Beautiful Sky!

Tonight's sunset was gorgeous. I've tried to capture bits of the glorious color to share with you - saving what I consider the best for last!



I wanted a shot of the Dr. Seuss Brugmansia, but it had gotten too dark. I used the flash, and it really stands out against the glorious sky!

A Few Beach Photos

The long-awaited trip to Emerald Isle took place at last in mid September. What a shock to realize that it had been 4 1/2 years since we were all together. There were cousins who'd never met, for heaven's sake! We were so lucky to get four families from four different states, all together in a fifth state to enjoy a beautiful beach house.

The weather was perfect, the house was phenomenal, and - as my friend Diane said - what's not to love? Ocean breezes, seashell collecting, and men who cook!

We've agreed to not post photos of the children on blogs or Facebook, but I can certainly post the adult children and some of the vistas!

Lovely sunrise:



We got some waves (and rip tides) due to Igor:


Here's one shot of the whole family on the beach - not very crowded! What a lovely way to spend a day.


This is the view from the doorway of Oldtimer & my bedroom:

And here I am with my three babies. My dear son managed to point out that the combined age of my three children is now 97 years! Way to make your old mom feel better, Chris!
My Oldtimer, going for the big one:



The carefree old folks:

August Past

August was a heart-full month. It's odd, somehow, to think of how hot and dry and long the month felt, then to move into September and think that August went too quickly and I didn't get enough done! All of a sudden, I'm one month closer to reporting on snow drifts - a task I still don't enjoy, even though I no longer get out and commute to the office in them.

Judging by my August photo folder, I did a lot! The most important, of course, was flying to Minneapolis to meet my newest granddaughter. Our lovely Alysa was born 8/9/10 and did much to make the month heart-full.

While visiting, Olivia and I had a date to visit the Minnesota Zoo. It's a lovely place, and it was so much fun to see how Olivia has grown since our last date there. She's no longer as worried about the rush of water in the created tidepool, and she proudly told me about the zoo babies - a dolphin and snow monkeys.

I worked on just a couple sewing projects, finishing blankets for my Minnesota girls, and planning a new doll. Despite a closet full of supplies, I had to go out and buy "just a couple" more things for this new idea. I certainly seem to do my part to help the local economy.

After last summer of hoped-for weight loss, resulting in no trips to Dairy Queen the entire summer, (and NO weight loss despite it) - I've had several trips for my favorite Blizzards this year. How kind of them to introduce a new smaller size. It makes sense - I should try it sometime! For now, I'm hooked on Midnight Truffle, although the Turtle Cluster has a texture/taste thing that I really love.

The pets have been very much themselves - Cosmo, regal; Murphy, aging but loving; Molly, intense and bright. Molly has almost mastered bringing in the mail. Her giddiness and doing something that pleases us and results in a treat, unfortunately, has caused much leapt upon and damaged mail. Sometimes the mail gets a good, vigorous shake, causing it to fly into bits throughout the room. More and more of late, though, she manages to put at least part of it in my hand.

Molly disappointed (and shocked!) me recently when I took her to the vet to have her vaccinations updated. She struggled with the vet techs, and launched into a fury when other customers entered with two small, white "fish bait" dogs. The vet techs came running out to help me, and actually created a human wall to usher us out to the hot car to wait for our lab tests. I was told later that it sounded like a huge German Shepherd, rather than a little 40 pounder. I'm not sure what that was about, but with the way she adapted to our dogs and cat here when we got her a year ago, it was totally unexpected. Troubling.

Speaking of German Shepherds, we did the doggy DNA tests on both dogs, and Molly came back with intermediate amounts only of two things - miniature bull terrier, and German shepherd. We fully expected some lab, and perhaps some boxer. Murphy, our mystery mix who, at times, convinced us he might even have a little giraffe or alligator, is intermediate amounts (25 to 49 percent) of three things - sheltie, husky, and beagle! Having known his mother, we can see the sheltie and wonder if that's also where the beagle came in.

Last week's City Fresh offering was disappointing. Despite my commitment to photo each time we pick up, AND to find a way to cook each and every item even if unfamiliar, I couldn't do it this week. My personal disappointment got in the way. Our take included 6 okra, holey broccoli leaves, and some withered sweet potatoes makes me wonder if the dry and hot weather this year was just too much for the growers. We'll see what comes with this week's allotment, and decide whether to continue on or not. I'm always happy to get garlic, and we did get some fresh cilantro this time, too. And three tomatoes! However, I think $12 would have gone a lot further at a local produce stand, and I wouldn't be listening to my Oldtimer complain about city traffic.

Meals on the deck are very much a part of August!

If you look closely at the photo above, you will see the ears of two deer in the small wooded yard near a busy street on the way to our post office!

The photo above is a redwood at Duke Gardens - it's one of my all-time favorite photos, taken by Bekah about 14 years ago. She had it enlarged and framed for me, and it sits near my desk, bringing me much serenity. We call it a Wisdom Tree.

That's August in a rather large nutshell - lovely things if one just looks around. I hope it ties together all these random photos!