Short on Words...

{Wisteria on the cornzebo}

...so I've been of late.

Other than identifying descriptions, this post will, likewise, be short on words...but long on photos.

Some photos are over a month old - my apologies. It seems this summer came and went without telling me it was even here.

{A fuchsia with the largest blooms I've ever seen}

{Coneflowers...a/k/a echinacea}

{Roses and wisteria on cornzebo}

{Thistle...yes, intentionally grown}

{Butterfly on coneflower...Sedum in the background}

{Coneflowers and foxglove "digitalis"...A bumper crop of both this year}

{Black-eyed Susans...a/k/a rudbeckia}

{The first hibiscus of the season}

{Foxglove}

{My back stoop}

{Million bells (calibrachoa)}

{False sunflower (heliopsis)}

{Morning glories...they've taken over my old twig patio bench and repurposed it as a trellis}

{Butterfly on hydrangea}

{More hibiscus}

{More million bells and more foxglove}

{Patio planter with volunteer petunias and baby's breath/gypsophila}

{False sunflower and bee}

{Balancing crow whirligig}

This past week I was also in charge of keeping the "hooker-down-the-lane"'s garden alive.

The trust of some people.

{The lane down which the hooker-down-the-lane lives}

{A glimpse of the hooker's garden}

{A second glimpse 😉)

So pretty it hurts.

There you have it. 

The 'happier' side of my past month (or so).

I'll be back when I find my words.

{Sunset in Nod}

 

In Retrograde

 

It really does explain quite a bit.  If you are not familiar with it, retrograde is the apparent motion of a planet in a direction opposite to that of other bodies in its system.  In other words, it appears that a planet is moving backwards from our view here on earth.

Although retrograde is actually only an optical illusion, many believe the effects when it occurs are not unlike the behavioral changes caused by the changes in the gravitational pull during full moons.  

For example, some claim that, during periods of retrograde, it is easier to become unfocused and irritable, more likely to misunderstand or have conflicts, and even to cause anxiety and depression.  It has also been known to cause glitches in technology and communication.

Useless point of trivia: Between now and the end of September, 7 different planets will be in retrograde at the same time.  😳  In my book, that's like having 7 full moons in a month...but not nearly as enchanting.

Anyways, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

{Rudbeckia}

Since my last post, I have settled back into my hermitage.

Summer has slipped through my fingers like the white sand on a beach.

I heard on the weather today that today will be 2 minutes and 56 seconds shorter than yesterday, and tomorrow will be 2 minutes and 57 seconds shorter than today.  So, in two days, we will have essentially lost 6 minutes of daylight.

Rather than blather on about more useless info, I will share photos of what is left of summer here in Nod. 

{Morning Glories}

{Four of my five varieties of Hibiscus are blooming...still waiting on the reds as they are always the last.}

And while Summer revels in her last hurrah, Autumn is quietly slipping in.

The bittersweet berries are turning:

Critters are stockpiling and fattening up:

...and the trees are turning and losing their leaves.

 When has the onset of my favorite season become so bittersweet?

Must be the retrograde, eh?

When the Crickets Sing...

{Hollyhocks, Sedum and Beebalm}

When the crickets sing, I know Summer's swan song has begun.

It gives me pause and makes me melancholy (ok melancholier than usual) as it is a bittersweet thing.

{Morning Glories}

It brings me great joy to know that my most beloved of seasons is readying herself for her grand debut;

but Summer is a grand season in its own right and dearly loved as well, as her visits are always brief in the Cold, Cold, Land of Nod.

The changing of the seasons here is so drama-filled it seems...as though nature demands our attention.

And nothing says drama like the latest bloomers (not that kind perverts!) of all: The hibiscus.

 This year some pests have found their leaves particularly appetizing, but the flowers are completed undaunted and unfazed. 

It is difficult to capture in photos how large these blooms are.

I realize I always "overdo" the hibiscus photos each year, 

but indulge me please. 

Have I mentioned Summer is a brief visitor, at best, here?

And a crow can't quite resist those "shiny" objects sometimes.

So, as the days grow shorter, and the cricket's song grows louder and its cadence slower, I drink in these last days of Summer.

{Petunias and Lisianthus}

{Heliopsis ("False Sunflower")

{Lisianthus}

Ok...I'm done with the flower photos.  Can't promise there won't be a few more but knowing our weather/climate, it won't be many.

On to other things...like the cat on my roof.

Well, I thought it was a cat...but then, as I looked at it, I realized there is NO way a cat could possibly get up that high and it was too large for a cat.  (This is the roof of my Little Crow's garage...there is a lift in the building for working on vehicles, so it has a very high roof...(even higher than was needed for the lift...but that's another story for another time.))

Then the cat spoke.

Jiminy Crickets!! (Speaking of crickets...)

That was no cat.

It was an owl...one BIG honking hooting owl!!

While I have no issues with black cats, owls disturb me...especially one so up close and personal.

In my world, owls are generally considered messengers from the spirit world who come to advise or warn one of impending perils.

Some say that they are messengers of witches.

For the record, I was NOT talking to myself.

Long story short: I'd have rather had a black cat miraculously land up there.

*******

I know this post is long enough already, but I am getting way far behind on my book "reports." 

This will be short and to the point:

I picked this book up because I thought the author's name familiar (as though I had read something by her previously and since I didn't associate dislike with the name, assumed it was a good association).

It was not.

I did not like this book...at all.

It is the story of a woman who dies at a too-young age of an incurable disease.

She leaves her husband with a year of monthly letters to help him "transition" to life without her.

Perhaps a good plot in theory, but not in execution.

Totally unrealistic and not in a good way. I find fairy tales more believable.

'Nuff said.