A Tale of Two Bookbloggers (meeting IRL)

Have you ever met a bloggy friend in real life? Last month, I did and it was so much fun! If you develop a special connection with a fellow blogger and have an opportunity to meet in real life, Do it!

I posted about this momentous meeting on my bookblog and you can read about it here:
Baja Greenawalt's Cozy Book Nook: A Tale of Two Bookbloggers (meeting IRL)

Kathy The Literary Amnesiac posted her side of the adventure here:
Bloggy Connections

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Splashy Twinkle Toes

Spent today at the waterpark and ended up with my first Watery Wednesday photos plus Ruby Tuesday and Rednesday to boot! It was a good day! (except for getting busted by the lifeguard for going down this kiddie tube slide-- hey, I am petite and kids taller than me were sliding-- age should have nothing to do with it!)

This made me laugh! Talon insisted that I take pictures of his big splashes and he tried his best to get his face in the shot but everytime at the crucial moment... up flew the feet.

Refreshing!

Thanks for visiting! Please click the following links to see more wet and red photos from around the globe:

Ruby Tuesday
Watery Wednesday
Rednesday

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Macro Monday: Naughty Butterflies!

Hmm... the sights you see just walking innocently around the garden! Did I do the polite thing.... NO! I peeped!! Well, what would you do?

These butterflies are even more striking in person. The white spots are actually metallic silver (like foil) and I don't have the foggiest idea how to get the silver to show in a photo. Any ideas?

In real time the butterflies seemed static but not so... as the photos reveal.

The wingtips are a bit blurry but I love the background-- reminds me of a Monet painting.

The wings look better here and still have some background flowers but my house is in it too! Drat!! Yes, I could have cropped it out but couldn't bear to chop off the antennae.

Thanks for visiting and please click here to view more Macro Monday photos from around the world.

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Macro Monday: Red Wasp!

Why do folks call these red wasps?

They look orange to me!

So I spotted this guy or gal (how can you tell?) having a field day on a rotten banana peel the other day and thought how bizarre.

Then hubby comes home with the most insane story:

That morning, he put on his reeboks and felt a little lump in his shoe but didn't bother to see what it was and headed to his dental appointment. Can you guess where this story is headed?

At the dentist, he felt the lump in a different spot in the shoe...

Went to lunch and felt the lump in yet another spot...

Went to school for awhile and still felt the lump in the shoe...

Finally, after several hours of a lumpy shoe, hubby had enough and took off the shoe...

Guess what fell out???

Yep, a red wasp!!!

Can you imagine? A red wasp in a shoe for hours and no stings! No doubt the wasp was in a weakened state from the stench. ;o)

I asked hubby if he shrieked like a girl but he said he was too astounded but not too astounded to squash the wasp flat. That's gratitude for you. Poor wasp...

Do you check your shoes before putting them on? What is the weirdest thing you've found in a shoe? Do you walk around with a lumpy shoe or do you rid yourself of the offending lump immediately?

I can't stand a lump in my shoe so I get it out immediately. We have brown recluse spiders so I always check my shoes before putting them on. Really, I don't know what hubby was thinking.

(Tuesday edit: Actually, I've figured it out. Hubby was too lazy to see what was in the shoe and kept hoping it would just flatten-- he is a man, after all.) ;o)

Thanks for visiting and please check out other Macro Monday photos here.

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Strawberry Lemonade! Mellow Yellow Monday, Ruby Tuesday, Rednesday

Would you care for a cool refreshing glass of Strawberry Lemonade?

It's the perfect remedy for a hot summer day!

RECIPE

• First make a simple syrup: Place 1 1/2 cup of water and 1 1/2 cup of sugar (and strips of zest from one lemon, if desired) in saucepan. Bring to a boil then simmer for two minutes. Remove from heat.
  
  
• Hull 1 pint of strawberries then puree the berries with 1/4 cup of sugar in a blender or food processor. Strain the puree though strainer or collander lined with coffee filters into a large pitcher.
  
