Southern Living Yankee

Jennifer Lawrence interview on David Letterman HD - November 20, 2013 I've never been a fan of a real-life movie star (Bambi isn't real). But after watching this interview last night I just might! This girl's hilarious!

My garden failed in everything except a pot of parsley. Last week I noticed tiny green beads stuck to the parsley leaves, and a few days later some small black caterpillars, and now.... PETS! Yep. Pet caterpillars. Not Monarchs, though. They kind of look like the Monarch butterfly caterpillar, but these are Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. Love the parsley. They totally destroyed my plant so I bought them some from the grocery store. I put the stems in a cup of water and it's holding up well enough---at the rate they're going they might eat it all before it wilts anyway! I wish I'd taken their pictures on Wednesday when they were less than 1" long. Now they're a good 2" long. Let me introduce you:   This one is named Parsley. Start up the music for Scarborough Fair. Sage. Rose, Mary, and And (yes, one of them is named And. Scroll down and see if you guessed why I named it And). Thymes Seven. Yes, this last one is named S...

A friend sent me this picture. Or would you say a "friend" sent me this picture? Gave me a "start" to my day, lol!

I enjoyed spotting this speedy little bird hovering and darting around the cherry tree and zinnias today. Too fast for me to take a picture, so here's a composite from Wiki Commons. The bird is smaller than a sparrow but the best clue from the bird book description was that he looks like a miniature mocking bird. The tail sort of fans out, edged in white like a mockingbird. Really cute because it's so tiny. Bonus: diet = bugs! Blue-gray Gnatcatcher From The Crossley ID Guide Eastern Birds

I'm auntie to 8 great girls on my side of the family, but I've always lived so far away that I'm not able to get to know them as well as I'd like. I don't see them at their games, pick them up from school, take pictures of their proms and dances, lecture them about boys, or spoil them! So I created a bribe that would give me the chance to do some of that---taking pictures, lecture them about boys, and spoil them rolled into what I call a "Beautiful Girlhood" weekend. The bribe is that they read a book with the same title. It's a pretty old-fashioned and therefore probably quite boring for them. But it's all about building character and a moral compass, so it's important stuff. And if they make it through the book they spend the weekend getting spoiled rotten by Auntie Ferree! This past week my neice Kendall finally had time to get-away here to South Carolina. I would have gone up to her place, but she decided long ago that when she finished...

It was a hot and hazy morning and the heat index would top 100 later in the day. We left shore at 8:45, went through Murrell's Inlet at low tide, and then out over a mile into the open sea. There was a light breeze that helped keep us comfortable and no one got seasick. Including the captain and crew there were twelve souls on board, and ten of us went parasailing. All my fears were stupid and unfounded. Once I saw how it all worked I didn't have any qualms. And once I got up in the air I didn't want to come back down! Like the little girl on that tv commercial I kept saying, "More! We want more! We have to have more!"

Here's my kind of party! Me and my buddies made 'snake dogs' (and ate 'em) and then we made multi-colored rainbow cupcakes that turned out more like multi-colored blobs in cupcakes. Nevertheless, they were delicious! As you can see ...   Too bad you missed the phenomenal puppet shows too!     But it's a good thing you missed this rattlesnake. Good thing I missed it too! My life didn't pass before my eyes, but it was my near-death experience of the week. I was on a nature trail with my neice on Tuesday when we and the snake met on the path! But if you wondered why the kids and I made 'snake dogs' to eat today, consider it revenge for getting the bee-jeebers scared out of me!  

Out my kitchen window this afternoon I spotted this beauty enjoyed the crape myrtle petals fallen on my sidewalk. I was able to take pictures of him through the screen of my back porch, while trying not to scare him away. Then I compared my pictures to ones on this website in order to identify him: Gardens With Wings It's a great website for finding the butterflies in your area! Just type in your zipcode and colored photos pop up. And now I understand why this butterfly is called the Red- Spotted Purple, although the purple is so dark it looks black. Can you believe the difference between the wings open  and the wings closed? It looks like two different butterflies, doesn't it?  

