The last days of summer. The first day of fall. #autumn #monarchmigration #Halloween

Summer drags on forever in the state where I live. Oh, occasionally, we get a cooler breeze and then pop back to the nineties, then a cool front, and finally, we settle into fall. Used to be in October, we would have lots and lots of rain, especially during the State Fair. Trying to find a decent day to go was a challenge, but that has changed.

And like all things, will undoubtedly change again.

What is fun for us in October is to watch for the migration of the monarchs. Outside my kitchen window is a huge lantana. It's the plant that has tiny pink and yellow flowers in a bouquet. It will even grown after a car runs over it. Mine is about six feet tall and twelve feet wide. A friend from my old neighborhood gave it to me right after we moved to this house. She dug and dug and finally, it came up with a raggedy root. She didn't know if it would live and if not, she had another to pass on.

I stuck my piece in a hole, tossed water on it and let 'er rip. The plant took off. And has continued to do so. I've moved babies to other spots. 

Most years, bees and butterflies visit it. This year, we had a lot of monarchs. My son had just commented on how large it was and maybe I should cut it back. Then the visits began. Truly a joy! And other varieties of butterflies came too.

And as if on cue, another front passed through, bringing a burst of rain. The butterflies moved on. And fall came.

Do butterflies migrate through your neighborhood?

Do you pull out a book when you hear the pitter patter of drops on the leaves? Try these--Temporarily Employed and

Temporarily Insane, the Hattie Cooks mystery series.  

Find all the fun at: Amazon

My Great Hunter or Why Aren't the Squirrels Scurrying? #MFRWorg #Rssos #pets #dogs

My Great Hunter

I had no idea when Handsome adopted Champ and Jones, our malti-poos, that Jones would turn out to be such a huge hunter.

We’ve had the poos now for five years. And during this span, Jones has brought us squirrels. Yep, those fast critters are not fast enough for him. Jones loves to do run-run-run, a kind of lap thing, in the back yard. He is so fast when doing them, he even tilts aside.

BSP: It's Launch Day!!! for Temporarily Insane #MFRWorg #Rssos #TWRP #RB4U

It’s Happy Launch Day!

I'm blushing and bursting with pride to announce my second book in my romantic comedy mystery series, Temporarily Insane, is now available.

Craftmaster - Finding old stuff in the parent's home #SOS #RB4U #MFRWorg #amcrafting

While cleaning out my parents’ garage with family, a brother in law unearthed a picture wrapped in white paper, rectanglular in shape. Passed to me to determine if giveaway or have siblings look at, I folded back the paper and squealed. My sisters came running. We found the crushed rock and gravel picture my mom had made.

This picture hung above the china cabinet in the dining room for many, many years. Then Mom replaced it with a homey scene. I guess I didn’t notice it was gone for a long while and when I did, thought she’d donated it (along with the horse head lamps).

Here’s what we found: