Last Hoorah!

Upon returning from Oklahoma City this week, I found these miracles of life . . .  inspite of 2 nights of freeze while we were gone.

Enjoying the "last hoorahs" as I put the yard "to bed!"

Grandma's Blessing . . . Still Going Strong!

And Peace Rose . . .

I Love Fall . . .

the softness of cooler temps . . . crisp nights and crisp mornings

putting my flowerbeds and yard “to bed”

beautiful harvest moons

watching fields of soybeans turn from deep green to shimmering gold, then brown

watching farmers harvesting their crops

the brilliant reds and yellows of trees

the early mum color 

going on picnics, roasting hotdogs and making smores

the smell of wood fireplaces

the smell of leaves burning (in the “old” days)

Fall . . . my MOST FAVORITE season . . . can you tell? 

2 (Flower) Heads Better Than 1 ???

I have only 1 gerbera daisy plant . . . in a pot . . . on my full-sun exposure, south front porch.  Never have I had such wonderful success with a gerbera in a container as with this one.  It has had deep green leaves and been in continuous bloom (2 or 3 flowers open at any given time) since I planted it the end of May. I always use a root start when I transplant flowers, but I don't fertilize after that.  About 3 weeks ago, I noticed the opening of an unusal flowerbud.  

It remains quiet beautiful, don't you think, even as the flower fades . . .

The Case of the Missing Pruners

Have you ever put something in a place where you wouldn’t forget where you put it? 

Several years ago, I bought a really good pair of bypass pruners.  Said pruners have been missing since the end of January! 

As Ken and I prepared to go on a mission trip to Kenya, East Africa, for the month of February, I put said pruners out of the reach of my 2-year old grandson . . . who seems to be able to find anything!  . . . and in a “place where I wouldn't forget where I put them.”  Famous last words! 

In March, I began the search for said pruners.  I looked in all the places that I thought were "places where I wouldn't forget where I put them!"  However, after much searching . . . and praying . . .  I purchased another not-so-cheap, new pair of bypass pruners.  But I stalled opening the new pruners, hoping that by merely purchasing them the old ones would show up.  You know how that sometimes happens.  Well, not this time!

On Saturday, August 13, 2011 . . . I gathered gloves, hand tools, plant start, and my watering can from where I store them in a 5-gallon, gardening tote bucket, formerly a paint bucket.  There before my eyes . . . said lost bypass pruners!  I had used that bucket MANY times previously this spring . . . said pruners were NOT there!   

Ken just happened to be standing nearby when, with a bewildered look on my face, I said "Look!  My old pruners!  How did they get in this bucket?"  His face spoke volumes!  I knew he had played a part in said lost pruners showing up in my bucket!  As it turns out, Ken said he found them a month ago . . . in the place "where I wouldn't forget where I put them" . . . but decided not to tell me. 

Where did Ken find them?  In a very large flowerpot I use each year . . . except this year!  I vaguely remember putting them in that flowerpot thinking it a “place where I wouldn’t forget where I put them!”  I’m sure it made perfect sense in January to store them in that large pot.  After all, when it was time to plant that pot it would be time for my pruners, too!

Now I have 2 really good, bypass pruners . . . one by my back door and one by my front door (and a pair of gardening gloves with each pruner) . . . or maybe one pair to give to a friend! 

I really must add a page to my gardening notes . . . the “places I won’t forget where I put it!”

Family #3

In the crabapple tree outside my kitchen window is a nest, which has been home to three families of birds this spring and summer.  The first  family . . . bluejays; the second and third families . . . mourning doves. 

We got to see this third family (two babies) for the first time about six days ago.  It's difficult to get a good picture for two reasons . . . first, because there is a tiny branch that hangs in front of the nest.  Would have trimmed that branch off had we known this nest would be reused twice after the original occupants!  Second, I take the screen off my kitchen window, open it, and while kneeling on my sink edge reach out as far as I dare to get a picture.  My kitchen window is 15 feet or so off the ground.

Will be keeping a close eye on the babies' departure from their nest to keep them from being a snack for a certain fat cat, Sir Oliver.  Granted, we cannot protect them forever from harm or from other cats in the neighborhood . . . but we can protect them from our cat as much as is humanly possible.

Rain . . .

Friday evening, beautiful rain

Watering at its best!

Flowers, trees, grass so thirsty

Greedily drank up the rain

Momma mourning dove, soaked but unwavering

In her nest outside my kitchen window

Hovered over her babies to protect them

In the east, stretched across the sky

A rainbow . . . God’s covenant promise . . . forever