We got some much needed rain yesterday and might get more tonight but it hasn't cooled off - 92 right now at 5:30. At least I got the pool closed before the trees really started to shed their leaves. That cuts down on what will be awaiting me next Spring when I get the pool opened again although it's obvious that leaves do slip under the edges of the cover when it's windy.

I did some pruning on my special rose bush today. It's taller than me and about as wide as well. I saw a lot of rose hips and was wondering if I should collect them. My mom used to talk about them but I can't remember what their value is other than maybe rose hips tea.

One thing is certain, I should have watered my two Boston ferns more often. I think they're not good candidates for bringing inside. I relied too much on the sprinkler I set up for the other plants and they obviously didn't get enough water being at the edge of the action.

I still haven't made the pesto I plan to freeze. I did buy walnuts and pine nuts to use together or separately, I haven't decided on which recipe I'll use. I was asked for a recipe by my daughter Karen and I pulled out all I have. One interesting one uses peas instead of basil which would make it easy to make year round except that it also needs fresh mint leaves. I do have a surplus of mint in three large pots. One kind is chocolate mint and it smells and tastes like a chocolate mint patty, yum! Whoever created that mint plant was a genius. 

I was happy to see yesterday that my parsley plant is regenerating itself after having been completely rid of its leaves by some of those large green and black striped caterpillars. They did the same to a plant a couple of years ago but it wasn't able to come back. I have been bringing in the pot of parsley every fall as I love having fresh parsley to pick whenever I need it during the winter. These are the same marauders who attack tomato plants. A few years ago my younger daughter and I had a field day pulling them off and running over them with her car. Pretty yucky but effective. We enjoyed the noise it made as well. I guess there's a bit of the school boy in us.
I also have a giant basil plant in a pot. I just measured it and it's 44" tall. I know I can't get it to winter over inside so I plan to make as much pesto as I can and freeze it in portion sizes. That beats paying $4 or more for the fresh leaves at the supermarket. Next spring I'll buy a potted basil to put in my kitchen window since I can keep that alive until it's time to plant outdoors.
Terri Anne and I have been admiring the sunflowers her class planted last spring behind her school. They're the really tall ones. We planted some here a couple of years ago but had them in pots so they weren't as spectacular. I think I need to find a good in the ground spot for some next year. In 2008 I wrote a poem about them.

Sunflowers

Heads heavy on their long
green necks, they shift
their gaze from Sun
whom they've adored
and homage paid this
Summer long. But now,
as Autumn nears, they
bow their heads and strike
a downcast pose like
supplicants in an obedient
mode whose prayers fall
down to Mother Earth;
these prayers the seeds of
their own Resurrection.

This morning I went outside to check on my plants. The ferns are looking really awful, they're all brown. I want to pull out those uglies but not sure about stepping into that area since I evidently still have some snakes.

I removed a tiny one from my pool skimmer basket last week. It was dead so I had no qualms about holding it. I even got Terri Anne to touch it and then hold it herself. She was quite proud of her ability to overcome a fear most of us have. I don't recommend picking up just any old critter but a dead harmless snake is okay. We discovered that its belly is smooth if you rub it in one direction and rough and prickly if you rub it the other way. The little beady brown eyes made me think of the gecko on the Geico commercial. Today it wasn't on the stone wall where we left it so it might have been a meal for some other creature.

I also heard a hummingbird's chirps as it was circling and deciding where to land on my feeder. I still haven't refilled the seed feeder for the other birds but I'll try to remember to do that with Terri Anne's help after school today. 

My basil plants have grown so tall that they were tipping over. I had to find something to stake them so they're upright. I also noticed a large bumble bee lovin' on one of the blossoms. I needed to cut off the blossoms anyway so I left his till last but finally removed it with him intact. He was so intent on getting his fill of that basil blossom's nectar that he didn't even fly away. I'm going to pick lots of leaves to make some pesto which I will freeze to use this winter. Now my hands smell like basil which is one of my favorite scents. It reminds me of a poem I wrote in 2008:

Basil

I'm drunk on basil's
sweet, seductive scent,
as I select the best leaves,
the ones its other admirers
have not yet sampled.
I'm not the only lover
of this herbal siren whose
perfume greets me when
I touch its leaves or
slake its thirst with
welcomed drinks of water.
But now as Autumn's
near and living as I do
where Winter takes its toll
on tender plants, basil's
scent will soon be just
a memory and a longing
for Spring's return. 

