I finally managed to take a picture of 'our' Green Heron' at 'our' pond.
He's been hanging out at the ponds here for over a week now but he's awfully shy and flies off when only seeing the slightest movement.
 
This small heron is named for the deep, iridescent green feathers on its back and cap. 
Since he likes to hide in the dark, thick shoreline vegetation you usually only see a stocky, dark-bodied bird with a chestnut neck until you get a close-up view in bright sun.
Obviously it was overcast when I took this picture so no colors were seen. 




The weather is still very un-August-like, with temps in the high 70s and low 80s, and in the afternoon it can get very windy ...
During one of the sudden gusts this old apple tree in the lower part of the property got blown over:

                            

It doesn't get pruned and grows wild and is absolutely loaded with small apples. I'd noticed that the branches were starting to bow down to the ground and this wind finally appeared to be the last straw to bring it down completely.
It looks like half the roots are still in the ground though, so it might be OK for a while. Hopefully these apples will still ripen ..

The blackberries are ripening like crazy and they're big and juicy. 
We're enjoying them fresh from the shrubs in our daily (home-made) yogurt and I've started to freeze some for future pies, preserves and cobblers.

                                                                                   

                                  

But of course we had to test-taste them so I baked a peach-blackberry pie .. delicious!




My weekly Saturday walk around the pond in town resulted in pictures of an Egret ..

                                                

... and this funny gatering of ducks on a tree-trunk that had fallen in the pond:

                           

Yup! I've got 'all my ducks in a row'!

                              

And today we got to see another play at the Gallery Theater in 'Mac':


 
We hadn't seen anything since February so it was high time for something fun!
And Steel Magnolias certainly delivered! 
Made famous by the 1989 movie starring Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton and Sally Field this play, written by Robert Harling, is a mixture of laughter and tears when
six women in a small Southern town share gossip and solve problems at the local beauty parlor, helping each other through life's ups and downs.

   

As usual the cast was outstanding:

                      

Unfortunately we arrived a little too late and ended up in the back of the theater in the last row where I, despite my new hearing aids, still couldn't understand much of what was being said. 
(I've learned that hearing aids are great indeed, I can hear much better, but I cannot all of a sudden understand everything. A mumble just becomes a loud mumble. It's still a mumble!)

But luck was with me for the second half when I ended up in the front row due to a seat that became vacant when somebody had to leave in the intermission.

Lesson learned, arrive early!