Another Unexpected Guest

Well, as usual, last minute, call Maria!  Fourth of July weekend, rescue finds out Isis is going to be put to sleep over the weekend.  Scramble to find drivers to get her to me as she is five hours away.  We did it!  

Only a year old and super sweet.  I would have kept this one. I changed her name to Persia, thought she needed a prettier name. She knows how to frog leg!

Had her for the week until her foster Misha got back from Wisconsin.  In the meantime, cut about two pounds of mats off her and gave her a bath and brushing.  She is a beauty.

Misha lives on the coast of NC, so I drove 2 1/2 hrs. to Columbia, SC to meet Gina who would drive and meet Misha.  I was only 30 minutes away from Bishopville, SC where the topiary gardens are, something on my to do list.

Pearl Fryar has worked on not only his garden, but others on the same street, one of which I liked more than his and was my favorite.

It's 98 degrees and blistering hot!  Could that be the reason I am the only person seen on this street and in this neighborhood?

That's okay, I am enjoying the gardens.  Gina couldn't go with me, she has Persia and she and Misha are stopping at a shelter to test another chow. Gina lives close enough to come in the fall when the weather will be better.

This is my favorite garden, plain and simple, a small fortune in boxwoods.

So back to my own garden where the boxwoods I have will always be round!

Fourth at the Lake

We never spend the 4th of July at the lake.  Too many boats, radios, firecrackers and people.  My favorite time on the lake is late fall, early winter when no one is there, except the Canadian geese.  

I think they were a little confused as to all the commotion or maybe they were just going dock to dock and getting a handout!

We had guests coming for the fourth anyway, two jewelry artists from Charleston going to the Coon Dog Festival in Saluda.

But I did manage to finally get the neighbors over for a happy hour right before after canceling the first time due to Grizz. 

This paddler was from Columbia for a visit and Cindy lured him over for a drink.

Cindy luring him in.  

Setting up for guests on the day of the fourth, lots of activity on the lake.

My lantana gets bigger every year!

This is Julep, one of our canine guest for the fourth.

And this is Stella, our other canine guest on the fourth, and they did bring some humans with them!

Back home we opened this bottle of white that Mindy gave me to try, even though I'm not a fan of whites, but it was pretty good, especially ice cold.  Notice the goat on the label?

We had asparagus and swiss crepes with cucumber sauce, perfect with the white and also needed to make something to compete with Dave's meal that he cooked.  

We have this ongoing "thing" of who makes a better meal.  He didn't like mine, and I don't like his LOL, too fattening, fried and thick sauce.  UGH  It's fun going back and forth.  He does make a nice looking plate.  As for the boathouse, just about every day this month has had a renter and every time we go over I ask Bob "Are you ready to sell yet?"  That, too, is an ongoing thing.  I want to sell and buy a one room shack on the outer banks or in the Smokys!  We'll see who wins!

Unexpected Guest

Grizz from LA was supposed to do an overnight and instead ended up with us for nine days.

He was kicked out of his boarding in Memphis for the week because he was growling and they were afraid of him.

He instantly fell in love with Bob and everyone was begging us to keep him, but the senior chows were not a fan of his nine month old energy.

He would sit in the chair so he could see Bob in the other room.  We took him to Luna's house where he would have a dog his age to play with until he gets adopted.

Needless to say, these two instantly fell in love and Bob was a thing of the past!   Bob ^^^

Watched a pair of cardinals raise two baby birds outside my bathroom window.

I noticed the father fed the babies a lot more than the mother.

The bear has been relentless.  I started taking in the bird feeders at night, it calmed down, but then he was back.  He had already stolen my most expensive feeders and has now bent every pole.  Now leaving big piles of scat in the front yard. The dogs chase him, but he comes back.  We finally found the fence that he tore down behind the chicken house!

Just found another cardinal nest down at the farmhouse.

The flying squirrels are coming at night to feed.

I lifted the dogs' water bowl to clean it and found a lizard nest full of eggs.  The mother is a blue skink.  It has been weeks, and they still have not hatched.  Wondering if these eggs are viable, but she is still in the nest.

Mindy got a calf and named him Romeo.

Months later we are still getting undercoat off of Roman, and the pile behind him could make another chow!

This was in the spring when the tomatoes were just getting started.  

They are now full of tomatoes, but they still have not turned red!  What's up with that?!

Pretty creepy when you find this in your compost pile and you have never seen this before, it is not yours, but you are the only one adding to the compost pile . . . or am I?  

In the garden.  Some have come and gone, others are just starting to bloom.

The church sale is tomorrow, July 5, but I offered to help set up for two days and spent five hours the first day and three hours the second helping and got to have my pick of the goods! It was time well spent.

The night sky tonight after a huge thunderstorm.  We needed the rain, and I was so happy we got it.  Now hearing all the fireworks going off at the local parks.  A nice quiet fourth for us!