08

This was the very best picture of the butterflies. There had been one with two in one frame but it was blurry. There were 3 of these beautiful flutterbyes for about a week and then they were gone. And they are huge! Probably what ate the trumpet vine down to the nubs. They were great fans of the early zinnias and the damp sand. There have been quite a few of the monarchs but that is normal. There was one year about 5 years ago when we had the blue and white giants but they stayed for months.

Most of the Zinnias are flattened to the ground after a storm brought strong North winds. Even this beauty has a few chewed spots, the grasshoppers are getting worse every day. I try not to look to close as sometimes they eat the bloom before the bud can open. Sigh.

The trumpet vine has reached the top of the house. Rather than figure where it will go from there, I will get Randy to clip the top and see if we cannot encourage it to bloom. Since it has grown back so very well, it would be really great if it would actually blossom this year. I will make it a point in the future to start new beds of the trumpet vine and honeysuckle in more protected areas where then won't have the stress of being battered around.

It is such a nice day. After two weeks of well over 100 every day, we won't break 90 and there is thunder approaching from the North. We are dry but just thankful for the nice cloud cover. What a break. Max probably wouldn't mind staying in his house for a rain shower.

We've had to step back again and take account of what our options are for our homestead. We'd sure like to have a new house. BUT... just building the shop is taking so much of Randy's energy and time. The cost is incredible with materials going up by the day. Randy priced some mobile homes and was saddened by the prospect of paying huge premiums for 30 years. I don't see how it would be possible. The other option is to fix up this old trailer and build onto it and a new house as we can. We could start with a bathroom and shower. Must keep the options open and not completely out of sight.

The MSBlast virus worm has left me hobbling along with no internet and email just so I can get a few new pages ready for this week's newsletter. With this entry finished, I am caught up with my journals and photos. Sure got some great pictures of the hummingbirds. Makes me proud to share what I get to see From My Window!