Fear Nothing (Dreadnought)

 

September is slipping on by!

 Fear not, you now have a new blog post from me...

You will never guess what I just learned recently...you know I will tell you! Richard likes to look at guitars (after all he is an excellent guitarist, don't you know) and he was explaining the different kinds of guitars to me. One that he mentioned was a "dreadnought" guitar, which is an acoustic guitar that has a larger body and a squared shoulder shape with a strong bass. I looked it up!  It was first developed by C.F. Martin & Company in 1916. Now, here is the thing that really startled me - it is named after a British battleship.  It was the HMS Dreadnought, launched in 1906 that only used big guns and therefore, had a much larger shape. Looking further the word "dreadnought" had been around since the 17th century and it means "fear nothing".

 Just as a side note here, whenever we played Monopoly, I always wanted to be "the ship"! It was easy to hold onto, and I liked the idea of sailing around the board! My sister was always the dog, and my brother liked the car. Which one did you prefer? I think I read that they did away with the thimble. Shame, that is the one I got if someone else got the ship.

 I have a video (again) for you! Since I wrote my last post with the Turtles video, YouTube popped up with a video of the lead singer saying that they wrote "Eleanore" as a parody of "So Happy Together" just because the publishing company pressured them into making another hit.  I had no idea! Funny thing, even though it was written tongue in cheek, they are all so good, it DID become a huge hit for them. (Looking back, using the word "etcetera" is a bit cheeky but hey, I was just a kid in 1968, I thought it was just a really good song. We had the single and we played it over and over, along with "Hey Jude", which was also a big hit at the time.) I LOVE this video. The bandmember with the wild, wooly hair is Mark Volman, the one who just passed away recently. I love the wild abandon that he displays on the stage. It is fun to see! The lead singer, Howard Kaylen has such a great voice, and the drumming by John Barbata is spot-on, don't you think? (Sadly, only Howard Kaylen is still with us, the drummer died in 2024.) Remember when you watch the video, that this was performed LIVE and that just really shows you how great they were!

I found a short clip of "Who Do You Think You Are" with Richard Osman.  I urge you to look at YouTube and see the whole episode which is about an hour long. It is so good! You will thank me after you have watched it. (I wish I could meet his mother!)  Richard Osman is very successful as an author (you remember he has written "The Thursday Murder Club" books) but has been known in the UK for a long time as a popular TV Game show creator and host.  If you get the chance, search out the one called "Richard Osman's House of Games".  It is very well done, very funny and most entertaining. He is just so doggone nice! Watch him and see if you don't agree with me.  

Also, he has a new book that will be released this month, Sept. 30th in the USA.   It is "The Impossible Fortune". Note: The book was released on Sept. 25th in the UK. New book releases are on Tuesdays in the United States while they are released on Thursdays in the UK. See the things you learn from me?

September and that means, beautyberry! Those bright purple berries don't even look real, but they are. It is a native and even the leaves are gorgeous. It is also time for the "hearts a busting" to show the bright seeds for us... also a native!

                             Statue in middle of a roundabout in Old Town Conyers, Georgia.

I just looked at my blog title: "Fear Nothing (Dreadnought)". That is actually pretty good advice. Now, if only I can follow it myself...

Hope you are all doing well, my friends.  Take care. 

 

Happy Together/Penny Lane

 

It seems we are losing so many of our well-known songwriters/singers these days. Some are more well known than others. Mark Volman just died yesterday in Nashville at the age of 78.  May in rest in peace and love. You might not know the name, but he was one of the founding members of the Turtles.  One of their biggest hits was " Happy Together" from 1967.  I found a very good video of this song, and I hope you can see it above.  (It begins with the band in silhouette at the beginning and ends the same way.) Mark Volman is the one with the glasses and frizzy hair and to me, seems to be "the funny one". He plays around a bit when he is at the microphone with the lead singer, Howard Kaylen).  Reading about him, it seems that I am correct, he had a lot of joy in his work and life. (Also, look up the song "Eleanore". We had that single as kids in 1968 and almost wore it out!)

The Turtles were unusual at the time as they could not only write their own songs and play their own instruments, but they also covered other songs and made them into hit records. "Happy Together" had been rejected by so many that the demo was worn out and very scratchy.  The Turtles could hear the potential and decided to take a chance. Aren't we glad they did! It went to number one and knocked "Penny Lane" by the Beatles off the top of the charts. ("Penny Lane" only reached number two on the charts in the UK.  this is a fact that some Beatles fans still can't get over!)

