This is a blurry shot of my new pyrocantha gnome, or firebush (or fire thorn, something like that). It's a vine that I hope to trail up onto the trellis of the front porch. It is covered with little white flowers now that in the fall turn to berries. The berries attract birds and, I've read, make a nice jelly. Not that I'll go through that effort...... 

This is a rosebush in my neighbor's yard. She said she dug it up out of a ditch - she found it growing wild a few years ago. It is now as tall as me and loaded with not only tons of fragrant little yellow roses, but with hundreds of buds yet to blossom! 

This is an as yet undertermined bush in the front yard that has gone from green to red-tipped. I trimmed it a little bit today and the foliage underneath is green; I've not seen anything like it in my recent trips to Lowe's. 

Well, Mom and Dad came to visit for a long birthday weekend, and we had a great time, although now that they've departed, I remembered that I forgot to find some locally made fudge for Dad. We did a little exploring, played a little pinochle, worked in the yard, and had a really nice, relaxed, and fun visit. For some reason I let them talk me into staying in the master bedroom while they slept in the guest room, on a trundle and day bed. Mom says she liked the ceiling glitter flecks at night. We neglected to bring either of our cameras most places, but on one day of running shot some photos on the go. This is one from inside the vehicle of the front of the house. My parents provided the front porch swing as a birthday/housewarming gift and it adds a perfect, if almost too cute touch to the house. The crabapple tree in front of the master bedroom window is fully aflame with flowers now, and the maple on the neutral ground is glowing red - my favorite.
 

A through-the-roof shot, while driving, of South Main Street, Findlay. 

Drive-by shots of downtown Findlay, Ohio. 

Drive-by shot #2, Findlay. 

Drive-by shot #3, downtown Findlay. 

One of the Findlay Resevoirs, also a park area. It's bigger than I remember! 

Some llamas en route to the Resevoirs. 

On one of our outings we swung by the little red schoolhouse on 236 and 568 - interestingly, you have to almost trample the tulips to get a glimpse inside. More interestingly, the hand pump in the front of the schoolhouse still works! Though with all the brownwater reports around Findlay, who knows the safety of the source! 

This is a shot of Katman looking out of the front window at the new, strange, porch-swing. 

This, finally, is the Backyard Bunny. Unfortunately, we noticed a very young and very dead offspring just next to the back deck.  

So, I had a long weekend. Since it's difficult to take a quick trip from here - requiring a 2 hour drive to an airport, then a few hours' flight, then a 5+ hour drive to my favorite locations out West, I decided to take a road trip. Except there were storms across the northeastern US. So I drove north to Ontario, Canada, and through that province eastward to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. I made a quick stop at the souvenir shop to pick up some sweets for the girls who were cat-sitting for me. I didn't think such a high cheese factor existed outside of Las Vegas. However, it does, and is very much alive in Niagara Falls. I didn't take any photos of the main tourist strip, because I didn't stop there - but it was filled with hard rock cafe, wax-museum, souvenir kitch gone mad. 

Niagara Falls via drive-by shooting. I opted not to pay $15 to park.....