Why isn’t anyone filling in my little survery? Come on, guys, just take a minute to tell me who is reading! I am curious to know whether you are all family and close friends that are reading my blog. Don’t be shy, I can’t tell who you are by your vote, no info shows up. Please??? Indulge me if you like reading this blog! I indulge you by continuing to write so it’s only fair!

This is the second “crop” of baby flycatchers since we’ve moved in. The parents made a lovely nest on a beam under our deck, so the babies stay warm, dry and protected from the elements. The first time I realized the babies were there I got my camera, focused [they were staring right at me], and when I clicked the shutter they all flew off! Yikes, did I do that? The parents were going crazy and the babies trying to fly out from under the deck and hitting their heads. I felt awful, but I guess they must have been ready to fly the coop.

So, once I again I attempted to get a few pics before they left without scaring the heck out of them. This time they didn’t fly off, but it sure looks as if they need to. The one baby is not even in the nest anymore and barely hanging on. Later in the day when I checked back it wasn’t there anymore, so hopefully it flew off successfully. It looks like they used some dog hair for their nest, doesn’t it? There were four initially, and from what I can tell this morning, still three remaining. Not for long though!

I’m sure you are all getting a bit tired about hearing about THE POOL. But, it plays a significant part in our everyday lives right now. At the cabin we had, for years, what we referred to as Cabin TV, which was the FIREPLACE. We had no TV there until just before we moved. We would be entertained for hours just watching the flames lick the logs until it lulled us into slumber. Now instead of a fire we have the pool. Every night I say to Rick, I don’t feel like swimming, do you? He says nawh, me either. Okay then, let’s watch a movie since we haven’t figured out “on demand” yet. We walk outside onto the deck. The night takes us in, weaves its spell. Before you know it we’re in the pool. Once in, neither one of us can seem to stop swimming. The water temperature is at its best this time of the day. The fireflies aren’t as numerous tonight and we only spot two bats. Sated and tired we’re now ready for bed and we haven’t watched the TV at all. Sweet dreams, dear friends.

The water in the pool was warm, 80 degrees. The night was mild and pleasant. Not humid, not hot. Tiny flashing pinpoints of light lit up the night. They were in the forest, in the grass. Fireflies. Ah, the magic of fireflies. A perfect evening. BE FORWARNED, EXPLICIT DETAIL TO FOLLOW. Well, maybe not too explicit since this is a family-oriented site. Okay, you’ve been warned. You knew it had to happen eventually. Tonight we just couldn’t help ourselves. We went skinny-dipping. It was glorious. The silken feel of water next to skin. Rick did about 30 lengths of the pool, I did about 24. Once immersed in water we find it hard to get out into the cool evening air. With towels wrapped around us we watch the firefly display. One skims across the grass and nearly lands on Hailey’s paws. We think she doesn’t see it since she doesn’t snap at it. Too quick for her? Lights wink in and out of the woods surrounding our yard. It is pure magic.

No, not Turkey Day as in Thanksgiving. Sheesh, the 4th of July was just yesterday, give me a break. Yesterday was a Bear Day, but today was a Turkey Day in our yard! You just never know what you’re going to see when you look out the window around here. Just a half hour ago I caught something out of the corner of my eye in the front yard. Turkeys! About four or five females and six babies! The babies have grown quite a bit since I last saw them crossing the road a couple of weeks back. This is the first time I’ve ever seen them in the yard. The females kept clucking to the babies and hurried them along out of the yard and back into the woods. They were kind of skiddish about appearing on my blog, so the pics aren’t the best.  Camera shy, I guess. Afterwards I realized I had the lens on the wrong setting anyway, so I was lucky to even get these. So please excuse the slightly out of focus effect and just enjoy the wildlife along with me.