Here it comes...

I knew I shouldn't have mentioned our nice weather last night! We had a dusting of snow tonight, and now all of a sudden we're under a WINTER STORM WATCH for Saturday. 4-10" of snow possible... maybe preceded by ice. Ack. I guess I'll be having more pics for your viewing pleasure, Grace. Here's a start that I took this morning. (Note that the grass is still green at this point!)

Even storms can produce pretties

These pics were taken just a couple days before Christmas last year. Ice storms aren't pleasant, but yes, Grace, they do make for pretty pictures! So far this year we haven't had anything more than a few flurries, and I wouldn't mind if we didn't get any more than that all winter! It definitely is getting colder out, though, and I suspect I'll have more pretty scenes to photograph.

Willow wants equal time!

Okay, Willow... you're cute, too!

"All I need for Christmas is a longer tongue!"

Poll Results

We had a huge voter turnout for the poll "Given your choice of a house pet, what would it be?"! Okay, so it was only 4 voters. I guess people don't care for polls. (?) Or maybe it doesn't get noticed down there on the left side. Anyway, the results were 2 votes for Cats and 2 votes for Other. Would you who voted for Other care to 'fess up and tell us what other pet you would prefer? You can even comment anonymously if you want. I'm just curious to know what the pets are. :)

Prepare to smile...

I thought I'd try uploading a little video for you, so you can see Courtney in action. She was very interested in the "new" toy Grandma found for her last Tuesday, but she never fails to notice Willow going by. Gotta love the facial expressions... and the sounds! ;-)

Wildflowers, Part 3

I hope I have these next flowers identified correctly. They all are of the same variety, just a little different coloring for each one. I think they are Godetia. However, I've also found in my searches a plant (weed?) called Mallow, which looks very similar. But since the seed package listed Godetia, I will assume that's what these are. Regardless of what they are, I thought they were very pretty! There was also a white one, but the photo didn't show it very well.

Poll Results

The results for the last poll "What's your favorite time of year?" are:

• Spring (1 vote) 12½%
• Summer (1 vote) 12½%
• Autumn (5 votes) 62½%
• Winter (1 vote) 12½%

My favorite time of year has always been autumn. I love the colors, the drier air, and even the smells (well, except for when the farmers are emptying their lagoons)! The last few years have been marred, though, by the Asian beetles and no-see-ums which make going outdoors much less pleasant. But once the weather has cooled down enough to get rid of them, it's great out there again! And it means that the outdoor work is winding down for a little bit less busy time of year.

Thanks to everyone who voted! EVERYONE is welcome to vote! It only takes a second, and it's just for fun!

Wildflowers, Part 2

Yellow Phlox

Red Phlox

Lance-leaved Coreopsis

Plains Coreopsis

The little white flowers surrounding all the others are Baby's Breath. There was also some pink Baby's Breath, which is pictured below.

Pink Baby's Breath

Wildflowers, part 1

I have a section of my garden that I like to plant to wildflowers. This year I got some new seeds, and though the seed packages always tell what kinds of seeds are inside, there are always some I've never heard of, so it's fun to watch and see what kinds of blooms I'm going to get.

I thought you might enjoy taking a "walk" with me through my wildflowers, so the next few posts will show you what I ended up with this year. And please, if you see any that I've identified incorrectly, let me know! I've had to do some Google searching to try to figure out what some of them were, and I'm not 100% sure I have them all right.

Okay, this first one isn't a wildflower... rather, it's from a row of sunflowers I planted as a background.

Vanilla Ice Sunflower

(plus a nice little bee)

Bachelor Buttons

Clarkia

Another Clarkia

Courtney vs Willow

Enough of the nasty snow pics! Let's get back to something nicer to look at! ;-)

This is a pretty typical scene. Courtney loves Willow and tries so hard to get close enough to "pet" her, but Willow instinctively knows it's not a good idea to let her. She'll tease, though, and let Courtney get within inches before she gets up and moves... I guess she likes the attention and wants to be wanted. ;-) I suspect someday they'll be best friends. At least Willow no longer hides under the bed all day like she did when Courtney first started coming!

