The wench has been busy lately

and the garden shows it

but I think it is all right

things are letting go

all on their own

Do you remember last year when in fit of tidiness

I cut the stem of my newly planted Autumn Joy Clematis?

How I cried....wailed.....that I committed murder

and just when it was about to open its flowers?

Well,it has come back!

...remind me to get an arbor or trellis for it next year!

Can you see his ears?

He's hiding in the weed patch

a favorite place...I see him often

as he rushes behind the mugos

for safety..today I guess I snuck up on him

...he froze...and I spoke to him

but he doesn't understand anything but RUN

I guess his mom taught him that

At a bbq on Saturday the host

who had a fabulous garden

told me he shoots rabbits that get near his prize dahlias

my heart broke

the world will always be filled with such

but not in my Open Bar of Joy



the horsechesnut tree

dropping pieces of herself

while setting tight buds

The turning of season

I quarrel with it

aware that it interferes with

acceptance

It's the robins

they have gone

mostly gone

they no longer sing to the rising sun  while on my rooftop

or sing me to sleepiness and slumber in the evening

they too have seen the signs

They go elsewhere

where they can sing and feast

I must do likewise

only mine is a journey to inside setting of buds





This morning

above me

high in the sky

flew a red jet

I remember the day

10 years ago

that all planes were grounded

and I stood with my neighbors

in disbelief

The remembering of this was eerie

the numbness

the heartsickness

the fear

But today, I saw

 a red jet fly overhead

and morning glories that had opened

unaware

The asters are blooming

how I love them

but they signal that time marches on

soon it will be getting darker much sooner and it will be much colder

and the light in the garden will change

But it's all right

I'm ready, in fact, I wait for it.

Ever since the fox came to me

then died near me

Life in the garden has taken on a different tone

The robins are less frequent now...they sing no more

the goldfinches are looking less yellow

I think of my fox and how he chose to die here

His passing... has affected me in the garden

I can see his bones under the deck

a blanket of sadness I have to admit has colored everything

even when I thought it didn't

A reminder how connected we all are

and how death is part of the living experience

now autumn

The season has come to my garden to die

I will watch over it like I did the poor old fox

I will honor its passing

I will go inside

inside

My husband had to go to a retirement party tonight
so I had to handle this fella all by myself
The poor possum was not looking to peppy
So I placed the net handle down the window well
and went inside and opened the window....carefully
The critter was very still
I turned the net toward his body which was huddled in the corner
then  took a long duster and prodded him into the net.....hoop tee do!
Quickly I raised the guy all the way up to the top and let the net go
and so he ran...........

there's a million stories in the naked city
...and this has been one of them                                   :)

Oh my.

Look who fell down into the window well by the lillies

poor little fella

I tried to get him out like I did the muskrat babylast year... with a fishing net....

but this fella played dead

wouldn't move

I put a ladder down there

then went downstairs and opened the window

to see if he'd awake....nope

I slipped in a bowl of water and an apple

oh, and I covered hm with a dark cloth

so he thinks he's hiding and not so exposed

Am I nuts or what?

I think Himself is going to have to help me on this caper

poor little creature

I hope he makes it

Oh the drama of a garden



This is one of those things in the garden that makes me stop 

every time I pass it

The lamb lying down with the lion

Takes trust

As I get older....soon to be 61

I often think

Is this my last garden

Is this my last time of 

seeing it 

smelling it

touching it

tasting it

of loving it?

Yet, I don't worry about it

I trust.

I do love my dodads
Today I spent a bit of time in the garden with Finn
and his Mom
Finn took my hose and went a watering
including himself....grandpa came home for lunch
and joined in the fun...Finn got grandpa's shoe wet
My daughter just sat on the deck watching it all
with a smile...sunlight on her face....
Then she said...mom I love your wind chimes
Which ones? I asked.....Grandpa rolled his eyes
Finn just laughed aiming the hose at his feet
All of them..... she answered
I just love that girl

This is entering the garden on the dark side

shade...I rather love shade

love the plants in early spring that like shade

growing under other plants that are still asleep

Oh this wench feels the pull of certain season change

although today it is to be in the high 90's

oh dear...I think I'll sit right here

and have a glass of cold water with a slice of lemon

and do some sketching today

I sketch..did you know that?

maybe I'll sketch that spider web from yesterday

oh, but that would be sitting in the bright sunlight

no,I'll find something here... right where I am

and that is the secret, isn't it

right here, where we are



ah

a summer morning

late summer

almost September

I love it when the garden knows

that soon it will get less light

and colder days....but not just  yet

they seem to smile and say

Today they want to be on stage

and dance their heads off



ah theater

love it

I hope I never meet who lives inside this old porch post

I did walk into a spider web this morning

passing under the trellis

I don't know who freaked out the most

me or mr. eight legs



I thought this bush was dead last year
but it has arisen from the earth with glorious blooms
and the better thing is that I see
not a single praying mantis!
Or chubby thick white upside down spider on it!
The butterflies are safe for now

