Butterflies are beautiful

I finally got a chance to get a picture of a butterfly outside today. I have been waiting since spring to get the opportunity to get some pictures of some but this is the first one I have gotten a chance to film. I think butterflies are beautiful and one of God's greatest creations. There are so many lessons in this one creature. How can you look at a butterfly and doubt there is a God?

Evian Roller Babies - BestofYouTube.com

In a couple of months, I am going to teach Brayden how to do this.

Evian Roller Babies - BestofYouTube.com

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The Sky is Falling

The sky is like my wife, it just gets more beautiful the angrier it gets.

Staying with Nanna and Pappa

Brayden stayed with us Tuesday night this week. We had a ball with him. He is such a good baby and we had lots of fun. He is old enough now to get around some in the walker we have and I took a few pictures.

The above picture reminded me of one I took of Brody when he was here this spring. Can you tell they are cousins?

Father's Day Gift

Thanks for my Father's Day gift (Tabitha, Sean, and Debbie), I really love it and am looking forward to this Fall when all the birds return to these feeders and next Spring when I can grow some vines up each side.

Side view
Looking from the Patio

View from under the Sugar Maple

Back Patio

Cluttered most of the time and always the center of activity for me in the mornings and evenings. It is my favorite room in (?) the house.

Time with Brayden

I haven't been blogging much, but I have been enjoying the time I am able to spend with Brayden. He is adorable and we love him very much. Here are a few more pictures of him.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Hope you had a good 4th

Here are a few pictures from me and my baby.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Surprise Visitor

Every year Northern Rough-winged Swallows (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) build nests in our chimney (I hate to think about how many nest are in there). Fortunately, we stopped using the fireplace years ago. Well, every year there will be one or two that will come down the chimney like Santa Claus, squeeze between the brick and the fireplace insert, and fly into our house.

Debbie is deathly afraid of these birds; I don't know why (maybe they look too much like bats). So, I have to catch them ASAP and take them back outside. Here is our latest visitor and I must say he was very cooperative. It only took me a couple of tries to catch him. Once on the curtains, he just let me reach up and grab him. Note the rough (uneven) edge on his wings in the curtain pic; the Latin word serripennis means "saw feather."

Volunteers Reporting for Duty

Yes, volunteers. These sunflowers come up each year under my bird feeders. So I get a double blessing; I get to see and photograph the birds and then enjoy the results of their bad table manners. Maybe, you remember the 7-headed sunflower blog from last year.

Serenity Now!

Here is where I find serenity and peace. Nearly every morning and evening I will walk around and just look at the flowers. I take great comfort in their beauty. I am currently designing a type of prayer/meditation garden for the backyard complete with a bench and lots of bird feeders and flowers. Since my yard (front and back) is so shade-challenged, I will need to design things around my lone Sugar Maple.

Isn't the shade of pink in this Hydrangea cool? Thanks Sean and Tabitha.
The Gladiolus flowers were pretty while they lasted, but they will be back again next year.