Tuesday, August 17, 2021 Raining, lots of puddles, very still, no breeze 70 degrees 4:51 p.m.

Today we have had rain, a gentle, soaking, welcome rain. all the grass, trees and flowers are welcoming the nice deep drink;;, the gardens and fields are perking up and giving thanks for the wonderful water from heaven. All here are so thankful for the rain. We pray that the west will soon get a few days of a soaking, steady rain or snow as they need the water badly. The news this morning showed the Colorado River and Lake Mead. They are unbelievably low.

this has been a lazy day, not doing anything exciting, but slowly accomplishing little odd jobs that get set aside. I straightened the book case out, threw old notebooks that were full and very unimportant. am now doing a load of clothes, have done dishes and unpacked my overnight bag. Just little things. I guess the cats think it is a lazy day also as they have just laid around and snoozed all day. They now think that dinner time is getting close so they are present but not demanding.

Tina is at work,, works in the garden today so am curious as to if it was open today or not. They sometimes close it when the weather is bad. I don’t think this is bad weather, just rain. Of course the water is starting to get a bit deep in some places.

Have a great, enjoyable rest of your day. Make it positive, cheerful, adventurous, beautiful and full of thanks and blessings.

Monday, August 16, 2021 Sunny/Mostly Cloudy Rain coming 85 degrees breezy 4:02 p.m.

A beautiful day with thunder, rain, clouds, wind, sunshine and heat. It is very hot and sticky outside today. I will take a walk to the mailbox in a bit. I could wait until this evening but then it will probably be thunderstorm time and I won’t be out in it because I just might melt.

The beautiful bird above, according to my Great Smokey Mountain Birds guide, is a Black-Throated Blue Warbler. It sure is pretty. While there I didn’t see him. Jerry has a night camera that takes the best pictures of animals and birds that visit his yard after dark.

My week there ended Saturday evening so am back home with just two cats to pet and fuss over. The best thing about the cats is that they don’t bark in the middle of the night. They just hiss and growl when something gets to close to their windows. When I got in Bed, here at home, Saturday night, Sierra jumped up, came up , got petted, then preceded to go to the top of the pillow and yank my hair. It hurt and I loudly said “ouch”! I reached up to grab her and she bit me, not enough to draw blood, but enough I sure felt it. then she left. I guess she was telling me that was my punishment for leaving for so long. I am supposed to be there for night time treats. It could of been much worse. I have heard horror stories of the pets being displeased with their people. Yesterday afternoon Tina and I went to the store, “Five Below” and I bought each of the cats a new fluffy bed. They were a bit big for the ones they have had for a few years. They seem to be pleased with them.

Have a wonderful rest of your Monday. I hope it is a pleasant, productive, cooler, energizing, positive and blessed day.

Friday, August 13, 2021 Mostly Sunny. Breezy 91 degrees 30% chance of rain 4:42 p.m.

Here it is Friday already. Today is my Grandson Miles birthday. It seems like just last week he was this tiny bundle of joy, and now he is this tall young man of 20 + with two small children. The sweet, fun, cuddly babies sure grow up fast!

Tina and Dottie came and brought LaDin with them, from Texas Road House. It sure was good. I was surprised as today was Tina’s day off and she was going to stay home and get a lot of things done. I guess she talked to Dottie and Dottie wanted to get out of the house for a bit and they thought I needed company. It was fun. Finley was ecstatic to have someone new to play fetch and tug of war with. Lacy got in her share of the game so both were happy. I was happy to have someone else’s arm to get the exercise for a bit. Both Murphy and Wyatt were perfect gentlemen and received their petting and a small bite from dinner, then left, one to go outdoors and the other to go lay down.

Today the travelers are headed back to Anchorage as they fly home tomorrow. I don’t know what their itinerary was for the day ads they were going to play it by ear. I am sure there is a lot to see and do there as well. They sent beautiful pictures of the animals from the Wildlife Refuge and from the mountains and the glacier and ocean. I am not sure that I saw the glacier, but maybe just not what I expected. I will ask when I see them. I do wish them safe travels home and I know the dogs will be overjoyed to see them. I have only spoiled them a little bit.

I told Jerry that it was time to come home as we had an emergency. The hummingbird feeder is empty. He said that was a first. When Tina and Dottie were here I had Tina go out and double check to make sure I wasn’t seeing things, or not seeing things. She came in and said that yes, it was empty. So that is an emergency. I can’t reach it to fill it and the hummingbirds are wanting to know where their free meal went.!!!

Have a wonderful rest of your day and a cheerful, fantastic, relaxing and blessed weekend.

Thursday, August 12, 2021 Sunny 88 degrees, Windy Humid 4:37 p.m.

A very warm day outside. The pups and I will play out there after the sun hides and it is a bit cooler. Right now they are napping. Murphy thinks it is even to hot to go bark at whatever might be out there. The squirrel is even hiding.

Last evening we were out for the before bed potty time. It was perfect to be out and enjoy the evening. I was looking towards the trees as Murphy found something to bark at. I didn’t see anything, then saw tiny lights here and there, bouncing all around. all of a sudden it dawned on me that they were fire flies. i was so happy to finally see them and even more so since I didn’t have to pay $29 to ride a bus to Cades Cove and $25.00 to get into the park just to see the fire flies. They put on quite a show for me. And the Katydids were doing their nightly serenade. It was wonderful. It is the simple things that are the most majestic.

The Alaskan travelers sent pictures of the whales and dolphins from yesterday’s site-seeing wonders. You can see the tail of the whale and then the dolphins riding along side the shop or boat. I saw more of them then I did of the whale. I know that they are having a good time and seeing a lot. Today they are to go to an animal refuge, then to see the glaciers, and mountains and the ocean. That should take care the day. I will have to wait until tomorrow to see the pictures.

Tina is having empty Nester withdrawals. I guess the mamma and daddy and babies flew off yesterday so no babies to watch in the hanging planter. She is very sad to have them gone. I am going to be also a I did enjoy watching the parents feeding the babies. But maybe we will have another pair move in and we can watch them. It might be a little late in the season but then, I don’t know what their season is. That isn’t in my bird book.

Have a great afternoon and evening. Make it a pleasant, cool, enjoyable, and blessed one.