This closeup of Andrew's "A" on his blue spruce tree came out pretty clear but I just noticed that it's backwards because you can see the tiny printing on the left side of the A. Interesting observation....
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Here's the closeup of Jarrett's "J" on his evergreen tree. It was hard to get a clear picture because it was turned sideways and the wind was blowing. Actually, this came out better than I thought it would.
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - Okay, so I lied. I wanted to get these pictures in here before I checked on the weather. For some reason, the Tribune's (actually, Tommy Skilling's) super-duper weather map is not loading on my computer this morning. There's something going on....maybe a crucial security download or something like that is interfering with my weather watching. ay carumba!

Remember years ago when we didn't have all this technology, and we'd look at the dark, foreboding skies and exclaim, "oh, it's going to storm."

OR we'd walk outside and get wet, and we say, "oh, it must be raining." hahaaa

Seriously, I wish I could ignore all of the watches and warnings -- but I can't. Although, it does seem that every time I put my hanging baskets in the garage, the severe weather dissipates as it approaches us or it goes somewhere else. I just don't want to take a chance on them getting hurt by hailstones or hurricane force winds because they're SO pretty. and delicate.

Now, I am not lying.....I'm done for. SEE ya later, djb

This was the view looking toward the western horizon on Friday, June 18, 2010 - 3:27 p.m. CDT
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Saturday, June 19, 2010 - The above picture was taken right before we got whacked by a very dangerous SEVERE thunderstorm yesterday afternoon. It was actually darker than this.

At 1:00 p.m., the temperature was 90 degrees -- at 4:00 p.m., it had dropped to 66 degrees. Oh, did I mention that we had hurricane force winds -- 75 miles per hour gusts in Elburn. I wasn't sure how high the winds got until I read the Chicago Tribune this morning.

I just called and talked to Avis, and she said that the roof did NOT blow off the Country Club as reported in various news sources....BUT, a roof was blown onto their grounds from across the street. It was vicious and nasty out there, too. Avis said that she heard they had gusts up to 80 mph. And I wouldn't be at all surprised.

And they say we don't have hurricanes in the midwest. haha I'm just glad that we got our trees trimmed last week. There's quite a few little sticks and leaves out in the lawn but at least, we don't have HUGE gigantic branches all over the place.

Better go. Lots of chores to do today. See ya later, djb

I think I took this picture of the boys' grave on Monday...or was it Tuesday. The flowers are looking very pretty and they do a great job keeping the grounds looking marvelous!
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Thursday, June 17, 2020 - We've been having such wacky, rainy weather that I haven't been able to mow until yesterday. It only took about FIVE HOURS!!! The grass was so high, I had to mow some of it more than once. But today, it looks very nice. Storms are forecast tonight!!!!

Plus, I have the very thick orange TV and computer cable in the back yard waiting to be buried. So, that was a real pain -- moving it around so I didn't cut it and hurt Juanita.

This afternoon, Elliot came over looking for something to do. So, we cleaned out the boys' pond and I pulled about a thousand thistles out of the garden. Then, we pulled some more weeds out of there and after we get some rain tonight, tomorrow and the next day, I'm going to finish cleaning it and fill it with water and get a pump.

After we finally got all the leaves and water out of it, that's when I decided to give it one more try (I had planned to fill it in with dirt). Elliot's such a good worker, and we work so well together. Our grass plot we planted a while back is awesome. Now, I'm on track to get the rest of the garden free from weeds and looking gorgeous once again.

Gotta go. It's perfect weather here right now. I'm loving it. bye, djb

This is the second Peace Rose to bloom this season. The first one was kind of a pale yellow so I wasn't prepared to see this gorgeous thing come out. It's quite stunning in person!
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Friday, June 4, 2010 - A few years ago, I planted this Peace Rose because Grandpa Burkholder always liked them. I think I even gave him one for Father's Day one year.

As I said, the first one was mainly a light yellow with pale pink markings. It doesn't hold a candle to this one!!!!! It is so gorgeous that I can't believe a deer didn't eat it. Plus, it's very photogenic.

After I picked it, I sprayed it with water so that if there were any bugs on it, they'd leave. Although we have so many bugs around here, I suppose a couple more won't matter. haha

My eye is doing better. The pain is gone. My pressure was 16 on Wednesday (that is NORMAL). It appears that the epithelial layer on the cornea is slowly healing. Did I mention that the pain is gone!?!?!? However, today, it was itchy. I take that to mean that it's healing. Who knows? I never know from day to day what's going to be happening.

We're having weird tropical-type weather here. It can be cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoons, but today, it's relatively hot and humid. There are storms around the area but so far they haven't whacked us. I'm sure we'll get hit one of these times.

Gotta go. Hope you're having fun. see ya later, djb