Friday through Friday, August 1-31, 2025—Weather!

Posted on August 31, 2025 by dunngone

The first three weeks of August were hot and humid before cool weather made its way to the area. Despite the heat, we engaged in our regular activities. Interestingly, if one looks at our calendar, it is filled with pickleball, golf, haircuts/beauty appointments, and social activities for Kay. We did get to spend time with our Maumelle kids and grandkids, both at a soccer game and during their visit over Labor Day weekend. Also, the pollinator garden is paying dividends as I was able to make photos of butterflies and dragonflies at will.

I spent a great deal of time working on VLOGs (video logs) of our trip to France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Switzerland in late June and July. The last VLOG, “Trier Highlights, and Cochem, Reichsburg, and the Moselle Valley”, seemingly took forever as it incorporated a number of videos along with still photos, maps, etc. These can be viewed on YouTube; just search for DunnGone.

Rather than bore you with ALL the photos shot on August 1, 5, 6, 9, 10, 17, 20, 22, and 27, here are a few photos representing the yard visitors. Each group is in a “gallery” but just click or double click on a particular image to enlarge it.

On Friday, August 1, a Painted Lady, Dun Skipper, Fiery Skipper, Prairie Lizard, several dragonflies, and a Silver-spotted Skipper were photographed.

And then on Tuesday, August 5, a dragonfly and a couple of butterflies (Common Buckeye and Little Yellow) were photographed.

On Wednesday, August 6, a few more skippers showed up.

A Strawberry Clearwing moth, aka butterfly moth, was buzzing around and a Giant Swallowtail made a first time visit on Saturday, August 9.

Another “big” swallowtail (a black version of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail) showed up on Sunday, August 10, along with a Pearl Crescent, Little Yellow, and Halloween Pennant dragonfly.

A week later, Sunday, August 17, a dragonfly, Ruby-throated hummingbird, a little brown kipper, and a Sulphur were photographed.

Friday, August 22, was a special day in as much as a female Diana Fritillary showed up. This rare butterfly (Arkansas state butterfly) has been cherished by people who chase butterflies. It’s the middle top photo. Also, a damselfly, little brown skipper, and “gold” dusted bee were photographed.

On Wednesday, August 27, I celebrated my 76th birthday. It was a relatively quiet day, and the central Arkansas kids and grandkids took us out to dinner. Another highlight of the day was that it was perhaps the best “butterfly” day in the pollinator garden this season. A fresh Monarch, a Summer Azure, and a Strawberry Clearwing moth were photographed, but several other species were observed.

Saturday through Thursday, June 14-26, 2025—Welcome Summer 2025

Posted on June 26, 2025 by dunngone

Rain, early in the reporting period—Saturday through Tuesday—pretty much kept us house bound upon our return from eastern Virginia. And the down time was needed. We found the gardens had prospered in our absence. A great boat ride Wednesday evening around Balboa Lake with the Andersons, and hosted by the Nobles, was a great respite from the heat that had entered our area. Thursday was another quite day spent mostly inside. Finally, we both were ready for pickleball on Friday, June 20, the first day of Summer 2025. The weather was a bit disruptive, with temperatures hovering in the low 90s and the humidity about the same, i.e. low 90s. I was soaking wet after playing a couple of hours. A quick walk around the pollinator garden revealed only three species of butterflies: Common Buckeye, Fiery Skipper, and Delaware Skipper. However, the Delaware Skipper was a first time visitor to the yard/garden, making it the 14th species observed this season (2025), and the 42nd species observed since I started recording last year.

Also, a couple of wildflower blooms were recorded.

Also, dragonflies were plentiful—a great way to start summer.

Saturday was basketball day with two games in Cabot. Regrettably, Ridge did not get to play much (9th grade team), but his team played well against significantly more height.

Apparently a heat dome has settled in for a good portion of the US, and we’re right on the edge with heat advisories almost every day. That means staying inside as much as possible—not something desirable for us folks that like being outside. We attended church Sunday morning for the first time in three weeks having been out of town. Our new pastor begins his term next week, but we’ll miss his first three services; are we off on another adventure?

Kay played pickleball twice on Monday while I lazed about the house, piddling with photo and computer gear. Truth be told, I just can’t get in the mood for any outside activities with this high heat and humidity (the humidity was 95% early Monday morning). And, of course, that just fuels bouts of depression! I did print a couple of photos after not having used the printer for some six months, and it performed just fine.

Friday through Saturday, May 23-31, 2025—Butterflies, Dragonflies, Damselflies, and a Dance Recital

Posted on May 31, 2025 by dunngone

Kay and I are in full swing with golf and pickleball; she plays golf a couple times a week and pickleball three or four times a week, and I play golf three times a week and pickleball four times a week. In as much as it doesn’t occupy all of our time, we’re usually too sore and tired to do much of anything else.

