Trick or Treat

Still recovering from Halloween. We had 325 trick or treaters come to our front door. The huge amount of kids and the financial outlay for the candy is starting to take the fun out of one of my favorite holidays. I went to Sam's Club this year and I bought 4 boxes of 100 tootsie pops/jolly rancher pops each. The remaining 75 pops went to school and the kids sold them with a club bakesale. I just took the carved pumpkins around back to put in the composter. We had orange and purple lights and 4 very large pumpkins. I forgot to take a picture.

42 ?

42 (number) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

18 ?

18 (number) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

October Hail

It's really fun to watch if one is inside and the vehicles are in the garage! This is the most I have ever seen at the house and it melted nearly as fast as it came down because it was almost 80 degrees prior to the storm. Click on the photo to get the full effect!

Papilio polyxenes

Papilio polyxenes

Papilio polyxenes pupa

Papilio polyxenes pupa

Papilio polyxenes pupa

Papilio polyxenes pupa

polyxenes larva

polyxenes larva

Papilio polyxenes ova

Papilio polyxenes ova

These Come From Trees Blog

These Come From Trees Blog

BLOG ACTION DAY

1. keep an open mind
2. stop complaining
3. look closely at nature near you

Plans for October 15

I have decided to make some kind of a list for action day. If anyone ever stops by my blog I think they would be more likely to look at a list than to read a long blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, on and on and on and on post...at least I know I find myself skipping a lot of LONG tedious posts! So look for the list.

Johnnie's Britton Road Location

http://johnniesok.com/johnnies.php

Our "go to" place. Now has a wonderful gelato shop adjacent. They have the best burgers and fries close to home. VERY clean. Relaxing atmosphere. Efficient service. Doesn't disappoint when everyone is exhausted and starving at the end of a long day. Pretty good people watching. At certain times it can have TOO many kids. I think this location is the best, it's the original.

Blog for Awareness

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HAWK and STAR

We came home from Ron's to find a hawk sitting in a puddle in the street. Keep in mind we aren't out in the middle of the country, it's pretty urban here at home. I think it was an immature Cooper's hawk, but I'm not 100% sure. It gave us quite a show, it stayed when we got out of the car and then flew around so we could really take him/her in. Gorgeous!

Last night we had a fire in the pit on the patio and we saw a nice shooting star. A big one. I watched for a long time during the Perseid's and only got a few rather disappointing ones. Nice surprise, a glass of bubbly in my hand , some pinon on the fire and a star!

Eichen's Bar

One of our favorite places doesn't have a web presence, no web site to check out. It's a little bar ( oldest in OK ) in Okarche OK that serves out of this world fried chicken. It's made to order and served on paper. No utensils, there are a couple of other menu items and sodas or beer. It is a REAL place. Excellent people watching. All kinds from Harley riders to little old ladies to rich eccentrics. Just an excellent fun place.

ronshamburgers.com

ronshamburgers.com

Does anyone see a pattern here? Ron's is yummy. People watching is OK, not as good as Hamburger King. I think the food may be a touch better though.

Hamburger King Shawnee OK

It's good. The Sterns have been to Hamburger King and mention it on the Road Food website. Very old fashioned, takes us back to the 60's of our youth. One orders by a red phone at each booth. Simple and good. Next time I'll take a picture, Shawnee is very Robert Altman like.

Van's Pig Stands - Bar-B-Q Restaurant and Bar-B-Q Sauces and Spices.

Van's Pig Stands - Bar-B-Q Restaurant and Bar-B-Q Sauces and Spices.

Hamburger King, Shawnee Oklahoma

Hamburger King, Shawnee Oklahoma

Visiting Shawnee today for a sporting event, I will report back on all American Hamburger King. Another favorite restaurant of ours is in Shawnee, Van's Pig Stand. Van's is also old and charming, I hope The Hamburger King lives up to it's "hype".

Hot October

It just won't cool down! The mornings are cooler on the patio though because of the angle of the sun and the patio is on the north side. The hummers are officially gone. A last black swallow tail caterpillar went off somewhere to make a cocoon. Hopefully I will get to see the result.

Hummingbirds

I realize I am obsessing about the birdies, but they keep faking me out. I saw one yesterday. We had a front move through today, so maybe today is the day. Some lovely large Monarchs are on the butterfly bush the last 2 days and over the weekend the gulf fritillaries were around en masse. I have 3 black swallowtail caterpillars on the parsley in the front planter, so they are still going strong. I am going to go to TLC tomorrow and get some parsley plants . Fall is the perfect time to plant them. I need to figure out where or how to get milkweed.... The Centennial Cattle Drive is in Kingfisher today. I wish I had gone to see it. One of the better events to celebrate 100 years of statehood.

