It's Lily Season!

 I can't stop taking pictures of day lilies. Today this red & yellow one bloomed up on the retaining wall. And if you look very closely you can see a Japanese beetle on the top of the center petal. It better not eat the flower, that's all I have to say.

 

When I was inching my way down the hill from taking that picture I looked across the yard to see that the yellow day lilies were blooming. I forgot there were yellow ones but here they are.

 

Next to the orange day lilies, kind of mixed in with them, is blooming milkweed. Every year I hope to find a Monarch Butterfly caterpillar on one of the plants or a Monarch sipping nectar from the flowers and every year I'm disappointed but I still like seeing it. And the flowers are pretty.

 

On the side of the house the peach day lily is still blooming. I caught this flower on its way out. It looks a little ragged around the edges but I'm glad I saw it. There's at least one more bud ready to open before it's done.

 

And I can't forget to include one of the dark pink day lilies. They're so pretty I just can't resist taking their picture every day.

 

I didn't have any luck taking bird pictures today. Most of the birds that show up are Sparrows, House Finches, Mourning Doves, and Chickadees. None of them were willing to pose today. But this squirrel posed. It climbed up to the top of the patio umbrella and surveyed its domain. I don't know what it was looking for or at but it stayed there a good long time.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Leaves. I was supposed to go out and collect leaves but I only have one tree, a maple tree, and I'm terrible at drawing its leaves so I copied the leaves in the book. I like how the ginkgo leaf turned out. The rest are okay.

 

In the afternoon I worked more on the Kindle edit of Summer of Blue Black Nights. I like the title but I'm not sure it goes with the story. I still haven't thought of a better title. Maybe Anneke's Legacy but that's only half of the story. I'll keep thinking.

 

I knitted on two projects tonight at Friday Night Knitting. First I added a few rounds, maybe an inch worth, to the Iron Pyrite Sock. I was impressed with myself because I didn't screw up the rounds this time even with talking. And knitting black yarn at night. Rarely a good idea.

 

Then I downshifted from a 2-row repeat to a 1-row repeat which takes even less thinking. I added about an inch to that one too.

 

It's raining. A light rain that's supposed to turn into thunderstorms around midnight. I just hope it isn't raining for OJ's soccer games tomorrow. That's right, games with an S. There's an air quality alert on too which can't be good for kids running around outside. Life. It's just one thing after another.

--Barbara