Coyote decoy, break through covid, power outage

 

lots of sunflowers despite the deer eating a lot of them

dahlia

another one

painted lady on butterfly bush I had seen a search: what does it mean if you see a painted lady butterfly? Answer death.

My new granddog: a 8 week old golden doodle named  Snickerdoodle

his happy owner

pool fun for Maya and her friends

lots of tomatoes of various colors this year

pretty sunrises

from behind the house

the year of pests: I have never had more damage from tomato worms, Japanese beetles, deer, rabbits than this year. I rehomed all the chipmunks which destroyed all my seedlings earlier. A red squirrel has developed a taste for plastic and destroyed some solar lights

I found this guy leaning next to a trashcan one morning on my bike ride. In the dimlight he looked real. I seem to have less deer damage since he has been on patrol

Allie and Hannah

These little black bees have been visiting my flowers. Presumably a kind of carpenter bee even though they are only a quarter of the size as the usual ones

love my eggplants

Such a summer! No traveling due to Covid and a chance that Steve had to be on jury duty for a couple weeks. That was cancelled due to Covid at the last minute (court closed to Covid) but we couldn't plan not knowing that.

Now we are in the usual hotter than hell drought after a very rainy early summer. Huge storms blew in and knocked out power for a huge stretch of Southern Michigan. Presumably we are one of the top areas for power outages due to our many trees. As we are on a well, no water either. Rodents had eaten through a hose of our existing generator so Steve found another  one despite the high demand.  Feeding it for 5 days gasoline and oil, plus the outrageous cost of the generator made more sense to throw out all our food and start over. In our old house, a generator was necessary to keep the sump pump going. We have one here but it never has come close to overflowing due to us living on sand (versus clay)

Shanna has power so we were able to shower. I dredged up pond water to keep the plants alive. Very hot without AC or even a fan.

I am getting less and less tolerant of those who refuse to get vaccines and those in power who forbid mask mandates when the children can't get vaccinated. My grandsons are now both vaccinated. The younger one just turned 12. His mom tried to be proactive and schedule a vaccine in anticipation of him turning 12 but that wasn't allowed. Some people were already getting their boosters when he eventually showed up. Fortunately we live in a bubble (Ann Arbor, top educated city in the US) but we are surrounded by uneducated idiots. Yep some of them are dying but there is collateral damage.

My almost 97 year old mother in law in a nursing home has covid despite having been vaccinated. Her doctor gives her a 50% chance of recovery though I think that is optimistic as of today.

Naomi is going back to school to hopefully become a computer programmer. Our state lets those without a degree and over 25 get free schooling, a pain to set that all up but she's good to go.

When it isn't extremely hot (rare) I have been increasing my running. Yesterday I wish I had my camera. The sun was a huge orange ball, which was all hazy due to the western fire smoke that made its way here, reflecting orange and red on a pond. At first I just saw upside down cranes, I could see their relections better than their actual bodies  It looked cool.

And I saw a meteor last week making it three I have seen in my lifetime.

A month of fun, flowers, visitors, and heat

 

we have had two mom's meetings

hummingbird moth on butterfly bush

my favorite time: when the tiger lilies, liatris, Russian sage, and coneflower are in bloom,

Fordite or motor city agate  Paint used to build up in layers in the car painting room.  Workers would scrap up the layers. Fordite is a thing of the past as they paint cars with less waste now. Mine is from the 1990s Ford Taurus plant

I love my new silk scarf. When will I wear it

There is a sculpture park in a nearby town along with a band festival with food trucks every Thursday night. Steve and I went

apricot lemonade cosmos new variety this year

tiger lilies. I have 6 varieties and want more

dahlia darlings

my art fair splurge. Will look good with my new pendant

how can my baby be turning 42

glads of various colors are popping up despite the deer munching on them

our family guests taking Shanna out for a birthday brunch

A family tradition euchre. As far as I know, only played in Michigan and Ohio. Correct me if I am wrong. The New Yorkers were fast studies

Grandkids chilling out on our bed while we watched unsuitable for them stuff in another room

the future is now. This food carrying robots have become a fixture in downtown Ann Arbor

Steve and his brother at a downtown Ann Arbor restaurant. Main Street is now a big dining room

Grandkids on our shrimp chair

In the beginning of the month, Maya turned 11

We had a birthday party at a bowling alley. The kids had bumpers

two lanes of fun. Hannah needed a ramp to direct the ball

Still biking a lot in the morning. Nearby lake at sunrise

Steve's sister, his brother and his wife stayed with us for 11 days. Lots of dinners, hikes, excursions. We went on a 7 mile hike together and had lunch at the end. Kaya the German Shepherd, lives for these hikes

Onion blossom. Lots of zucchini and patty pans this year

the neighbors had a big noisy wedding. The flowers were sent over to appease me. Still hate the woman though I am gaining some allies

have been doing my nails with these covers. Now some of my friends are using them too

We went to Ohio to meet up with Steve's cousin. I got us lost but it all worked out

chicken of the woods fungus on one of our walks

I liked this reflection

Steves brother with all the grandkids

This has been a busy  with birthdays to celebrate, art fairs to go to, gardening, house guests, lots of cooking, bike rides, runs

