Butterfly, Two Caterpillars, and Pupa

August 13, 2025 On Sunday evening (August 10), we had a beautiful sunset. On Monday (August 11), I was feeling a lot better. In the morning, I went out to battle the squash bugs. I turned over a squash leaf and squash bug nymphs ran away. Ugh! Time for death by soapy water! Bruce joined […]

Finished the Lion Cubs

August 11, 2025 I am feeling back to normal today, except for the vaccination spots on my left arm. The area is still sore and it is warm to the touch. I can now move my arm without it hurting. While the side effects have been unpleasant, I don’t want to risk lockjaw. Our property […]

Vaccines and Price Checking What New Glasses Cost

August 10, 3025 On Friday (August 8), after volunteering most of the morning, Bruce and I decided to get lunch at Mary Lee’s since we were down that way. I didn’t realize how dirty we had gotten until we were walking into the restaurant. Fortunately, while Mary Lee’s has outstanding food, they are very casual. […]

Volunteering at Cane Creek Canyon Nature Preserve

August 10, 2025 On Friday (August 8), Bruce and I left the house around 8:15 AM to get to the Cane Creek Canyon Nature Preserve by 9:00 AM. We enjoyed the drive through the small mountains on winding roads to get to the preserve. The last bit of the drive was a one-lane gravel driveway […]

Butterflies, Flowers, Eggs, and Progress on the Third Lion Cub

August 9, 2025 On Thursday (August 7), I worked in the garden. I killed four or five tomato hornworms and some armyworms that had been chowing down on my tomato leaves and green tomatoes. I sprayed squash bugs with soapy water and removed squash bug eggs. I got a nice harvest of cucumbers, squash, okra, […]

A Commissioned Piece of Art Arrives

August 8, 2025 While I was exchanging emails with Dawnel at DeRubeis Fine Art about repairing “Autumn Wind,” I asked if DeRubeis still took commissions. Dawnel (his wife) and office manager, said he did. He needed to have an idea of the size of the piece and what I wanted. I wanted a piece featuring […]

Chipping Away at the Pile of Branches

August 6, 2025 Yesterday (Tuesday, August 5), after we heard Bruce’s dad was out of surgery and in recovery, Bruce and I headed out to chip more branches. While Bruce was moving the chipper with the mower, I was checking the garden. I noticed several medium-sized black bees pollinating watermelon flowers. Based on my bee […]

A Giant Comes to Visit

August 5, 2025 Yesterday (Monday, August 4), Bruce and I moved three cartloads of Bama Dirt into the new long garden bed. This finished covering the wood in the new bed. Bruce was zipping around the yard on the mower, cutting the grass at high speed. Last time he mowed, he tried something different out […]

More Chipping Piles of Branches

August 4, 2025 Late Saturday morning (August 2), Bruce hitched the chipper to the mower and drove to the back pasture. He unhitched the chipper next to a big pile of branches and got it set up to chip. Bruce put the cart so it could catch the chips. In two different sessions, we spent […]

More Mulching and Butterflies on Blackberry Homestead

August 2, 2025 On July 29 (Tuesday), I was able to finish mulching around the pecan tree I had surrounded with cardboard. We moved dirt from the Bama Dirt pile to the new garden bed and Bruce added the bagged dirt on top of the Bama Dirt. It was a hot day. For supper, I […]