Yesterday, we had a pair of opossums visit our yard at 11am. Bold creatures. We have been seeing them quite frequently lately, but typically in the evening and after sunset. And this would be the partner in crime, below. Broke one of my young prized shrubs, he did. Can you see the guilty look on his face? Yeah, neither can I.

Annie, I would so love to go romping in the woods like I was in my youth finding those Indian Pipes. We kids were so fascinated with them. An older boy scout told us that they would poison us if touched. We took the dare and lived to tell about it. The Great Golden Digger Wasp on the Butterfly Weed is back this year. Quite an interesting character this gardeners friend is. .

At 8am and 2 degrees, he is out there "tending to my babies" as he puts it. Notice, no gloves. He scrubbed the bath and the rock for the little birds in it and refilled it with fresh water too...no gloves.

Such beautiful black cats....I love them, although I no longer have any. I content myself with petting my friends' cats, LOL. Our last black cat, now long-gone for almost a decade, was a Burmese mix. One of the largest, longest short-haired cats I've ever seen. When he went up on his hind legs, he could easily touch the top of a 36-inch high kitchen cart with his front paws. One day he was lying on our Chinese rug, stretched out fully, and I caught him in full-length mode. It looks fake, but he really was big - a full 16.5 lbs.