Peach Swans & Zombie Cats

With days in the 70s and nights in the 40s, the leaves are finally really changing.  We have 5 or 6 trees in the back yard that are all turning spectacular shades of red and yellow.

I bring in big fallen branches and put them in vases.  I think it's a great way to "bring the outside in."

Todd and I spend as much time in the sun room as we can.  It's warm in the late afternoons and we can open the windows.  We eat on our little homemade table and have long talks about this awful election.  Somehow being wrapped up in an old plaid blanket and looking out at the trees makes it seem a little less scary. 

I've tried to take the cats outside as much as I can.  I joked with Todd that we didn't need Halloween decorations on the porch...we could just prop Bosewichte up with a sign that said ZOMBIE CAT.  Give him a little sun and he slumps bonelessly against  the deck with a hypnotic stare that would make any zombie proud.

Tabitha prefers to do her sunning indoors.

I've had time to do a little exploring.  I found a persimmon tree at the edge of the woods that still had some late-season fruit.

In our side yard I found an owl pellet, the avian version of a hairball.  See all the fur?  Some parts of mice and other prey are too hard to digest, so owls will vomit up a mass of the leftovers.

I poked it apart and found some tiny bones.

Todd has the sharpest snake-sense of anyone I've ever seen, or maybe the worst luck.  He stumbled into this little garter snake, curled up in one of our side shrubs.

Totally harmless!

Meanwhile, although I haven't gotten around to basting together my first quilt quite yet (this week, I hope!), I'm already picking fabric for the second one.  It's so odd.  Normally I just like earth tones, plaids, very traditional and natural fabrics.  But for some reason, since starting to quilt, I've been drawn to odd things, like mint fabric with snails.  I'm building my next quilt completely around peach colored swans (Swan Fabric).  I can't help it...they're so whimsical and pretty!  I'll get this out of my system and then go back to plaids.

Have a great week!

E-"vase"-ive Maneuvers

Last year, I carefully cultivated a huge patch of weeds.  The rest of the property had been so intentionally landscaped that I couldn't believe that the one really sunny area, edged in irises and bordered by shasta daisies and lantana, wouldn't be utilized.  I waited and watched while the 8' x 4' bed filled out with lovely green variegated seedlings.  They grew and grew, and by fall had become a hideously rangy, drooping mess.  There was no mistaking it:  these were weeds.   They returned with the first warm weather, filling in the tidy arc beyond the lawn.

They filled in so nicely and had such beautiful leaves that I had to ask myself:  were they REALLY weeds?

 

I just had to remind myself of their appearance last fall.  No doubt about it:  these were weeds.

It took me several days to weed the area, because the weeds, true to character, had a vast underground runner root system, which means that I will still need to plow it up and get every last bit or they'll sprout again.  I don't mind working there, though, because I like seeing all of the little scurrying things.

Little pillbugs, running for cover.

Little flying things, woken up from their naps.

 

Centipedes...

 

...and millipedes.

Even a little frog!

I love being outside in spring.  Last fall I planted six or seven peony bushes, and they're all coming up.

Sedum is starting to fill in the blank space around the rocks.

The air is filled with the buzzing of little wings. 

Bees love our flowers...

...and so do butterflies.

Our clematis vines are all starting to bloom.

I love their little clenched centers.

This .50 Goodwill vase is perfect for them.

 Of course, I have many...

...many...

...many...

...other vases in use.  I love the sheer variety of azaleas here, from tiny and pink...

...to sprawling and fuchsia.

It's nice to be outside amid the flowers, looking out over the water.

We've started eating our meals out on the sun porch again, just so we can catch the sun in the morning and listen to the tree frogs at night.  Bosewichte (our cat) heartily concurs with our decision.

Hope you have a great week!