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!

Bunnies Cats & Hummingbirds

By now I was hoping to post a finished Susan Rambo but alas, I got sidetracked by With Thy Needle & Thread's Mystery Sampler...the colors just grabbed me.  Interesting...today I saw another stitcher's finished Part 1 and discovered I had stitched only the inner 1-stitch border...didn't even realize there is an outer 1-stitch border as well.  I will get right on that tonight!  Here's my nearly-finished Part 1:

Here's what I picked up next Just Nan's 3 Violets Humbug.  It was interesting to learn that a humbug is an English candy of a certain shape.  I always wondered where Nan came up with that name!

I hope to finish, add beads, and assemble this weekend.

Here's someone who's clamoring for my attention by misbehaving (on top of the frig):

While little Maizie soaks up the late afternoon sun on her perch at the window:

I had hoped to snap one of the hummingbirds on the feeder, but they're still a little camera-shy.

I've been enjoying the use of my new iPad2, provided by my employer.  All the snaps above were taken with its camera app & I'm pretty pleased with them.  Not quite as crisp as I'd hoped but not too bad.  I'll leave you with a portrait of Curtis Willis in a brief moment of good behavior & wish you all happy needle crafting this weekend:

 Thanks for stopping by!

Bugs N Slugs

Ah, fresh batteries in the camera! I try to be green by using rechargables but they just don't seem to have enough power to take more than 2 pictures. Anyone else have that problem? Maybe the old HP camera is the problem.

Below are my 2 favorite subjects, Curtis Willis and his little sister Maizie, doing what cats do best. Right now Curtis is bouncing off the walls, but for this snap he was out like a light.

Here is a snap of some of our newer outdoor friends...Monarch butterfly caterpillars, munching on the milkweed plants near the front door. Can you find both of them?

There were 4 in all but they have since morphed into their next phase; so far we've discovered 2 chrysalises.  One apparently liked the receptacle cover for his incubating spot. Another one is attached to a fern frond nearby.  I hope I'll be around to see the butterflies emerge!

ere's what I've been doing instead of housework...plugging away at my Susan Rambo sampler:

For some reason the squirrel strikes me as looking a little bit zombie-like. I was tempted to stitch his eye in red....bwahahaha. I love this sampler!


Thanks for stopping by!

Do You Ever...?

...put a pot of water on the stove to boil...then go off to read blogs...and eventually wonder why you haven't heard the water boiling?  And tear yourself away from the sampler blogs only to find a bright red burner on high...but it's not the one your pot of water is sitting on...it's the one directly behind it!  DOH!!

That's what I just did for the umpteenth time.  Rushing around, needing to get to church on time for dress rehearsal for our Maundy Thursday service.  I just get so caught up in the blogs...so many beautiful photos, of samplers, pets, spring snows up north, etc.

I need to take a new snap of my Susan Rambo sampler; she continues to amaze me.  But I just received Rose Quaker & ooooh, it's a nice one too!

Wishing everyone a blessed Holy Week.

Maizie's Big Adventure

Hallelujah!!  Found little Maizie at the window, meowing through the screen....She's pretty skittish but looks fine.  Thanks to all who sent up prayers & good wishes for the kitty...they worked!!  She's safe again, PTL!

Breaking Heart

It may sound silly, with all the problems going on in the world, but my little Maizie kitty escaped to the outdoors this noontime and I am heart-broken because I cannot find her. Like most accidents, it could have been avoided, but it happened.  I have been outside searching & calling for 8 hours. There are palmetto thickets & a wooded area to the sides and behind our house so she may be anywhere.  She's so little and has been an indoor kitty since we rescued her last July.  Not even a year old.  Please if you have read this far would you lift up a prayer for us to find her?  She is such a dear sweet kitty, not a mean streak in her, and followed me from room to room, just waiting for a belly rub.  This comes during a time of work & family issues and instead of feeling strong, I am wondering why? why now? and how to deal with it.  I guess nobody said life was easy but when it's our little furry friends, my heart always hurts the most.