Quick! Before they die ...

Ask my friend Jean, my neighbor Ann, or my mother-in-law Betty, and if they are honest, they will tell you that I am horrible at keeping plants alive. Kids, dog, husband ... they are all thriving. Plants inside and outside the house are another thing. Betty once told me to not have any plants until the kids are grown and gone ... and yet I keep trying. So, here's a look at the wonderful blooms around my house. Look quickly. If history does indeed repeat itself, they will be dead by July 1st.

The tag said "At least 6 hours of full sun." No problem with that. Our south-facing front yard bakes every plant all day long!

Love this variety of Sweet Potato vine. It likes sun, too!

These are already more than I can handle. Although the tag said "At least 6 hours of full sun," it lied. These Gerbera daisies drink water every morning and are still mad at me by 2:00. They whine and moan through droopy flowers and rolled up leaves ... wimpy wimpy wimpy.

Daily watering for these, too ... they were a gift from Roberta ... fingers are crossed cause they are more whiney than the Gerberas for watering. Very dramatic drooping when thirsty! Impatien(t) is an understatement!

These wonderful perennial lilies are watered only by God. He does indeed take care of them just as He does me ... Too bad He doesn't mention Gerbera Daisies in the Gospels, too!

Coon Dog

Each year we have lived here we have seen more wild animals moving into the neighborhood. Over the last week, we have seen several foxes, deer, bullfrogs, turtles, a blue heron and for the first time in almost 21 years, raccoons.

Kilmer found the two baby raccoons first ... they were just outside the fence and he immediately made it clear that he did not want either of them to stop in for a visit. One of them ran along the outside of the fence to safety, the other decided to fight the big black mutt on the other side of the fence. Big mistake. Kilmer picked it up in his mouth and shook it a bit, then tossed it a few feet before he finally heeded our frantic yelled and stopped. The baby raccoon ran back through the fence, then climbed the outside of the fence and sat on the top of the highest picket where the two fences met. His sibling came back along the outside of the fence and climbed up to join it.

Once the sibling got up there, it stayed close by and protected the other, despite the frightening crowd of humans who came to see them.

We were worried that the little one tossed by the dog was injured, but we read on the internet to just leave baby coons alone and the mother would come back to get them after dark. So we did just that and this morning they were both gone. Way to go Momma Coon!

Ironically, on Saturday, my parents came down to visit for the day and brought Kilmer a cute little yellow stuffed chick that squeaked. After 5 minutes of adorable play with the toy, Kilmer proceeded to rip it apart with a vengeance, pulling out the insides and shaking it from side to side until all the fluff and both little squeakers were flying all over the porch.

We actually discussed this behavior and winced at the thought of how awful it would be if Kilmer actually had treated another living creature the same way. We're so thankful he let go of that sweet little raccoon.