Oh my heavenly Father
look who appeared yesterday
early in the morning
How I love this cat....a feral un-neutered male
who is afraid of humans
but has learned to trust me enough to be able to open the door
and speak to him without him fleeing
Most of you know him...I have been feeding him
and providing winter shelter for him for...10 years
....and then he vanished for over a year
then suddenly appeared again for one day
swollen face, limping, torn ear
gooky eye
...He's been gone for almost another year
and then suddenly he appears
I think he's an angel..who appears to me
arrives at my door...to show hope with a face
In the garden this past year I have felt the presence of a cat
but there is no cat...but I swear it stares at me
and I felt it brush me.....you cat lovers know this act that a cat does
to let you know that you are theirs..you meet with their approval
they trust you...sort of cat love
I thought for sure he was a goner
he looked very bad the last time I saw him
So, I wonder what other human he loves, who else feeds and shelters this scallywag
I haven't seen him today..but his bowl was empty
could of been him or it could have been a raccoon or opossum
Maybe I won't see him again for another year......or never
But I am grateful for this unexpected miracle of love
Grateful that he remembers how to get back to my garden
and back to me
hope with whiskers

This is a rare sighting
all three of them together
Abigail hogging up Miss Kitty's new bed
and Boo being allowed anywhere near them
...but I think it was the wildlife
that made them forget their differences
the goldfinches and the mouse that ran across the deck
and boldly stopped to look in.......that got them all going nuts
Oh how they wanted outside!
oh common cause..how it unites

.

The sedum is wimpy in color this year
but the fallen Alder cone made me sigh
Chickadees love to pick at them in the winter
and winter is coming
It is chilly this morning in the garden
but the garden is hush- lovely this bright day
I have been neglectful of her
and to my surprise...change has gone on without me

OH this nasty plant....now look...it has opened and dropped its millions of seeds
in my flower bed....causing future destruction to my clothing
those nasty burrs stick like sin on an infidel
but it is tooo late to do anything about them

gasping blooms of the turtlehead

Oh the beauty and joy of morning light
across the garden
a moment of communion

 

and looky here.....a flock blooming in the shade

and my rescued rose.....she's happy here with the goldenrod
no snob is she

 

oh signs of the season passing.....oh dear
Like a beloved relative that has come to visit
and you settle in and almost get bothered by their presence
until they have to leave and you bawl your eyes out
...for you will miss miss them

oh summer...I am sorry I took you for granted
hated your hot ways this year
your drought, your weeds
I really didn't enjoy you this year, but there were
moments where you did deliver on amazement and wonder
and I mourn your leaving
I promise to enjoy you while you are still here--packing for your trip...leaving me little gifts
tucked here and there

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, put on your sweater today
it's chilly...
must be summer shaking out her coat
getting ready to leave

 

This is the first year that I have had four-o'clocks go to bloom
You have to grow them by seed
and every year something happens to them
last year I nurtured a few surviving seedlings
and then! the landscaper pulled them out
thinking them weeds
boo hoo
So this year I started them in pots
and then with the hot weather I left them there
and woo hoo...they continued to grow
and now I have about four plants all blooming in reds and yellow
These are a childhood plant....my father loved them..he threw seeds
in the ground every year (he was not a gardener)....and they grew
He said they were the only flowers he remembers seeing
growing up in a rough neighborhood on the west side of Chicago
So these are "father" plants to me.......and now this year...flowers

I just love this aging fairy standing fast in the flower bed

and this morning I spotted Happy Jack squirrel
actually foraging for food
he found an alder cone

 

I told you the vines are taking over the castle

and this purple flower is a weed...of which I do not know its name
it has a pungent smell when touched
and I rather like it
in small amounts, of course

 

and asters...glorious asters
and sweet autumn clematis..
sigh

Joe pye weed...he struggled this year
and I think he just gave up and went to seed
to get it over with
I understand this attitude, Joe

but look at the hanging bag of petunias...they're
still hanging in there....

 

 

 

The morning air was  cool and refreshing
and the crickets quietly sang in the grass
and the grass squished a bit under my feet, due to the rain yesterday
and poor drainage.......
I wandered around the garden looking and observing
a fabulous morning activity
I am filled with gratitude for all of this privilege given me
in this plot of land
my....  Open Bar of Joy

How my garden is looking

 

thick and wild

hot and weedy

but oh so lovely

my chocolate joe-pye-weed is about to bloom

and the rescued rose
she just keeps blooming
even though she lives among commoners
bless her royal heart

and stafford still watches over the garden
his staff and owl with him

 

I have always wondered what this says
this stepping stone
maybe it says
bless the wild

 

 

 

I love this crane
bobbing in the wind
making bamboo noise
that carries across the flowers

 

 

I awoke to morning glories pouring out of the planter
and a young cardinal being fed by its mother
just outside my kitchen window
And the day has just begun
Oh I think it is going to be a joyful day
the slant of morning light just right