Our Memorial Day weekend consisted of pickleball on Friday and Saturday, followed by a visit of the Maumelle kids (Karyn, Ridge, and Aker) on Sunday. Of course the kids had to play pickleball and take a trip to the beach.

Tuesday evening was “Hand and Foot” night at the Starr’s as seven couples played after heavy hors d’oeuvres, Both our teams won a little bit of money.

Wednesday, May 28, was a busy day for the both of us. Kay played golf in the morning, while I photographed at home, Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area, home again, and then I played pickleball followed by having the car serviced in the late afternoon. The first photo session at home proved to be a good one as several “first of season” (FOS) butterflies visited the garden: Common Buckeye, Horace’s Duskywing, Little Glassywing, and Fiery Skipper.

Even dragonfly appeared long enough for a photograph

And then, my FOS Diana Fritillaries were observed at Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area.

Not many other species of butterflies were observed, but Common Buckeyes, Eastern Tailed-blues, Little Wood-Satyr, and Hoary Edge Skipper.

Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area is still producing nice wildflower blooms.

And then, back at the house, an Orange Sulphur was observed.

Also, an Eastern Amberwing dragonfly was seen near the lakeshore.

On Thursday, a few dragonfly and damselfly species were observed near the lakeshore at home: Common Green Darner Dragonfly, Eastern Amberwing Dragonfly and Slender Bluet Damselflies sharing a stick-up, a Variable Dancer Damselfly, and a Black-shouldered Spinyleg Dragonfly.

And the pollinator garden was quite active. Below are photographs of a Dun Skipper, Hoary Edge Skipper, Tawny-edged Skipper, and Southern Brokendash Skipper.

And then on Friday, more FOS butterfly species showed up at the garden including first time visitors Diana Fritillary and Hackberry Emperor.

Not to be outdone, a Tufted Titmouse took advantage of the bird bath for a good soaking.

After pickleball Saturday morning, Kay and I drove to the Memphis area to attend Sutton and Harper’s dance recital. They were both beautiful and amazing, and growing up entirely too fast!

We returned home on Sunday, tired but playing a few holes of golf to end the month.

Thursday through , May 1-15, 2025—Butterfly Garden and Springtime, i.e. Windy and Rainy

Posted on May 15, 2025 by dunngone

The first couple weeks of May have been beset with wind and rain, and generally mild temperatures, making gardening and photography difficult.

On April Fools’ Day, Thursday, our Green Heron hung out by the dock for a while, and allowed a few portraits to be made. The bird looks so funny with its crest sticking up. It was intent on catching small fish for breakfast.

Kay spent most of the day assisting with preparations for the United Women of Faith (UWF, formerly United Methodist Women) from our church prepare for the annual garage sale. It’s a BIG deal, and over $20,000 is raised each year for deserving charities. I played a pretty decent game of golf at Magellan golf course. Also on Thursday, a gardener removed leaves from the from beds, trimmed all the shrubs in the yard, and planted four azaleas.

Kay worked as one of the cashiers for the UWF garage sale on Friday, and I played pickleball at Diamante. Pickleball was a blast with a number of really good games.

The gardener returned on Saturday and placed mulch on the front beds, and removed gravel to expand the butterfly garden. Removing the gravel really saved my back! Six bags of top soil were dumped in the newly cleared garden. Last year’s garden, though smaller, attracted 41 species.

After a trip to Home Depot Sunday morning, more top soil was added to the butterfly garden, and butterfly and hummingbird friendly flowers were planted. While it looks good, it is till relatively bare until even more flowers are planted and all the flowers mature. That will also help control weeds.

Kay and I both played pickleball on Monday morning; she played at Diamante and I played at the POA courts on the west side.

A few bird photos were made on Tuesday morning, and our Tuesday golf game was held to nine holes because of rain; and, it did rain the entire nine holes.

Kay played golf on Wednesday morning, and had a good round. Meanwhile, I observed a lone Great Blue Heron pausing on a neighbor’s dock, offering a “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” photograph.

Without any planned golf or pickleball I began a new project, a dust collection cart for the workshop. Anytime woodworking power tools are used, sawdust envelopes just about every surface in the garage. I acquired the components to build a dust collection system, and it worked well. However, it was not very mobile. Consequently a dust collection cart was designed and built using limited lumber and various available items. The cart was designed to be mobile and hold the vacuum cleaner and the dust collector and bucket. Parts of the next few days (when temperatures were cool in the garage) were devoted to building the cart. Rather than go into a lengthy and verbose description of the process, here’s a photo of the end result. There are still a couple of items to be added such as a “box” on the bottom shelf to hold vacuum cleaner parts.

