Lady Bug, Leaves and Other Things

I hope everyone is well, I have not been around much. My Dad has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and has been in and out of the hospital for the past 3 weeks, that is the bad news, the good news is he is home now and seems to be doing well and mostly just worried about ending up in a nursing home and cost there of. My parents live an hour away from me, that makes it even more difficult. My son, daughter-in-law and grandsons were here for two weekends, that was fun and a good thing :). Plus I have been going to training in Des Moines for some new software we are getting and that is a 12 hour day with the traveling time, so it has been crazy around here, thank goodness my hubby is retired and can take care of things around here.

Sunday after we got home from seeing my Dad in the hospital, I puttered around outside, putting away pots, lawn furniture, pulling dead annuals, I worked outside until dark, it was just what I needed to clear my head. The weather has been unbelievably warm.

I took this picture of a lady bug a couple of weeks ago, not sure if is one of the nasty ones or good ones. The other pictures are just some pictures I took of what I thought was interesting leaves.

Turkeys, Peppers, Fall and Other Things

My posting time has been limited lately, I hope all is well with everyone. We got a bit of frost the other morning, nipped my flowers but lots are still in bloom, seems difficult to believe it is the end of October. My hubby picked the last pepper this past week, I still have a few roses in bloom. Leaf color has not been the best this year but it sure has been beautiful the past few days. I put up most of the patio furniture today, leaving out two chairs for the last few nice days, may have a fire or two yet this year.

I live in town but we have a wooded creek area behind our house, it seems wild turkeys have moved into the neighborhood. We have been seeing these four turkeys, it is a gobbler and his hens, Bubba and the girls as we have taken to calling them. They are very wary, the only time they can be seen is from the car, cars do not seem to scare them, but if you are on foot they can see you from afar and are gone. The dogs go crazy sniffing the ground where they have been.

Green Manure

This is green manure also known as buckwheat, my husband plants it each year in the part of the garden that does not have vegetables, with this summer like weather we have been having it is still going strong, when you walk by it you can hear the hum of bugs, the blooms are covered with various little bees etc. In the spring it gets rototilled into the ground.

Bees, Cosmos

The weather has been cool and dreary. I would have loved to stay home this AM, sleep in, do some therapy baking and cooking, continue my Jeffrey Deaver book but it was off to work I went.

I took these photos early Saturday AM, the bee must have been chilled because he barely moved, I think the washed out color gives the photo some what of a dreamy effect.

October 15th Blooms

This had been an unusual fall for this area, we usually have had a killing frost by now. Lots of my annuals are still blooming, they are looking a little ragged but still are in bloom :). For perennials, the asters are in their full glory, also the sedums, the hibiscus are still blooming, mostly while laying on the ground but still blooming. I have some roses still in bloom as well.

Mums, Fall, Pumpkins

It seems as if fall has arrived! I am enjoying the mums and pumpkins, I wish I could say that I had grown these mums, but they were purchased. My grandsons will be around the next two weekends so we will be pumpkin craving and painting.

Finally, A Breath of Fresh Air!

Finally we have some nice cool air from up north. The temp is 51 right now as I sit here writing this, the wind is coming from the north, low humidity, low dew points, ahhhhhhhhhh life is good :). We took both cats and Quasi the boxer to vet today for routine vaccinations and to have Quasi's heart checked, he has boxer cardiomyopathy, he has been on medication for the condition for over 3 years now, usually they do not live a year so I feel blessed, the vet said his heart sounds great. My dear sweet little Callie tired to bite both me and the vet when we were getting her out of the carrier.

The photos are up close and personal views of my brugmasias. The blooms are all done now, so no more wonderful fragrance, I will slow down on the watering and they will spend the winter in the basement.

Sunday Blooming Sunday

Things are slowing down for sure...............................but here are a few things that still look nice. I am holding the rose because it was so windy today I could not photograph it without holding it.

Hot, warm, humid and windy...........................AGAIN.

Caterpillars, Critters, Cakes and other Things

Well, I have not posted in over a week which for me is unusual. I have been busy with my annual cleaning/organizing/ painting frenzy :). Plus I have been playing cribbage online, something I have not done in a long long time. I love the game, any cribbage players out there? I play on pogo.com, I used to play on the zone.com but they quit offering cribbage a couple of years ago. And I have been making candles, so I guess I have all kinds of reasons for my lack of posting. As I mentioned in a previous post I brought my Brugs inside because it was so windy and they were getting knocked over all the time. They scented my house for over a week, which was wonderful. The Blackswallow tail caterpillars are gone, I hope they have spun the chrysalis and are safe for the winter but if they did, I can't find them. It is hot and humid again, which I hate, I want some fall weather. I included a picture of a molasses cake I baked and a couple of pics of the four legged kids just to share.

We are going to Wisconsin tomorrow for apples, cheese curds and picture taking, I think it is a bit early for optimum fall color but we have other plans for the next two weekends so it is this weekend or the last weekend of the month. I hope to have some fall pictures of the Mississippi to post.