A Look back to Summer

Every fall when we went to school, and our kids too, we had to write essays on "What I did on my Summer vacation". So I thought I would do the same, with pictures. I don't know where this summer went, it flew by so quickly. Now it is fall, and yesterday I got out all the scarecrows and fall decor, except for the Fall villages, suspecting that our new kitty Miss Violet/Shredder might want to play with/destroy????

So here goes: Did a lot of gardening. In fact, I like to think that the flower gardens and rose bed etc haven't looked better in years. My roses seem to like company in their flowerbed, so I obliged, by encouraging the woods violets. Then I stuck a Foxglove plant in one corner and discovered it was happy there, and a Lambs' Ear in another corner sort of crept in accidentally, and thrived. After protecting the front salvia from some sort of critter who would sneak up at night and eat them down to nothing (tin cans were the answer), they thrived too. Along with the gerbera daisies in the pot by the door, the other multicolored daisies and some herbs I snuck in, like rosemary and basil, all seemed to like the fireplace garden. Then I knew fall had come, when our sweet autumn clematis suddenly opened up last week. It resembled a snow bank on our deck rails. Even the hummers were attracted.

Had a bit of company too this summer. Great nephews in from San Diego, a Sunday school picnic, friends dropping in and out, and of course our new addition, Miss Violet. Did a lot of baking too this summer. Sweet potato pie was something the boys hadn't tasted so in addition to fried green tomatoes, they ate a bit of pie to expand their culinary MO experiences. The weather actually cooperated with some cool mornings so I could bake and the house stayed reasonably cool without the ac running. Now it really has cooled down. So even the front hostas gave a sigh of relief and opened up their fragrant blooms again.

We are now planning our fall travels, and hope to leave with our Elderberries to explore a bit of the southeast. Hopefully we will be able to see most of what we planned, despite the hurricanes. Then we get ready for our daughter's wedding celebration in November.