The Season's Gone, Almost!

Fall is creeping in with its cold fingers and I have to say that it has almost felt like it's been pushing those fingers in all summer long! We've had some really cold days this summer. In fact, if I am honest we had only a very few warm days the whole summer long. We have also had lots and lots of rain...so much so that everything has this really green look yet into fall - when we usually have brown and dried up grass and weeds by this time of this season.

I'm kind of liking the green that my sister tells me is much like Ireland's countryside, though the cold fall days that we've had scattered through this warm time of the year has been unusual. What is next as we traipse into the colorful season of fall? Who knows, but I'm looking forward to them all!

Summer's Ending

Summer is winding down into a quiet but warm ending. We did not have much of the hot, steamy weather that the last few years have offered but it still had that summer wonder only a little greener one since we had lots of rain!

This school year will begin like it did when I was a kid, after Labor Day. Because of the new law that sent the school year back to that September start time the summer is longer and those first few days of school are not quite so warm and hard to take.

My garden has taken a trip toward the end of the season as well through less flowers and some brownin, fading leaves. I am beginning the clean-up that is necessary for putting this small plot of land to bed for the the coming winter season. The changes of seasons have always fascianted me and this year is no different. Each change brings the new in with a chance for a fresh start. I'm really loooking forward to that.

An Online Family Soap Opera

I've had an interesting, and quite emotional couple of weeks that were filled with many controversial moments, as well as some small, very thoughtful quiet ones as well. It's funny how controversy within a family can cause so much pain and such strife, but that's what happened and I'm still hanging on to the what seemed solid to not be blown away by the anger and emotions that surfaced and whirled around us all. The most interesting thing about this whole event was that it began, and ended online, and for those of us who are from the baby boom generation it seems almost wrong because that personal eye-to-eye wasn't present where we might see reactions and guage our next move through that.

I use to think that to face down someone and know just what to say was impossible for me. Face to face confrontations have always been hard because of a lack of any kind of confidence on my part. But this was confrontation that was only in the written word and yet the emotions where so high, mainly because of inner feelings that seemed to come out from between the lines like something painful that oozed out of an infected wound. What is hurtful is it didn't lance the wound and bring about healing.

I personally am ready for a new week, where cooler heads might prevail.

The Cool, Cool Days of Summer

Summer is a strange batch of cool fall-like days this year. It has been constantly cool, with quite a bit of rain and of course very little beach weather these days. July was actually the coldest on record here in the mitten state!

So what does August bode with this kind of weather in July? Can we find our way back to those hot summer days (with those occasional humid days as well!)? Most would say yes, of course we can! But for those of us who are physically affected by those hot, muggy days and nights there has been a literal sigh of relief that has risen quickly to the top of the heap with these wonderfully cool days. Cooler days mean no one is on edge, but it also means less days spent at the beach near the cold waters of Lake Michigan. Who really wants to sit in the cold, damp sand wrapped in a towel and watching the water edge closer as the waves reach out? (I sure don't!)

So, is it going to be a rush to the beach with the warmth, or will it be a season that instead focuses on what we don't have - heat - as opposed to what we do have, cool comfortable temperatures that dictate what we actually can and cannot do these days. Personally the cool day is really my kind of weather and that means some of us are enjoying this strange visitation of cool, crisp summer air.

But I hope that those who remain on the beach or dock wrapped tightly in the only warmth that available, their beach towels are enjoying the only comfort in this strange and unusual summer. Hang on! I am sure we have many warm, steamy days yet ahead this summer!

Parts of a Garden Life

I've had some requests for some pictures from my garden this year, so here they are!

This is one of my three clematis' that proved to be quite a bloomer this spring. (Ville de Lyon)

This is one of my many coreopsis in the garden.

This is one of my favorites!

(Crocosmia Lucifer)

These are my Candy Tufts.

One of the many Foxglove that I really enjoy!

This is one of my all time favorites in the spring garden. It is one of my peonies. I got a plant from a friend so I'm not sure of the name.

This is only one of Asiatic Lilies.

My Dahlias are so gorgeous this year.

A few years ago I developed a wild flower garden in a

spot in our yard that would not even grow grass. It looks great from our patio.

My garden is different and always growing and evolving each year.

These are only a few vistas that I see almost every morning over my

morning cup of tea.

Exploring My Own Front Porch Experience

Our Sunday excursion was really lovely, in every sense of the word. It began with our car winding it's way up a Northern bound road to the little town of Grand Haven. That was a bad choice of towns to visit since the Coast Guard Festival begins this week and the crowds were unbelievable! So, instead of stopping we motored on through another little burg until we found the end of a lovely lake and a place to get coffee. From there it was on to a small park with some benches where we could watch an eagle that had caught my eye.

One of the standards of my front porch experiences as a child was to watch all the birds that populated our yard and the skies above it, so birds have come to mean a real escape for me from the every day craziness. Those feathered creatures that aren't tied like us to this earth soar and dive in my imagination and spring most often from the memories from my childhood. As we followed the eagle with ours I am so eager to see the paths it follows and the circles it can makes in patterns in the sky above us.

As we sit I scan the lake below for possible prey and from where we are sitting there really isn't movement that I can see. As the great bird circles higher and then lower the pattern takes in that closer view for a small rodent or bird that might be lunch today. For many, the raptors of our skies are to be ignored or even hated, after all they eat those little birds that frequent our home feeders. For me these majestic birds are as interesting as the many species that frequent my own backyard feeders.

Don't get me wrong, I love to watch all the little feathered critters that frequent my yard and am usually part of the bird count every year. But I'm also am excited when a Copper's, or Sharp shinned hawks make a pass through my yard. I can often find them resting on a branch of tree watching my feeder area very carefully.

For me all the birds are an integral part of the well rounded backyard experience. Over the years some of the wild creatures have crept back into suburban life and on the whole that's a good thing. We actually have fox and wild turkeys that frequent our yard at times as well raccoon and possum. There have even been sighting of a coyote or two in some of the area cornfields. For many this is a source of concern, but for me it is something I've always experienced because I grew up quite a distance from any city.

To me the best part of my front porch experience often is what nature has to offer. Watching all of those creatures that frequent our yard these days are a real gift and I'm glad I can see and enjoy them many times during many of our summer evenings.