A surprise this morning:

And there are two more buds ready to open. These roses bloom early in the spring and then, when you think they’re done for the season, more leaves emerge. Then flowers. Such a nice later-in-the-summer surprise.

Yesterday morning, we were sitting on the porch having coffee and I heard this amazing bird call. I looked across the road. Since I had brought my big girl camera with me, I quickly got up and took several pictures. He was way up in a tree and the gray skies made a dark background, but here he is:

A pileated woodpecker. I’ve seen them around here before. They are large birds. And noisy! See the two little birds to his left?

Now, a cropped, zoomed-in version:

And one more:

Pretty good for a dark and gloomy morning!

Edited to add: No, the leaves haven’t all dropped off the tree. It’s a dead tree.

Let’s see…I mowed a bit yesterday morning. Not too much, just the corral and the grass surrounding it. Ran errands. Cleaned. Read.

It’s been cooler; still humid, but much more bearable when it isn’t in the nineties. It’s cool this morning and gray and darkish again. We were just out on the porch and I remarked to Don that if we didn’t know what time it was, we would think it was early evening! I’m starting to feel the beginnings of the seasonal change. I cling on to summer as long as I can because I know that after fall comes winter. But this has been such a tough summer weather-wise, that a part of me will welcome the cooler temperatures.

My second Snow White egg cup arrived in the mail yesterday from Australia. She’s safely ensconced in the cubby cabinet. I’ll take a picture of both of them later today.

From my chair on the front porch, one perspective:

And another perspective:

I love playing with the focal point of a photo and depth of field. And I really love my new camera.

Thanks, by the way, for all your great supportive comments about the cubby cabinet. It was a chunk of money that I hadn’t expected to be spending, but, in the end, it was very clear to me that I had to get it. I will never see something like it again. It’s truly one-of-a-kind. I haven’t regretted the choice to buy it for one second. I pass it several times a day and I smile each and every time I see it. You guys are the best!

Happy Tuesday.