Definition of apparel - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Definition of apparel - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Well I'll be! Apparel is a transitive verb! Thanks Ms. Larsen, I learn something everyday!

Birds

I didn't see a hummingbird today. It could be the last day. It was very warm, 90 plus and windy. I'll watch more carefully tomorrow.
I was at the dentist today. Just a cleaning for once. I need a porcelain crown on a front tooth and several others in the back. That will be next year.... The tooth in front looks horrible, an old porcelain has deteriorated from having the braces covering it.
School lunch bunch tomorrow. Hmmmm. What will the ladies have in store?

No cooking involved

I found everything that was pickled and smoked and preserved that we had on hand and that was dinner! Salami, ham, pickled onions, pickled red pepper, sharp cheddar, herbed goat cheese, beets, Oklahoma pecans, and a few crackers. Click on the picture to get the full effect!

Backyard Buddies

The hummingbirds are still here! A front is coming through today, will they leave with the warm air??? I can't figure out what causes them to leave-fading daylight? Cool air? Lack of food? Can I solve this mystery?

Sad Anniversary

It's just flat out sad. I watched the old 9/11 footage on MSNBC in "real time" just as it was on that Tuesday morning in 2001. The firefighters marching toward the WTC after the first building had collapsed and before the second one fell. Marching toward death.

I remember seeing a documentary filmed by 2 French men who just happened to be filming the NYFD that day and in one "scene" the NYFD had made a sort of command post in the lobby of the WTC and you could keep hearing these really loud crashes in the background. Turns out it was the bodies of people who had decided to jump hitting the cement just outside where the firemen were trying to figure out what the hell to do. You could sense the terror. Thank you to the film makers for not showing some things that they could have. One of the heroes from NY who helped in the OKC bombing lost his life on 9/11. Raymond M. Downey. It was all more than senseless. There is no way to comprehend it. Americans are nothing if not honorable. We show our faces to our enemies.

There was a box turtle in the yard on Friday and I didn't have it together enough to get a photo of it. Lottie the Chocolate Lab "found" it and brought it over by the patio door. Luckily her soft mouth didn't injure it. I quickly got the dogs in the house so I could examine the little guy, it was an ornate western box turtle, T. o. ornata. It had red eyes so it was a male. I spent at least an hour watching him and when I went in to get the camera and charge the battery he disappeared!

Addio Maestro

Birthday week....holiday week.....worked at the CC on Tuesday, a madhouse. Myrla is a saint. I decided to go to the Edmond Farmer's Market on Wednesday morning. It was good, not great. I got a Frankoma honey pot and some Oklahoma honey to fill it, some tomatoes, peaches, onions and beeswax candles. Today a massive head and neck ache, sore throat, I think it's allergies, but for a while this am I thought I had something more. I was finally able to keep down some Tylenol at 3 o'clock. According to the news ragweed pollen is through the roof.

Today I did see one hummingbird, activity has slowed. I still don't know if there are fewer birds or they are coming to my feeder less. It is windy, hot and humid. It's usually just hot and windy this time of year! We had a little rain yesterday and we will get rain tomorrow. Our front lawn looks so fabulous I just can't get over it. Some years we have had to water almost everyday to keep it alive much less green. I was able to figure out that the noisy amphibians in our yard are Woodhouse's Toads. I snapped a picture of one that was out in the daylight for some unknown reason, probably disturbed by a certain dog....

World news is depressing. Luciano Pavarotti died yesterday. I cried twice today upon hearing nessun dorma from Puccini's Turandot on the various broadcasts ...no one sleeps...now the great tenor does. One of a kind. Osama Bin Laden is rattling his sabre. German's foil a huge terrorism plot. I guess the foiling part is good news!

Happy Birthday

My birthday always signals that summer is over. Most of my life in the northeast summer really was over by September 3rd, here in OKC we still have lots of warm weather yet before frost and leaf dropping and pumpkins appear. MDH cooked and cleaned like mad today serving up a delicious breakfast at an appropriately late hour and a delicious mid-day guacamole snack followed by an evening meal of chicken, salt potatoes, salad, wine and cake. The applesauce cake was made mostly by MDD - a little collaboration was involved to get it done, it was good, more like a spice bar than a cake. It had a cream cheese icing. We have decided that home economics should still be taught at school to help kids fulfill all aspects of their life. It's a lot of fun to be able to cook and bake and most kids today aren't getting any help in these skills. Food TV is about the extent of it. We will start home schooling in home ec and other life skills! Industrial Arts I suppose.
I got a butterfly field guide, a new book about the Clarks of Cooperstown, a Road Runner watercolor, a Hummingbird print, (I'll add the artists name later)$75.00 , a purse, 2 pair of earrings, and a super duper stapler.

