Whirley Gig

This whirley gig was a gift to me from Pat's husband, Jim. He has a wonderful wood working shop and is very good in wood craft. He has made some beautiful pieces of furniture which they have in their home. Jim has made two extremely nice medicine cabinets for me - for the last two houses I have lived in. The one I have now is mounted on the wall in such a way that I can take it with me next time I move - which is a good thing because he is probably tired of building medicine cabinets for me! I think the whirley gig is a nice addition to my patio and I enjoy watching it spin when the wind blows, even just a little. I admire his work, and know if Jim makes it, it will be to perfection.

Butterfly

Today while Pat, a friend from Pleasanton, Texas, visiting me for a few days, and I were in the back yard we saw this beautiful butterfly feeding from the zinnias. Fortunately for me, Pat had her camera out there and I was able to use it and get this picture of the butterfly. I know someone out there will be able to tell me what kind of butterfly it is, so please do. This particular zinnia is labeled Yellow Blaze. The bloom goes from a very bright pink in the center to orange, then yellow. These are from seeds from last years zinnias. Interestingly, both butterflies and hummingbirds are attacted to these zinnias, even though there are other zinnias and other blooms all around.

Pat has been here for the past several days and we are having a wonderful visit. I will miss her when she goes home next week.

Emerging Life

In my last post (Monday, 8/6), I mentioned that I had planted some zinnia seed. Wednesday the little plants emerged, and I found it very exciting. I don't do much seed planting - mostly I buy plants, so I had just about forgotten how exciting it is to see new life springing up. Now, I am eager to see the plants in full bloom! (I'm pretty sure the little plant on the left end is a weed!)

Monster Mum

I call this my "monster mum". Last fall I planted several small mum plants for some fall color in the flower beds. Surprisingly, they did not freeze during the winter and we had some very cold weather with sustaining below freezing temperatures more than once. I also have been surprised that the mums have bloomed in the spring. These mums are not placed exactly as I would have placed them had I know they were going to stay alive and grow so big, in fact, they have sort of unbalanced the flower beds, but they are pretty, so I hesitate to dig them up while they are in bloom. A white one bloomed very early and after the blooms died, it wasn't very attractive anymore, so I dug it up and will probably do so with the others. I just planted some Peppermint Zinnia seed, (sent to me by mred) and am excited about them and hopeful for a late frost so I can enjoy the blooms late summer and into the fall.