Friday, July 27, 2007

Life on the Back Porch

Along with some great vegetables, I nabbed these flowers from my mother in law's garden while they were away. (With prior permission/suggestion/request from her.) I have always loved zinnias. They are such friendly flowers. And they're easy to arrange.









The other afternoon, Owen was doing his best to get the kitty, who was doing her best to hide from his clutches. It is amazing to me how the cats let Owen haul them around, not even giving him a warning scratch. He will carry them in various backwards and upside down positions, almost squeezing the life out of them. When he finally gets one, he climbs up into a chair and holds it tightly--Owen gleeful, cat quietly panicked. They've learned to stay away from him now.














By the way, this sweet little thing needs a home. She is learning to catch live things and turn them into dead things. (That's a good thing if you live in the country.) Can you mail a cat?















I was so sweetly touched when I saw Owen's treasures in the trunk of his car--two withered petunia blossoms. (Never mind the fact that I have been working with him NOT to pick flowers.) He saw me picking some zinnias and some hydrangeas and talking about how pretty they were. I'm glad he appreciates them, but we can't just go around picking any flowers we like now, can we? If I did that, I'd be in serious trouble with the city.















And the other day, I saw a butterfly resting on the outdoor tile. I wonder if it had seen better days? It had some apparent battle wounds. (Maybe it met up with the kitty?) I saw the butterfly again today, or maybe it was another one, and I saw the kitten scoping it out. I held my breath as the cat pounced--I didn't want to witness the murder of a butterfly--but fortunately the butterfly was quick enough to save its own life.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful butterfly!

Carrie said...

That is a gorgeous butterfly!!! I'll take the kitty if you can make Tim not allergic to it...I'm so sad that we can't have kitties.... :(

Anonymous said...

Loved the pictures Joyce! I can't believe the picture of the butterfly...so vibrant. Joyce, you would be so proud of me....I have in the oven at this very moment..... my very first blackberry pie. The kids and I went and picked berries in the back yard woods and had over 4 cups. Just enough to bake a pie. Wanna come over?? I also have jamacin' me crazy coffee....:) no promises on if it will be good enough to eat. ??

Cottonista said...

Thanks all for the picture comments!

Heather, you're making me so very hungry for homemade pie! Wow, I really wish I had a piece to go with my decaf that is just about done brewing right now. Congratulations on your first blackberry pie. I'm sure you don't even have one piece left, you're such a good cook! Hmm, blackberries...makes me think you misnamed your kids and they should be Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter.

Wow. I can't get over this pie thing. I love pie. I love it so much, I think I'll have to make one tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Joyce, I'm finally catching up on your blogspot. Being a mommy is too tiring for me, so I'll just be Grandma! I guess Grandmas are supposed to raise zinnias. Mine are blooming right now too, and we're enjoying them. For some reason, the morning glory vine on my mailbox has no flowers. so it looks like a sweet potato vine!