Have a happy day!

Remember when that was a thing?  The yellow smiley faces and the phrase, "Have a happy day!"  Not a bad idea, unless it's done falsely or too often.  This image won't post as a video, for some reason, but this little solar powered flower dances when the sun hits it.  My sisters were amused that I was buying this guy when we were together in August, but I like it - especially when the sun has hit it enough to make it dance. It makes me smile every time.

Hope your day is happy!

Busy bee, sharing and fun holidays

- This bee was so busy on Saturday, going from flowering plant to flowering plant, I finally managed to snap his photo while he was in motion.  It's so delightful to see them around, when there has been so much in the news about them vanishing.

- Coworker Bobby brought in mountain apples to share at work on Monday.  They smell so good and are delicious.

- This is the fun holidays of the month calendar I produce these days - I hang them on the bulletin boards at work.  So it was fitting that Monday was Johnny Appleseed Day and we had apples.  Google tells me that Johnny Appleseed was an "American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, as well as the northern counties of present-day West Virginia."

It's also National Chicken Month - I amused myself by finding cute chicken clip art.  :)

Hanging low, impala and latest book

- Waiting at the traffic light at 7pm on Tuesday at 14th Street and Techwood Drive in Atlanta, after volunteer work - I spotted the very low hanging cloud ahead, between the buildings.  Click to enlarge to see it better.  At first I thought it was smoke.  It was an otherwise very blue sky day, which I always call a Good Thing.  :)

- I had a flat tire (again) earlier this week, so decided to go with the expensive Michelin tires this time.  When I drove up to the tire shop, this 1966 Chevrolet Impala was sitting out front.  The owner just purchased it to restore and was amused that I was photographing it.  My dad had one in that same color, back in the day.  I liked that the person who sold it to the owner left a rosary hanging on the rear view mirror.  He said (drily), "It's so I can pray that it keeps moving when it's on the road."

- The manager of the tire shop was smiling at the three customers in the waiting area - all of us reading:  the young lady to the left of me, with a book, the man across from me with his laptop computer, and me with my little Kindle.  The manager isn't a fan of Kindles, but I told him I have run out of room for hardback books in my home, so I either read on the Kindle or get books from the library.  (Still love a regular book!)  These days - I really only buy Karin Slaughter's books, since she is a friend.  The latest one, "The Kept Woman," arrived in the mail yesterday and it went on her designated shelf.  I'll get it signed at some point, like all the others.  Can't wait to read it!

Karin was at book signing with the author, Ian Rankin, a few years ago and got him to sign that paperback book of Knots & Crosses for me.  It's a treasure, too.  

Have a great weekend, my friends!

Back porch, Harvest moon and treasure

- The back porch had been covered with a fair amount of dead leaves, which I swept off on Saturday.  The plants are getting straggly, but they are still nice and green.  And I splurged ($12 on sale at HomeGoods) on that colorful doormat to change things up a bit.

- Driving home from a dinner with friends on Saturday evening, the gorgeous Harvest moon kept popping into view here and there.  I'm so glad I had it with me for the drive.  My grainy iPhone photo doesn't do it justice at all, but it still makes for a nice memory.

 - Friend Bren brought me this treasure - a "Holding Cross" - back from her trip to the Golden Isles, on the coast of Georgia, last weekend.  It's smooth and fits in the palm of my hand.  I love it.  It was carved by hand by Rev. Dave Hanson, of St. Simons Island, for use as a meditative prayer aid.  I love this printed on the accompanying card, "It is prayerfully carved from natural wood to remind you that you are greatly loved and never alone."  (Romans 8:31-39)  An article I found about him can be read here.

Last blossom, shadowed and coddled

- Having never been a real fan of summer, I do look forward to fall, with its crisp weather.  But I do lament the passing of my spring and summer potted plants.  I finally got rid of my hanging petunia this week, pictured here in May, and found a lone blossom had fallen off while I was getting it down.  So here it is in a shot glass, gracing my cutting board.  The last blossom.

- At the elevator enclosure at my HMO on Peachtree Street in Atlanta.  Midday.  I went by to pick up a prescription and was struck by the pattern of leaves shadowed on the cut-out in the wall.

- The new addition to my egg coddler collection, found in the mountains at my favorite antique shop there.  Maybe I'll actually coddle an egg at some point.  You know I'll report back when I do.  :)

Hope you all have a wonderful, peaceful weekend, my friends!

Ethereal, yum and once-in-a-while treat

 - These vegetables from my Blue Apron box were so pretty that I snapped a photo of them.  The ones on the upper right are Fairy Tale eggplants.  Love that ethereal name!  They were among the vegetables included in the Summer Vegetable & Queso Tostadas.  Each box contains three recipes and the ingredients you need to make them.  Each recipe serves two.

- I made the tostadas while at the mountain cabin, but didn't take a photo.  I know - that's not like me.  They were yummy.

- And I love how they give you step by step instructions on making everything.  I'm a good cook, but love this once-in-a-while treat.  They only ship to the contiguous United States, but I expect there are other companies elsewhere that do this kind of thing.  It probably sounds like I am advertising for them, but this just seemed like good blog material.  :)

Doing nothing, shimmering and moving on

- I pretty much did nothing but read and sleep while I was at the house by the river last weekend.  Click to enlarge to see the yellow daisies that are blooming away across the river there.  Photo taken early Monday morning as I was planning my departure.

- The water flows gently by.  It's so beautiful, the way it shimmers. 

- Can you see the two young deer munching on the grass there?  I was in the kitchen, preparing to make coffee even earlier on Monday morning.  These were both male - they had sprouting antlers.

- If you click to enlarge, you can see that the one on the left had spotted me.  They turned and ran into the woods - I was rather sorry to have interrupted the munching. 

Labor Day weekend

- Labor Day weekend in the United States:  "Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country."  This fact comes from the US Department of Labor website.

- I'm just happy to have the holiday, in which I'll wake up to this view on Monday, although I think I have contributed plenty.  :)  No matter the case - I love this long weekend.

- The river bank was eroding at the front of my sister and brother-in-law's property in the Nantahala Forest of western North Carolina, so they had this rip rap put in to stop it.  Photo taken on my last visit.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, wherever you live, my friends!