The last couple of weeks have been "interesting."  We had a power outage this week from 2:00 pm until a little after midnight.  We made some new friends (ONCOR) and visited with quite a few neighbors since almost everyone was out at one time or another due to the heat.  We didn't open the freezer or fridge, so everything fared quite well.

Stan was released to do almost anything except lift over 20 lbs.  He seems to be feeling a lot better than he had been.  He's working in the yard a lot more and enjoying life a little more.

The cooler weather the past few days has finally perked me up some and helped motivate me to make plans and get things done around the house.  I have begun making Christmas gift tags and have some layouts planned for Halloween Tussie Mussies.  I've charted out a fall cross stitch and have started on a cute one that will be a Christmas present.

We've had a really tall evening primrose that came in the wildflower seeds we planted.  It is approaching six feet.  I went on line to see what they attract and found that butterflies and hummingbirds seem to like them.  I didn't know if I should collect seeds or buy new ones next year.  The first site I visited sold seeds for $24.95/lb.  I think I'll collect seeds!  Our perennials have survived the heat but not thrived.  I think they will welcome fall.  We had an irrigation system put in last fall and it has made a world of difference in the health of the trees and grass.  All the trenches from the installation have mostly seen the grass cover them.

We have been feeding the wild birds really good stuff over all summer.  I have white-wing dove that are the size of pigeons.  There are some sparrows that are approaching the size of mockingbirds.  We have a grown downy woodpecker and two immature ones.  We also have two hairy woodpeckers and an immature one that doesn't quite have a full red spot on the back of his head.  The male cardinal is still feeding two babies that can fly and follow him around.  We have a female squirrel that will almost take peanuts from our hand.  The mama cat that brought her babies to our yard after they were born next door may have moved on now.  We haven't seen her or the two kittens for a couple of days.  We don't feed the stray cats because of the birds, but several neighbors do.  Strays do come by to drink out of the water feature in the front yard.  We really enjoy watching the birds and spotting species we never noticed in our landscape before.

Ah, now off to expend some of my extra energy doing laundry and ironing!