Ragweed

Ragweed. This is the weed that is making me sneeze, and itch with allergies. It is just one form of ragweed as there are many many different times from what I understand. This is the kind that grows here in our desert but is not a native plant here. I fight it and fight it and it always seems to win. On the plus side the horses seem to think it is as good as candy although how they can eat the stickery stuff is beyond me. These are little ones that escaped my figures and hoe. I have seen them get up to six feet tall with multiple stems full of flower stalks and seeds. And it is a very ugly, very tiny flower.

Bad Hair Pony

Stormy was having a bad hair day. I hadn't groomed him for a few days and he had been rolling in the dirt.

Best Wishes...

The past few days I've been a bit under the weather... until I get back, please check out the posts my fellow genea-bloggers have contributed to the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories that has been hosted by Thomas MacEntee. I know that it has been a lot of work for you Thomas, but the time you spent putting it all together has been appreciated. Thank you Thomas! I have certainly enjoyed reading all of the articles. Thank you to everyone who participated.



To each and everyone, I wish you the best Christmas ever and may the spirit of the season be with you.

If you are in need of a good laugh (and aren't we all at some point during the holidays?) Janice Brown's video cartoons of GeneaBlogging Elves Running Amok will certainly cheer you up!

Joslin Rendezvous :: Cemetery Walk

Saturday, August 20th - - Each time the Joslin Clan has visited the homestead, they stop by the small Cedar Butte Cemetery where about ten people are buried including two of their Hutcheson relatives, brothers of their mother/grandmother Mary Matilda Hutcheson Joslin.





George and Jim opening the gate to the cemetery.



And each time they visit, they have to go hunting and digging for the gravestones! Many years ago someone planted a few Iris near the graves and they have multiplied and multiplied until they cover a rather large area, including the two graves. A little poking and prodding and the graves were found.





SOLDIER REST THY WORK IS DONECORNELIUS MBORN JAN. 5, 1896DIED APR 3, 1930



OUR LITTLE ONEROBERT W.BORN OCT 1, 1918DIED AUG. 17, 1923



And each time they visit, they take home a few of the Iris bulbs. It was quite a chore digging up the bulbs with a little garden trowel, but Fred persevered.





The Iris patch. In the center, to the left and right are the two Hutcheson graves.



The Joslin Clan – Babs, Richard, George, Joann, Ruth, Tim, Jim, and Sue.

Aldwincle - Islip - Aldwincle

Almost exactly the reverse of this walk from January 23rd. About 6 miles. Led by Gordon. Sunny, though some of the route was flooded, so we took the high road. Barrie E, Barry O, Terry, Eddie, Norma, Kate and me.

A little bit of fence climbing round the submerged path

ignore anything after the 6 mile mark!

Pickleball Wing Ding Tournament

Today we got up very early, so we could head over to a pickleball tournament that Rich and Donna invited us to. The tournament was at King's Point in Sun City and was called the Wing Ding Tournament. This is only the second round robin tournament we've been to, with the first being the one we hosted. It was good for me to go and play with all new people, since I tend to have this mental hangup about playing with people I don't know yet. Since we move every two to three weeks, it is not a good mental hangup to have at all.



I had fun today. I still prefer just playing with the people at Thousand Trails without the pressure of tournament play, but it was good for me in some other ways so I'm so glad I did go.



Buddy rode with us, and it gave us a chance to know him better. The people we met and played with were wonderful. I have often said the pickleball crowd has some of the nicest people we meet, and today proved that to be true.



I'm always so impressed with Austin when we go to events like this. He is so wonderful to not be intimidated about being the youngest person, the youngest player and the only one under 18. I'm not sure I'd have been able to do that at all at his age!

The weather was fabulous, which just made the day all the more wonderful. Now I'm off to ice my ankle, which is swollen since I ever so gracefully twisted it and fell. Nothing major, just enough to remind me that I'm no longer 20.Living the life in finally warm Florida!

More wildflowery

Yesterday I spent time with other wildflower nuts in the woods. We plucked a few where there were many, and rescued some from kudzu, Japanese honeysuckle, and men with bulldozers.



I came across this plant that I was not familiar with. I believe it may be a spider lily, Hymenocallis caroliniana.



Saw this guy. Eastern Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina.



Saw a couple of groundhog dens in the kudzu but didn't photograph them, as I was in danger of being left behind and it was too sunny anyway.

When we were done we appreciated Dan's beautiful garden.

OK we were just nosy.



Inside a foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) there are secret messages to bumblebees.



An unusual dogwood.



Sweet Williams (Dianthus).



Clematis.



Another Clematis. Most people around here seem to say it with the accent on the first syllable, but to me it sounds better on the second.