It's too hot to garden; it's too hot to even go outside. The wilting plants in my window boxes beg my attention however, so I venture out to give them a drink, needy little creatures that they are. I also set the sprinkler up to water the plants in pots. It's much easier than hauling the hose around to do it individually. The problem is that I sometimes forget to set the timer and end up watering for several hours! Once I walk back inside my attention is diverted to other chores. It really does prove that walking through a doorway can make you forget what you intend to do in the next room.
One other thing I've accomplished today is to put into words how this miserable heat is making me feel.

Summer Love

Summer,
like a beau I'd forgotten,
wraps his arms around me
when I venture outside.
His predecessor
was easier to love.
He spoiled me;
made me forget
what Summer's usually like.
He wooed me
with his sunny kisses
and the gentle breeze of his voice.
Now I'm stuck
with this bad boy
who makes me
loath to leave my house.

Yesterday afternoon Terri Anne and I headed out to weed and trim. She didn't last as long as I did but she managed to lop off some of the dead flowers from my lamb's ear plants. She likes to use the long handled loppers and was asking if she could trim back the ivy growing over the path on one side of the garden. I didn't go along with that since I use my electric hedge trimmer for that bad boy job. Eventually she opted to go inside since she was getting hot. It really wasn't that hot and I barely broke a sweat the three hours I spent pulling out weeds and wandering perennials. Now all that's left to do is trim the ground cover behind the retaining wall around the pool deck.

Even though my thigh muscles were starting to hurt from bending over to work I was determined to finish the job. I finally resorted to bringing my portable bench out to sit on.

I'm hoping that the teensy little weeds I couldn't pull out don't grow too much before the birthday swim party Sat. afternoon. Even if they do the whole area looks so much better. I even re-hung the bird house and a couple of other things that had fallen off the garage wall. Said bird house had been occupied some time this summer since there were lots of feathers and nesting material that fell out of it when it hit the ground. The strange thing is that the feathers were quite large, the bird house entry hole is small and the only birds I've seen frequent the bird houses are tiny little brown ones. What I'm thinking is that they found the feathers and added them to their nests. Could you say birds of a feather, any feather, nest together?

My garden is growing in spite of me - the weeds and/or uppity perennials at any rate, no, at an alarming rate. We've had just enough rain to enable me to only have to haul out the hose and water the containers when their plants start to wilt. One that screams for attention is visible through my kitchen window: the lime colored sweet potato vine in my window boxes. It's kind of like that plant the boy ended up with after he traded his family's cow for some seeds. I'm loathe to trim it back as it's a testimony in part to whatever green hue my thumb might have.
Today I've informed Terri Anne that we will have to tackle some weeding and trimming projects before her birthday swim party on Saturday afternoon. She's got her own agenda which includes front and foremost our watching a DVD movie, Reckless Ralph. I haven't seen it so I'm content to spend an hour and a half doing that first.
But back to the garden, my pastor has asked us to submit writings about Creation and its various aspects. What came to me was a poem about how God pulled this off. Since it started in a garden, an ideal perfect place we never should have left I'll share it with you here.

In the Beginning. . .

The story is familiar
in whatever form we read or hear it.
Taken literally or figuratively
there's a progression that gives
it purpose; start with the basics,
do the ground work, add elements
to flesh it out like we have done
and do to this very day.
Yet we cannot create anything
from nothing, that's beyond us.
God's basic was chaos, utter disorder,
nothingness to be exact.
It took words from God
to bring it to fruition.
And later we learn it was
not just the words that God spoke
but the Word who was his son,
Jesus the Christ.

13 August 2013
by Terry Waggle 

Last week Eva and I noticed a bird on my hummingbird feeder. I've seen quite a few hummingbirds and an occasional red headed woodpecker before. This one was different so I took its picture so we could refer to it while looking in my Missouri bird book. Bingo, it's a Downy Woodpecker. I've never had any other birds frequent the hummingbird feeder so I shouldn't have been surprised. I don't know what attracts them to it unless their little throats are all dried out with sawdust from pecking on my cedar siding. There are plenty of bird baths in my garden as well.
Just this morning I noticed another creature trying to hop back out of one. It was a small toad and after I took his picture I gave him a helping hand out. I try to post the picture later.