'Specially for Grace

I hesitate to post these photos which are in such sharp contrast to the previous ones. No, they're not current, thank goodness! But in a recent comment, Grace said: "Looking forward to seeing the frosty winter photos in a few weeks." Now really, it seems like we just got done with this from last winter! How can you be looking forward to more? ;-)

EEEEEUUUUUWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And as I'm posting this, I can see little white thingies flying past my windows. :-\

Another beautiful evening

It was so lovely outside that I grabbed the camera so I could share the evening with you!

Favored by 70%!

Here she is... trying to be like the kitties and climb their tower last Friday.
The back view is pretty cute, too. ;-)

And speaking of cute toes, I discovered these one day last spring when one of her socks came off.

Looks like a witch's work to me! ;-)

And the results are in!

The results of the survey "Which type of photos do you enjoy the most?" showed our adorable little Courtney winning by a landslide! She received 70% of the votes! Animals/Birds received 20%, Nature scenes 10%, and Flowers 0%. Way to go, Courtney!

Be expecting more pics of Courtney soon, although it's getting harder to capture good shots of her, because now that she's mastered the art of crawling, she is usually moving non-stop. ;-)

I also will have to post more flower photos... I think I didn't give them a fair chance before the vote. I have many, many gorgeous (at least I think so) flower pics, so prepare yourself for more of those, too. I will, however, try not to overdo it. ;-) And I'll still do a variety of other types of pics, too, of course.

Thanks for all who took the time to vote! Be watching for another fun little survey soon!

Oh, deer!

It's now deer hunting season around here, which reminded me of some photos I took last July at my son's place. They're not very clear, because I took them from quite a distance and really should have had a tripod (somehow I didn't think the deer would stand there long enough for me to run home and get it ;-) ), but I was just glad I happened to have the camera along in the first place (to take more pics of Courtney, of course).

If you look closely, you can see she has a scar at the base of her neck... perhaps an old hunting wound? She is also very thin.... you can see her ribs as she's standing there.

I wish I could get pics of the deer that come through our yard. They made themselves right at home in my garden, eating everything from beet tops to tomatoes! Since it was at the end of the gardening season, though, I didn't care much. They've been pretty brave, too, as I've seen droppings about 10 feet out in front of our house. Hopefully by the time hunting season is over, they'll have been thinned out a little. Yes, I think they're beautiful, and I love to watch them, but they can also be very big pests.

Stressed?

Act like a cat. You can't get any more relaxed than this!

Halloween again!!

I received these photos today and just couldn't resist posting them. These are some relatives on Courtney's other side of the family. ;-) Aren't they charming? Doesn't Courtney look terrified?
I'd say she looks a bit "tickled" here:

Hibiscus Plant(s?)

Several years ago I bought what I thought was a red hibiscus plant from Shopko. As it turned out, it produces both red and coral colored blooms! I don't know if it's actually two plants, or if it's a graft that didn't take right, or what! But it does produce lots of gorgeous flowers when it gets enough sunlight.

I just brought it into the house for the winter a week or so ago. It lost a lot of leaves and buds, as it always does during the transition, but it's perking up now and blooming quite nicely.

Cat Cubes

A few months ago I purchased a couple of "cubes" for my cats to play in. Now, it is hard to find toys that cats will like for any length of time, but they've really gotten a lot of use out of these. And if I need to put them away for awhile, they fold up small and flat, which is nice.
They're not only good for playing in, they're good for napping in, too!

And the cats aren't the only ones who like them! :-)

Okay, so the tag says they're not for children, but Grandma was right there watching her. Courtney thought she was pretty smart, although she did have a little trouble getting out of it, so Grandma rescued her. ;-)