A Sunday Smorgasbord

 It’s cool today!!! Well, not really cool, but a whole better than it has been during our four day heat wave. Frankly, the heat and humidity did me in, and I accomplished next to nothing this past week and that includes writing a blog post.  So, this post will indeed be a smorgasbord of things I would have written about if my brain had been fully engaged. :-)

Let’s start with what might be a couple of my best bee images ever. 

Bee sure to click on the images for a larger view. These were taken with my iPhone which I try to remember to always slip into my pocket. 

 

I am happy to report that after our extended rainy spell and subsequent heat wave, I have been seeing more bees and butterflies.
 

Do you remember that tiny little green insect with the red eyes that I wrote about in my last post? Well, I was tempted to title this post,  “I Saved an Assassin,” but I was afraid it might attract the wrong type of readers. Let me explain. It turns out that a search for “tiny green insect with red eyes” brought up images similar to the ones I posted. That “cute” little bug is a Zelus nymph, more commonly called a pale green assassin bug!!! While how it attracts and devours its prey is interesting, I will let those who are interested check that out on their own. One note of caution . . . while the assassin bugs are after other bugs if you disturb one, you might get bitten. The bite for a human can be quite painful, and to think I had carried it outside and carefully placed it on a plant. Good grief!!!

I have managed to get a bit of stitching done, but I’ll show those pieces in upcoming posts. There is so much sadness in the world that perhaps I will just show you some pretty pictures from my garden this week.

The Plum Perfect rose that I purchased in July is blooming again. It is just about as perfect as it can be.

The color is similar to the shade of my dinner plate hibiscus. I love how those blossoms look as they begin to open. My other hibiscus plant still hasn’t put out blooms yet.

Some of my other roses are reblooming.

From a distance, my gardens are bright and colorful but don’t get too close as I fear the weeds are winning. It has been far too hot to do any gardening.

Recommendation: I am strongly recommending The Book of Lost Names  by Kristen Harmel. It’s the story of a young woman who uses her talents as a forger to help Jewish children escape the Nazis. The author writes in such a way as to draw the reader in and allows one to visualize what is happening. This novel has all the elements to be turned into an excellent, suspenseful motion picture. Do give this one a try.

Stay safe. Have a good week. Be careful. Wear a mask.

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Covid deaths worldwide - 4.36 million

United States - 621,000+

India - 431,000+

Brazil- 569,000+

Massachusetts - 18,142