"If I should call you up, invest a dime" refers to putting a thin dime into a pay phone in the 1960's.  I guess we will have to explain this to several generations now, but no one has to explain it to me, I remember this very well! 

Thinking of "Penny Lane", I must tell you that every time I see a fire truck on the road, I almost always sing, "He likes to keep his fire engine clean, it's a clean machine!" which of course, is from the song "Penny Lane"!   Americans say "fire trucks" but if you look on the side of the vehicle it will inform you that it is in fact ENGINE # 347 (or whatever number it is). So, now you know that we say fire trucks here but in the UK they call them fire engines.

Oh, I found the best video for you! It is Elvis Costello, and he is performing the song at the White House.  (Sir Paul McCartney is seated beside President Obama). You can feel the love and respect in this performance, I promise.

Now. "Happy Together".... listen to it.  You will either be singing along or tapping your foot, same thing for "Penny Lane".  They are both wonderful songs.

September is here!  I always have a spring in my step in September! I mustn't be too sprightly though; I might step on a butterfly! Watch out for butterflies and all living creatures.  Take care everyone.

August-All the World A Garden

 

Recently, just over 6 1/2 inches of rain fell in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It happened very quickly and took everyone by surprise.  There was a video of a woman being rescued from her car on I-24. (It was a young man who worked for a power company, and he was able to break the window and pull her to safety.) I hope you can see the video that I have for you above. This brought tears to my eyes. What a hero! (One of his co-workers handed him that heavy tool from their truck, he said afterward he will always carry a hammer in his vehicle now just for this purpose!)

If anyone remembers, our son and daughter-in-law live in Chattanooga and they are fine, but you know I always watch the news very carefully for that area!

The news of the floods and wildfires and now, an impending hurricane...there is always so much to watch out for! 

It has been so incredibly hot that it has been hard to think.  We try to get out as early as we can before the sun heats everything to the boiling point. (My brain included.) Still, it's good for the butterflies!

The first photo is on my zinnias which are in pots at my house and the second photo are of two butterflies on a butterfly bush at the Monastery. You know Richard took the Monastery one!

The Monastery gets so many visitors they are building a new block of restrooms. The thought and design behind this building is much appreciated. When we saw they were clearing trees, we asked what was coming, so that is how we know. If you don't know, ask! 

This isn't finished yet, but I just know it will be lovely and will look as if it has always been there. I love the arched doorways and the copper gutters and downspouts.  Can you tell that I am interested in architecture? It's true, I am! I am not that knowledgeable about it; I am never sure what things are called but I just know what I like. 

We just took care of a zebra finch for a dear friend. We just decided to bring the caged bird to our house to make it easier since we had her for almost two weeks. I called her "Beepy". If you have ever heard a zebra finch, you will know why! We love birds and we have put out fresh water for our wild birds so much, we told this caged bird that she was welcome at our "bird spa"! We have a bird clock that has bird calls on the hour and this little finch liked the 7 o'clock hour, that is the Carolina wren song. Maybe it was the loudest? Not sure, only that she responded the most to that one.

I think I have told you before that if you see a lot of blue at the bottom of the wing of the tiger swallowtail butterfly, it is a female. So- looking good, girl! 

We go for years without seeing any blooms on our night blooming cereus cactus, but this summer, we had a total of four flowers! As the name tells you, they only bloom at night, opening in full at about midnight and they begin to close as soon as the sun rises.  My Aunt Leona gave us this plant in 1994. Richard lugs it into the garage every single winter. (St. Richard!) 

As you can see, we haven't been away very much.  Still, I enjoy the adventures of others through my blog!  In my dreams, I have been to Yorkshire with Meike...From My Mental Library: Ripon 2025 - Day 8

And thanks to Bob, I am thinking and learning more of Scotland!  Alex and Bob`s Blue Sky Scotland: Levengrove Park and The Havoc Grasslands Walk.

And can you believe it, BOTH of these bloggers made a reference to "The Secret Garden", one of my favorite books.  I hope you love it as much as I do.  If you have not read it, do so, right away. You're welcome. 

"If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden".

There Will Be Butterflies (And Beatles and Bee Gees!)

 

Happy August to all my friends! 

