July | 2026 | Dunngone's Photos and Blog

Physical misfortunes continue, but somehow my body survives. As a refresher, a few weeks ago I suffered extensor tendonitis in the left foot. And then, some seven or eight weeks ago, I incurred a pulled groin muscle on the right side. Not to be outdone, on Sunday afternoon, July 18, I had a bicycle accident and fractured a rib (#7) on the left side. Breathing, coughing, and sneezing were pretty painful the first few days. But I returned to golf and pickleball towards the end of July, grossly out of practice and stamina.

Kay continues physical therapy for the back of her knees, and it is helping greatly as she is almost pain free.

Otherwise, we continue living the retirement life here in Hot Springs Village.

Having stated that, our irrigation system has been out all spring and summer, and after several attempts to repair it, the intake pump was replaced at a cost of about $2200. A lesson learned is that we should’ve connected to HSV water and not messed with the lake.

I did manage a few photos of insects using the pollinator garden. On Thursday, July 16, 2026, a Southern Brokendash, a Horace’s Duskywing, and a Hoary Edge Skipper were photographed.

Also, photographed was a Slaty Skimmer dragonfly.

However, the star of the day was a Snowberry Clearwing moth, aka Hummingbird moth.

A Pipevine Swallowtail and American Lady joined the usuals on Friday, July 17, 2026.

And the first Thread-waisted Wasp of the season was observed.

And then on July 23, 2026, a Great Spangled Fritillary and a Common Buckeye were photographed.

Lastly, a menagerie of flying insects were photographed on July 29, 2026, including a Common Green Darner dragonfly, a Fiery Skipper butterfly, a Slaty Skimmer dragonfly, a Variegated Fritillary butterfly, a Clouded Skipper, and a Horace’s Duskywing Skipper.

Also, a Thread-waisted Wasp was seen nectaring on the Tick Seed flower blooms.

Stay tuned in the next few days for the beginning of our next big adventure, “The Best of Ireland: The Coast, the Countryside and Dublin”.

The Hot Springs Village area is undergoing above average temperatures, and the temperatures when combined with high humidity make it very uncomfortable to work or play outside. Nevertheless, Ridge stayed over and continued working for us on Wednesday, July 1, and returning home on Thursday. His main job was to excavate around the irrigation pipe running from the “in lake” pump to the electronic control box. In addition, he trimmed around all the Crepe Myrtles, and power washed the deck, patio, and front sidewalk. He was a great help.

Kay began physical therapy on Thursday, July 2, and goes twice a week for her knees (doctor says it arthritis), and the PT has really helped. She is almost pain free as of this writing.

The 4th of July weekend was much like any other weekend as the overbearing heat kept us close to the air conditioner. We did take time to watch a few pickleball games at Diamanté.

The weekend of July 11-12 was all about basketball. Ridge had two games on Saturday, and then another four on Sunday. He played exceptionally well, and his team won the championship.

Kay began her shuttle “service” for the central Arkansas grandkids on Wednesday, July 15. Their father was out of town on business and their mother was going in several other directions.

The pollinator garden continues to attract butterflies, but butterfly numbers are way down this year, at least for us. There its very little variety in species as most of what is being seen are the usual.

Only one butterfly was photographed on Thursday, July 2, and it was a Southern Cloudywing.

And three dragonfly species were photographed.

And then on Friday and Saturday of Independence Day weekend, a Great Spangled Fritillary stopped by long enough for several photographs.

On Monday, July 6, a Common Buckeye and a Northern Brokendash were observed.

A Hoary Edge Skipper was the only butterfly photographed on Tuesday, July 7.

Wednesday, ,July 8, was a big day photographically speaking. Friend Dan and I traveled to near Hope, Arkansas, to the Bois D’Arc Wildlife Management Area to “shoot” some Egrets. There was a Cattle Egret rookery near the shoreline of the namesake lake, and birds were seemingly everywhere.