WOOF! Feeling a little light-headed! Great Jet-Ski Hair Wadda ya think? Hey Everybody! Thanks for helping me pick #2! (Yeah, I'm no Sharon Stone, but I'm liking it). I'm not sure my fine, limp hair will hold this style too well in the brutal humidity down here. The stylist had me all hopeful with all the product I bought, but the drive home? Let's just say it was a let-down, hair-wise. I'll give it a week or so. If I can't make it look more misbehaving by then, I'll try cut #1. If that fails, cut #4! Hair's always an adventure and I'm glad to be following my heart once again. Y'all helped pick me up out of my rut and I thank you kindly! It's thundering, lightning, and the rain is pounding with one of our early evening pop-up storms. (Hence the humidity). So I'm getting off the computer ---I'd hate to lose this if the power goes out. Thanks again! P.S. Oh, by the way, in case you're wondering, I was not ...

Not Insincere , I said, Insecure . I've got an insecure question for you. Yea, it's haircut time and I don't know what to do. All I know is it's time for a change. Could you cast your vote? There's a ballot box at the right side column and you'll have my eternal gratitude. No guarantees I'll do anything besides say, "Just a trim and shape up," but I've been flaying myself about this for months and it's just stupid hair, so I need help! Tom gets an "F" in girlfriend skills with his cop-out "I like whatever you like" nonsense.    #1 THE WISPIES The wispies in my face might drive me crazy, but it looks easy to take care of which is an absolute MUST HAVE. #2 UP, UP AND AWAY This is off her face which is what I think I'm needing---get that bulky look away from my tiny little face #3 ADD SOME FUN Or stay with close to the face, just have more fun. How would this look on old lady me? #4 OFF WIT...

Driven by estrogen overload, I blogged a bit about empty nesting in Ohio back on 2010. Lest I forget this 'special' time, here's the link for it: Squawks Maybe that's why I'm so into bird-watching now---they squawk too! I think it's rather clever, if you like my snark side. I wonder if there's a snark side of the moon?

Tom was burning some brush at the back of our lot early this evening. I walked back there to talk to him, and lo and behold---a big wild turkey came walking out of the woods on the lot across from us! I thought maybe he smelled the smoke and decided to check it out. And he didn't seem in too much of a hurry, but he picked up the pace when he saw us. A minute later, we saw some more movement where the turkey was, and a coyote peered over at us. He turned around after eyeballing us. I think maybe he was following that meaty looking turkey. I never know what I'll see out here!   And this little thing was inside the screened-in porch today. The green anole made it out alive yesterday, so I guess word is out---Fud isn't a threat! Those are NOT my fingers in the picture.  

Carolina Wolf Spider Lifesize photo. Its 8 (yes, 8!) EYES would bring a new meaning to the old Wisconsin activity of deer shining. Which I never did. And don't intend to start. Green Anole There's one of these on the porch right now. Uninvited. sigh. The spiders like the porch too. A scream, a squish, it's over. Lizards are different tho. "Oh, Fud!" I'll hold the door open while Fud chases it out, I hope.

Love #1 Fresh sheets hung on my little backyard clothesline are sheer pleasure! I love them! Uh, oh! What happened here? Why did the shoes and socks suddenly leave the body? A heavenly rapture? Alien body snatchers? Ants swarming my ankles as I was hanging my pillowcases? And....love #2 Death to the ants!   And....Happy Anniversary to love # True! To Mr. Wonderful, who is outside on this lovely Sunday afternoon trimming our yard with his new power tool, a Ryobi lawn edger. And I have a lovely little lemon tree. If it's anything like the past eleven years, we'll have lots of lemonade. We are so grateful to God we've had each other to face all these times with together. I love you Thomas!