The Book Club May meeting rolled around on Thursday, May 8, and I played a poor game of golf.

A competitive round of pickleball was played on Friday morning. I’m almost too old to be competing with the “youngsters” playing in the group. Kay celebrated Mother’s Day having dinner with her kids and their families Friday evening (I had a queazy tummy and remained home).

Kay and I both played pickleball Saturday morning, and enjoyed a quiet Mother’s Day Sunday.

Pickleball was again the activity of the day on Monday with Kay and I both playing in the morning with our respective groups. And then our resident Green Heron posed for photographs on the shoreline while “fishing”.

A successful visit to the cardiologist on Tuesday morning was followed by yet another poor game of golf in the afternoon. For some reason, I seem to be topping the ball with all the clubs—it’s got to be caused by lifting the body up on the front swing! Kay is correct when calling golf the devil’s game.

Kay played golf on Wednesday morning and took the opportunity to capture a few birds in the back yard. I played the pickleball ladder at Diamante in the afternoon. Kay played bridge Wednesday evening.

Even a damselfly was photographed.

On Thursday, I finally broke out of the weeklong golf slump, and shot bogey golf on the back nine of Desoto golf course. Of course, luck had a lot to do with it!

And that wraps up our mundane first couple weeks of May 2025.

Wednesday through Wednesday, April 16-23, 2025—A Busy Lifestyle

Posted on April 23, 2025 by dunngone

Kay golfed Wednesday morning, though she did not have a great round, and I played the Diamante Pickleball Ladder in the afternoon, playing better than previously.

She then played pickleball with the Peaches at Diamante on Thursday morning, and I played golf with the guys on Thursday afternoon. Golf with these guys is always lots of fun. In fact, our Tuesday and Thursday golf games and Hole 19s are my favorite activities of the week!

Carolina Chickadees are one of the most popular subjects I photograph, and on Friday, April 18, one posed just long enough for a couple of portraits. (If you want to see more detail, just click on each photo.)

Saturday was without any planned activities, and after a couple of Ruby-throated Hummingbird photos,

a short excursion to Middle Fork Barrens was in order. Many of the target wildflowers were in the final days of their bloom, a few butterflies flitted about, and even a dragonfly landed on a nearby stone.

Easter Sunday was uneventful, and then on Monday, it was back to our regular routines of pickleball—Kay at Diamante while I played at Desoto HSV courts.

A group of Spotted Sandpipers flew though across the lake on Tuesday morning, landing on a neighbor’s rocked bank. These are the first we’ve observed in the neighborhood.

Around lunch, we drove to Bald Knob to watch Ridge compete in a junior high track meet (he’s only in the 7th grade). Prior to the meet, Kay and I had footlong chili cheese slaw dogs at the Bulldog Cafe and Kay topped her’s off with their famous strawberry shortcake. The food was okay, but not near as good as we remember. At the track meet, Ridge did well and had good times, and we were delighted to visit with BIL Gerald and niece Lisa, who met us at the meet.

Kay played golf on Wednesday morning with the Duffers, and shot a really good game with great drives and putts. While she played golf, I took a few photos and then played in a couple of pickleball ladders at Diamante. We were both pretty tired Wednesday evening.

Monday through Monday, April 7-15—Back to Fun and Games

Posted on April 15, 2025 by dunngone

After bunches of rain, it began to dry on Sunday afternoon, allowing play on most golf courses and on the outdoor pickleball courts. Our “Old Men” group reformed and we played some challenging pickleball Monday morning at the DeSoto courts in the Village. It was obvious that a number of us were rusty, but got better as the morning progressed. After pickleball, we drove to Vilonia to watch Ridge participate in a track meet. That kid has a huge heart and outran the closest competitors in both the 4X100 and 4X400 relays despite being significantly behind when he received the baton running the last leg of both relays. While he didn’t win any of the dashes or hurdles, he made a good showing.

The golf courses were too wet—cart path only—resulting in most of our group cancelling Tuesday afternoon golf. On Wednesday morning, Kay played on a wet Coronado golf course; play was slow and tough. And at home, a few birds fed at the seed feeders, yielding photographs of mostly American Goldfinches with a Carolina Chickadee thrown in.

