The other day I was checking out the flower bed, snooping around to see what was blooming and what was about to bloom. I am the first to admit that it’s a slapdash flower hodgepodge mostly leftover from the previous owner of our house. I had always thought I would rip most of it out and start over but so far in the six years that we’ve lived here it hasn’t happened. Yet.

As I was passing by the lilac bush (that for whatever reason did not bloom this year) I was startled by a movement. Looking closer I saw this:

Pretty good camouflage, I’d say! I’ve only seen one other Katydid before and it was hopping around on the deck. This one was kind of shy and really didn’t want my camera in its face.

Strange creatures!

For now the bee balm has been slowly taking over year by year. I added a hydrangea a few years ago and it blooms, albeit feebly. Pretty though.

And this yellow daisy-like flower that I have no idea where it came from.

I also made a visit to Skylands Botanical Gardens in the extreme heat Tuesday morning and was pleased and surprised to see that they are taking much better care with the grounds this year. Workers were out in full force tending to all the beds. I got stuck on the perennial beds and the water lilies and I’ll be boring you with my favorite shots soon. I’m sure you can’t wait!

And since I’m in an insectuous mood today, here’s a sneak peek! (I just made that word up in case you’re wondering. Does it work for you?)

Dragonfly on water lily.

At night. Water temp: 85. Outside temp: 90 or so.

Ear to the water doing the side stroke I hear:

My breathing. In. Out. In. Out.

The water slapping against my body.

I feel:

The silken feel of the water.

My body slicing through the water. Whether or not it’s fast and furious or slow and languorously. I did both tonight. Twenty laps of semi-fast and furious to another four or five that were slow and languorous. (Love that word, don’t you?)

I see:

A jet passing over, lights flashing. Bats fly over, sans lights.

I am sated. It’s been a good day. Cleansing in a way most of you cannot fathom.

I have no clue what I ever did without a pool. We weren’t looking for one. But it found us.

Sunflowers at the Warwick Farmer’s Market on Sunday.

My sister left on Saturday. We had a good visit and I think we did everything she was hoping to do. Time went by so quickly that her visit was over before we knew it!

Cirque in the city was wonderful! Such skilled performers. Death-defying acts! Lightning fast set changes! Non-stop entertainment! If you’ve never seen Cirque perform I highly recommend them to anyone. This is the third one I have seen. On Las Vegas trips I’ve seen Mystere and LOVE (the Beatle one). All of them well worth the price of a seat.

On Saturday after dropping my sister at the train station we took the dogs for a walk before it got too hot. Poor things have been inside with no exercise because of the heat. We did a little grocery shopping, then took Mia for a short drive around Greenwood Lake. We ate lunch at the Emerald Point restaurant (which I always refer to as the biker place because all the motorcycle folks hang out here). We sat outside in the shade with a view of the lake and had a cool beer and a sandwich. It was nice.

When we got home we pooled it for a few hours. And then again after dinner. I did about 30 laps or so of the side-stroke and it felt good to get the exercise.

Outside house lights reflecting in the pool.

We are having a marvelous pool year this year with very consistent temperatures in the low 80’s and clear sparkling water. Sheer heaven with all the hot weather and humidity we’ve been having.

The cicadas are slowly starting up. I hope they reach symphonic heights this year as I love to hear them singing away. We have a few fireflies left but I think they are a different species than the ones earlier in the summer. These fly high amongst the tree tops with a different light pattern. The other day there was a bug inside on the sliding glass door. I grabbed it, opened the door and tossed it outside and as it flew off it lit up! It didn’t look like a firefly to me, jut another beetle. And we’ve had some strange beetles around this year.

The bee balm is nearly spent. The hummingbirds enjoy it now (must be the concentration of nectar?) but it’s not as pretty.

I got a surprise when I looked closer at the garden. The bee balm that I got when I traded with Maggie was blooming! Last year it did not come up, but this year even with the lack of rain it’s making a strong showing. I LOVE the color!! Maggie, did mine bloom in your garden??

On Sunday we made a new recipe: Tomatillo Gazpacho. It was perfect on a hot and humid day.
Tomatillos, cucumbers, green pepper, jalapeños, and avocado all blended, then topped with a cucumber/avocado/shrimp/green olive salsa. It was delicious!

Hopefully I am back into the swing of blogging again instead of the hit (and mostly miss) of the past week!

Just in case you were wondering! With my sister visiting this week my time for blogging and taking photos has been pretty much nil. But that’s okay. That’s the way it should be.

Tonight we are going in to the city to see Cirque du Soleil’s Zarkana at Radio City Music Hall. Should be fun! It’s always so hard to find a place to eat in the city when you don’t know the area well, so we’ll take the stress out of finding a place to eat and stop at Bobby Flay’s Burger Palace in Paramus.

We finally got a little rain last night when we least expected it. It was not predicted by our fair weather people. It poured and when it was over it had dropped 1/4 inch. Not bad considering we haven’t seen any rain at all for a couple of weeks. A welcome sight and sound indeed!

I’ve got some thoughts running around in my head and when I get the time to sit down and sort through them I’ll be sharing them here.

In the meantime, have a great week!

What a strange 4th of July! Coming mid-week without a weekend attached was very strange. Almost like a non-holiday. Rick managed to take the day before off so he had two days off in a row. But that just managed to make it feel like a weekend, and now it feels like Monday!

The weather cooperated quite nicely with sunny skies and not-too-hot temperatures with not-too-cloying humidity. We were hoping for the predicted thunderstorms but they never materialized. Too bad. We could really use the rain!

We took a drive in Mia to the town of Newton. I had been here for the first time back in January when I was Oscar Dress shopping and fell in love with the quaint little downtown area.

I love the architecture!

Too bad you can never get away from utility lines in New Jersey! I guess it adds to the charm.

Betty Boop posing in a restaurant window.

We were back by noon and the rest of the day was spent in or around the pool. Our little backyard oasis!

I had to finish this book! It was driving me crazy!

Such a lazy afternoon. But who could resist the perfect pool temperature of 83 degrees!? It did get hotter and more humid as the day wore on but once in a while a nice breeze would kick in so it wasn’t quite as stuffy.

For dinner we grilled fajitas and ate on the deck. All in all, a nice way to spend a mid-week holiday! Now we can look forward to the “real” weekend—my sister arrives!