Fall Color

Yesterday afternoon I walked around the garden and took some pictures of our fall colors. We have had a fantastic fall this year! The month of October was wonderful, temps in the 60s and 70s for the most part with rain here and there.

blue skies looking from the back corner of the garden

maple tree in front yard next to the road

birdfeeders and water moved to the porch

Mom and Bella sit in the window to watch

the birds during the day

back patio we can't keep clean from the leaves falling

lilacs in full fall color

ginko tree is a beautiful shade of gold

barn at the back of the garden

We have had rain since this morning and hopefully it will stay all day. Sure will make pulling weeds a lot easier this weekend. Progress is being slowly made in the clean up but there is still a lot to do. We are trying to move peonies, iris and daylilies that have out grown their spots into the newly cleaned areas. I don't imagine we will have very many more weekends to get this done but then again there is always next year right around the corner.

Our Little Halloween Fairy

Bella was not thrilled with her costume and couldn't wait to get it off. She pulled the flowers off her wand and ribbons off her headband before we even knew what she was doing.

Blogging Break

My Cousin

Billy (Marshall) Partridge

4/30/1957 - 10/2/2011

Rest in Peace

We Love You & Miss You

Bella Bella Bella

1st Birthday

1 year portrait

getting ready for cake

present time

Almost 1 Year Already

Isabella

will be 1 year old Sunday the 25th

checking out her new rocker

her birthday hat my friend Deb made

she loves them and they are so pretty

I found this wicker rocker at a junk shop a couple of months ago and all it needed was a fresh coat of white paint and a little girl that loves her new chair.

Weeds, Weeds & More Weeds

But first lets enjoy the mums starting to bloom. Caught these at Walmart as they were unloading for 98 cents each. Beautiful lavender mums by our garden gate.

2 cast iron kettles full

our very embarrassing weedy garden

my work in progress every Saturday morning

hoping for rain every Friday night!

made progress this past Saturday

weeded and moved hostas from

behind Alan's shop to their new home

I re-weeded the little pond area and

started down the row weeding and

moving plants as needed

big white birdhouse with rotted

foundation - killed all the termintes

and yellow jackets - now for a new

bottom and to get it back on it's post

new telephone pole piece found on the side of the road

got it planted and concreted in this past weekend

it's behind the stock tank and will have an

old mailbox on it for fish food, etc

After the rain Labor Day weekend it was a joy to work in the garden this past weekend. The temps were in the 70s and the weeds came right on out. It didn't seem to matter how far down we dug the ground was still moist. I really need to win the lottery so I can stay home and work in the garden every day. Those pesky weeds wouldn't stand a chance then. haha

Little By Little

We made some progress during the months of July and August. I chose to start at the back of the garden since it is in the shade during the morning hours with our 95+ degree summer days these past months. But first here is a beautiful flower blooming:

"Cypella Herbertii" Goblet Flower

an Iris relative and gorgeous

I planted by the little pond so it wouldn't

get lost in the mess we call a garden

our line of crape myrtles

trimmed up and ready to bloom

stella de oro daylilies and

3 new hydrangea seedlings planted this weekend

we started from Grandma Belcher's bush

all cleaned out and weed free

bald cypress trees not happy with the

summer heat and no rain

the back corner

K-Mart red daylilies - weed free

chase tree and rose bush both trimmed up

sweet autumn clematis gone

and rugosa rose free to live

I plan on making a concrete block planter

and replant the roses in the near future

Wild Cat sleeping while we work

I am so glad our 90+ days seem to be behind us. Over Labor Day weekend we got about 2" of rain which has helped with the weeding so much, now I can actually dig out some of the blackberry vines and weedy trees instead of cutting them down which makes for a huge since of accomplishment.

Cross Stitch Quilt Blocks

Finishes

For Connor - LDI

The Football Player

The California Raisins - Sporty Raisins

14 ct White Aida, DMC Floss

For Connor - LDI

The Jogger

The California Raisins - Sporty Raisins

14 ct White Aida, DMC Floss

I had forgotten how much fun these little characters were to stitch. It has been about 25 years since I stitched my last one and that was for one of Jennifer's friends when she was a little girl. I went to San Francisco for a work trip and stitched it on the plane ride there and back.

Bees, Butterflies & A Dragonfly

It seems we have had more bees, butterflies and dragonflies this year than ever before or maybe I've had more time to enjoy. Hot, hot days and they just flutter around the garden drinking in their nectar. It is a beautiful sight.

bumblebee on false dragonhead

dragonfly (snake doctor)

on one of our concrete benches

and we seen a chicken snake later that afternoon

butterfly on the zinnas

which they dearly love

another on the butterfly weed

and another on the false dragonhead

This past weekend was very nice, 80s and no humidity and it was easier to work outside. We are back in the 90s again this week with slim chances of rain for the weekend. We have been trimming, cutting down and trying to get the garden back under control - yeah right. Don't know if that will ever happen but we are sure trying. We are going to start watering on Friday and Saturday nights so we can pull, dig and get the weeds/tree sprouts out and mulch down. We have our work cut out for us and hopefully will have a garden we can enjoy more and work less next year. haha

Bargains

More Bargains for the Garden

beautiful coneflowers for $1 each

on clearance at a local nursery

2 cute thatched nesting pockets

on sale at Duncraft

2 metal crosses

on clearance at Hobby Lobby

and the best for last

2 concrete pedestals at a yard sale

Friday evening & YES they are as

heavy as the look