How Did They Do It?

...in the Olden Days?  Whew, we've been without A/C since yesterday afternoon.  I kept telling the DH the A/C wasn't working right but noooooo. I came home from work to an 82 degree house and DH sitting in front of TV apparently not affected! Fortunately "we know someone" who is coming by today around 3 pm.  So all windows are open, all ceiling fans moving the 100% humidified air around. The cats are enjoying their window sitting; all the better to keep eyes on the birds.  Praises for the wonderful rainstorms we've had the past few days. Since 90% of the swamps in south GA have burned, the rains may dampen them and protect the rest. Fires are a normal part of the circle of life...for a swamp...but hate thinking of the critters that live there.  And wow, rainwater does a world of good for my plants. The milkweeds have been growing 3-4" a night, I swear.  Last evening I discovered 8 good-sized monarch butterfly caterpillars munching away! This morning early a few of them were on the march. They move amazingly quickly! Hope we see 8 chrysalises (chrysali?).  A few snaps:

Wowee!! was able to get a snap of our female hummer! She's on the far left side of the feeder.

These are some of her fav plants:

Lady in Red Salvia

Firespike

And I spied a few of these Milkweed Beetles on the plants. This one was very camera-shy; he kept scooting around the stalk when I lifted the camera!

Oh and just for fun, our Uverse service has been on the fritz for 5 days.  So just when I try to send an email or when an exciting part of a TV program is on...it poops out.  Calling the AT&T No-Help-At-All Line has been frustrating but supposedly whole neighborhoods are affected and it's not our house with a problem.  GRRR.  And I can't get the NY Times Crossword Puzzle app to work on my iPad now that I am completely addicted to it.  Their help is really useless.  Technology!  We love it!  But HOW did our foremothers survive in this humidity?? wow!

Hummingbird Days of Summer

We now have an official pair of hummingbirds, male and female.  She perches while she sips from the feeder, for what seems like minutes at a time.  He can't be bothered to sit.  His manners are lacking because he chases her away until he gets his drink of nectar.  Yesterday he seemed to be sipping water off all the leaves of a rosebush after the morning rain stopped!  I wish I had a photo to show.

A few weeks ago our Azalea Guild was delighted to have a guest from Ohio...Ellen Chester!  After a yummy lunch we stitched and visited all afternoon.  In all the excitement I failed to take any good photos; this was taken near the very end of our gathering:

This tiny snap was taken with an iPad2 and unfortunately I haven't been able to figure out how to enlarge it without losing clarity, darn it!  Here is a snap of DF Henri working on her Hannah Gilpin 1800, another gorgeous Quaker sampler for her collection:

This is my Susan Rambo...not much progress as I've been working on a couple of birth samplers, to be posted soon.

Half of the bottom section is fully done but I see this photo does not show that.

I'll close with a few kitty pix, so dear to my heart.  Curtis Willis and Maizie aka Teeny Weeny (not really Teeny anymore at age 1).  They are so cute when they nap together!

Teeny is always hoping for a belly rub!  CW wants everyone to know that he is innocent of everything....no matter what his sister says!