course, it only lasted two seasons and isn't on anymore, but both seasons are on DVD. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the show:

Joan - Oh, come on! God, try me! Give me a hint!

God - I leave hints all over the place. I'm all about hints.

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God - The thing about fear is it doesn't leave room for anything else, like beauty or purpose.

Joan - So... did you just pop up to stop me from telling Adam about you?

God - I don't pop. I abide. I am eternal. There's no popping.

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God - Almost everybody has some light somewhere. And light is always worth fighting for.

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God - Do you know the meaning of grace? It's a touch of truth that lets you see the world in a new way. It's a gift that can only be felt when you're open enough to accept it.

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Albino Alligator

This fella will be visiting the Knoxville Zoo until Labor Day.