Hummingbird says hello. Or go away. Not sure what she's saying but she's not afraid of me.

Look at all those ornamental grasses providing wonderful homes for ticks just waiting for me to walk by. Yes, I think I do have tick PTSD, as my wise young friend from the PNW suggested in a recent comment. And speaking of ticks and their buddies the deer, look who was lounging around in the FENCED-IN back yard yesterday morning. I shooed her out through the very small little break between two sections of my "secure" fencing, a space so small that I never dreamed she or one of her dozens of pals would find. But she did, of course. She's relaxing after a big breakfast of hostas.

 

 

 

The butterflies love our hot, humid weather. I do not.

 

I used to look at these perennial wildflowers (Monarda, AKA bergamot or bee balm) in my front yard with joy. Look how much the butterflies and bees love them. But after finding a deer tick on my stomach about a month ago all I can see are beautiful flowers harboring thousands and thousands of deadly ticks.  I'm entering week three of doxycycline, the antibiotic often used to ward off the dreaded Lyme disease. Meanwhile, I've developed a huge phobia about gardening or even walking around my yard. I had to muster up a lot of courage to take this little video. I was looking forward to the fall and winter when (I thought) the tick population dropped significantly until I read this: "Ticks can be active on winter days when the ground temperatures are above 45 degrees Fahrenheit." For a long time I've fantasized about spending my final years living in a big city. Get rid of the biggish house and the cars and live close to whatever I need: grocery store, library, hospital, funeral home. I'm ready to make the move but I doubt if my husband would agree.

Ganoderma Tsugae Tincture, for what ails you.

My clever sister (center of group picture, behind bearded young man--Jake--Rebecca's first sort-of boyfriend from high school) sent me this concoction. She harvested the Reishi mushrooms, top, and turned them into the tincture, middle. She and my brother-in-law (first bearded man on right, behind Rebecca's right shoulder) have been taking it for a year and haven't had a cold since. After I developed a whopping big head cold complete with two infected ears just hours after the wedding, my sis sent me a bottle of the stuff with instructions on how to take it. I'll report back next summer on its effectiveness. Meanwhile I'm taking nasty antibiotics (boo hiss) to clear up my ears and allow me to hear all the scintillating conversations I'm missing. [My niece is the dark-haired, tallish young lady in the back row towards the left, and the tallest man in the back is her husband.]