Yesterday Was Good and Tomorrow Will Be Better - LJ Is Being a PITA

I got quite a lot done yesterday - not great swathes of cleaning, but little bits here and there that amounted to some real accomplishment by the end of the day. Isn't that a reflection of life in general? A lot of smaller accomplishments that lead into a life well lived or not? I did spend a half-hour or so sitting in the garden watching for hummingbirds, but only had a single one and it was a bit nervous. I attribute that to the fact that my two hawks were quite vocal and fairly close. Hopefully today will be easier for my hummers and the hawks will be farther away from the feeder. 

Yesterday I did something I've never done before. 
I bought a fresh pineapple to cut up. I've always 
been quite intimidated by them - what to do with 
them, how to cut them up. Chickie inspired me - 
she bought and cut one up earlier this week. So, 
I was brave. Here is the BEFORE picture. 

Here is the AFTER picture, and this was all of 
five minutes worth of effort. A total win/win. 
I'm delighted and it tastes wonderful too. 

Live Journal has been pushing me into using the new posting style, and I'm stumbling with it. I had the old routine down easily, but now I'm fighting it a bit. So, I'm going to have to shift the way that I post from my blog, but I'm sure it will work eventually. I'll just need to develop a new routine. I hope it's been readable for you over the past two days. I know yesterday's post on LJ was delayed because, for some unknown reason, it didn't post when I told it to. So I had to replace it and try a second time after I got back from the pool. 

Our Datura plants are giving us the last 
blossoms of the season. DH had decided he won't 
plant these again - they're pretty cool, but they 
just didn't turn out to be what he wanted, and 
they're attracting leaf-eating bugs that bother 
him quite a lot.  Here's a photo of our current 
blossom head-on. 

Swimming has been wonderful, of course, but we're late enough in the season now, that we're swimming in darkness with the spotlights being the only source of light until we're ready to get out and start our days. That's not a bad thing - it's rather fun in a lot of ways, but I love the sun, and wish for a bit more light. It's one more reminder that we're entering autumn. 

Here is the same blossom from the side. The plants are 
large - they're about three feet high with quite a 
broad spread, but their leaves are far apart. The entire 
plant is quite poisonous, so we need to be quite 
cautious around it. 

DH says this year he's not looking forward to Renaissance Festival at all. I suspect that's because attendance at Ren Fest means that autumn is at the doorway, knocking to come in, and we're just not ready for autumn and another winter. We love to enjoy our patio on our Sundays, but when the temps get cold and the snow is falling, we're housebound, busy clearing snow from the roof and shoveling the white stuff again and again. Bleh. But, I'm still looking forward to Ren Fest, I always enjoy it, and like seeing the people we only see one season a year. 

Here's a fully opened blossom from the other 
Datura. As you can tell by looking at the 
leaves below, we have a bit problem with 
leaf-eating bugs and beetles this year. 
It's been a frustrating garden year for DH. 

So, I'm trying a new way of posting over to LJ today, and I'm going to get my photos into this and head out to the pool. I hope you have a wonderful Thursday and I have every intention of being back here tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Back to the Grindstone and a Week of Extra Work Days

I hope all of you had a wonderful 4th of July if you're in the USA, and/or a wonderful weekend if you're one of my out-of-the-country friends. We had a relaxing two days, despite the weather's best attempt at raining us out. The weather didn't succeed - the promised day-long rain yesterday never came and we were able to spend several hours sitting comfortably in the garden looking at the flowers and watching a hummingbird fly to and from my feeder. 

Frankly, I have no idea how they got the hummingbird 
to actually perch on their feeder. Mine are too active, 
flitting here and there, and changing their angle and 
direction almost constantly. They'll fly in for a quick 
drink, then back off, then back in again. It's exhausting! 

I'm delighted that a hummingbird has made my feeder a regular part of its' rounds, and I have baby birds in the flycatcher's nest with Mama Flycatcher flying back and forth feeding the greedy babies. I assume there is more than one, although one is all I've spied so far. Either way, life goes on and the summer moves on. 

Mama Flycatcher is working very hard to 
feed her demanding babies. I assume there's 
more than one, although I've only seen the 
beak of one above the nest edge so far. 
Greedy little buggers - LOL. 

This week will be hectic. Chickie is off several days at the end of this week while she and Chickie Mama go down to Mayo Clinic for some tests. It means I'll have to work on Friday instead of having a day off, so I need to make sure the things I would normally get done that day are finished on the one day I have to do them - Wednesday. It makes for a rather ooff week, and DH will have to work on both Thursday and Friday, while I'm working on my Friday. I think Chickie is back at work on Saturday, although I'll have to check the store calendar to be sure. 

It's nice living in Minnesota where going to the Mayo Clinic 
is a clear possibility. It takes a long time to get an appointment, 
but Chickie Mama is going for tests on Thursday and Chickie, 
since she had to drive her down, scheduled some stuff of 
her own for the same dates. 

I'm running late today - I spend a bit longer in my morning meditation - so I'm signing off now. If you get a chance to read my latest LJ Idol submission - America - I posted it on the 4th of July. Highly appropriate for this one. Also, don't forget Le Tour de France is on again today, and they are finally away from Denmark (which was quite beautiful). Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow. I'm off to the pool!