Christmas 2012

I had a wonderful Christmas Eve in my childhood home.

We haven't celebrated Christmas there since the kids were babies.

I had a wonderful sense of nostalgia, and feel so very blessed to be part of such a wonderful family.

I hope everyone else is feeling as loved as I am today.

Merry Christmas!

I am speechless

For once in my life, I am speechless.

 

A birthday!

Gosh, It's already been 2 weeks since I posted!

I'm really not sure where the time is going lately, it just seems the time is whizzing past.

Big Country Girl had a follow up appointment at the fracture clinic this week.

As it turns out, the appointment time is only the check in time. You can spend 1-3 HOURS sitting and waiting for your turn. It took almost 3 hours before we saw the Doctor!

He was very pleased with her progress and didn't want to 'disturb' her healing fingers so he didn't put a new cast on. Since she is away at school, she has been instructed to remove the soft cast on her own and exercise her fingers and then put on a tensor bandage. Follow up at the clinic Dec 13th.

She was home for 4 days and it was wonderful to have her home again.

She spent a lot of time with Little Country Girl too, which makes me very happy :)

We also had an early celebration for Big Country Girls 18th birthday...just family and one surprise guest. We had a lovely time and ate too much as usual.

Drove Big Country Girl back to school at 6am through thick fog.

I'm always so sad when I leave her there.

Her birthday was yesterday, and it was the first time that I wasn't with her ON her birthday.

Happy Birthday Honey!

 

Welcome November - time flies!!

It's been exactly a month since my last post - how time flies!

The last month has been SO busy!

September was the month of getting back to routines, and getting used to new ones.

It took us all a while to get used to Big Country Girl being away at College.

I will forever remember October as the month of RAIN as it seemed that was all it did. I can only remember a few days of sunshine which made it very difficult to finish clean up in my gardens and those of my employer. Perseverance paid off and now the gardens are all done.

Then came the beginning of winter sports -  figure skating for Little Country Girl.

Then along came Halloween and the need for 2 costumers...one for skating and one for trick or treating. And also baking for the party, 4 bite brownies!

 Then, the first rainy Halloween I remember EVER.

But Little Country Girl wouldn't dream of staying home, so on went the costume and out we went with the umbrella in hand.

Along came November, my favorite time of year for de-cluttering. Every year I am disgusted by the amount of stuff we have managed to collect in a years time. I took several trips to the Goodwill Donation Box, some things were donated to the school and a few other things were given to friends.

The recycling truck took away a lot of old papers and magazines and the rest has gone to the garbage.

I am still gathering things to get rid of ... who knew we were such pack rats!!

Then we had Hurricane Sandy blow through, just a windstorm here, but she sure caused havoc along the eastern coast. My heart goes out to those affected.

Pre-Christmas cleanout continues, and we are starting to plan for Big Country Girls 18th birthday.

But something UN-planned happened last week ... Big Country Girl broke a bone in her hand!

She has an appointment at the fracture clinic in a few days and they will give her a (hopefully) smaller cast. 6 weeks in a cast is not her idea of fun!

Killing frost - October 13th

It was only a matter of time I suppose.
But that thought doesn't make it any easier when Mother Nature leaves a killing frost on the plants we have tended to and nurtured for months.

And so cleanup begins.

Diggin' my Dahlia's!

The cool weather has arrived and my Dahlia's couldn't be happier!

It's a pity they aren't fragrant.

Linking in to Fertilizer Friday with Tootsie!

Welcome Autumn!

 Normally, I do not welcome autumn.

Usually it is a reminder of what is to come (winter)

This year summer was so long and so HOT that autumn is welcome.

 The corn was planted late and still not ripe, but the soybean fields are ready for harvest.

The combines are HUGE and the job is dusty

The autumn colors are amazing right now!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall has arrived! Fertilizer Friday Sept 21

I will remember the summer of 2012 as weird and wonderful.

There was no rain to speak of for the months of May, June, and July.

The gardens were struggling, but managed to look colorful despite the heat. 

August came and so did some rain. 

Then came September, more rain and cooler temperatures.

The gardens were revived!

Now fall is here and I know that garden time is almost over for another year.

I'm going to enjoy every last bloom while I can!

The last 'pinks' of summer...
The 'Sunrise Serenade' blooms are finally taking on the form they should

This is the first 'Muskoka Moonlight' bloom this year

The 'Marmalade Skies' rose has had a tough season and for a while I thought I had lost it.
It is barely a foot tall now, but covered in blooms!

Dianthus 'Raspberry Parfait'

The front planter is full of blooms again too

 The summer pinks are making way for the colors of Autumn - yellow, orange, red and purple.
A bright orange Zinnia

A lonely cluster of yellow Coreopsis

A last minute effort of a lost Echinacea

The volunteer pumkins are almost ready for harvest

Don't you love how the Asters close up when the sun is gone?

Nothing says autumn like Hardy Mums!

Linking in to Fertilizer Friday with Tootsie!
Thanks for stopping by!

Fertilizer Friday - September 14th

What a week!

School is back full swing, and it has taken some time to get back into the old routine.

Last week started with a storm that brought 3 inches of rain, followed by another storm that brought strong winds. Strong enough to blow over the arbor holding the Wisteria vine! I never would have thought this could blow over with that vine holding it in place.

 It was set back up, repaired and reinforced. Looking at it I noticed a large number of 'beans' hanging and decided that I should deadhead. There are probably several pounds of these beans hanging there.

Does anyone else deadhead their Wisteria?

Fall begins in a week, but it has felt like fall for a while.

The back garden is showing off it's fall colors

You know it is fall when the Sedum starts to bloom

The Butterfly weed is ready to spread some seeds too

The Blood Grass is starting to show it's color too

While it is feeling like Fall, my garden isn't ready to let go of summer yet.

The Roses are enjoying the cooler temperatures and are all in bloom

 The Dahlia's are putting on quite a show too

I found a Cosmos I didn't know about too!

The Texas Red Salvia is soo hard to take photos of!

The Hummer's have really enjoyed it

The Morning Glory has finally covered the entire trellis.  They are beautiful blooms, but not the Sunrise Serenade blooms I was waiting for.

This is my favorite Zinnia and color and I hope to save some seeds from this plant. Keeping my fingers crossed that the seeds will come true. I've never saved seeds from my Zinnia's.

 I'm linking into Fertilizer Friday with Tootsie

Have a great day all :)