FROM MY KITCHEN WINDOW I SEE A HEART

Do you see a black eyed susan vine "heart"?  

This is what I can see from my kitchen window and from way back, 

I see a heart shape growing on my glider.

Do you remember when I told you about my black eyed susan vine and how in August I finally let it grow wherever it wants to go?  It's so invasive and all spring and summer I keep pinching it back or it will climb ALL OVER everything.

But this time of year, it's just so beautiful and the leaves and yellow flowers really stand out.

This vine is a perennial and I'm so glad it keeps coming back in my flower beds.

Years ago, I got this table and chairs from an elderly client.  I think she said it was from the '40's or '50's.  It's very, very heavy iron.  I just loved it and when she was ready to get rid of it, she sold it to me.  One winter, one of my cats jumped down out of the tree onto the glass table top and broke it.  

I just haven't replaced it yet, but will some day. 

 It gets so dirty outside and I don't ever use it, so I'll just leave it like that, for now.

SELFIE OF SELF

One of the bloggers is asking for selfies and this is the best I could do, this time.  The last time I tried, I got mostly nostrils.  I know! I know!  I'm not good at this!!

Have you tried to do a selfie??

There's a special talent to getting it right.  And, you have to kind of be a contortionist!

PUNKIN DRINKS BIRDBATH WATER & FISH POND WATER!!

                Punkin's two favorite places to get a drink of water are the birdbath and the fish pond.

And, I bet I know why!  

The birdbath water tastes like bird and the fish pond water tastes like fish.  Yum! 

It's nice to know that nature makes the birds and the fish very aware of predators.

In this picture, she looks like a giant cat, but she's not.  I guess it's the angle of the shot.

Punkin is a good and sweet cat!  Charlie's best friend.

THOUGHT I HAD LOST MY OLD FRIEND'S BEARDED IRIS BUT, HERE IT IS!!

The summer was so unbearably hot that I didn't take care of most of my flower beds like I should have.  Now that the weather has cooled off, I'm loving working in the yard, again.

A long, long time ago, a neighbor friend was dividing his old german bearded irises and shared them with me.  When I moved to my current home, I dug up and brought lots of my plants, including the iris bulbs to my new home.  I've loved them all of these years.  But, as my trees have grown and spread they are blocking sunlight and I've lost all but one of my friend's irises.  A few days ago, when I was cleaning out an overgrown flower bed, I was so happy to see that this last one is coming out, again.  I have put it in better sun and am going to pay very close attention, now.  By next spring, I'm hoping to have, at least, two more irises coming up.  I bet I will!

YAY!! I GOT EVERYTHING FERTILIZED JUST BEFORE THE RAIN MOVED IN

The weatherman was saying a coldfront was coming and lots of rain with it.  So, yesterday, I ran out and got three bags of organic Medina Growin Green granular fertilizer and got EVERYTHING in my yard fertilized.  The organic gardener that I listen to on the radio, says that fall is the most important and beneficial time of the year to fertilize.

I must have slept very soundly last night, because I didn't hear the coldfront and the rain blow in.  But this morning, I can tell I gots lots of rain on the new fertilizer.  And, all morning there has been a slow, steady rain and that's even better.  This fertilizer doesn't wash away.  It "bonds" to the ground and  continues to slow release.

So, one more very important thing off of my list of things to do.  And, this one is a big relief!!

MOLLIE, THE TORTIE CALICO CAT

       This is little Mollie.  Her mommy left her under my bedroom window when she was a tiny kitten.

 One night, I kept hearing a tiny "meow".  I took a flashlight out and looked in the cast iron leaves under my bedroom window and couldn't see anything.  Then, the next morning I saw Charlie staring at something in the bushes in the backyard.  Mollie had squeezed under the back gate.  

The love began!

She and Charlie became best friends and it was so much fun to watch them play.  Kittens are just so, so cute anyway, playing and stalking everything.  I tried to get her to live in the garden shed, but she loved Charlie and insisted on following him in the doggie door.  I could not keep her out of the house.