The Diamante Pickleball Ladder welcomed a full house on Wednesday afternoon with two times: 12 noon and 1 PM; I played both, some 7 or 8 games and while loads of fun, it wore me out. Kay also played after the grueling 9 holes of golf, and said she would never do the two on the same day again. And then on Wednesday evening we hosted a Hand and Foot tournament; Gary and Jolene, Janice and Harlan, Helen and Don, Bev and Ron, Marcia and Norm, and Kay and I played. No one was allowed to partner with their spouse. Janice and I came in 6th, but we’ll do better next time.

Kay did The Book Club on Thursday and I played golf. She followed up with pickleball on Friday afternoon while I played Saturday morning with some of my favorite people—Stephanie, Sue, and Gayle; it was like old times when the “Chicks” played everyday. Kay and I sure packed in a lot of activities this week. And then temperatures in the low 80s prompted a visit to Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area to chase butterflies and dragonflies. A few butterflies paused long enough for photos, but the wind kept most in the air.

No dragonflies were observed clinging to shrubs or limbs, or on the ground for that matter. A few wildflowers were evident, though the Fire Pink I was hunting could not be found.

We were both sore and tired from the week’s activities, but we wanted to play golf Sunday afternoon. Helen and Don Baggett joined us for a very windy nine holes at Grenada followed by dinner at the Granada Grill. Golf was painful, i.e. we both played poorly, food was good, and company was great!

Pickleball Monday was with the old men’s group at DeSoto. Don, Tom, Ed, and I played and had a great time. Kay played pickleball with her “Peaches” group at Diamante. Upon returning home, I took a few photos of birds in the back “yard”, and was happy to get two species that do not frequent the feeders: a Pine Siskin and a House Finch.

While Kay played pickleball Tuesday with the “Peaches” group at Diamante, I played golf at Magellan. It was not my best game, though the G&T afterwards was great.

Friday through Sunday Noon, March 28-30, 2025—Yard Work, Pollen, Spring Cleaning, and Wild Flowers

Posted on March 30, 2025 by dunngone

It’s late March in Arkansas and that means yard work and spring cleaning, blooming wildflowers, singing birds, and quite literally tons of pollen in the air!

Kay and I did a bit of weeding and shrub trimming on Friday, and now we’re waiting on warmer soil temperatures before planting flowers for hummingbirds and butterflies. And when the wind would blow huge clouds of pollen would blow off the pine trees. We wised up a few days ago and each of us began taking an Allegra everyday to lessen the impacts of the pollen on our allergies

We also worked a bit in the crawl space which we use for storage. That occupied an entire Saturday morning. It is packed full of Christmas decorations, gardening equipment; sporting goods; fishing rods, reels and tackle; now unneeded RV accessories; and loads of empty cardboard boxes. Two large waste bags were filled with useless stuff for garbage haul-off, and other items were identified and sorted for sale on Facebook marketplace or as donations for the large Women of Faith garage sale in early May. We hardly made a dent!

I ventured out to nearby Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area on Sunday, March 30, in search of white Trout Lilies. No such luck. However, other wildflowers were blooming, adding a bit of color to the mostly prairie floor.

Monday through Saturday, March 16-22, 2025—Wow, Spring has Sprung

Posted on March 22, 2025 by dunngone

Kay and I continue playing pickleball (her more than me) and golf when weather allows. Though our lives are not boring, there are no new adventures to report.

Good news; bad news. The good news is that wildflowers have begun blooming, but the bad news is that high winds have prevented most flower photography these first few days of spring. Nevertheless, with a high shutter speed, a few of the blooms have been photographed. Also, a few “new to us this season” birds have shown up at the feeders.

Grandson Ridge ran several races in a multi-school track meet on Monday, March 17, 2025. He placed first in all but one, and second in that one. Not only is he a great athlete, but he’s a great kid, too.

On the first day of Spring, Thursday, March 20, 2025, feeders in the back yard attracted enough birds to generate several photos. An American Goldfinch came in close enough for a portrait.

And then, a Purple Finch, the first I’ve photographed, landed in a nearby birch tree before coming in to feed. The immature female Finch didn’t hang around long though, and only came that one time.

More American Goldfinches visited the feeders, landing in the nearby birch tree. The tree seems to be a popular hangout for birds!

And finally, a Tufted Titmouse landed in the birch tree.

Wildflowers were the order of the day on Friday, March 21, 2025, despite heavy winds. The photographic quest for the day was a white Trout Lily spotted at Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area by good friend Dan. I walked the usual circuit twice trying to find one in bloom, but no luck because of cool temperatures. However, several other wildflower began blooming as the morning progressed towards noon.

And most surprising—and best of all—a Black Swallowtail butterfly flitted by and landed in the grass about 10 yards away. I began photographing it, approaching nearer and nearer with each burst of shots. The butterfly photographs made the almost two-mile walk worth it.

From Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area, I drove to Cedar Creek Trail in search of the more numerous yellow Trout Lily. Several other wildflower species presented blooms as noon arrived.

And finally, near the trail’s parking area, a few Trout Lilies began appearing, though sparsely, on the forest floor.

Sunday through Friday, February 16-28, 2025—Unseasonably Cold Temperatures and Winter Weather

Posted on February 28, 2025 by dunngone

Mid-February started off with cool temperatures and after only a couple of days, rain began, turning to sleet and snow. And, temperatures plunged to single digits. For four days, temperatures never exceeded freezing.

With us spending more time at home in Hot Springs Village, we are going to try and play more cards (Hand and Foot) and games. But for Hand and Foot particularly, we don’t have any of the accessories such as shuffler, “book of cards” holder, and deck tray. So, it was off to the shop to make the latter two. However, as a consequence of the brutally cold weather, only the first couple days of the reporting period (Sunday and Monday) were fit to do anything woodworking in the unheated shop. Nevertheless, 1x4x8’s were glued together, decorative edges cut, slots made, and supports attached. Sanding and application of several coats of polyurethane finished the process.

Tuesday morning, February 18, 2025, I braved the dropping temperatures and the beginning of frozen precipitation to “shoot” some birds.

American Goldfinches, Carolina Chickadees, and Tufted Titmice were frequent visitors to the seed feeders, and permitted a few photos to be made.

A lot of reading was done on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday during the day, and YouTube videos and a French detective series, Balthazar, were viewed in the evening. A gradual warmup began on Friday, February 21, 2025, with many of the roads and streets free enough of ice to be usable.

These are some of the photos taken on Sunday, February 23, 2025. American Goldfinches hoarded the feeders, but a Northern Cardinal and Carolina Chickadee slipped in for a seed or two.

On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, the “regulars” returned with lots of American Goldfinches, a few Carolina Chickadees, and a Tufted Titmouse using the feeders.

Wednesday, February 26, 2025, was a warm day, and though few birds came in to the feeders, many hung out in the trees, necessitating a steady tripod to reach out and “touch” them with the camera/lens. A Brown-headed Nuthatch stole the show, but played coy with the camera and made taking its portrait quite difficult.

PERSONAL NOTE: Now that we don’t have near as many exciting adventures to relive in the blog, I have decided to change it up a bit and focus more on photos and unique activities. We will still capture our travel, and perhaps craft projects, but no more verbiage about our boring everyday life.

Sunday through Saturday, February 8-15, 2025—What’s Next?

Posted on February 15, 2025 by dunngone

Kay and I have been RVing pretty much since we got together—25 years. Now that the RV is gone, and there is not one in the future, what will we do next? First and foremost, we’ll stay home in Hot Springs Village more, enjoying our house and lakefront lot. We will continue to play golf and pickleball. And Kay will likely fill up her social calendar while I’ll ramp up photography experiences. If my back will tolerate it, I would like to do some yard work and gardening, particularly for pollinators. And time will be made for even a bit of woodworking now that the absence of a third car frees up a portion of the garage. Maybe, even car/tent camp. And, we will continue to travel—just not for extended times, likely three weeks or less at a time.We still have several places to go on our life list: Switzerland, Ireland, New Zealand, more of the Pacific Northwest, northern Arizona and southern Utah, and maybe even Africa. Whereas financial aspects used to be the limiting factor, now it is health and wellness, or lack thereof, so we’ll see.

Now, for this reporting period. Because of lots of rain, conditions in the Village have been wet so no pickleball and no golf. We’ve both done a bit of cooking and baking, and I have made a couple of things in the “shop”. Our shoes—golf shoes, outdoor shoes, gardening shoes, swimming shoes, etc.— were seemingly everywhere in the garage. So, a shoe bench seemed like a good idea. And, we had a cushion left over from “our” first house (actually Kay’s house). Made with a “trout and fly fishing” fabric that I wanted to use. Consequently, that set the dimensions of length, width, and height. Cheap lumber was used, i.e. #2 pine; it was of very poor quality, but “good enough”. So, after a bunch of sawdust, measurement errors, and wrong screws, the bench was finished. It’s not something to be proud of, but is serves it’s purpose quite well pattern.

And then, a coat and cap rack was necessary to hold all the umbrellas, rain jackets, work coats, and caps and hats. If it’s length were the same as the bench’s, the two would look quite matched. A couple of rare pieces of clear 1 x 4 x 8 pine had been purchased previously from Lowe’s and one was used for the coat and cap rack. It was a simple design and build: cut to length, edges routed with a decorative pattern, sanded, a finish applied, and the coat and cap hooks installed.