Butterflies!

There are 160 species of butterflies in Georgia.  And they must be the fastest butterflies in the world because as soon as I have a camera trained on one, they are flying away quicker than I can say,
Oh pooh, MISSED it!"

 Have I shared the butterfly video with you before?  Phil Deletrez was one of the Rangers who used to guide hikes over Panola Mountain.  He is at another park now and I miss him.  (Phil is very knowledgeable about birds, butterflies and well, just about anything in nature!  I love the butterfly video that he made...hope you like it too!)

Richard has taken some great photos recently of the butterflies in our own back yard.  He also has captured some very good shots of the butterflies at Panola Mountain and Arabia Mountain.  Once, when we were walking over the boardwalk at Alexander lake, we saw a butterfly that he thought reminded him of a butterfly that he knew from England...the Red Admiral.  We looked it up after we got home and you will never believe it...that is exactly what it was! Same butterfly in England as in the USA!    (Named by Moses Harris in 1766...he called it "the Admirable".)

 
So happy that the Mexican sunflower that I planted from seed in May is now over 6 feet tall! (Okay, it is in a pot, but still...that's big!)  AND the butterflies LOVE it!  A nice woman who owns a nursery gave the seed away for FREE at the Monastery Fall Festival last year.  There will another festival at the Monastery this weekend, so I hope to tell the kind lady how much I enjoy the Mexican sunflower!
(We are not sure of this pretty yellow butterfly...is it a cloudless sulphur or an orange sulphur?  Not sure, but speaking of orange, that Mexican sunflower is the deepest orange, just lovely!)

 You see, I have been very busy lately but all I really want to do is gaze at flowers and marvel at butterflies.

 

When The Going Gets Tough/ (Go And Get Stuffed)

If you having a tough time, then I suggest fresh vegetables!
What can be better than peppers from your own garden? Ours have turned out very well this year.  Before I cooked them for our dinner (stuffed peppers) I thought I would take a photo of them for you...

The top two were the ones that were stuffed, the red one and the two banana peppers went into a salad! (None of the peppers are hot, I don't do HOT!) 
 Now, the reason for the title of this post?
As I was preparing this meal, it reminded me of something funny from "Top of the Pops" from 1985.  (Note...Top of the Pops was a British TV show about the top musical pop hits, it's not around any more, more's the pity!)  There was a hit song from a popular movie, "The Jewel In The Nile" and the title of the song was "When The Going Gets Tough".  Funny because when you say that song with an English accent, it SOUNDS like "Go and Get Stuffed"!  I have always loved word play, don't you? I find it very amusing!  (The song was sung by Billy Ocean.)

 

(Favorite Christmas cracker joke:  Where does Queen Victoria keep her armies?....answer below....)



You know those people who say that they have nothing to say? Not me! I tell you, I have TONS of things I want to write about...but I am so tired, I just asked Richard to tell me where the exclamation mark is located on the typewriter!  You can see, I found it!! HA!


Okay then, where does Queen Victoria keep her armies?
Up her SLEEVIES, of course!

Oh! And thinking of Billy Ocean reminded me of Billie Piper from Dr. Who, from the episode where she kept trying to get Queen Victoria to say "We are NOT amused". 

Sorry, I am tired...you might see how my brain goes around in its tiny little circle!

Let There Be Peace On Earth (And Let It Begin With Me)

Unless you have been under a rock this week, then you will know the POPE has been visiting the USA!  (Even the small Catholic church in our town has a sign that says "Welcome To America, His Holiness Pope Francis".)  New York City was so welcoming, the newspaper The New York Post, changed their header line to "The New York POPE"!  You gotta love New York City, you know I do!
 This morning at the service at Ground Zero, a youth choir sang "Let There Be Peace On Earth".  I find it extraordinarily beautiful.


Next time, Pope Francis, why not swing by the Monastery in Rockdale County, Georgia?  It's not far from the Atlanta airport!

 

 
 

Michael J. Fox and Parkinson's Disease

 

 

 

 

 

Just learned today that one of my customers has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.  Michael J. Fox has this same illness and has worked for many years in drawing attention to it and raising money for research.  (Muhammad Ali also has it. You might remember the  poignant moment when Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch in Atlanta in 1996.) 

  https://www.michaeljfox.org/

There, I have the link to his foundation above.   Not only is there a great deal about Parkinson's disease itself  but there is a lot of practical advice for those who have it.  (Also there is a link to a blog!)

 

 

"Back To The Future", that is one of my favorite movies!  I just saw that it was listed as one of the Top 100 American Movies of all time!  (I think it was  at #55.)  I must have read this on the BBC, that is where I get a great deal of my information these days!   If you watch that clip, let me know if you remember it and love that movie as much as I do!  Wait...WHAT...you have never seen it?  Well, doggone, what are you WAITING for?   The film is perfectly cast and the script is very cleverly written and just so FUNNY!   (You are my DENSITY!) 

I know what you are thinking...Kay, does EVERYTHING remind you of a song or a movie? Yes, and sometimes, BOTH! 

For all who are going through any kind of challenges just now, hang in there and be good to yourself!
Doctor's orders!  And look at flowers, the beauty is good for you!  Don't have any?  Okay then, look at these...

 

 

TWO Films To Look Out For...In 2016!

 

"Risen" will be released in 2016 and if the trailer is anything to go by, it looks to be a very good film.   And the most extraordinary thing, the same English actor (Joseph Fiennes) will also be in another movie that I would like to see, "The Last Race" which is about Eric Liddell.  (Remember the runner from "Chariots of Fire" the man from Scotland who refused to run a race in the Olympics on the Sabbath?  I wrote about him before from a few years ago...you may read that post just here.) 

I am very much looking forward to both of these films! Let me know what you think of the trailer. I think it looks very interesting indeed!
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The family reunion this weekend was great!  My mother in law has an expression, "every time a lamb baahs, it loses a bite"... and I fear that applied to me at this family get-together, I did quite a bit of talking!  Best thing....my Dad enjoying everyone and thrilled that everyone loved his food so much!  Also, an eight year old boy tapped me on the arm and said those most magical words to me, "I like your brownies".   All the diamonds in the world could not make me as happy as those sweet words!  JOY!

 

American beautyberry, so beautiful it does not look real!

Kinfolk

Family reunion time on Sunday! I go with my Dad to a family reunion this time every year. None of my siblings will go, only me! You might notice that I was born in Toccoa, Georgia...well, so was my father! 

Our reunion is just south of there, at a small meeting hall in Martin.
It's a bit sad to see less and less of those who usually attend, many of the older ones will have passed away.  My father's side of the family is quite good looking and I find it interesting to notice certain features among them all that look the same.   And sometimes, when I am trying to figure out how someone might be related to me, I just shrug and say, "Oh well, it doesn't matter, we're KIN".

My Dad will be taking a lot of food, so I am just making a batch of brownies, with a little help from Betty Crocker!  HA! 

Some of my Dad's potatoes- grown in his own garden that he canned himself!

Okra and tomatoes, also canned by my Daddy!

I have been ridiculously busy lately.  Hope to get back into the swing of things soon!  I know I keep saying that but I do have hope for it!
  

 

 

 

The Yellow Daisies are gorgeous just now and it is a bit hard to make myself get in a car and drive for hours! I am sure my kinfolk will appreciate it!

 

 

Same Day-Across The Atlantic!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On  the same day that my husband took the photos above at Panola Mountain State Park, our son took photos in Eastbourne, England...

 

 

 

 

I am always telling you to look for beauty every day.  My husband and son are doing just that!