Cirque Du Soliel - Quidam

Mr. B and I, along with other family members went to see an amazing show! Cirque Du Soliel - "Quidam" is the most unusual performance I have ever seen. If you have a chance to see Cirque Du Soliel, don't hesitate. Thanks to my eldest son and his wife for the tickets!

My middle son has seen the same show -twice! - and was very excited to hear we would be going.

This act in the wheel was one of my favorites. Truly amazing! But then I could say that about all of the show!

The performance was in downtown Providence, RI at the Dunking Donuts Center. Historic Providence is beautiful, clean and full of flowers. I hope to have another chance to visit and take in the sites.

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Special Visitors

It is always busy at our bird feeder which is about twelve feet from our front door. Sometimes if I sit quietly on the front porch, the birds will keep coming and I can take pictures. The red bellied woodpecker is an exception. He keeps flying from tree to tree and complaining about me. I tried standing in the open doorway but he wouldn't accept that either.

As I was sitting in my chair on the porch, drinking coffee with my camera in my lap, this hummingbird flew in front of my face (about 3 feet from the tip of my nose), hovered there and seemed to look me in the eye. Probably thinking, "Put your coffee cup down and take my picture, you dunce!" But I blew it and didn't have the camera ready until he (she?) landed on the feeder.

A goldfinch couple has been working on the sunflower centers. Ironic that these sunflowers grew from seeds spilled from the bird feeder and now they are feeding the birds! These two pictures were taken from the living room window. They would have flown had I opened the door. She had her tail pointed at me so I focused on him. The sunflowers were bobbing in the wind and he was constantly pecking. Conditions that made it difficult to get a clear picture.

Next time I won't let that hummingbird sneak up on me!
I'm linking to Camera Critters. Check out all the other critters caught by a camera.

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Buttonwood Farms - Sunflowers & Ice Cream

If you live in Connecticut and want good ice cream in a lovely setting, go to Buttonwood Farms in Griswold.  Buttonwood Farm Ice Cream, Inc - 471 Shetucket Turnpike. They make all their ice cream. Butter Brickle was my choice in a fresh made waffle cone. Mr. B enjoyed Maine Blueberry, my daughter tried Almond Coconut (I was tempted by this) and my SIL had chocolate cherry. There are many flavors, even bubble gum.

The sunflowers were not in full bloom yet but should be next weekend, July 23, when they sell bouquets for $5 and donate the money to the Make-a-Wish-Foundation.

 There were plenty of photo ops and my daughter and I took advantage of them. Mr. B commented that had he realized it was a photo trip, he would have taken a book to pass the time! You'll be seeing more photos of an old house, a barn, stone walls, and of course, more sunflowers!

Hop over to Little Red House and experience Mosaic Monday. I'm joining the party!

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Munching in the Garden!

The exciting news is that the hydrangeas I planted last fall are blooming! I had a friend visit today and we did a photo shoot in the yard. She is giving me some pointers on Lightroom and here are the results. I am so used to finishing my photos in PhotoShop Elements that I'm having to push myself to use Lightroom. It requires more thinking!

Something has been eating my flowers, both the blooms and the leaves. I saw some shinny trails that I recognized as slug trails. So every evening I go out and put out my little cans of slug bait. Little swimming pools for them! Since I didn't want to sacrifice my good beer, I made a mixture of warm water, yeast and sugar. Works great. The slugs can't wait to crawl in and drown.

As I was putting out the slug pools tonight, in the dark, with my flashlight, I discovered what else is MUNCHING my plants. There were earwigs and beetles on the daisy blooms and the zinnias. So I picked them all off and crushed them. In the morning I will empty the slug pools and squish any slugs still alive. I sound blood thirsty, don't I? But I don't like seeing holes in the plants leaves and half eaten flowers.

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I think I'm in love!

My first ever rose bush has its first bloom! I've been like a new mother, checking it every day for aphids and spraying it if I see even one. As you can see, it is gorgeous! Here it is from a bud to a full blown flower. And as a bonus - it smells good. I take full credit!

Don't you love the color?

It was raining today as I took these photos. I always knew I could grow roses! I am just sooooooo proud!

My rose is "Tropicana." The label says "Very fragrant, coral-orange, flowers bloom above glossy, dark green foliage. Hybrid Tea Rose." I planted it this spring (early May) as a bare root plant.

Join Mary at Little Red house for Mosaic Monday and see what everyone is up to.

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