A Little of This and That

Happy September, friends!  I really do believe time is passing at warp speed.  My favorite season will be here soon.  Today is not as hot, but is quite humid.  In Virginia we will probably continue to experience warm weather throughout the new month though little changes are happening.  Our Black Gum trees have been dropping colorful leaves for a while now.  We also have a White Oak that drops its leaves when we experience dry weather.  Thankfully we received over three inches of rain this week.  Though it all came down rather quickly and we lost some to run off, it was good to get some moisture.

We are so fortunate to have butterflies visit us frequently!  The Monarch (Danaus plexippus) thrills us particularly.  

The Hummingbird Moth loves to visit our Buddleia as well.

Our old patio umbrella needed updating and we were able to find a cover for this one for half price at World Market.

The old one had a wonderful wooden skeleton that we could keep and just place the new cover on it.  Works well and I'm pleased with it.  Samuel said he liked the new Zebra umbrella when he first saw it! 

The vinca has filled in nicely in the patio planter.  

The rudbeckia has taken over the perennial bed in the back.  I must speak to the gardener (me) about removing some of it as it seeds profusely!

My friend Cheryl at https://thinking-about-home.blogspot.com has the most lovely home decorating ideas along with her sweet wisdom.  She recently posted about making a silhouette and also about one she had bought at an antique shop.  She got me thinking about the silhouettes that I have of our two children.  I told her I needed to go find them and bring them out into the light of day again. So eventually I found them in a mountain of framed photos of our children.

Grayden hung them beside the China cabinet in the living room.  I'm so happy with them.  Seeing their little profiles makes this Mama very happy!

The one of Noel was taken in Disneyland before her brother was born.  They had an artist on Main Street USA that would do these if you could get your child to sit long enough!

  Noel's is in a larger frame so we placed her on the bottom.  We love seeing this as she loved to wear her hair in this fashion!  He even included her eyelashes.

As you can see Grady's was done in Walt Disney World.  I'm not sure of the date, but he is three years younger than Noel.  I love seeing his profile as well and those eyelashes!

Did you ever get silhouettes done by these artists?  I truly treasure them.  Thank you Cheryl for reminding me of these precious times! 

Thank you for reading a little of this and that, my friends!  Have a happy week ahead.

   

Happy June!

♫ June is Bustin Out All Over ♫

June is here and one half of 2018 is about to be over!  Seems like the days are flying by quickly.  We've had a wonderful amount of rain that my garden truly loves.  Unfortunately there have been places not too far from us that have experienced severe flooding.  Our area has mostly been spared, except the usual streets close to the river.  Today as we traveled across the Rappahannock River it was a angry, muddy, swollen mess of trees and branches rushing downstream.

The Jackmanii Clematis is blooming earlier than usual.  I think it really likes the rain.

I cut back all of the clematis rather severely in late winter as they really needed it. They have managed to come back and almost cover the trellis again.  Nature never ceases to amaze me!

The Oakleaf Hydrangea is beginning to bloom.  We bought this shrub many years ago at Monticello.  It appears to like this spot and we enjoy seeing it from our patio.

I clipped a few blossoms to put on the dining room table yesterday.  Do you take cuttings to bring inside?

This little area is our view from our patio.  The Stella D'Oro daylilies are beginning to bloom as well as the Rose Campion.  The Gayfeather Liatris will be blooming soon.  It's my plan (ha ha) to have something in bloom all season.  Plants have a way of teaching humility!

My sister gave me seeds to lamb's ear years ago and that's what we thought this plant was.  She has a huge patch of them and told me to make sure I really wanted them.  After researching the bloom I found it was not Lamb's Ear, but Rose Campion.

In our large perennial garden the Astillbe is emerging as well as thousands of Rudbeckia.  I've been removing them to the trash and am considering getting them out of this bed. Too much of a good thing can take over.

Can you see the small bee that happened to show up on the Astillbe when I took these pictures?

This is an afternoon shady garden that really likes ferns and various other shade loving plants.

This Pulmonaria is safe with this bunny, unlike the ones I've shown you earlier.

The last of the peonies have all bloomed except this one lone blossom.  I'll miss bringing them indoors.

This male cardinal comes back to the apple feeder that is full of his favorite safflower seeds.  The squirrels don't like them so it's a win-win at this little feeder.

The male robin visits this bird bath often to clean his feathers and take a bath.  We so enjoy sitting on the patio and watching his antics and the others enjoy our little garden.  Now if I can just stop seeing all the work I should be doing in the garden, instead of relaxing!  Happy June! ♥

Almost Over August

Does time seem to be racing by for you?  August is coming to a close and September will be greeting us soon.  I've always heard the older we get the faster time passes.  It surely seems true to me.

We have been blessed with many family times this summer.  Our youngest grand has celebrated his 13th birthday.  It was fun to be with him and join in the excitement of becoming a teenangel.  My cousin just introduced me to that term and I do love it.  Maybe it's a little corny, but I like it.

The one and only gift Miles has wanted for a long time is a phone.  He says he's the only one of his friends that doesn't have one.  Have you ever heard that one?  His parents very wisely, I think, waited for his 13th birthday. 

Our summer has been a hot and humid one and I'll have to say I'll be glad when the days are a little bit cooler.  I am looking forward to my favorite season--glorious Autumn.  Cozy sweaters, candles, soups, pumpkins, afghans, hot chocolate, hot tea, easy days in the garden.  I can feel Autumn knocking at the door.  The evenings are much cooler, the occasional leaf falls to the ground, the days are growing shorter, the crickets are chirping.  Yes, Autumn is getting ready to visit us.


I've mentioned the decline of butterflies this year in my garden.  I'm happy to say we have had a few to come recently.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

White stripped longtail

Black form swallowtail

Fritillary

Skippers on the zinnias

Monarch

  Have you seen the signs that promote getting rid of mosquitoes in your yard?  It disturbs me as a gardener that we need to spray our yards with pesticides.  We have mosquitoes but try to keep their population down by emptying any standing water that we have around.  Every two days we empty the bird baths so mosquito larva doesn't form.  I worry when pesticides affect the balance of our beneficial insects and birds.  Realizing that West Nile and Zika fever can be an issue in some areas I understand, but to just spray our yards randomly seems foolish.  I remember growing up and seeing planes fog areas to kill the mosquitoes.  I wince when I think of this.  What in the world were we inhaling?

This sweet little garden in Colonial Williamsburg is maintained without the help of pesticides.  If they can do it so can we.

The goldfinch have returned to my garden and are enjoying the seed heads of the rudbeckia.  Can you see him?

Enjoy these last few days of summer, my friends. ♥