Hey, palynologist, pollen me this

Joycie's garden is giving us produce. We've gotten tomatoes, green peppers, green onions, potatoes, cucumbers... of course, zucchini... the green beans are ready for picking, too. We planted a row of all different kinds of sunflowers. This is one I picked yesterday. They are so pretty, all in a row, yellows, golds, oranges, reds & in all shades.

This evening we went over and visited with my folks. Mom and Dad have a couple of bird feeders right in front of a large window, including a hummingbird feeder. There were at least 6 hummingbirds all around it, with 3 or 4 feeding at once. They were sparring with each other. The sun was starting to set, so it was shining on them, and they glowed. So beautiful. Mom said they have lots of hummingbirds all the time. And while we watched, a pair of Baltimore orioles came up and landed on the hummingbird feeder... first the female, then the male. Made me itch to have my camera... which I'd left at home.

I don't know if it's because we're so much more in the woods than my folks' or my sisters' homes, but we just don't get that variety of birds at our feeders. And ever since the influx of turkeys, we get less birds at our feeders. Damn turkeys.

I left work early today to meet Sammy and Joyce at the orthodontist's office. Sammy had an appointment where they put in new wires and bands on his braces. They also decided he has to wear a rubberband on his right side. The technician assistant that was showing him how to put the little rubberband on wasn't doing a very good job, and Sam had to basically figure it out for himself. She got the rubberband on, and then she told him she wanted him to take it off and put it on again there, so that she could make sure he could do it. So she handed him a mirror... and Sammy instantly and firstly fixed his hair. Cracked me up. Put a mirror near that boy and he's gonna fix the hair.

He is such a complex boy... he loves the dirty, sweaty work and play outside, with the dogs, sports, 4-wheeler, all that rough stuff, helping Kev cut, split and stack wood, but he also likes to shop, and he pays attention to how he dresses, if his clothes are clean and not stained, and how his hair looks. And how he smells. Which is nice, actually, since I live with him... it's very nice.

My friends, Carla, Debi & Renee, and I had our 2nd Annual Homes & Gardens Tour last Friday. Joycie drove us, and we had a blast. It was so fun. I took almost 350 photos, but most of them didn't turn out. Too blurry, mostly. I think it was a combination of everyone moving around so much and me laughing too much to focus the shot. And, the weather cooperated nicely. It wasn't raining or thunderstorming, and it wasn't too hot and humid like so many of the days were lately. It was a great day. See the photo blog here.