New Pix (From Nearly a Year Ago)

I recently discovered a large file of digital photos taken in Sweden last year that I never processed or posted.  I'd forgotten all about them!

There are more to come, at some point, but here are the ones I've uploaded so far...

You can see most of them by arrowing back (to the left), but there are a few to the right in the photostream, too. Or if you'd rather, they're on our Flickr photostream page, too, of course. :o)

Once-in-a-Blue-Moon Post

I'm slowly but surely editing and uploading (to Flickr) photos from our July trip to Sweden.  Still not done, but getting there...

One of the latest is this photo of Donald standing next to a huge ant hill by the side of the long driveway down to his parents' place:

It's not a very good photo (for some reason, Donald is underexposed, so it looks like a not-very-well-done cut-and-paste job), but I promise that I didn't do anything to the photo except sharpen it and adjust the colors a little (to make him look a little less like a ghost (g)).  The ant hill really is that big.  There were lots of ants going up and down the road.  ~shudder~ 

Donald says that in Sweden, ant hills can stay in the same place (though under constant repair, I would imagine) for years.  There was another, smaller hill down closer to the lake, and Donald says he remembers that one being there when he was a kid-- so 30 to 40 years ago-- and it's still in the same general spot.  That's just amazing.  I don't think ants would do that, around here.  Maybe if they live out in the middle of nowhere, with no people trying to get rid of them, they'll stay in one location longer, but I get the impression that "our" ants don't settle down in one spot for decades.  Even if they get a really big "bed" established, sooner or later, a storm will wash them out (or maybe an animal will disturb them)-- something happens, and they'll move on to another place. 

There are more (and I hope better) photos in my Flickr photostream (link in the sidebar).  :o) And more still to come!

What You Missed

Let's see... What fascinating things have we been up to, lately?

Patio--
Donald put up a partial wall of lattice on the east- (and easement-) facing side of our enclosed, covered patio, and we decided to use more railing to finish the adjacent portion of the north-facing side.  (We originally planned to make that portion a partial wall of lattice, too, but after we were further along in the process, we changed our minds.)

I need to do a little touch-up painting, but I think that the patio is pretty much done, now.  We've started paving (with stepping stones) the little path from the patio to the gate for our next outdoor project.


Library Book Sale--
A few weekends ago, a neighboring county's library system had their annual book sale.  It's become a tradition for us to go (for the past few years, at least), and Kimberly usually comes along with us.  All three of us found some books we had to have.  Donald found loads of P.G.Wodehouse paperbacks (among other things), while I found that almost everything I selected fits into the mystery genre.  At fifty cents for paperbacks and a dollar for hardcovers, you can feel like you're splurging without actually spending that much at all.


Big Lagoon & Tarkiln Bayou--
Last week, Donald had to drive further than usual to meet with a client, and because it was just around the corner from a couple of state parks we've enjoyed visiting before, I came along and he took off the rest of the day so we could to take advantage of the proximity.

We hiked hither and thither.  We stopped for a yummy fast food lunch in between parks.  We saw pitcher plants, a squirrel building a nest, sparkling blue water, mysterious black water, sugar-white sand, marsh grass, cattails, ferns, dragonflies, lots of anoles and skinks, a jumping fish, birds of prey, and a moccasin (in the shallow water below the little nature trail bridge).  (ETA:  Donald reminded me that he spotted a large, bright green frog-- not far from the moccasin-- and that reminded me that we also saw a largish turtle out for a swim.  The turtle's already made an appearance over on our Flickr photostream, for all you turtle-lovers out there. ;o))

I was dumb and didn't think I needed to bring sunscreen, so I ended up with a slight sunburn on my forehead and cheeks.  Next time I'll bring the sunscreen.  (Donald was spared because he wore a hat.) 

We took photos, but I haven't felt like editing and uploading many of them, yet.  We'll see whether I ever do.  I don't think many of them turned out that great, and I've already posted photos of those places, after a previous visit, so...


Fireflies--
We've been seeing lightning bugs here in the early evenings.  We've had the best luck seeing them before it gets too completely dark... or late.   There's something magical about fireflies-- watching those twinkling lights against the dark trees and seeing a small, brief spark drifting just ahead of you... Less magical is the annoying whine of a mosquito right next to your ear as you try to enjoy the moment.  ("Ring the dinner bell, gals!  Soup's on!")

...And some other stuff I can't really remember at the moment.  Oh, Easter, for one, I guess.  (We had an "immediate family" Easter at my parents' house.)  Also, we got some plastic card covers/protectors for some of our newer games.  (That's very interesting.  You'd never have forgiven me if I'd forgotten to mention that.)  Have we earned board game geek status, yet? ;o)

...And I guess we'll call this finished.  (You can only take so much excitement in one day.)

