July in Troy

The summer has been warm, but not really hot. We had a couple of days last week when another cool air mass came in from Canada (why do they keep sending us their cold air?) and we had temperatures in the high 40s at night. That was strange. However, corn is tasseling and tomatoes are ripening. Ah, summer.

An Army  Reserve band played in Troy.

The Troy Skating Club took to the ice July 10-13. A budding Olympian?

A water lily on Kiser Lake.

Californians in Ohio.

Ohio does not have hillsides covered with lupines ... but it does have wild indigo!

Really big snake!

I know Bob posted pictures of Daisy the Python on Facebook, but for those of you who don't do Facebook, here are a couple of shots of Daisy at her hefty best. Penny's church had a herpetologist come to speak to VBS kids and we had to go see his snakes. They were all non-venomous; some were from the U.S. and others were from Asia, Africa, and S. America.

Brother-in-law Jack with a plastic coral snake (the milk snake is real and NOT venomous).

Can you tell Penny is not happy about touching Daisy?

Daisy is big girl. It took lots of us to hold her up.

And for the people not into snakes - here is a red admiral butterfly on bergamot.

OK, it's been 5 months

Sorry, everyone. I've been hearing about my lack of blog posting. If you really want to know what's going on, friend Bob on Facebook. He's always posting something about what we're up to. Here are some pictures from May.

Penny and Pat. Isn't that a good picture of the sisters?

 

We got new cabinets in the dining room (no countertop yet). Isabella "helped."

Azaleas at Muirfield, where Bob went for the practice round of the Memorial Tournament on May 28th.

Our girl kitty looking cute.

The street over from ours during a recent deluge. Our street was not flooded.

Thank you, Canada, for the cold air mass

It's shaping up to be a very cold winter. The latest arctic blast from our friends up north ... and to think I used to like the Canadians ... has us below zero for a high today. The other day, it was -10 degrees when we went to the Y, but it wasn't windy. Today at -4 or -5 degrees, it's just brutal out because of the wind. Because of wind chill, school is cancelled. Bob, the Chicago boy that he is, said, "We used to walk to school in weather like this."  Well, I remember waiting for the bus in Atascadero, Calif. on +17-20 degree mornings, and that was quite enough, thank you. (That was back when little girls wore dresses to school and our legs were frozen by the time the bus arrived.) I've included some pictures of "things I didn't concern myself with when I lived in San Luis Obispo." I hope you enjoy them.

This is the "schmutz" that collects in the wheel wells (ice, dirt, salt) and falls out on the garage floor.

Frozen condensation on the inside of the bathroom window.

A bit out of focus, but what happens if rain freezes on the way out of the downspout.

Dry, itchy winter skin? We've got a product for that.

Again, out of focus. But you get the idea.

Frozen recycling!

Merry Christmas from a state that can't decide if it's rainy or snowy

We've had the weirdest weather. December, by and large, was abnormally cold and snowy. Normal snowfall in Dec. before Christmas in the Dayton area is 3". We had 14". Yowza. Along with this snow came very cold temperatures. There were days when we had highs that were lower than the normal lows. Yes, you read that right. Then a few days ago, it warmed up to the mid-50s (California winter temperatures!) and rained and rained. The higher temperatures melted any snow, plus we had lots of extra water because of the rain. And where do we live? In an area with a big river running through it. There was major flooding in the Miami River Valley. We were fine, because our house is on a hill (they don't call it "Hunter's Ridge" for nothing). Others were not so fortunate. We saw lots of flooded cars (at least one woman had to be rescued because she didn't remember that tip about not driving over a flooded road), flooded houses, and backyards that disappeared under water.

Don't go down that stairway!

The Miami River decided to inundate the road to the covered bridge.

What trail?

A Merry Christmas greeting from one of our visiting cardinals. And from us, too.

The animals are thankful for ....

It's 3 days before Thanksgiving, though with all the Christmas decorations up, you'd think it was 3 days after. Our squirrels are thankful for corn and black oil sunflower seeds on cold mornings. Isabella is thankful for the "wall of flames" (i.e. the fireplace) and heater vents. We hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving.

I have cornstalks and Indian corn on the front porch as autumn decor. The squirrels have found the Indian corn. I'll soon have only cobs left. It's OK - I was going to give it to them anyway.

Here's one of the little corn-stealers.

Almost as good as the "wall of flames."

Bronchitis 1, Pat 0

Sickness reigns supreme. I'm slowly getting better from lung crud. My advice: don't get it. If you do, go to the doctor sooner than 8 days into the coughing fits, which is how long I waited. "It's just a cold!" Well, sometimes it isn't. On the weather front, we've had two little snowstorms. The first was in mid-October, which is unusually early. The second was the other day, which makes more sense. But, temperatures in the upper 50s are predicted for this week. Gotta love Ohio. We're all over the place. Mom keeps asking when spring will come. "Mom, it's only November. We still have to deal with January."

My meds. I'm so happy.

The downside of fall color. Eventually all those pretty leaves fall off.

Our neighbor Braden and little Shelby, their puppy.