Bits and Pieces

Last night's sunset!

I just thought I would share last night's spectacular sunset.  I wish I could have caught it sans electric wires and the neighbor's lamppost.  Hard to do in a subdivision.  The forecasted rain never made an appearance, and instead we had a this to compensate.  The red was intense but only lasted about 5 minutes.

 There she goes, fading away.





In other news, my sunflower is taking on Jack and the Beanstalk proportions.  It is about 10 feet high.  I'm afraid a strong wind will blow it over.  One stalk has already bit the dust.  The bees, however, seem to be enjoying the sunflowers wayyyy up there.

Lastly, I seem to have a thief on the premises.  He is small, furry, has a kinda pointy nose and is quite fond of kale.  He has taken my once thriving kale crop and decimated it.

I accused Jeff of eating all the kale in one fell swoop after I came out one morning to discover this destruction.  We finally decided the thief was our newest groundhog who lives under our deck with his mother.  Ahem, sorry Jeff.  I have yet to catch the bugger in the act or snap a picture to post on the top ten most wanted.  Today I put an end to his thievery by encasing my precious kale stalks behind chicken wire.  Now see if you can gorge yourself on my kale, you wily bugger!







Mr. Tibbs as usual expressed no concern other than staying cool and relaxed in the shade under the deck table.

Tibbs attempting a half hearted swipe at the chair tie until
he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

Why are you disturbing my nap?

Last picture, honest.  I couldn't resist a shot of my tomatoes and beans in happy cohabitation. Funny thing about those beans, I get tons of these beautiful red blossoms but very few beans. What gives?  

Unless I have another thief?

In other news, I have to say I'm getting a tad despondent over the end of summer.  We have had some great days in August and as Labor Day weekend approaches I hate to say goodbye.  I was able to squeeze in another outstanding bike ride and Starbucks this morning.  Fall bike rides can be full of outstanding color, but there is nothing like a sunny 70 degree summer morning biking the trail.

Jeff and I are planning a week vacation the first part of October.  We are heading north to the U.P. We have already got a long list of possible properties to look at on the way up.  Most of them are in the Evart, Clare, Mt. Pleasant area, though we may look at a few around Lapeer. Then we will head further north to spend some time hiking in Porcupine State Park.  On the way home we will be stopping by Spinners End Farm in Curtis, Michigan (located in the U.P) to pick up the latest addition to our family of felines.  He is a small orange and white tabby kitten. Sherry, the Mom at Spinner's End, has a cat Snickers, who recently gave birth to litter of kittens. She posted pixs of the cute little rascals and the tabby caught my eye.  Who can resist a kitten? I think he will give our aging feline population a much needed boost of youthfulness.

We, or least I, have a new sense of urgency to find property.  Jeff has figured out he will be able to retire in October of 2014.  People, that is just a year away!  Yikes!  It seems like we've looked at so many properties and haven't found the right one.  I just don't want to have to settle. Hopefully we'll find a winner.  Wish us luck.

D :)