  
• Squeeze juice from 4-6 lemons (depending on your taste) and add to pitcher.
  
  
• Stir in simple syrup minus zest.
  
  
• Add cold water to taste; Stir-- taste-- add sugar or water if needed. Chill or serve immediately over ice.

Enjoy!

Remember lemonade is subjective: Adjust the amounts of sugar, strawberries, lemons and water to suit your taste.

Please visit the hosts of these fabulous worldwide photo memes to see more:
Mellow Yellow Monday
Ruby Tuesday
Rednesday

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Lillies Gone Wild!

This enormous clump of lillies is growing wild on the side of the dirt road down from our house.

Wonder how they got there? Could it be an old homeplace? In the spring, there are gorgeous clumps of daffodils on old homeplace sites but they are usually in fields. These lillies are on the wrong side of the barbed wire

Aren't they a sight for sore eyes? Hope the county doesn't mow them down!

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If the tent fits...

So I walked in from gardening and saw...

this crazy sight!!

Picnic!
Talon: You can stay in the tent but those feet gotta go!

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Park and Splash

Yesterday's fun--- but it was so hot !

Time to cool off!

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Macro & MellowYellow Monday: Cucumber Blossom

This is my first time to participate in the Macro Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday photo memes. Usually the red photo memes are easier for me... but, lately, I've become quite addicted to taking macro shots. This photo of a yellow cucumber blossom out of my garden is one of my favorites so far.
I am definitely a point and shoot novice and now I will confess a deep dark secret. I have been attempting to take macro shots of flowers and butterflies in my garden since I began blogging over a year ago.

So what was the problem?

Let me preface this by saying: I am not blonde... I am a bookworm... and I have a Masters Degree.

Ok, here goes: I did not realize my camera had a macro button.

Yes, how embarrassing and absolutely true. Of course, I had noticed the teeny tiny flower symbol on my camera and even wondered occasionally what it meant--- but for the life of me, I did not make the connection until recently skimming the online manual. What a doof! Seems so obvious now!
What perfectly obvious things have you felt silly for not realising sooner?
Please visit the hosts of these memes to view fabulous macro and yellow photos from photographers all around the world.
Mellow Yellow Monday
Macro Monday

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Banquet Frozen Dinners: Swedish Meatballs

Do you buy Banquet frozen dinners? I don't. So how did I recently end up with five in my freezer? Simple really. I was speed grocery shopping at 9:30 p.m. with thirty minutes to go until closing--- saw a five for a dollar Banquet special on a freezer door and thought: Hmm... emergency kid food. So in the cart they went.

Am I a bad lazy mom or just guilty of wandering off my shopping list?

A bit of both, no doubt, but my little boy was thrilled over the novelty of frozen dinners. The dinners we compromised on (me thinking healthy-- don't laugh-- him thinking fun/tasty): Salisbury Steak, Charbroiled Patty, Pork Rib, Spaghetti/Meatballs and Swedish Meatballs.

Talon could not wait to try one! He wanted one immediately upon returning home but his parental units decided to grab a quick and very late snack at Sonic. Talon kept insisting he would he eat the Swedish Meatballs at home and I kept insisting that the Sonic was our meal.

Both of us were getting tired and frustrated when he exclaimed: Not for a meal, I want it for dessert!

Yes, my mind boggled as I said: What?! We don't eat meatballs for dessert!

Talon responded: But they are sweet! You said they are Sweetish Meatballs!

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Jumping off the Diving Board for Five Dollars

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Monster Lunch!

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Tomatoes 2010

Talon helps dig planting holes...

Is my helper inching towards the chair?

Whew... Digging is hard work!

But so worth it!

Starting to turn...

Already been picking red ripe tomotoes... didn't take a photo... just picked'em quick before a creepy critter took a big bite!

Are you having a good tomato crop this year? What kinds are you growing? I am growing juliets, sunsugars, large cherries, brandywine, three kinds of beef tomato, rainbow blend and several volunteers of questionable lineage.

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