Blowing In The Breeze

I love clothes that have been dried on the line!
They smell like sunshine and fresh air!!

I got some old table clothes from Honey's Auntie M. along with some white sheets out on the line this morning...
I need to point out my little helper.
My calico, Pooka, loves to rub against my legs while I hang things up, and then she will lay in the shade of the clothes for quite a long time after...


I really can't blame her at all.
When I was little I discovered the wonderful world of the clothes line.

Now that I'm a Gram, I see that I still love the wonderful world of the clothes line...

It's a magical place that can transport you back to childhood~

I can picture my Mom's clothes line every time I hang mine out, and remember running up and down the double long lines of sheets and feeling them blowing around me and smelling that wonderful aroma that would find it's way to the beds too.

Pooka seems lost in thought in the shade as well...

Please excuse me now while I go climb into my fresh crisp sheets and smell the sunshine and breeze as I drift off to sleep...ahhhmmmm.

Heaven on earth right there!

Remember;
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.

Encourage each other!!!

Posies & Bugs

Are what this blog will be about today.

I have a very Dear friend, by the name of "Howdy Neighbor".

I am pretty sure she knows the names of all the plants and what they do and where they grow...unlike me.

I stood in Stinging Nettle up to my waist once, picking Elder Berries for my Brother-In-Law and could still - to this day - not be able to tell you what it looks like...

So while I was taking pictures of one of her daughter's, " H. N." was able to tell me that yes, I had indeed stood her daughter in a beautiful, green, and thriving spot of Stinging Nettle.
Not to worry, "Neighborette" is fine...

So I thought I would let you know that I do know what some plants are...

For instance, I know that my now neighbor has an Apricot tree that blooms beautifully every Spring...

And this here-
Is a grape vine...

Another neighbor's Apricot tree's bloom.

My really big, beautiful Sweet William that lives in the front flower bed.

Aren't the colors amazing?

This is a straight out of camera picture...

Really! Use your foliage settings...

New growth on my mini size, grocery store rose bush that is now as tall as my porch...

It has yellow roses in case you wondered...

Apricot buds, just popping to become the inspiration of a children's song...

And this little beauty.

Is a flower that is very happy in the coolest months of the year-

Early Spring and Late Fall...

It is an English Daisy,

This one is probably where the saying comes from, "one woman's flower,

is another woman's weed"...

Morning Glory and Grape Hyacinth...

Cheery Cherry blossoms...the pie sort of cherry.

Sweet Almond blossoms...

Pink Peonies...

I would go into the way people pronounce this but it is to much like "tomato" and "tomato" don't you think?

So how ever you pronounce it I think you might agree that its a beautiful bloom.

Wild Raspberries.

I know they are wild as they live by a large creek, or is it a small river??

Either way I thought that helped them qualify as "WiLd"...

And because the title says there would be bugs here too...

I thought I'd show you this little photogenic fly-he was all to happy to sit there while I found his "good side"...and in return I told him I would post it for him...

And this last one was really the first one...
It's one I like, I like it alot.

It was just a baby out sitting on a branch just off the patio...and I wanted to see how good my zoom was on my canon...

I thought both-the tiny Dragon Fly and the zoom were amazing...

Remember;

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.
Encourage each other!!!

Honey's Whale Of A Tail

This years fishing trip involved the same kind of unsettled weather as every place else...
Rain, hail, wind, sunshine, calm, hot and cold. Repeated all day and all night.
But when they could they were out on the water.
And it was good.

The views were as spectacular as ever.

On the 2nd to the last day of fishing Honey dropped an unweighted line into the water.

Using his crawdad-

Barely got it there when all they heard was the whine of the line as it was peeling off the reel, and the pole was bent to try to keep up---they knew it was a whale!

Honey jumped into action, as did his 3 witnesses. Camera's were grabbed, video started, the boat at the ready to give chase if needed...

And chase it they did!

The Mac ran and they gave chase, about running out of line a few times...they had to be careful as he hadn't expected a fish this big and so he was using 6 pound test on a 6 foot pole!!

The fight lasted 50 minutes. Mac finally being netted and brought in to meet his new friends...

After being weighed and measured and photographed Mac was released to go tell his adventures to his fish friends...

His R & R complete and his return welcomed...His story to be told and retold around the BBQ's and evening fires of Summer.

And as a reminder to anyone who has camped with these guy's...

