Bits n Pieces

This is definitely The Year of the Dragonfly. The day I wrote about it last week we ended up with at least 5 in our flat. We've had several since then, too, including 2 today. Cheyenne went nuts until she actually caught both of them. We were gone part of the early afternoon and when we got back she made sure I saw this one, which had been hanging onto that pipe-thing in the ceiling of the office room. Apparently that thing is very attractive to dragonflies because most of them end up there at least for a few minutes. Strange little things, but they sure are pretty.

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Yesterday Ira and Yuri brought little Sasha to church for the first time. What a cutie he is! He didn't cry at all, just made a few little baby noises - you know the kind, grunts, stretches, an episode of hiccups during the sermon, little baby squeaks. Here are a couple of photos of the happy family. Ok, ok, 3 photos. :->



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The sun is still blank. This is the longest blank spell so far this year. I wonder how long it will last? And I wonder when this Solar Minimum will end? A lot of scientists are wondering that! I'm just a simple little nobody, and I'm wondering, too. I also wonder what ramifications it has for our weather, space weather that affects the earth, and so forth. Time will tell.
Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 51 days
2009 total: 193 days (80%)
Since 2004: 704 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days
Updated 30 Aug 2009

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It's registration time again. They wanted photos this time, so Mel and I went searching for a photo place today. The one we've gone to before was open but the camera was not there - it was being fixed. So, we decided to go get a little puff pastry thing (sloika) with cheese or cherries in it and a drink at the Cappuccino place we went to several times over the winter. We ended up not with what Mel ordered, but this is no great surprise since actually it is quite common to get something other than what you ordered. Three times Mel said NOT 'that' and that's what we got. It was good, just not cheese or cherry filled. Plus we tried out their summer drinks - a chocolate espresso mixed with heavy cream milk and whipped with ice. There were chunks of ice in the bottom of the glass when we finished the drinks. Ice. That, in and of itself, shows how far Kherson has come in the past 11 years. We NEVER saw ice here used for drinking when we first arrived. Ice out on the streets and sidewalks during the winter - yes. Ice in your drink in the summer? You'll die of a sore throat!!!!! Forbidden!!!! I am not exaggerating - people were horrified when they heard we drink ice cold water or water with ice in it, or other cold/icy drinks. Now - cold drinks are fairly common. How things have changed.

Anyway, I started this little section talking about getting a photo. I do wander around sometimes. You should see my farm on Facebook Farm Town! I think it's a perfect picture of my personality... I mentioned this to a friend who has a huge plantation/farm on Farm Town and she said she's thought that how people build their farms would be a great subject for a thesis study. :-)

After our snack and time talking and just being together, we walked on up the street to another photo place. Success this time! I actually like my photo: Too bad we have to turn them in and I can't get this made larger. I don't know what I'd do with it if I did, but I like it. I don't like very many photos of me, so this is quite unusual. Maybe I could give one to each of my kids and say: "Remember me like this when I am gone." :)

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Ok, it's time to go make dinner. Past time, really. Adios for now.