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.

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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!

"A summer's sun is worth the having." - French Proverb

It's HOT.

Yesterday was hot too.... and the day before. This is when I go looking for reasons to love summer.
I found my two new Daylilies blooming for the first time. We bought them last year but I don't remember the names. The yellow/pink one has ruffles...

...that sparkle in the sun as if each ruffle carried water from the plant and overflowed just a little at the end of the flower.Maybe it is nectar that is oozing out of the edges of the flower. What ever it is, the edges glisten with it.

The other one is like an Orchid and ruffled. I love the color which is outlined at the edges of the flower.

How can there be so many different flowers? How can there be such a variety of amazingly beautiful works of art?
These two Daylilies are protected by a high round of chicken wire. The deer love them and we had the audacity to plant them outside the fence, across the driveway. The deer feasted on them last Fall, when we planted them. until we put up the wire fence. They have eaten the tops off of some other Daylilies near the fence that they never touched before. I guess they are animals of whim.... creatures of "lets see what we can chew on to aggravate Farmlady today."
If the deer are hungry they will eat anything. They have even eaten my Iris when food is scarce elsewhere.
I lost my "Bambi" mentality the first year we moved up here. I planted roses. YEP! We had no fencing at the time. YEP! The roses were doing beautifully and had wonderful buds on them. YES THEY DID!
It was May, I think. One night the Deer came to dine. The next morning all my roses were "pruned" of their flower buds. I sat on the porch and cried. By Fall we had our fence up and they had to go find some other naive, country bumpkin to terrorize.
So the heat has arrived and plants like the Rose of Sharon (or Hibiscus Syriacus) are thriving.

Bursting into flower next to the porch.

As much as I hate to admit it, the heat is what creates this perfection. Only in the passion of Summer's intensity does this loveliness appear. It's a love affair of nature with the sun. The flame of a sun's flare reflected in an exquisite scarlet blush of an adoring and waiting loved one. Plant passion.
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What can I say about Summer?
The evenings are beautiful outside.
The nights are wonderfully cool.
The bee's are flying from one flower to the next in frantic gratitude.
The tomatoes are growing and my mouth waters at the thought of home grown in the salad again.
The hills are brown but there is moisture underneath from the late rain that,hopefully, will reduce the fire hazard.
The goats are happy.
The chickens are eating watermelon rinds.
and .... I love my AIR CONDITIONER.