I've come inside early tonight to seek refuge from the mosquitoes, which have become quite a nusiance. I didn't escape without some welts, they are itchy and burning. I've been eaten alive in the last couple of days, with or without bug spray. The only real solution is long pants and long sleeves, and if you can't tell, that's a stretch for me. I hate getting all covered up like that to go outside. Besides, it is hot. The thermometer says the hottest temp today was 94, making May 15th the hottest day of the year so far. We're supposed to get a cold front tonight and cool off to be in the 80's for the weekend. I'll believe it when I see it. If it rains tonight, we could get there. Despite the heat, some very spring-like flowers are hanging in there like champs. I noticed the Day Flower - sometimes called Widow's Tears - was blooming yesterday, but they are gone since Charley has come home and done some much-needed weed-eating around the house. (yay! Charley is home!) There are some winecups still going at it, and Texas Paintbrush, and the Beebalm is blooming like crazy, all stacked up like cakes. The firewheel are still chugging along, and the Rose Gentian is probably the most beautiful bloomin' thing we've got right now. The cows spend most of the day around the big tree in the next-over field, but by the time I got home, it was cooling off and they were spread out. I moo'd at them in their flower-dotted field and they looked at me funny. I should be able to put some pictures of these plants up soon, because the camera came home with Charley. We're going to spend the weekend boating and seeing a friend who is leaving Texas for Alaska, and going to a birthday party, but also getting our Media organized, so fresh pictures will be more available soon.
I also saw another fuzzy caterpillar, 3 Comma Butterflies, 2 Questionmarks, a couple buckeyes and several Painted Ladies, one of which was obviously freshly hatched and vibrantly colored. Charley and I also spotted a big green metalic fly that moved as though it was animated, and someone hadn't drawn quite enough frames to make it move smoothly enough. I walked around with the Amdro for a while, looking for ant mounds to kill. I probably would have found more if I was just out for a wander, but I found the two I definately remembered and cheerfully sprinkled my poison around for them to find. It might rain tonight, but I thought I would at least give it a try, and it was an excuse to walk around the land for a bit. We've also moistened and covered the compost with a black tarp, just to give it some encouragement. It is filled with Rolly-pollys and turning into rich, black fluff at the bottom.
Needless to say, its been wonderful to have Charley home. He brings such a spark of life to the house, is motivation incarnate, and with his newspaper spread out around the easy chair and his reading glasses left nearby, makes the house even more homey that it was. He's all culture shocky, and so every convenience is a little piece of heaven to him. He's really appreciating having a wife, air conditioning, a comfy bed, and no need for a machete. It's very cute. We had friends over last night, and we both mentioned later how we savored having our wonderful new house filled with laughter and food and people and candlelight. He cleaned out the shed today, a big job! Now we have a caving and camping shed, and a separate tool/workshop shed. We even threw a bunch of trash away and put some stuff in the scrap metal pile to sell in town to the junkman. He sure works hard. I endured a day of meetings at work today, so I was happy to come home and help put the last few things away in the shed, and not be sitting at a table analyzing my reports. I did my wifely part by bugging him about seeing his travel doctor and wearing his arm brace. Back to domestic bliss....

The herd of buffalo at 183 and 21 was clumped up together, by the part of the field nearest the road, tonight on my drive home. There are three little cinnamon buffalo babies, where just last week I had only noticed two! They were mingling with the Longhorn in the fading bluebonnet patch, a quintessential Texas scene, in the golden light of the setting sun.

It's been rainy and humid by turns, with more storms likely brewing. The forecast was dismal today, with a big question mark over a dark, raining sky picture, complete with a cartoon cloud blowing wind from its puffed up cheeks, for the next TEN DAYS. Good grief! Certainly it will rain and clear off, they just don't know when. We need the rain, its true. We're pretty close to caught up, if not caught up already, but the water we get now has to sustain us through another long hot summer. This afternoon was suprisingly breezy and sunny, and bordering on hot. I am savoring the lingering spring, now that I have a small taste of what is to come!

I checked the compost and the ants are gone. I did poison them with Amdro, and now I wonder if it was bad to put that in the compost? I have a lot of stuff to put in the compost, since I've been such a bachelor while Charley's been gone, and there is, sadly, rotting food left in the fridge.The compost heap doesn't stink, though, so we must be doing something right with it.

This is my last weekend to putter around by myself and really work on the mermaid costume for my trip to NYC in June. It's almost done, I mostly need to glue some things on more securely. Something to cross off the list! Woohoo! Then I can work on learning to cook in the crockpot, and report on my adventures.

I had a wonderful weekend. I attended a Cinco de Mayo party with the best Fajita spread I have seen in a very long time. I dominated the Bocce Game, and won so many rounds I got bored! Hah! Then I got to introduce a bunch of friends to the game "apples to apples", which is a scream. I was also honored to have guests out on Sunday. Two of my girlfriends, who are going off in different directions for the next large part of their lives, came out to enjoy my solitude with me. We had lots of coctails and giggled and gossiped, and it was a really wonderful day. E is off on her way to South Dakota for the summer to her seasonal parks job, and M is headed back to school - grad school - and both have incredible possibilites out before them. That kind of energy is a real delight to be around. It was one of the easiest, most comfortable afternoons I've spent recently. Lovely.

I'm babysitting tomorrow - an overnighter. O (6) has a kickball game. We're going to be busy. I never knew before spending overnights with the girls, that doing anything besides playing in the back yard, cooking dinner, taking a bath, and going to bed means you're going to be VERY busy and barely get it accomplished with there are small children involved! I get to do the whole gettin' up early and making sure she catches the bus and her sister, D (3) gets to her friend's house for the morning. I love spending time with these kids, who have truly become friends to me over the years, and it is always fun to spend time with your friends. I'm excited about the kickball game. I can't wait to cheer O on. I know she's a bit nervous about this match, and we always have interesting conversations about stuff going on in her life. I hope I can provide some encouragement and insight. She's such a good listener, and conversationalist, and our exchanges always leave a lasting impression on my life, too.

Sounds a little boring, but that's the update on life here at the Butterfly Palace!