Meanwhile Back at Home

It's been a while since I've posted about life at home.  I find myself so behind in writing about our travels and have been playing catch up.  I still have not finished posts about our trip in 2017 to England.  I will try to finish those posts, but also write about life at home.  

Though it may not seem to you we love being at home, we really do.  I recently put a new valance in the kitchen.  I use red and white in our kitchen so the red and white Buffalo checked curtains suit it well.  Vermont Country Store recently acquired the Country Curtains line.  If you are looking for them they are now there.  

Summer has whizzed by this year as does every season seem to do now!  I must say that by late August I'm ready to say goodbye to the hot and humid weather.  The most glorious season will be here soon and I am so glad!  My prayers go out to all that have been affected by Dorian.  The news photos are just devastating.  

Our youngest grand turned 15 in August.  We all got together and celebrated at a seafood restaurant.  Miles loves food and especially seafood! 

The grands are now back in school.  Our eldest began his junior year of college and the middle is a junior in high school, and the youngest is a freshman.  Wow! 

In the garden I've had to water more often than I'd like.  Without additional water plants in our pots would perish.

Our miniature rose, Popcorn, finally treated us with a blossom.

Butterflies have been abundant in our garden as have the birds and bees.

We unfortunately have had a large yellow jacket nest take up residence in a birdhouse.  Grayden had to get rid of it to our dismay.  They are so aggressive and were really close to our patio. 

We still have an abundance of bumblebees that love visiting the blossoms.

I have a fascination with dragonflies and enjoy seeing them flit about the garden.  I've been unable to take a photo of them as they seem to be quite busy.  This little fellow treated me with a long pose on the trellis.

I find I never have my camera in reach when needed, but sometimes I get lucky and remember to take my camera to the patio when we have afternoon tea.  

A very large turtle visited us recently.  Grayden almost stepped on him while making a trip to our compost area.

We are now having some days that tell us that Autumn is coming!  The long shadows tell us the seasons are beginning their change.  I love living where the seasons change.

Seeing the baled hay reminds me that soon we will be seeing more changes.  Can you see changes where you live?



  

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. ♥

August Changes

♫ A Thousand Years ♫

August has been a very hot and humid month in our corner of the world.  June and July were the wettest months in summer for all the years I can remember.  August is just the opposite.  We've had very little rain.  I'm so thankful as I write this, that it is raining now.  Not much is expected, but I'm happy for all we will receive.

In spite of all the heat and humidity and lack of rain there has been much to observe in the garden.  The butterflies have been flocking to the buddleia.  There is so much joy watching nature all around us.

"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells us it's going to be a butterfly."  Fuller

Black Swallowtail

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

 Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Red Admiral Butterfly

Fritillary Butterfly

The flowers have grown so much this month.  As much as I don't like the oppressive heat, the flowers love it.  They do if I continue to give them supplemental water.  Pot bound plants now need more water than usual.

The patio impatiens, that were planted from seed, are now filling in nicely.

This little hummingbird comes to call on the geranium blooms.

We've watched this little fellow grow up this summer!

We've always been worried about our bunny and this fellow.  Nature can be quite harsh!

Red-shouldered Hawk

Our backyard bunny is now larger and hopefully will not be seen as dinner for this bad boy.  He was overlooking this bed of rudbeckia goldstrum.

Summer is slowly leaving us and another season will be coming soon.  The angle of the sun is quite different as it shines through our windows.  Samuel began school this week and  Alex and Miles will be starting another year of school after Labor Day.

The swings are waiting for another visit.  Meanwhile the spiders are taking up residence and Autumn is not far behind.

Grandchildren

♫Music♫

If you have grandchildren, do you miss them when they are away?  Do they live far away?  Our two youngest grands were in Germany for a vacation in late June.  They had a wonderful time and shared lovely photos with us yesterday.  Upon their return one was sick and therefore we had not seen them for about a month.  That's too long for this grandmother!  Our eldest grandson, that lives with us now while attending school, lived in New Hampshire.  That was a challenge for me.  We made a point of travelling to see him at least once a quarter.

The grands are staying with us for a few days.  It has been so hot and humid the last few days we are limited to early morning bocce games.

They love to go to the school playground at the school that their Dad and Aunt attended.  We all walked over for them to play and watched the antics of our monkeys.

Miles is known as the butterfly whisperer in our family.  He loves nature and is able to have butterflies light on his hand.  He doesn't hurt them.  I think it helps that he has lemonade juice on his hands!

Grayden made this German checkers game before we were married and the boys enjoyed playing with this simple game.

We grilled hamburgers, had ice cream, made microwaved s'mores (too hot to make fire in chimnea), played games, and just enjoyed ourselves.  We are so blessed to have grandchildren!