I hope you are able to see the video that I have above for you! It is a clip of The Bee Gees from a TV show called "The Midnight Special" that used to come on very late at night (or early hours of the morning, technically.) This was from 1973.  The Bee Gees had had a bit of a slump in their career, so they decided to perform these songs by the Beatles. Of course, they are wonderful!  Enjoy.

Red Admiral Butterfly!   (Vanessa Atalanta)

 It is a medium sized butterfly with black wings, red bands and white spots. The first time that we saw this butterfly, Richard identified it immediately. It is also in England! Why is it called "Admiral"?  The word just became that over the years; it was really called the Red "Admirable"! Language is interesting that way. Now, whenever you meet up with this butterfly, you should look at it and think, you certainly are deserving of admiration.  (Hard to get a photo of it, it was a very fast flier.)

Viceroy Butterfly (Limenitis Archippus). 

It is a North American butterfly, and it is a mimic of the Monarch butterfly.  Many say that it is hard to tell them apart, but I will tell you how to do so.  The Viceroy is about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches in size and the Monarch is 3 1/2 to 5 inches.  So, the Monarch is much bigger! Now, if the butterfly opens its wings, look for that black line across the bottom of the wings. See it in the photo above? That is certainly a Viceroy! (The Monarch does not have this.)

The above small brown butterfly might not seem very colorful or exciting, but we were so pleased to see it! We had never seen it before, and it took a while to identify it. (Richard did so from our book, "Butterflies of North America".  We do a lot of searches on our computer but sometimes, it is just good to thumb through a book.) It is a Northern Pearly Eye butterfly! (Lethe Anthedon) Pearly eyes are grouped under "Pearly-eyes and Browns".  All pearly eyes and browns are brown, medium sized butterflies.  Pearly eyes have the hindwing spots surrounded as a group with white. Browns have a white circle around EACH eye-spot.  Okay, got that now?  Tee hee, you do not want to know how long I studied Richard's photo and the photos in my book and online.  Really, you don't! The pearly eye caterpillar feeds on canes and other grasses and I was pleased to recognize the river cane under the bridge on the trail, very close to this butterfly! (Thank you, Phil who told us about river cane on a hike at Panola Mountain State Park one time.  I ♥ park rangers!)

We also saw a Red Spotted Purple butterfly on this trail. 

(Limenitis Arthemis)

Just to confuse us, it has beautiful blue wings with orange spots!  

All of these butterflies are unlikely to be in your garden. All pictured here were in a wetlands area, near a little stream on the trail at Johnson Park, here in Rockdale County, Georgia.   This particular part of the trail is next to a big stand of trees.  They do not feed on nectar from flowers but rather from tree sap, rotting fruit and even animal dung. 

I was going to end my post just there but how can I end it on "animal dung"?  No, I will tell you about the butterflies that visit us that do eat the nectar from flowers but that will have to wait until another post.  All the flower loving butterflies like the Gulf Fritillary above have really enjoyed the zinnias in our garden. I am so very happy to tell you that I planted them from seed! I want to tell the world, "plant zinnia seeds!".  There, let me say again, "plant zinnia seeds" and the butterflies will come, I promise. 

Butterflies  = happiness!

McDonough Meteorite

 

Remember me telling you about the meteorite in June that crashed into the roof of a house in Henry County, Georgia?  Here is a link to more information about it....

https://www.11alive.com/article/tech/science/mcdonough-meteorite-explains-georgia-bolide/85-7283d194-c93b-4a73-8ed7-f2e523fdce5d

Meteorite!

I found this very interesting! Just imagine the speed that this was going when it crashed into the house. The owner said they are still picking dust out of the furniture from it!  One thing and I know that in the scheme of things, no one else will really care but if they do end up calling this meteorite, the McDonough meteorite, I do hope that they will say the town name correctly.  On the news, it is pronounced "MICK- dunna".  The locals have always said "Mick-donna".  Just a slight difference perhaps but it hurts my ears to hear it incorrectly! 

No meteorites in Rockdale County but we do have butterflies! If only they would be still long enough for me to take a few photos for you.

Richard should have some good photos for you! Look out for another post soon!  

Sailing/Luna Moth

 Hello, my friends. How are you all doing? Sailing along through the summer? Well, Wimbledon is over, and I can't help but feel sad.  I enjoy the tennis (what I had time to watch) but honestly, it was the brief glimpses they would give us of London that would make me sit up and pause the TV and admire whatever scene they chose to give us. Sometimes, it was Buckingham Palace, Elizabeth Tower, Tower Bridge, or the view of the Thames with all the new modern buildings. What a city! 

