They're BACK !!!!

 It's been a summer of wondering hotness. Last year we had a bunch of caterpillars that we raised to evolve into Monarch butterflies. It was great fun. Search for the cats on our milkweed which we planted for the purpose of attracting the bugs and upon finding them we would place them into "birthing chambers protected from wasps and birds so they could grow, spin their cacoons, and become Monarchs. We assume because of the heat we didn't see any cats until last week. We now have about 6 in the chambers and that will become butterflies in about 15 days. We let them dry their wings for a day and release them. Such great fun. If you refer to last years pages you will see the progress and successes. great fun !!!

Fabulous Honor !!!!!

This past week has been a fire drill ! Karen was notified earlier in the year that she would be one of the Graduate School honorees from Oklahoma State University, her Alma Mater, as well as the school her children attended. Friday we attended a reception for the Honorees and earlier a gathering of several of her professors and classmates from within the Geography department. I met the people I had heard of from the many great stories she has told me and felt the excitement she had as being part of that group. Upon graduation with her Masters Degree in Statistical Mapping she joined National Geographic in Washington D.C. and produced three maps in three of the magazines, one being a full spread. Wanting to return to her roots and family she returned to Tulsa to do research concerning the drug problem in Tulsa. with the Drug Task Force, discovering the hot spots within the community and helping resolve the problem. At the suggestion of one of her relatives she applied for, and received, the position of C.E.O. of the Girl Scouts of the Ozarks. 

The council was a challenge as the entire structure of management and maintenance needed to be updated in areas of membership, objectives, updating facilities, and leadership. After an extremely successful run Karen applied to become the C.E.O of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma, a very demanding job with similar problems as the ones she solved in Joplin. She oversaw a merger of Councils, updated camp facilities, and purchased land for the construction of a much needed modern and larger facility for the organization, staff, and scout troops. After ten years she retired, and we are enjoying each other, kids and grandkids,  

I am so lucky to be married to such a sweet, caring, talented, smart and great looking gal ! Below are some other images from the event.

Tomatoes pulled fertilizer soon to follow

Last summer was not a tomato year. I was more than unhappy to report that I had very few tomatoes but after talking with other tomatoeheads I found I was not alone. Everyone had a disappointing year. I guess that's the way the tomatoes falls. I pulled the plants yesterday and stored the trellises and will put some new fertilizer in the beds. I am amazed at how small the root ball is on the plants. The plants were about 6 feet tall and had a root ball the size of my fist,,,I don't know if this is normal and if it affects the number of tomatoes on the plants. Time to ask questions I guess.

The lawn needs one more cutting for the year and I'll cut it short. Presently the blades are three inches long as the root length is determined by the blade length of the grass, I cut it to about an inch in the fall to let the grass rest during the winter. Glad to have that almost out of the way.

I've started physical therapy for my right hip and I have several more appointments. It may do some good loosening up things time will tell. I will probably go out and shoot for myself as I haven't been out because of my back and hips. I really need to reacquaint myself with the workings of my Nikon. I really feel rusty. The plants on th deck are starting to signal that fall is on the way as I don't need to water as much and they appear OK. The heat that was their nemesis is gone so water is not quite as important in the volumes it was. Nikon is calling ....I'll check back soon hopefully with pictures....