Like Fireworks

That's what I think bee balm flowers look like, like fireworks.  I was trying to decide what kind of pollinator this flower is built for, maybe a hummingbird or a bee.  Maybe that's where the name comes from, Barbara.  D'ya think?

I found another one of my plants that Japanese beetles like.  My ferns.  I was filling birdfeeders this afternoon when I glanced up to see a platoon of them munching away on the fronds.  I know I could make some soapy water then go out and pick them off but it's too hot and steamy, besides I'd never get them all.




Today's recipe was Hoisin-Glazed Chiccken.  I forgot to take its picture in the pan so you get a glimpse of it in Tupperware covered with brown rice.  This recipes makes four servings.  Next time I'm making a batch and a half so there are six servings.  It's so delicious I could devour it all in the next four nights.  But I won't.


It's a good thing that I tossed some fish-shaped bottles and a fish pitcher instead of dumping more booze today because the recycling bin was pretty heavy with last week's bottles as it was.  Another dozen bottles would have made it hard to handle.

This is the first chickadee I've seen in at least a month.  I can't decide if they left because of the hawks or because there's so much out there to eat that they just haven't needed to visit the feeders.  Whatever the reason I'm glad they're back.  Or at least this one is.



I know I've showed these to you before but I am in love with the potato flowers.  I grin at them every time I see them knowing that in the bale little potatoes are growing.

07 July--Barbara Malcolm, Tropical Obsession. 

Sam went out and said, “Can I help you?” 

The man looked up and smiled a smile that Sam thought looked a bit like a shark looked when it swam over you.  “Am I speaking with Mister Clark?” The “Cluck” in Rooibos’ head was quieter, but it was still there.  He felt his stomach muscles clench to hold in a laugh. 

Sam nodded.  “Yes.” 

“I am Detective Inspector Joachim Rooibos.  I am in charge of investigating how the body that you and your wife discovered this morning came to be in the sea.” 

“How can we help you?” Sam asked. 

Rooibos was still standing in the bright sunlight outside the gate of the orange bungalow.  He thought either Sam Clark (Cluck) was very canny and was leaving him out there to broil or he was totally clueless regarding manners and was waiting for his wife to ask him in.  Though the sun was in his eyes Rooibos could see the small satisfied smile on Mister Clark’s face and came to understand that he was being left there as a test of wills. 

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Sam, reel it in and invite the officer in out of the sun.”  Mrs. Clark stepped out the door and motioned Rooibos in.  She turned and frowned at her husband who shrugged, had the grace to look slightly abashed, and sat down at the table in the shade.  “I am Maxi Clark, Maxime actually.  And you are?”  She held out her hand to shake the officer’s smooth brown one and invited by a gesture for him to take a seat in the shade. 

“I am Detective Inspector Joachim Rooibos of the Bonaire Police Department.  As I told your husband, I am investigating the circumstances through which the body you discovered this morning came to be in the sea.”  He sat. 

“May I offer you some lemonade?  It is freshly made.” 

“I would enjoy some.  Thank you.”  He made as if to rise.  “Can I help you?” 

“No thank you.  That is very kind of you.”  She sent a look at Sam.  “I will be right back.” 

Conversation on the porch was guarded and superficial while they drank Maxi’s excellent lemonade. 

“My secret is to squeeze one orange into it and then toss the orange pieces, peels and all, in.  I think the orange cuts the tartness of the lemons just enough.”  

Detective Inspector Rooibos nodded politely and said he would remember that when he made lemonade for himself.  Finally, the deliciousness of the lemonade and the hot dry weather were no longer the gripping subjects of conversation that they had been at first.  Sam was pleating his napkin and Maxi was making a series of interlocking rings of moisture on the glass tabletop with her glass. 

We had a rainstorm blow through early this evening.  That cooled it off a bit but that won't last.  It's supposed to be dreadfully hot and humid tomorrow, feeling like close to 100 degrees.  I'll be indoors all day, except for dragging the trash and recycling bins in once they're emptied.  I tried knitting the next row on the Hawk's Wing shawl and made a mess of it.  I have to get into the rhythm of the pattern before I can knit and watch TV.  Oh, and I think the hawk watch is over.  I haven't seen them in the yard in days.  Sure was fun while it lasted but I saw squirrels and a chipmunk today so evidently the coast is clear.  *sigh*
--Barbara