Hummingbirds are still here. I saw a couple of robins, cardinals, doves, blue jays, the usual suspects. Several butterflies.The Toledo branch called this am and the Norwich branch called in the pm. Everyone is well. All wishing me a happy 51st.

I need to mention my pain level, I think this is a good way to remember how it changes from day to day. It was horrible all week and weekend. Swollen ankles and legs. I finally took the hydrocodone at night for 2 nights so I could get rid of some of the discomfort in my legs ankles and heels. Feels like someone is taking a hammer to my heels. It was better but came right back the same. Why is it so much worse some times and not others? Tomorrow will be a good test I have to stand for 2 hours at school I can see if that aggravates or it is the same level of pain. Today I took 2 large arthritis Tylenol in the afternoon, seems a bit better now at 9 pm.

Glad to be 51.

The Metro

On Saturday instead of going to a party to "honor'" people who donate to a certain charity dear to our hearts we canceled and continued celebrating the big anniversary with a trip to The Metro. Certainly satisfying, relaxing, and better than small talk with people who are nice enough but I just don't know that well. It's back to being HOT! That makes me uncomfortable! Summer here is like winter up north without having to wear all the gear, so I guess it's easier to bear, no shoveling either! It's just that to really be comfortable I need to stay in the AC. That's a foreign concept to me staying in when it's sunny outside. It's the norm here. Go to Sonic, order up and sit in the car with the air on...talk about waste!

Hummingbirds are still here. No more black swallowtail caterpillars on the parsley. Flowers are starting to come back from the early summer heat and more intense sun. My plantings always look best in September. the grass in the front yard is unreal-GREEN! We had several inches of rain just after the fall fertilizer went on and it really kicked in. It usually looks bad at this time, even if it remains green it doesn't look happy when it hasn't rained in months. Sprinkling just doesn't do the same thing the rain does.

How does everyone out there keep up with all the interesting blogs to look at? I just can't keep up....

Cheese

Forward Foods in Norman is the newest food discovery for our family. Morbier Lait Cru is a delicious soft cheese with layer of ash, who knew? It is very stinky, but good! It has a rind, and looks like a brie with a layer in the middle. Aged Leyden is a cheese from the Netherlands like I remember form the Copper Kettle Shop in the little town where I grew up. It was a specialty at Christmas time and the shop owner would descend into the store's basement to retrieve a chunk of the wheel of cheese for special customers who appreciated good cheese (it was the 70's!), it is spicy with lots of caraway seed. Aged Manchego is a very good harder cheese for grating and it was most expensive at $18.00 per pound. The last one is Taleggio Caravaggio, a soft mild cheese from Italy with a rind. The store also had a selection of fair trade coffees, spices, condiments, natural cleaning products, fresh bread, and a few produce items.

We ate a very late breakfast at The Diner on Main in Norman and it was excellent. We will definitely go back. We brought our bounty from Forward Foods home for a snacking type dinner of bread, olives and cheese.

We had another crazy storm this afternoon. On the way home from Norman the sky was very dark in the west and after we were home for a little while it just let loose, we probably had another inch of rain and some winds were clocked at 95+ miles per hour. It wasn't that bad at our house wind wise, but there was a lot of damage in the metro area. A very wet and wild August. It is so green it seems like spring.

A not so ordinary Wednesday in Oklahoma

Hummingbirds still here. Boiling hot on the patio until the sun left then it was enjoyable watching them.

The yard guys came. Wednesday is mowing day. The grass looks splendid. A sentence I never thought I'd utter in the month of August in Oklahoma. The front yard is always passable, we keep it up to the standard of the neighborhood, but the back is let's just say "natural". When we have winter and all the crab grass dies that is filling in all the gaps in the Bermuda it will be another story, especially when the dogs make a race track in the bare spots. The horrible but necessary tick spraying service was also here today. Every time I think I will cancel the spraying a certain Schipperke appears with a tick or two! Yuck! Anyway, I'll just enjoy the current lush green look, mostly thanks to Erin and some fertilizer. I think I'll add some pictures so I can look back when we go back to our usual dry and dusty July and Augusts.

