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!