The Sweetest Thing ...........

I have a new favorite music group - J J Grey & Mofro. I had never heard of them until recently when they released a new album called Georgia Warhorse. I previewed the album and immediately fell in love with their music. I would describe it as funky, bluesy, swamp rock. It's the kind of music that makes you get up and groove to the beat. It reminds me of the music I listened to years ago.

The band originated in northern Florida in the Jacksonville area. Grey grew up on a farm near the swamps. His music reflects his childhood and his love of the land and nature. He isn't into the LA, New York, or Nashville music scene. He writes his songs on the front porch of his farm and records at a small, local studio.

Listen to one of his songs. I bet you can't sit still!
It's "The Sweetest Thing".

My absence .............

I have been absent from blogland for the last week or so. My Dad became ill and I had to have the ambulance take him to the hospital. Between visiting him every day, taking care of his cat and things at his house, and keeping things going here, I haven't had time to post or to visit blogs. I got him back home last night. He is better, but still weak. We tried to get him out of bed this afternoon, but he was unable to stand. I'm hoping he'll get stronger now that he is at home.

We're having some wonderful weather. The nights are cool and perfect for sleeping with the windows open. The days have been in the upper 80s and lower 90s - perfect late summer temperatures. I would like to keep this weather year round. Maggie May and Mazie Grace have been enjoying the cooler evenings by chasing each other all over the back yard. I wish I had their energy!

I'm off to check your blogs.

Mazie Grace’s new place to sleep ………..

Can you see Mazie Grace in this picture?  I looked all over the house for her yesterday, and finally found her in the guest room hiding in the bookcase.  My cats can find some weird places to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve had two days of wonderful rain for a total of 3.1 inches.  We really needed the rain after our two dry months.

The White Knight ..........

I'm still trying to get a good picture of the albino deer. He only comes out when it's almost dark, and I'm not a photographer. You can see him a bit better in this picture.

Scratching .........

I'm sitting here - scratching. We have a path that goes through the three fields behind our house and out to the road. I told Hubby yesterday that I wanted to go for a walk through the fields, but the grass had grown up on the path and I was afraid of ticks. He got on the mower and began to cut the path. Since he was kind enough to stop what he was doing and mow the path for me. I decided that I should pick up the sticks and branches that were in the way. Somehow I cut my finger on one of the branches, so I came back to the house to wash it off and apply a bandaid. While looking at my hand, I noticed a small black speck on my thumb that was moving - a Tick! I quickly checked my feet and legs - lots of tiny black moving specks. I was covered with ticks! I quickly got in the shower and scrubbed and scrubbed. I got rid of most of them, but I have several bites that I've been scratching all day. I hate those tiny ticks. They are so hard to see and they seem to attack by the hundreds.

I'm one of those people that attracts all sorts of biting insects. If there is a mosquito within a mile, it's going to find me. All sizes of ticks will seek me out. Hubby and I can sit by the pool in the evening and the bugs will swarm around me and totally ignore him. I guess this is the price I pay for being so sweet. Yes. I do have some bug repellant. It's sitting in the garage beside the sunscreen. I never remember to use either one.

Anyone have any favorite methods for getting rid of those little ticks once they get all over you?

Little Hummies ...................

We started out this year with only a few hummingbirds. I put out one feeder so those that were here could eat. I didn''t want to attract any more, because I was afraid the cats would catch them. Surprisingly, Maggie May and Mazie Grace don't pay any attention to them. Maybe they move too fast, or maybe they are so small it isn't worth the effort to try to catch them.

Our few have multiplied over the summer and we now have a bunch of the little birds. I love to sit and watch their antics. They can be very loud for such little things - chittering back and forth. They can also be very mean. I have a male who will not allow any other hummingbirds to get close to the feeder. He will viciously attack any that come near.

When I take the feeder down to refill, they wait impatiently for me to put it back. Several will get right in my face and fuss at me if I'm too slow. They can put on quite a show.

We had a couple of good rains last week. Some areas had violent storms with lightning and wind damage. We were lucky since we didn't get the strong winds. Our parched, brown landscape turned green and lush in a matter of days. We've actually had grass to cut. It perked up my garden, but also made my tomatoes crack. The cucumbers are producing a second crop, but the squash are beyond hope.

The heat is still with us. Both June and July were the hottest on record for this area. August is continuing the trend. We've been spending our time either in the AC or in the pool. We have several day trips we want to take, but it's been too hot. They will have to wait for cooler weather.

Birthdays and laptop ...............

I'm still here ... just been too busy to post. We've been going through a spell of things breaking down or not working correctly. The DirecTV antenna malfunctioned causing Hubby to go into acute TV withdawal. We got that fixed quickly after numerous phone calls. My washer doesn't want to drain water after the wash cycle. I'll probably look for a new washer and dryer since the ones I have are almost 15 years old. Our bathroom sink stopper wouldn't work - Hubby fixed that this morning. The kitchen drain at my Dad's is stopped up - I'm working on that by using Drano. The bathroom light at his house will not turn off and we haven't figured out how to fix that yet. We did buy a new stove to replace the one with the oven that wouldn't cut off.

My computer has also been cranky lately and has been freezing up more than usual. I've been wanting a new laptop that I could take out to the pool deck so I decided it was time to order one. I got a HP Pavilion dv6-3020. It was delivered Saturday night. I've been working on getting it set up. I finally got my printer to work with it just a few minutes ago. Right now I am creating my recovery discs. This laptop is so different from my desktop. It's going to take me awhile to learn how to do things. I don't have anyone to help me so I have to learn by trial and error (with a lot of error).

We had a birthday party for my Dad yesterday. He turned 96 on Saturday. We had close family for a meal followed by birthday cake. He enjoyed having everyone together and being the center of attention. I forgot to take my camera so I didn't get any pictures. My Dad always said he planned on living to 100 - he only has four more years to go.