Terribly sorry!

I'm sorry I've been gone so long!

But as you can see, I was held hostage by malicious kitties!

Elphie LOVES these recycled shopping bags.

Oh, who am I kidding? She loves anything she can climb into.

D was quite fond of Ginger when he came over, but I'm afraid the feeling is not mutual.

SURPRISE!! Next to the secret rosebushes are some SECRET STRAWBERRIES! Sssshhh, little mouse, don't tell the big hungry bear!

Elphie, devising her Grand Escape...

... and playing it cool.

My Mona Lisa Stargazers! They started peeking open just before we left for Chicago.

Don't they look shy?

A random statue in Chicago, and me impersonating them.

Look at all those lilies!!

Gorgeous! (Not me. The flowers.)

These are all Chicago lilies, not out of my garden.

This one kind of looks like a spider lily.

Love it.

This one's for Anna. "Real Pirates"!

And these bird ones are for Mom. :)

Canada geese!

A speckled seagull.

Such a STRANGE statue/fountain outside of the Shedd Aquarium.

We love illusions.

Another birdie.

My new buddy at the Shedd.

Modeling the sweater I bought. (They didn't have any mirrors, so I had to see how they looked via the camera.)

These fishies have totally huge foreheads.

The skyline.

THIS THING IS A TOTAL FOSSIL! I'm pretty sure he's been around since he crawled out of the primordial ooze just moments before what turned out to be humans. Look at that tail!!

And that totally creepy mouth!! He's a snapping turtle of some kind.

Cute little chameleon.

Yaaaay Art Institute!

Sad Indian. Dan has bookends that are (definitely smaller) copies of this.

I love the lion. When it comes time for Christmas gifts, please remind Dan that I would love the figurine of the lion that was at the gift shop. ;)

The Bean!!

Gotta love the wacky reflection shots.

Beautiful weather for our trip to Millenium Park.

I'm pretty sure there would have been trouble if the uptight people inside the Cultural Center had seen this.

Gooorgeous.

Beautiful!

And now back to our garden!

Happy Returns. :)

And THIS is Siloam Double Classic! Yay for her!

Isn't she purty? She's my first double!

And here are my Mona Lisa Stargazers open!

July flowers?

June tornadoes bring July flowers?

My tigerlilies! (Their actual name is hemerocallis fulva, or common roadside lily. I just love them. I need more.)

An artistic shot.

These babies are still going crazy! I've decided I need more orientals in my garden, because they actually stay open and continue to bloom, while the daylilies (as their name suggests) are only open for a day each.

The third branch was going yesterday.

I can't remember if the back plant is my Little Italy or the dark red one, but it's sending up shoots, whatever it is!

This phlox is budding and just about ready to be purty!

Speaking of sending up shoots, my hostas are ready to roll!

The hibiscus is blooming again.

This Outback Paper Flower is just so unusual!

And my portulaca, trying desperately to overgrow its planter.

GOOD NEWS!!

While we were in Maine, I got a text message from Melissa, who found Pevensie outside of work with me. She adopted her!! So now my sweet little thing has a good home and I can hope to see her again!

Melissa said she's really not a cat person, but she couldn't resist this sweet little thing.

She really is just a doll.

And it nearly killed me to take her to the humane society. She was shaking and I was crying and it was really just a big disaster.

Also, our vacation was a blast. Maine is gorgeous.

We snuck around in the bushes by the ocean.

The Owl's Head Lighthouse says NO TRESPASSING!

This is the view from the restaurant we had lunch at one day. Delish.

Chuck spotted this boat, and I had to take a picture. ;)

LOBSTERS! They're nasty little creatures.

Dan made a friend.

...and so did I.

Look at that water!

The rocks at the Pemaquid Point lighthouse were sooo cool.

That's the Pemaquid Point light in the background.

The sound of the waves is so soothing.

This is the Breakwater, another lighthouse. The actual light isn't nearly as impressive as the huge granite stones you walk on to get there. It's like a mile out into the ocean.

This looks like a pirate ship! And the flowers in the foreground are pretty cool.

The "sunset" off of the World War I memorial tower on Mount Battie.