Retirement stuff

People are still asking me what I do with my time now that I am retired. The short answer that I usually give is "stuff". Spending time outside and enjoying the weather on beautiful days like yesterday is a big part of my new lifestyle.

With more time for stuff, the garden is now looking more like a garden, although these plants in the large pots were destroyed early on by the groundhogs and rabbits. I still have the netting wrapped around them, but I think the critters have finally found more interesting foraging outside the fence.

The hollyhocks are almost done flowering, and the hydrangea flowers are starting to get some color.

While I was sitting out by the firepit, I saw this little wasp making a nest in a piece of charred wood. Siri identified it as a kind of potter wasp—so called because it normally makes its nest out of a mud-like substance that looks like a little ceramic pot. Just recently I have been seeing a lot of these little "pots" stuck on the house and garage. It wasn't until the old retired lady had time to sit outside on a nice afternoon that she had the chance to ID the artists.