Bumblebees and Droopy Trumpet Vines.

 Bumblebees and Droopy Trumpet Vines.

 

My phone says 99 degrees. My backyard has droopy leaves on all the trees and dry grass across most of the yard. And a total of seven eggs were in the nests today, so my guess is that some hens are just too hot to think about laying eggs. It really does feel extra hot out there even after spraying water under the deck and putting out fresh water in the two big bowls. But then, it is August, and it’s Texas. The AC units are blowing full blast and making a difference, but cool it is not.

 

Got tired of watching movies this morning and just tried to read some more. Finished a short book and went back to the stupid “We’ve Lost the President” book. Will have to download something better later. Can only stand so much foolishness. Maybe a different kind of movie might be better, too. Pretty sad when it is too hot to go outside except in the early morning. Maybe next month or later it will be cool enough to make life more interesting.

 

Sounds as if the nation’s hospitals are jammed up again. Bexar and Dallas Counties have decided to demand masks again despite what Governor Abbott has said. And their hospitals are down to 25 ICU beds in Dallas and 45 in Bexar County. Apparently, things are not much better in most of the country as some places are not wanting to have any kind of surgical procedure except the absolutely necessary. It could be worse. It HAS been worse in some places. May God protect our hospital workers, doctors, and patients.

 

Picked up chicken feed and filled up one bin with scratch and thought about buying some snap traps for rats. Then Patty told me that we need to do something about the rats other than killing them—she is considering her two very small dogs. She thinks that rats avoid peppermint spray and cinnamon, so she has sent off for some bags of that stuff to put around. May spray the inside of my truck since a rat or something found some tissue paper to shred in the back seat of the truck. A glue trap did not catch anything, so maybe peppermint will work.

 

If you wear glasses, you know that sometimes the little screws come loose. Then you need a teeny tiny screwdriver and another pair of glasses in order to be able to SEE the teeny tiny screw that holds the frame around the lens. Yours truly has a pair of glasses in the bottom desk drawer with that teeny tiny screwdriver inside the same box. Had to do that yesterday when the lens felt loose suddenly. The screw was just hanging there! Was so glad not to have lost it.

 

One good thing came from having to look for my other glasses and that screwdriver: cleaned out the top right-hand drawer of my desk in the living room. Now that drawer has much fewer pieces of junk and stuff in it. And some of the junk made it to the “junk drawer.” Everyone has one of those drawers, right? We used to have two, but now there is only one in the kitchen and one extra tool box in the back room. Someday—in a far off, distant future—the workshop might get the same treatment as the top desk drawer. But no one needs to hold a breath or even a sane hope for seeing that future. It MIGHT happen.

 

Can sit at my desk and look out the window and watch the bumblebees visit the trumpet vine. It really is something to watch. Did you know that bumblebees should not really be able to fly at all? The “Bumblebee” airplane—piloted by Robert Starr—was not the lightest of airplanes, but was the smallest at the time. It is difficult to imagine one person going up in a plane that could go that fast and yet be the smallest around. But that is what the REAL bumblebees do every day. And they go inside the trumpet vine tubes and come out again! Humming birds and bumblebees—always defying the “laws” of aerodynamics.

 

Feel pretty envious of these two dogs today. They can take a nap any time of day and still sleep all night long. And they come equipped with their own coat of fur to keep them either warm or cool, depending on whether or not they go wading in their pool. They care not one whit if they track dirty water on the floors, too. Must be nice to be totally carefree and willing to sit still for snacks and head rubs. Ah, happy dogs.

 

It’s honestly too hot to even sit here and think of very much right now. Did NOT get outside to work in the flowerbed this morning. Shaking my head. Just don’t have the energy right now. May just have to ignore the weeds and hack them down with a weed eater! Lazy old woman!

 

May you all feel happy with whatever is going on in your life. Remember to be grateful for all the many blessings, even the ones we don’t see clearly. Rest well and take care of the life we are given. You are loved.