Emotions

I love how children's expressions and feelings are so evident.
Sometimes I think that is the best way to be really. I mean really-
Why not show corresponding facial expressions and body language?!

For instance: Contentment/boredom/being engrossed with something-and so on...




Worry/ concern/ apprehension and so on...

Shock / Disbelief and so on...

surprise / joy / concern / Fear and so on...

Scream when you need to. Cry when you need to. Take a Nap when you need to. Dance in the puddles when you need to...Forget as quickly as you forgive...smell the flowers and watch the bugs and birds...

Smile a lot and give hugs all the time...

Show, tell, txt, email, snail mail, visit and call the people you love and let them know how much they mean to you as often as you can...

And don't forget to hug your Mommy's!!!!

P.S. The movie we were watching for the above expressions?

Lady and the Tramp-

Cartoon-

You know the part-

Its where Tramp is chasing the rat in the baby's room.

Or it could have been when Jock and Trusty were chasing the dog catchers wagon in the rain.

Remember;
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.

Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.

Don't ask yourself what the world needs.

Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that.

Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

Staycations...

The word "Staycation" is something new to me, but the theory and practice are anything but new.
Having grown up on Veranda Beach, when I read this story it became an instant favorite...I hope you enjoy it as well...

Veranda Beach By Margaret Ford Pudlinski Condensed from NorthEast Magazineas printed in Readers Digest August 1994


I first heard about Veranda Beach on my grandparents' porch the summer I was 13. It was a lazy New England night that left the hills a smoky blue and the air heavy with the smell of rain. The last shadows were melting into dusk as conversation turned to the summer ahead.
"Any plans?" my grandfather asked. My father tipped his chair back and blew smoke rings into the air from his pipe.
"Just Veranda Beach," he answered with delight. They all chuckled. My heart pounded. Veranda Beach? Where was it? When would we go?
"Why you're there already," my father teased. There was a gentle chorus of laughter as they told me the awful truth. Veranda Beach was the front porch. We were going nowhere. My adolescent spirits plunged. What did they see in that boring porch?
Well, summer passed, and with age came wisdom. I realized the front porch was no enemy to adventure. It was a window on the world and a lesson in how that world works. What's more, the love affair continues to this day-with new lessons adding to the old.
On my family's porch, I learned about life and love, hopes and dreams, and I learned about promises and trust. One day it was the front door to Tara, as my sister and I assumed awful Southern accents and scouted the horizon for Rhett Butler. The next day it was a castle fortress or a ship at sea. And when Fleabags the cat brought home a rabbit, the porch was where I cried over the fragility of life.

On the veranda, my mother and grandmother would serve three o'clock tea- the icy glasses of flame colored liquid glowing richly in the summer sun. The tinkling of ice against glass was the music of dogday afternoons. It was there we children absorbed the etiquette of the porch-universal Rules for Porch Behavior that were never mentioned, simply understood.

The screen door might slam, but the noise stopped there. We had no hair- pulling, running or (heaven forbid) spitting. When we had to take on a sibling's temper, we descended to the lawn, where we could then tear each other limb from limb, but never on the porch.

For the adults, lighthearted bantering and games of checkers were encouraged; talk about taxes and checkbooks was not. The veranda was a place to enjoy the little things. Life was slower there, and you could freeze-frame events.

Late at night, the porch took on a more serious side. In the house, my sister, brother and I would lie in bed and listen to the muted conversations of generations. Sometimes they would talk about injustice, and we would learn from the quiet outrage in their voices.

Over the years, fledglings that paused to roost on our porch turned into hawks, while I learned to set my own sights on shooting stars instead of fallen ones. Now, more than a few verandas later, I have become a connoisseur of the porch, the steps and the stoop.

This summer I am spending time perched on a porch rail, trading stories with my children. We are watching fireflies and eating lots of ice cream from the truck that passed by.

And as I watch a new generation write their names in the sweat of a lemonade pitcher, I hope they, too, are learning the lessons of Veranda Beach:

Be strong against the wind. Be colorful and imaginative-grow in unexpected ways. Stretch across the yard, and reach out to your community. Watch for shooting stars. Remember that even the smallest branch stretches for the sun when the rain is past. Dance in a summer breeze. See the beauty in a weed grown strong, and revel in the bud turning to bloom. Hold close the heart of the home.

Above all, know that sometimes it's better to have a place to be yourself than to have a place to go.

Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it!