Spilt Milk and Other Matters

Yes, it's more tidbits. Don't tell me you expected a cohesive entry with real substance! ;o)

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A few weeks ago, Donald and I found milk in a new type of package, at our local Sam's Club. It's cheaper, so we've been buying it, even though the jug looks a little odd:


I wouldn't hold its odd appearance against it if it weren't for the fact that it seems to be a very poor design for reasons other than aesthetics. You see, we find it difficult to pour from this jug without dripping a bit. (And no, it's not our faults. (g) We've both been pouring liquids without spilling for several years, now.) True, it's a very tiny bit-- but it's still annoying to have to wipe up every time you eat a bowl of cereal or have a glass to drink.

To add insult to injury, the last jug we bought had this label on one side:


"JUST TILT & POUR"!

Gee, thank you, Mr. Milk Jug! Thanks so much for the lesson in how to pour milk! I feel like such an idiot, now! I'd been trying to pour it by getting Donald to hold the cereal bowl a yard away and sloshing it at him. (Too much sarcasm? Sorry about that. In future, I'll try to hold back.)

Well, ok, I thought. I'm pretty sure I've tried that "just tilt and pour" method before, but I'll give it another go. . .

Nope. Still very nearly impossible to pour without a little dribble or drop of waste and annoying dairy mess! And the very fact that they have this informative little label suggests that it isn't just us-- that they may have actually been getting complaints about their defective design.

It's a little thing, but still I manage to make time to grumble about it. ;o)

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We're still planning the patio. We've mapped it out-- sat on a "pretend patio" to get a feel for how much room it would actually give us-- Donald's made little cardboard models-- I've taken photos of things at different times of the day to calculate optimum shade potential-- etc.

Then, the last time we were discussing it, a totally new idea presented itself. Shade cloth. It's pretty fancy stuff. Depending on the type (and color), it can block as much as 90% of sunlight and harmful UV rays. It's supposed to be very durable. It's not cheap, but it could be cheaper than buying lots of wood to make a more traditional pergola roof. Plus we wouldn't have to paint (and repaint) so much wood. And it would provide more complete shade than the wood, most of the time. (Donald is fair-skinned; I don't want skin cancer, either = We luv shade. (g))

My main concern is how it would hold up against violent thunderstorms and, of course, hurricanes. I hope we won't have another major hurricane here for years to come, but you never know. . . Of course, even an all-wood structure could be completely destroyed, if we had bad luck.

As you can see, we still have some decisions to make. Unfortunately, I seem to be incapable of doing anything without considering all the possible resultant problems. ;o)

One thing has been absolutely decided-- When we buy supplies for the patio, we're also getting supplies to build for a pump house. (Still no concrete plans for how we'll build that, either. . . Maybe I'll ask for advice at the family get-together this Friday. Family, you have been warned. (g)) It has taken way, way too long for us to do that. Once it's done, there'll be one less reason for me to hang my head in shame (figuratively).

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The house finch with a nest in our back porch is still in residence. No sound of baby birds, yet, but I don't imagine it'll be too much longer.

There's another bird nesting in the decorative birdhouse Grandpa W. gave us a few years ago. Seems like there's a bird in that house every year. This time, it's right outside a window! Of course, it's almost always covered by a closed mini-blind, so I guess they don't feel they're being scrutinized too closely. (g)

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Donald has some vacation time stored up, and he has to use most of it by a particular date (in August, I think). We're still thinking about what we want to do. Maybe we can use a little of the time to work on the patio. That is, assuming that we've decided by then how we want to build it. . . ;o)

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I had one of my "I'm walking around outside and there are snakes all over the place" dreams. They come up from time to time.

I was walking a dog/puppy, and was worried the snakes would bite it. One of the snakes was very exotic-looking-- purple and dragonish and sort of "hinged" (like those plastic toy snakes that kids have-- the ones that seem to move on their own). I went inside to look it up and blog about it (g)-- but on the way, I discovered weird burned/singed spots on the floor-- and in an "it made sense at the time" flash of brilliance, immediately deduced that there was some bizarre geothermic phenomenon at work and that was what brought the snakes out in hordes. (Apparently, in my dream-world, there are lots of snakes living in holes in the ground around our house.) At that point, I think I forgot the snakes and began worrying that the house was about to erupt. ;o)

And I just realized where the burned floor bit came from! Last week's episode of CSI. On the one hand, I'm mildly disappointed that it wasn't my own concoction but something I recycled from TV. On the other, at least I can be fairly sure that this wasn't a vision from God warning me to vacate the premises because of impending destruction of hearth and home. (g)

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I have a feeling I'm forgetting something I wanted to mention. . . Oh well. It must not have been very important. Hope the week's off to a good start for you all!