Hear the lively sound!!!

When I was a girl scout, growing up in Illinois, I spent a couple of weeks in the summers at Camp Tapawingo. One of the songs that we learned was "Hear the lively sound of the frogs in yonder pond: crick, crick, crickety crick, burrrrrrrrum!" (I taught preschool for a couple of years and the kids love to sing the song.)

Well, presently behind my home in the meadow here in Tennessee, there is a pond; at least it is there when there is enough rain to accummulate. Early in the spring, at night fall until late into the night, you can hear the frogs chripping. Often when I come home at night from class I announce as I enter the house "I can hear the lively song of the frogs in yonder pond!" It gets sort of old for my family - but it brings me joy to say it. It is sort of like having a moment of memory back to my days at camp.

Sometimes we have tiny little frogs come up on our windows when it is dark outside and the kitchen lights are on. You can watch them catch the bugs that are attracked to the light. Later in the summer we can often see tree frogs around the house. The little guy in the picture was on the side of the house right off the deck so I could get a really good look at him. It was so cool to look at his feet and see the little suction pads that held him to the house. Amazing!

My mama and step-daddy are farmers in Illinois. Besides growing crops, they have a garden where they grow vegetables and my mama grows flowers. My mama and I often discuss bird and flower issues of interest. She made a comment one day that stuck with me. It is a joy to live close to the land. That's where I am in my life. I take comfort from co-habitating with God's awesome creation and I am greatful for the freedom that I have to live close to the land.
Later friends! SkyBlueSue

Good Morning Glory!!!

At this point in the summer the only plants that continue to flourish are the morning glories. The picture is of the variety called "heavenly blue." Many farmers consider these a weed, as in the wild they grow and choke out other plants. In a domestic garden, they can be a thing of beauty. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this plant, they can be easily grown by buying a package of seed in the spring and planting them near something that they can climb. When the first vines begin to appear, you simply guide them to what ever you want them to climb and they literally "take off."

If you leave them to their selves for too long they will choke out whatever they can wrap themselves around. When they get overly leafy and I have seen no blooms yet, I start snapping off the wandering shoots of vines. I think this causes less plant energy to go to producing leaves and vines and results in flowers blooming. Each morning glory blossom lasts one morning. They are out when the sun rises and they fade and close when the heat of the day hits them.There are different colors, but my favorite is the big heavenly blue.

On a different issue, I have a question for you. In the night sky now there is a bright star that shines "next to" the moon. My daughter and I were speculating if it was Venus or Mars. Does any one know?
More later - SkyBlueSue :-)