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


 

singing bell

This is a singing bell I brought home from Door County
It has the most spiritual sound when rung
a call to meditate
perfect for the garden patio
I just hope birds don't fall out of the trees
so peaceful is the sound

Sometimes an ordinary  coneflower
 does it
...brings joy

 It was a scorcher yesterday...102 degrees
The garden suffers under this kind of heat as do we.
I did my best to give relief of water to my flowers and fill the bird baths
after having moved them into a shady area
Nothing seemed to move much in the garden yesterday
but this morning it is 81 and that must seem like a day at the beach to my wards
For they are out flitting around and dipping in the birdbaths and squabbling over seeds
in the feeders...ah...they have come out to comfort me this morning
Praise God for the garden
And my family of squirrels is up to its old antics ... yes
Oh I didn't tell you about what happened the other day when a worker was in the yard
and a squirrel was jumping from one tree to another..and slipped off of the river birch branch
and landed on the shoulder of the man....yikes...I don't know who was more scared
thankfully no one got hurt....but we had a good  laugh
ah laughter.....
good medicine

Still no Handsome
I think my little furry ward
that I have cared for over 6 years
is gone...but I still open the drapes every morning looking for him
I need to hold onto hope

...maybe some wonderful older lady has taken him in
and he sleeps in comfort on a satin pillow
his meals made fresh by her loving hand
who knows...maybe she needed him more than I
and that is where he is
I like that.

late July heat

 Even in the shade, it is too hot
As I walked onto the deck with bare feet, I let out a loud ouch!
holy moly....could fry an egg on that wood
my poor tootsies
But I had to go out to fill the birdbaths
and ground baths...(for little creatures)
One robin sat on my windowsill...mouth open...looking very distressed
They are my wards after all... it is my duty to care for them
if they happen upon my garden...even in this heat

Yesterday the poor landscapers came to trim bushes (very late and over due I may add)
but it seems there is a shortage of laborers...even those who come here only in the summer
so these two fellas had to do it all
Today I went out early to do my walking
to sit...feel the heat..the sun
the tiny flutter of a leaf overhead
I loved the feel of the cool shaded grass between my toes
a bite of chocolate mint
dog days of summer
arf

 The cone flowers and daisies are blooming
and the day lillies and prairie flowers are spilling over the garden
as are the bell flowers, hostas, coreopsis ,bee balm,
joe pye weed,sage, and roses
This I have waited through a long bleak winter to see
and as I bath in all this joy
I look around for what is still to bloom
not much
obedient plant, cardinal flower,
and lead wort
Thank goodness for faithful annuals who give it their all
until frost
All of these friends I have depended on for moments
of joy, beauty and stillness
So fast, like life, this all is accomplished
 along my life's path
in the garden
We have achieved again this year,along with my garden wards,
a wild wonderful place of living

amen

thinking of you

  I took a walk in the garden
let it speak to me
God walks gardens, too.


And as I walked along my garden path thinking of you and loss,
I became aware of early fallen leaves.
Who knows why they fell off of the tulip poplar tree?
Maybe lack of water, too much heat..nudged off by this week's storm
But there they were on the flagstone path,
reminders to me that soon all the leaves will be given up
in their appointed time.

And just ahead of me on the path of fallen leaves
I spotted the nodding flowers of the Easter Lilly.
I planted the bulb...but I was not the one who made it bloom.
I think of you .

The garden...a cathedral of zen
let go...be
see what is before my path
take joy in the song of the robin
let my heart swell with the beauty of the blue shy
know that the apparently dead bulb
lived its destiny and bloomed
in the heat of this summer day
A glorious flower
as am I

stone path shows the way

fallen leaves on summer day

Easter lily seen

oak leaf hydrangea

 One of my favorite shrubs in the garden is the oak leaf hydrangea
I believe it is a native hydrangea
It has dramatic white blooms on it
that tend to turn pink as they age
 and then in the fall the leaves slowly begin turning the most magnificent colors of red
This year I noticed a lot of die back and began my work of pruning away the old dead woody branches
Its leaves are huge and beautiful and quickly let me know if I have neglected them
 This summer my garden has much to forgive me for..
 hopefully I am back on track...no interruptions..only time
 to live in the garden...to tend it, and me