Grass

The center of our back yard collects water. It's the unintended consequence of the 30 some tons of gravel we used for our paths. We had to wait till the dry season before we could finally tackle the problem. Allright two weeks of no rain hardly makes a season, but it's what we got.

We cut the existing grass down to the numbs. Next, we brought in three yards of topsoil which we leveled and rolled. Then we added more topsoil and leveled and rolled again and again and again. Finall, we seeded and watered. It turned out really good. It rained a couple of days ago and no standing water.

The perfect hosta flower

Pat and I see thousands of hosta flowers. Because of all the types of hosta we have, we have blooms all summer long. There are some that are just now flowering. Every once in a while a flower just pops out. Here are some of the best pics.

This sort of reminds me of a Tony Bourdain travel show. He meets a guy in China who has spent his life trying to perfect a Chinese character in the alphabet. I know it's hard to connect hosta and calligraphy together, but just follow along for the punch line.

Speaking of the Chinese, The New China News Daily ( http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/ ) has an article on European royalty visiting the Olympics. Yea, I know I still use the name from the good old days but the link works. Mao has got to be proud looking down from commie heaven. It sure is a cultural revolution. Just not the one Chou and Mao dreamed of.

Some kind of butterfly

Fred the hunter

As you can see, Bob just doesn't get it. I think he would rather sit on a comfy chair.

Fred's inner hunter takes over when we're outside. He has caught mice, moles, and voles. He even found a dead squirrel once. Oh, was that a treat. When he catches something, he brings the catch to me or Pat. All you can do is tell him "good boy" and take possession of the prize. He's trying to find a chipmunk in these pictures. Bob would rather lounge around on the recliner.

so, what is it?

When it first flew by, I thought it might be a humming bird. When it lighted on the impatiens, I realized it wasn't. What I was looking at was a different story. I thought I heard little voices calling Mothra, Mothra. Since Rodan or Godzilla didn't show up, I must have been hearing things. I would like to know what we're looking at. I am guessing it is some kind of moth, so maybe I really did hear those voices calling Mothra.