Just before Wimbledon, the Brits had the Glastonbury Festival.  It is a musical festival that has taken place since 1970 on 900 acres in Somerset, which is in Southwest England. This year it was from June 25 through June 29.  Reading some of the reviews, it seemed that many criticized Sir Rod Stewart. Say what?  What is wrong with people? Don't you know a good entertainer when you see one? I really liked the video of him singing the song "Sailing". 

"Sailing" was written by Gavin and Iain Sutherland, two brothers from Scotland. In the words of Gavin... " The song has nothing to do with romance or ships. It's an account of mankind's spiritual odyssey through life on his way to freedom and fulfillment with the Supreme Being.".  There, isn't songwriting fascinating?  You all know I think so.

And LIVE AID was on July 13, 1985! So, gee whiz, that was 40 years ago now.  The most memorable thing for me was Freddie Mercury with Queen, what a performance, don't you agree?

Oh, and those scenes from London? I forgot to mention St. Paul's Cathedral!  This is NOT from the TV screen, it is a photo that Richard took one year that we were there. The area around St. Paul's has changed so very much! 

On a walk recently at Panola Mountain State Park, Richard spotted this moth beside the trail resting on a tree.  He did very well to see this, it was well camouflaged.  It is a Luna moth and it is very special to see one.  The Luna Moth only lives from 7-10 days and it does not eat. It has no mouth or digestive system, living off whatever was eaten in the pupal stage. The Luna Moth is nocturnal and since they are attracted by lights, you are more likely to see it in a parking lot or on a tennis court, for example. (Which is the only other time that we saw one. Christopher was about ten years old taking tennis lessons. He was astonished that hardly anyone else noticed this bright green moth, with a 4 inch wingspan!)

Male Luna moths have bushy antennae while the female have much thinner antennae. So, is the one we saw male or female?  Looking at photos, I can't tell.  Anybody want to guess? And you have to look very closely but it is missing the long bits hanging down...what do you call them?  Those bits must have been taken off by a predator. You all must be mightily impressed by my scientific wording, "those bits", but if you understand what I mean, well, that's what it's all about isn't it? 

Trying to walk every day in this heat is tricky. We have to be out very early and even then, it is hot. Very!  Wish us luck, we just keep sailing along.

 

Rod Stewart at The Royal Albert Hall from 2004! Enjoy!

Wouldn't It Be Nice/Wimbledon

 

While I was watching the Capitol 4th on PBS, I was pleased to hear the Beach Boys as the final act! Just to hear those opening notes of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" brought me joy but THEN, the lead singer had such a great, strong vocal.  (I wonder if that might have been Christian Love, Mike Love's son? Does anyone know?) Anyway, I thought it sounded wonderful. I have the video for you above! Enjoy!

The Championships, Wimbledon!  Hasn't it been interesting? I really loved the story of Carlos Alcaraz taking a water bottle from his own bag to someone in the stands who had a medical problem. Isn't he just the nicest guy? And a pretty darn good tennis player too, I know but honestly, I appreciate his kindness.  Have you noticed the members of the British military in the background at Wimbledon? I guessed they must be used for security reasons. I looked it up and that is correct. (They also help people to their seats, make sure mobile phones are switched off and help with any medical emergency.) When the Championships were resumed in 1946 after World War II, they had military personnel direct people to their seats around the bomb damage! (Wimbledon had been heavily bombed.) Since that time, the servicemen and women have been unpaid volunteers. This year, there are just over 450 military personnel. So, now you know! 

Also, there is a song that they keep playing on our TV coverage here during Wimbledon. Did anyone else pay attention to that?

It is "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand.  Here is a video.... if you can't view my video, you can look it up yourself! You know you want to!

Wimbledon is still going on and no one knows for sure who will be "taken out", that is what makes it so much fun! You can predict all you like but in sports, you just never know....

Hope you all remembered to say "peace and love" at noon on July 7th.  Ringo Starr always asks this for his birthday. He turned 85 yesterday. Bless him! Richard and I got to see him in concert in Nashville with our son and daughter-in-law in 2023. Best anniversary gift ever, Christopher and Sarah! Thank you!

Zinnias from seeds that I planted! Took FOREVER for them to come up and they are tiny flowers but hey, the butterflies don't mind!