This Azalea....

blooms to the beat of different drummer, evidently?




Here I present the little, almost leafless azalea, which is just the other side of the bed from the one that is bigger and has plenty of leaves (you can probably see part of it in the photo). They are in the bed in front of the dining room window. The big one bloomed 2 months ago? It only had a couple of blooms on it, unlike last year, when it put on a better show. Last year this little didn't do much, but had a few blooms, and I thought it was about the same time that the big one bloomed.

The other day, we walked out of the house and I saw the buds on this one. I was amazed, to say the least. By Saturday, some of the buds had started to open, and when I saw this today, I knew I had to put it on the blog. Isn't it pretty? The photo isn't great, it is taken through the screen on the front porch! The correct angle makes all the difference.

We got almost a half inch of rain yesterday, as measured in the rain gauge! Hurrah! We still need plenty more, of course, but it is a start. Most of the areas around to the north and south of us got more--we were in the slack zone, I guess. Down just south of Palm Bay, they got 6 inches. Wow! It is to get to 90 here today--about the same as the inland areas. At least we have the breeze.

Mike and Anne made a little trip to the zoo yesterday afternoon. It started raining here not long after they left, and I wondered if they would be right back. As seems to be pretty typical of this area, they only got sprinkled on, rather than poured on like they would have been here. Glad it worked out that way! I guess they got to see the feeding of the alligators and crocodiles. They also saw the baby giraffe, which is getting quite large, it sounds like.

We got to talk to Brian and Christine, and the Walters, yesterday! I was just thinking about calling over there, when the phone rang and it was Dad Walters. We all had a really good chat. They arrived in good time, at about 2.20 on Saturday. It sounds like they had a good drive over, and not as long of one as Yahoo maps told me it would be. Michelle has already cleared off the coffee table in the family room---she isn't quite walking yet, but she still gets around on her feet. I am sure she loves walking around holding onto the coffee table. It sounds like she is going to try out the walker, too. I hope that Brian and Christine, and Dad, are taking lots of photos!!!!! I sure wish we could be there too. Have a great time, you all!!!!!! Give Michelle an extra hug and kiss for me.