A boy drowned during cross country practice Wednesday afternoon, he was from Putnam City West high school. The boys were running around Lake Overholser , their path was flooded and they tried to swim across and the boy who lost his life was swept away. Hug those loved ones. His parents could probably have imagined every tragedy but that one befalling their son.

Today's birds

I didn't go outside much today, but when I was out I saw at least 3 hummingbirds, 2 cardinals, ring neck doves, mourning doves, sparrows. I guess that's it. Lots of butterflies today and the racket of the cicadas is extreme. All that rain from tropical storm Erin has allowed me to enjoy the yard without the usual constant watering required this time of year. It was 90+ today I'm not sure how hot, but it was pretty bad around dinner time trying to cook on the grill. I am missing Edith's tree that gave us at least a little shade late in the day.

25 Years of married life has passed!

August 21, 1982-August 21, 2007. I'm filled with a sense of awe at an important milestone achieved with it seeming like we just crossed that little altar in Hendricks Chapel a short time ago. It has been so fast and so feels so effortless at his point. I am full of gratitude for my wise choice those many years ago. My only advise is to marry someone you love. That makes all the difference.

Tropical Depression Erin

Suddenly a forecast of "chance of showers" becomes over a foot of rain in some places!!! The next thing I buy is going to be a couple of those special auto safety hammers, that break out the car window and/or cut the seat belts, to use if I am in a wreck and lose the power windows. I was looking at them a couple of weeks ago and I didn't order them. Earlier in the summer two girls had to be rescued from their car about a mile from my house and I figured it could just as well have been me. Even if you are careful you can find your self in the wrong place at the wrong time. This past weekend we had the crazy inland tropical storm Erin, so I am getting one for each car. This storm was extremely rare, it's not everyday that central Oklahoma has a tropical storm rotating round and round dumping hurricane amounts of rain, but we do have flash floods frequently. Three women drowned in their mini-van Sunday morning after it was swept off the road, I bet they couldn't get out. If you can get out of the vehicle at least you have a chance of surviving a catastrophe.

namesake

I vow to get a better picture of my blog's namesake, but for now "parsley eater" is it. I want it to come from my own yard so I will have to bear with my inept photography. Papilio polyxenes better known as the black swallowtail butterfly likes to lay it's eggs on parsley and related plants. I have 3 very pathetic parsley plants and I have seen at least 10 caterpillars. How on earth do they find the plants? There aren't many gardeners in these parts....lots of flowers for the butterfly stage, but slim pickin's for the eggs and caterpillars. I have seen at least one adult but a miracle may have to occur for me to snap the picture. I feel bad that in today's world butterflies have been reduced to cheap decor items and something to be "released" at one's wedding or funeral. Yes, I have seen an ad for the funeral butterfly release!

Take the time to look at the next butterfly you see. In my little corner of the world we will have more parsley plants next year. ...and milkweed, and nettles, and whatever else their little hearts desire...

bird list

Friday's birds: chickadee, cardinal male and female, hummingbirds 3 individuals at least maybe more 1 male others juveniles or females, lots of house sparrows, swifts overhead, ring neck doves, mourning doves, house finches, blue jays, and when I was out and about I also saw a boat tailed grackle...I'm forgetting lots but it's late I want to post what I see most days so I can look back and see who was around on what date. The birds in the yard really slack off around this time of year until we have cooler weather and some consistent precipitation. I am seeing lots of butterflies, I think due to rain in July and planting Butterfly bush, parsley and fennel. We also took out a large Sweetgum tree making the back yard way more sunny and inviting to weeds they like! Thursday my Lab caught and ate a big cicada, also caught and killed a mouse I was able to intervene before she ate that! People think they need cats or terriers for rodent control!

problems we create

...just a fleeting thought, stop buying all the future landfill material from China and elsewhere and the problem of poisoning our children and our environment with it is solved! How about some good old fashioned wooden blocks and some hugs and kisses? I haven't heard one media idiot mention that we could just stop consuming all the imported lead paint covered small magnet bearing mind numbing future garbage creating rubbish that takes our hard earned money and puts it in to the hands of today's robber barons! I'm going to look at the birds......they are clever and pretty and calming!

patio with a view

hummingbirds!!! they're only here in OKC for a short time each year and they are having a great time in my yard feasting on nectar and fighting among themselves for territory-the passion flower vine is popular with the birds and they like to perch on the pampas grass as they wait for a spot at the feeder, one day soon we will notice they have decided to leave and the feeder goes in to storage....