My favorite bird is the Baltimore Oriole which shows up in May here I feed them grape jelly and oranges. Someimes as many as 20 show up but this year much less. And by June they seemed to be gone. In the past a few stay to July But this year babies on their parents showed up at the jelly feeder in July. 

at first the babies perched nearby demanding that their parents feed them but now they fly here by themselves. They are the same size as adults but not so colorful. So all in all, I have 7 orioles. I was going through a big jar of jelly every 2 days but they are slowing down or are

 disturbed that the bumble bees are now flying around 

Our annual fight:  Steve and I don't fight very often. Once a year? Though the last time I think it was two years ago in Utah because I chose a bad b&b and I allegedly should have known better. I make all the plans and he does all the critiquing. Doesn't seem too fair The fights consist of him sighing

a lot and then giving me the silent treatment for a week, annoying when we are away from home.

We have a 5 burner stove which I always thought unnecessary  Who needs 5 burners. But the other week, all 5 are going. Cooking this, cooking that for as many as 16 people. I spilled some bread crumbs and he said something about could I be any messier, sighing and starting to clean them up in his unbelievably inefficient way being in my way and I snapped at him to get away, not done with the bread crumbs and I was going to clean them up once there was a break in the action  I raised my voice to him, a cardinal sin made worse as his family was there  I was forgiven, I guess in less than a week

The grandkids like their great auntts and uncle, especially Maya who hangs all over them. One night they just wanted to relax watching a show inappropriate for kids I was tasked with telling Naomi that they could just spend an hour here as everyone

 was tired. Yes she does shoot the messenger.

I am getting some allies in the neighborhood  The crazy lady across the street who at a neighborhood meeting said my big flowers were bringing the value of everyone's house down has been insulting others too. A new couple, two young men. moved recently next door to her. She told them she doesn't like the way their backyard looks when she is sitting on her patio. One of the men came over for gardening tips, ha! said they love my gardens and want some of the flowers, which I shared. We now are friends  

it has been a record year here for rain with lots of flooding. As we sit in a bunch of sand, we are spared that but the resulting bugs are not fun. I never have seen mosquitos around here during the day, Now they are biting me while i try to keep the gardens up.

I usually miss the big Ann Arbor Art Fair because Im away on my bike ride. As that was canceled, I was free to go but the only day my friends could make it was very rainy and most of the booths were shut down I did get some stuff though

No thanks to the delta variant and crazy uneducated people who think getting vaccinated means they are a commie Biden lover, covid is on the rise but not in our county (ann Arbor allegedly being most educated city in the US)  Most of this is happening in the south. My gut feeling is that these idiots were warned, let them get sick, lessTrump supporters going forward, but of course they take the innocent down with them' My favorite story is one of their 'conservative' talk show host who has been telling his audience not to get the vaccine, is in the hospital fighting for his life. He has since changed his tune as have a few of the deplorables who realize this will eat into their base

How did we get so stupid!

The year of the Cicada

 

Italian irs

house at dawn

Naomi selfie

Maya at the farmer's market

Chalk paint project. We have had Maya with us a lot. I try to have her go on a bike ride with me every day

lots of day lilies in bloom asiatic  lilies are almost open Tiger lilies next week

Calla

Salad for my friends along with cauliflower tacos. From my cooking class. I grew the cilantro and lettuce

nearby lake at dawn

Brood X 17 year cicada. They prefer oak trees.I didn't realize I had an oaktree until recently and it is good sized.  It is pretty far from the house so I didn't look at its leaves

For the past few weeks, we have been treated to the constant hum of masses of cicadas especially in the wooded areas where I run. They are harmless as they lack  mouths though somehow they drink. They live above ground for a few weeks mate and die. Their offspring  then spends 17 years underground.  How old will you  be when you see them again? Parents ask their children this, practical math. Maya will be almost 28 and grandma? Will she be alive then?

I have busy, mainly gardening. I keep thinking I am almost finished but I always find things to do. Things should  look their best in a few weeksI think all my gardens look good but this self appointed beautification person on the board claims my big flowers are dragging all the values of the neighborhood by at least $300K per house. Interestingly Zillow claims my house is worth $100K more than hers even though they are the same size. She thinks we all should spend $1000 on new matching mailboxes and we should beautify the front entrance Our share for ripping down perfectly fine crabapples would be $2700. Hell no to that. I sent a note to the whole neighborhood questioning the priorities during this time of covid recovery. She also wants to fine people for what she sees are infractions. Crazy, crazy lady. I said that she was toxic to the neighborhood vibe, not mentioning her by name I was nervous sending this not knowing if people supported her but fortunately they don't.

My injury is almost healed and I am slowly increasing how far I run. The early dawns mean I can bike before rush hour, which has mostly returned. Zero new cases of Covid in our county yesterday! Lots of biking. The sweet smells of wild phlox and honeysuckle have been replaced by the even sweeter aromas of sweetgrass in the country and lindens in the neighborhoods. Today I saw a newborn fawn.

And a return to normalcy. We have eaten inside of restaurants and I even went to the movies. True there was only 4 in the audience. We saw In the Heights. It was wonderful

And I have been cooking and having people over so that is fun. Next week Steves Family comes