Floral Red, White & Blue

So.  I was out taking pictures this morning and realized that I've got red, white & blue to show you.  The sole red day lily (well, the tag said it was red, it's more wine and gold, but I'm calling it red) is blooming down by the streetlight pole.  In the garden the stuff that looks like Queen Anne's Lace but isn't (but I can't remember its name, do you?) is blooming white, and right next to it is the spiderwort which is purple-y blue.  Right next to those two in the back garden is bee balm which has a red blossom that looks a little like fireworks but that's about a day away from full bloom so we have to be content with the reddish lily.  Of course, Dad's Roses are still blooming but I figure I've shown them to you so often that you're starting to think I'm repeating pictures.  I'm not, I just thought I'd give another flower a chance to shine.

The pair of Red-Tailed Hawks are back this morning too but I'm sure you're over them too.  All they do is sit on the fence or in the tree, ducking the pissed off robin attacks, and calling to each other.  They must be eating well here because there are noticeably fewer chipmunks, rabbits, and squirrels in the yard.  I haven't seen a vole since the last stray cat wandered through.  Here's a picture of the hazy sun up sky with a couple pinkish clouds instead.  It's supposed to be clear but we're getting the smoke from some Canadian wildfires.

I worked on the beaded Rapid City scarf at knitting last night and I've got about 10 inches of beads left.  I counted how many beads to the inch, that's 13, so I have approximately 130 beads left to knit before the "magic" happens.  Well, actually you're supposed to save 7 beads for the cast off row so I have 123 left to knit.  Okay, that's seven more 6-row repeats with 4 beads left over.  Now that I've committed this to "print" we'll see how accurate my off-the-cuff calculations are.

July 4--Christopher Talbot Frank, Northwestern Rainforest.  "Isn't there some old saying about moss only growing on one side of the trees?"  Luke stood with his fists on his hips and his head thrown back to look up into the canopy. "Because these trees have moss on every side."  Emma tugged his coat sleeve to get him moving.  "I thought the moss saying was about rolling stones," she took a few steps down the trail, "or some other old rock band."  Luke snorted.  "Em, you are the only person who'd be lost in a forest and still crack wise."  She kept walking.  "We're not lost.  We're on an alternate route back to the trailhead."  "Alternate route, my Aunt Fanny, we've been walking in circles for an hour.  I distinctly remember that patch of ferns."  He swept his walking stick through the dense fronds.  Emma kept walking.  "Don't be ridiculous.  You can't tell one clump of ferns from another one.  They all look alike."  "Yeah," he said, bending down to pick up a piece of cloth, "except I dropped my bandanna about an hour ago and I just found it here."

Happy 4th of July!  We're grilling brats and turkey burgers, and I've got a rhubarb tart in the oven.  We should probably have something green too, like coleslaw, and Durwood will insist on opening a can of baked beans.  We won't starve.  But then that's never really a threat around here.  Enjoy the day!
--Barbara