Friends, dogs, yoyos and dragonflies

My friend "C" was here last week. It was so good to see her. She drove up in a new car, a beautiful new Honda which she deserved and needed. She has been driving around in an old Honda stick shift for years. She thinks she is in the lap of luxury now. It's a beautiful car.
She brought Max, the Havanese, with her. This was a beautiful foothill afternoon... not too warm, with a little breeze. Max was getting use to his new environment. He was sniffing and trotting everywhere.

Cutter followed Max around constantly.

They all marked each other's footprints until there was no liquid left inside any of them.
Carl finally decided that it was too much effort to follow Max around all day so he found a soft spot in the sweet alyssum and relaxed.

Following Max around, in the sun, was too much for this corgi.

While we were sitting outside something flew over us and landed on the fence. It caught my eye right away in the afternoon sun.  It was a bright red-orange, bi-wing dragonfly.

A beautiful Dragonfly with transparent wings and huge eyes.

It sat there barely moving, while I slowly and carefully got closer.
 Do you know the difference between a dragonfly and a damselfly? The dragonfly cannot fold their wings flat against the body. They extend them to the sides, horizontally. Damselflies hold them toward the rear, vertically.
Both insects mate in flight.

Amazing! I'd like to see humans do that. The eggs are fertilized and deposited in or close to water. The naiads eat insects, tadpoles and even small fish (really small). Fully grown, but not looking at all like the adults, they crawl out of water, split their skin and release the adult. A magical metamorphosis.
Dragonflies and Damselflies destroy huge amounts of mosquitoes, so don't spray anything toxic in your garden. Let nature do it's job.
I love the dragonflies. We see a lot of them this time of the year... hundreds of them flying through the air... black, bright blue, brown in color. Amazing , and fossils have been found that look like dragonflies that date back 300 million years. As small as they are, they have survived in this predatory world. Man should watch, listen and learn from these interesting insects.

*****************************

The dogs settled in and actually enjoyed each other. We fed them separately and they all slept in their own crates.
That night "C" and I got out the yoyo makers.

 

And the pretty assortment of fabric squares.

Read the directions and finally got it all figured out. It was fun. Something different. These little puffy fabric circles can be used to make blankets, purses, and added to anything to accessorize and add some fun.

This is a "yoyo".

The possibilities are endless. Google "fabric yoyos" and see what comes up. It's amazing. In fact... here is a link for you. Have some fun. It's a very portable hobby and just down right pretty.
"C" and I had a little bit of a learning curve, but once we got it we were off and running. The plastic forms are the easiest way to make them. I won't tell you which yoyos I made, but the ones that look the most perfect were "C"s. She sews more that I do. That's my excuse.
Oh, and get some really good scissors.

These are wonderful and have a spring in them (like cutting shears in the garden) and a lock... and a cover for the blades. They were $17.00 at the Sewing Cottage but JoAnns might have them cheaper. I don't know how I lived without them. They are worth the price to me.

Later that evening Max found the perfect spot to get away from Carl and Cutter. He liked his position, on the back of the couch. Little Max playing it safe...

What a cutie!