I'm one for letting things be
Like this bonset growing in my garden
I rather like its white flowers in august
But my gardener friends....the snobby ones
think I'm nuts..for it is a bit of a wanderer
but heck, I'm a wench
who am I to judge
If we only let grow what belongs
I'd have to find a new home

and my winged creatures love it
and that is good enough for me
I like to think of myself as Esmerellda
from the hunchback of ND
hanging with the common
noble beings of life



those fairies.....knocking over chairs last night

my my my

more work for me

I hope they had a good time

It's cool this morning and the light is passing across the lawn

like a hush

It is one of my favorite times to be in the garden

morning light time

The other favorite time

is late afternoon evening light

I love light

Let there be light

for what it's worth

I agree

I bet you think I have been swallowed up

by the garden.....oh, I wish that were so

I have had computer problems up the wazoo

Now, hopefully, I think it is all back to hunky dory

We have had sprinkling restrictions and the grass is showing it

and I confess, I have sinned...

and watered at night in the cover of darkness..

my trees,

my flowers,

my plotted plants

yes, I am one of those

So go ahead and bust me...

I wonder what Mr. Poland, my grammar school teacher would  think of this?

Would I have to write sentences?

"I will not water during restricted times,especially sneak-idly in the darkness"

100 times!!!!

So, not only is my computer fixed, but the water restrictions have been lifted

But I must say, being unplugged from the internet

has been a rewarding experience 

I have spent a lot of time in the garden

sitting and listening

Oh it is a beatuful time

For some reason the Gold finches have been singing quite a repertoire

of tunes in the trees...and it is a sweet pleasure of life 

listening to them.

Yesterday, the yard was full of fliting butterflies

and hummingbirds and hummingbird moths

and my resident field mouse was bravely

nibbling at fallen sunflowerseeds...now don't go 

getting squeamish on me....he is just an animal

living where he was born,living how God intended for

him to live (as long as he stays outside)

and he delighted me with his quick moving antics

I was going to tell him....Autumn, which is coming sooner than later

is the time that nasty Harry Cooper'sHawk takes up residence

in the garden....so he best be enjoying the summer days

for soon it will be war for him....live or die...day to day

But truly is it any different for me?

for us?

No, I don't really think so...life is fraught with danger

and one false move...or being in the wrong place at wrong time

could be fatal

Or it is just your days run out..the number in the book of life completed.

Like this past week

I went to the funeral of a 20 year old 

son of a friend....got caught in undertow

and another friend...pain in the back

non-Hodgkin lymphoma 

MY OPEN BAR OF JOY

you have brought me comfort and joy this week

joy in the insignificant field mouse

joy in the black toad I spotted this morning

sitting in the sprinkler water

joy in the burst of late summer blooms

joy in the sound of the wind chimes

moving in the breeze

joy in the passing of morning light across the yard

joy joy joy

I am so happy this moment for it

may it fill my well

...that I know... someday

I will have to draw from

blessings counted

 

There's a beautiful irony in this fallen sunflower
lying among fallen and opened sunflower seeds under the feeder
The squirrel must have dropped it here
...grabbed it off of the table on the deck
ha ha...a sunflower I bought at the farmer's market....a seedless hybrid
I only wished I could have witnessed his clever (he thought) theft
I GOT IT I GOT IT..I 'm certain he said in squirrel talk
to the goldfinch singing so beautifully this morning in the riverbirch branches
Now neither of us can enjoy it
but just as well....I had a bad feeling about this hybrid.....
no beauty to pass on.....Why man messes with nature I don't know
But it lays in my garden as a tragedy
and a comedy this day

Prairie Ironweed

a lovely plant of late summer

It looks so nice with goldenrod

too bad I yanked most of the goldenrod out

in a fit of clutter removal

Oh well...it will return for certain

Someone told me that Ironweed is in the aster family

imagine that....no wonder it blooms in late summer

It is a rather tall plant and the butterflies love it

I only wished that I had planted more of it

I may have to visit a farmers market or two

on the hunt for more of them

Oh garden , my garden

we have been through much this season

but you have always comforted me

and cheered me

and kept me busy

and stilled me

We both are getting ready for change

heartshaped leaf patterns
of coleus are a welcomed sight
in the hot summer garden
They bring a bit of excitment to the shady areas
I have to admit that this year has been a challenge for this wench
not in finding joy, but in enjoying it
too wet, too hot,too many bugs
I just found out that my neighbor trapped my squirrels and released them
in the woods....he said they were trying to get into his attic through the
attic fan......I understand this, but it makes me very sad
I love my squirrels, and they have claimed my yard as their home
I wonder if they will fight with the squirrels where he has released them...
I hope he is telling the truth...oh woe
I can hardly bare to think of loss...what with Handsome gone for so long
I cannot give up hope that he may return some morning
Life is a thread that connects me to all
even the squirrels of my yard and the feral cat, Handsome

I am almost ready to say
Autumn, I welcome your change

 
It's still hot this morning
but I sip my coffe in the shade of an umbrella
on the deck and watch the goldfinch at his favorite feeder
..a garden chandelier that I have re-purposed
I need to get some more mulch for my lilies
and I know that I will bring home a plant or two
while I'm there....I love garden centers
and there is always room for one more plant
sultry....the garden is sultry today
...a wench word of joy if you work it right