Flowers to Brighten Our Days while Dogdad's Away

Yesterday was hot and humid... but that didn't keep Dogdad from being silly as we sat on the back patio. We found that Mom's favorite mussenda seems to have shaken off the winter chill. Here is one of the two blooms she decided to grace us with.Our plumbago also decided to bloom (notice H.C. Bird parked until his next adventure).

The walking iris seem to be happy too -- even though they can't go very far in their pots.

And desert rose has been quite splendid. We learned yesterday that her formal name is adenium -- and that a local attorney has been cultivating new varieties, including one that is blue.

Ah, but Dogdad is off to Birmingham for a few days to discuss the project he won last month - and his three sad admirers sat on the stairs to watch him cram all his stuff into his computer bag before he left for the airport. (Note from Mom: Jakey was getting so nervous watching the process, that I sat with him and JH on the stairs , with lots of scritches to keep them calm. Sigh.

Even sadder than we three, however, is the breaking news that the oil in the Gulf may have been picked up by what is called the Loop Current and may now be making its way down and around the Florida Keys and up the Atlantic Coast. Add irreplaceable coral reefs to the sickening damage to fish, birds, wetlands, and other God-given natural resources -- and the livelihoods of those who have worked with these resources for generations.)