Monday, June 15, 2009



It has been ages since we have shared. Much has happened, recovery from a major illnes; Wm with his first job, junior sailing instructor; Fur enjoying being all that goes with being 10; and Grace delighted that Gus is no longer temporary, but a permanent neighbor!

Summer is almost upon us, though the temperatures are still quite cool. The lilacs have nearly finished filling the air with their heavenly fragrance, pansies are still fresh and beautiful and the summer annuals are still quite small.

Fall is upon us, though the color is not as vibrant as in this photo from last October. Many of the trees have yet to begin to change color and those that have are in browns and yellows, very few reds.
The annuals in the flower boxes have been replace with deep red, yellow and white mums; flowering kale and tri-colored sage. Most of the perennials in the beds have been trimmed back while the autumn joy and anemones are just past prime.

Grace and I have been taking our walks later in the day as the mornings have been damp or rainy and rather chrisp. A little later the bright sun and fall breezes have made our walks very pleasant. Few others are walking their pups so our strolls have been uneventful.

A few late Nashville warblers have been in the red osiers, robins have been feasting on the fruit of the flowering crabs and juncos have arrived to clean up the sunflowers beneath the feeders. This afternoon a red-necked grebe was just south of Cross Village, unfortunately I doubt s/he will make it much farther south as it appeared to be ailing.

How fortunate Grace and I are to live in such a beautiful and serene area. Each day we count our blessings.............

Life is difficult for Grace when the her favorite people want to watch TV and she was hoping to be the center of their attention. To be honest Grace has to admit Frances had given her much attention prior to the program starting that she planned to watch. Enter William!!!!!!! maybe he will give me some attention? as you can see Wm too wanted to watch the program and was attempting to watch while avoiding Grace and her kisses. BTY the grandkiddies were trying to watch the tivoed High School Musical 2.

Summer is rapidly coming to an end. It is most difficult to believe it is already past the middle of August and the family will be leaving in two weeks. William has finished sailing camp, tennis clinics have come to a close and for the past couple days the temperature have been quite chilly (high in the mid 60's) especially when one is not sheltered from the breezes. The sun is no longer up at 6:30 or setting after 9. Grace and I miss the days with the early sun rise.

The garden is looking sad though the flower boxes and flower pockets in front with the annuals are still looking lovely. Need to improve the perennial flower plan and incorporate more annuals into the perennial bed next spring.

Graces says Good night Frances, Good night William, you are my favorite people. I will miss you when you go back down state to return to school. We have had a wonderful summer.

THE LAZY DAYS OF SUMMER

Summer has been delightful with the unhumid, dry days and the cool nights, perfect for sleeping even if one does have a white fluffy pup snuggled next to them.

The grand kiddies are here spending their days at sailing and pony camp, playing tennis and having swimming classes.

The perennial beds are past their prime, which is probably poor plant selection on my part. The window boxes filled with annuals are doing great!

The flower pockets in the front. though not in their prime in this photo, are an outstanding addition to the array of summer flowers. Filled with yellow daisies, two shades of geraniums, fuchsia and coral, purple salvia (not yet in flower in this photo) and pure yellow marigolds they make a spectacular show. I am amazed at the people who I see stop, look, and make comments.

The HH sale was a much bigger success than I had anticipated. Making four days of extremely laborious work worthwhile. The fact it was held in the Shay House, I think, was a major factor in it's success, because of it's location and the fact merchandise was staged in rooms.

Before I close this post, I need to comment on the Wekinz phenomenon that has grasped hold of elementary school children, particularly girls. It is similar to the Beanie Babies era except this hold a secret code to a Webinz web site where the little stuffed animals are formally adopted and then cared for by their "parent". It will be interesting to see how long this craze lasts.

Good night Grace, Good night Frances.........

Christmas preparations are under way and Mother Nature has been more than co operative the past couple days blanketing the area with more than a foot of cold, white, fluffy stuff. Since 4 this afternoon an additonal 3 - 4 inches have fallen.

Grace is not pleased to be confined to the shoveled areas of the backyard since her little legs do not allow her to romp in snow this deep. She stands looking at an area where she would like to be realizing getting there is impossible. As soon as I get her "necessary" area as large as I would like, I'll work on making a path around the inside of the fence so she can reach the areas where she normally stands to view the outside world though she'll not be able to see over the snow on the opposite side of the fence. I think this is probably here to stay until the April thaw. Skiers and boarders are delighted.

The outcome of yesterday's elections will result in us avoiding listening to the news in the near future. Of course, this will excite Grace as her preference is classical on XM anyway.

The new feeder I have positioned just outside my sitting room window has only attracted the regulars. I am hoping for something good, but then the year is early, the cones are abundant on the spruce trees as is the fruit on the flowering crabs.

Grace and I are enjoying the mild weather and limited sunshine of the past few days, our fall/Indian Summer. I again am going sockless or putting them on behind a closed door or Grace feels we should be going for our walk immediately. On the cold rainy days, she exhibits her intelligence by not expecting to go for a walk. But then she does not like to even go out to puddle when it is raining.

Yesterday I finally planted the three flats of panies. With all the cold rainy weather I was beginning to fear I would be planting them in the snow. How pretty and cheery their little yellow faces will look as they are exposed as the snow melts next April. Also am trying to over winter a few in their nursery packs to plant into baskets next spring for the gate.

Chilly, rainy weather has been in place since the beginning of October. Robins have been flocking, feeding in various berry trees in town. Juncos have arrived, feeding beneath the feeders.

We've had our first snow, though it melted within 24 hours.

Today was a balmy 52°, ideal for raking the remainder of the leaves and disposing of the spent mums.

Grace spent much of the day running madly around the yard, getting much needed exercise since walks have been short on these very chilly windy days.