I'm a painter and my studio is big and open.  She would climb on my shelves and knock paint off.  Twice when I was painting a bench and a table, she jumped up on the wet paint.  I know she was just trying to be with me, but it JUST COULD NOT WORK!!  Too frustrating for me.

  

When she was smaller, she would sleep in this bowl.  So cute!  She was a sweet, beautiful tortie calico, but I had to find her a new home.

For a whole year, I searched and looked for the perfect home.  I felt sooooo guilty, but just could not have her inside my house.

Finally, my friend Monica found her a WONDERFUL home.  They had three other cats and just loved Mollie.  Their cats were "inside" only, so that was perfect for her.

That was three years ago, but I still remember her and every once in a while, I have a little guilt feeling, but she's wonderfully happy, now.  Marty is the new mom and she has shared photos and let me know how happy Mollie is and how happy they are to have her.

Slowly, I'm getting over it.

MONARCH BUTTERFLIES LOVE EUPATORIUM, TOO!

     The little purple flowers are called eupatorium.  They're in the flower bed with butterfly weed, which the monarchs are attracted to.  You read that butterfly weed is a monarch butterfly favorite, but they also LOVE eupatorium.  They flutter around it more than my butterfly weed.  I know butterfly weed is a host plant for their larvae and I even noticed their caterpillars on the eupatorium.  But, you don't hear about eupatorium for monarchs.
     Eupatorium is a hardy perennial that really spreads out and I love the way it grows in and out of the rest of my flowers.

     And, you can see the yellow black eyed susan flowers and vine.  I do love vines!  All summer and early fall, I'm constantly pulling it away from all of the places it likes to grow and hang on to. By September, I just let it grow wherever it wants to because it's so beautifuL when it starts blooming in September and blooms until it freezes.  This glider is going to be full of the yellow flowers and vines and, I will be loving it!  I will, gladly, sit somewhere else.

I googled eupatorium and:  (Perennial for part-shade and butterfly magnet: 

Gregg’s Mistflower (Eupatorium greggii, Conoclinium greggii,)

MY FANCY, BEAUTIFUL MOSAIC GUTTER DRAINS

A few months ago, I decided I needed gutters on one part of my house.  There was just too much water coming down in that one area.  Gus is the guy who helps me a lot and I asked him to install the gutters.  I went to the hardware store and got some of those roll out bright green water diverters to attach to the bottom of the downspout.  I kept looking at those and knew I just could not live with such a plain, common downspout.  I knew this was an opportunity to create!!

Gus and I designed these and I just LOVE the way they look.  I already had the rocks and the decorative tiles.  As he was building the drains with concrete, I placed the tiles and rocks.

I had several metal birds and thought they would look so beautiful on my downspout that looks like a river or waterfall.  They are bright metallic gold and I smeared concrete on them to make them look messy and old. (Old is what I do in my work and love things to look old.)

This is the other one.  Over time, it will get more and more stained and I'll love that. 

 I might even paint some stain on the areas that are not getting naturally stained by the water off of my roof.

Gus dug and put a pvc pipe under my rock walk to divert the water.  Look who now calls it his/her home.  That big ol' toad frog is always in there during the day and comes out at night.

While the concrete was still wet, I asked Gus to put a few of these tiles along my rock walk and I added this little cement dove.  Gus was wiping and cleaning the concrete from the tiles and I asked him to smear and smudge the concrete ON them.  I think that looks old and when they finally get stained from weather, they'll look really nice, (to me).

Excuse me!! I'm trying to take a picture, here!!!

Charlie and Punkin started playing in my way.

I live on a hill and am always working to divert water from going under my house. So, I asked Gus to build this rock border to keep excessive rain water from flowing under the studio part of my home.

I just took this picture and am very proud and happy to say it rained last night and this morning as a cold front was coming through.  We have been in a horrible drout and really appreciate any rain that comes our way.