SEPTEMBER RAMBLINGS & SOME WISE WORDS

Howdy!  I'm having a great time as new plants and flowers are amazing me here in September.  I have been spending a lot of time outdoors now that the temps have dropped down to the normal 70's we usually experience at this time in the Midwest. My Sedum looks like bushes and the hydrangeas are getting a bit dried out so I can soon cut blooms to bring indoors.  A little weeding here and there and using the hose when we have days on end without rain.  I really love being outdoors.  I'd rather cut the grass then vacuum.  God help me this winter.  

These are Obedience plants.  I wasn't sure what they were so I asked on Hometalk.  If you haven't been there it really is cool.  Go to the category you are searching; gardening, cooking, home repair...and you can download your own pics.  You then get responses from all sorts of folks familiar with the category.  Real people.  Real answers.  It's as helpful as Google but as I said, you can download pics in addition to your question.  When everyone weighed in on these being Obedience plants it dawned on me that I planted these at the lake near The Husband's rock garden.  They were tall so I dug them up and brought them home.  A great example for keeping a garden journal.  

Along the same fence I noticed these blooms.  I thought perhaps hollyhocks but I know they bloom along a tall stem and these flowers were at the top.  Hometalk and the woman who works in the floral section of my grocery store set me straight.  This lady, Donna, was so sweet and helpful.  I asked if she gardened and wow, it sounds like she has something really magnificent.  We chatted about twenty minutes.  I had to pull myself away before the ice cream melted.  So...this is Rose of Sharon.  All of my sources including Instagram confirmed this and also warned it's very invasive.  I can't say I don't welcome this as it's along a fence where I need privacy from the next door neighbors.  My dogs are barkers and we are in such close proximity to these people I wish I could build a wall.  Ugh...didn't mean to say that at all.  ;-D

And the good 'ol morning glories.  They climb vertically and then horizontally.  I have to thin them out in the spring.  They strangle my herbs and you can see they took over a little iron tower that's unidentifiable now.  They make a nice little shaded area on the back porch for the dogs but they don't bloom until September.  Glorious velvety blooms then but with the cold coming on by October, you don't get a chance to enjoy them long.  I think maybe next year I'll drop some of the seeds along that wall...I mean fence.

A Good Book & Milo At My Feet

I follow Monica at Prince Snow Farm, both her blog and Instagram feed.  She recommended this book and I immediately looked it up on Amazon and then ordered it.  Briefly, this is the story of a woman who bought the farmhouse she had always dreamt about in Pennsylvania.  To quote the book jacket:

"Through stories of planting and preserving, of opening the gates wide to neighbors, and of learning to speak the language of a place, Christie invites you into the heartache and joy of small beginnings..."

It is definitely a book to savor.  Thank you, Monica.

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I want to introduce you to a long time blogger friend of mine, Leslie Harris, who writes the blog, Gwen Moss.  If you've read my blog long enough, it's not just a lot of senseless drivel.  Well, actually, it is.  But I try to stay away from the negative, a personal trait of mine.  I am however, quite wary of taking chances.  I am so embracing my relationships with my children and ever growing family on my blog but I wonder what's in store for me.  I add a spin to my everyday happenings, always honest but trying my best to make you smile (and perhaps myself with the crazy happenings that can only happen to me).   I have to really shake it off in a good way.  When it comes down to pure honesty, I'm floundering in my middle age.  A bit lost in my new role in life that I actually have no name for.  I'm not sure what direction I'm heading in but I do know I have more years behind me as opposed to ahead of me.  In light of all of this I do a lot of reading, writing, and simply listening to others as well as what is going through my mind.  

Leslie summed up so many of my feelings in a recent post she wrote.  I've included a little excerpt here.  I think you will find it as enlightening as I have.  I hope you find the time to write a comment here sharing how you feel as far as uncertainty about the direction you are going.  I realize some of us are very grounded and content in our lives.  If I've made some sense here, if Leslie's post moves you, I'd love for you to share or follow the link to her blog simply to read all of it.  She's an incredibly motivating person.   

"I am not a seeker of scary experiences. Let me be clear about that.

There’s no one that likes a comfy routine more than me. But one thing I’ve learned from relocating cites and selling our family home (2 years ago) in my fifties, is that big changes inject your life with a newfound energy. All of sudden you’re looking around with a pair of new eyes. You find yourself growing in unexpected ways simply because you’re outside your comfort zone and everything feels terribly new. 

Suddenly anything seems possible.

But no, you don't have to move and be totally uprooted to have a similar feeling. I've found that change in baby steps is manageable. 

Here’s one way to feel good about yourself. Introduce something new and positive to your life, but make it small.  Just do it every day for a set period of time. Even a week is good. And finish it. 

The next thing you know, you’re walking around with a feeling of accomplishment about this one positive thing you’ve done. And suddenly, you’re seeing yourself differently and who knows what's next? 

It's this openness to new experiences that keeps us growing".

*****

She's the real deal and I just love her.  

A shout out to Tammy at T's Daily Treasures.  I so enjoy seeing the sweet pieces she crochets and how she involves herself in groups and classes with women who love needle work.  Living in Kuwait, she gives us glimpses into a beautiful country with her photography and words.  

She knows, like many of you, that even though I'm all thumbs I would love to knit, crochet and sew.  She recently gifted me with these pieces and they so warmed my heart.  Terrible pics but the piece on the right has a glass bottle filled with dried lavender on it and the cute little mug shape on the left...well The Husband confiscated that  to use on the end table next to his favorite chair to hold his coffee mug.  He can be sneaky like that.  He needs to send a personal thank you note to Tammy.  :-D

I'm leaving you with a very simple and quick recipe for a side dish, Creamy Spinach Bake.  If you like spinach, especially creamed spinach, you will love this.  It's very simple and requires few ingredients. I didn't change it much, this is my own picture and I have to say, we devoured it.  Here's the link.

I'm enjoying time at the lake.  Lots of work but it's relaxing to take walks and sit on the dock.  Not much else to do but unpack boxes and we are down to pretty much just the decorative pieces I've accumulated over the past 25 years.  I like the simplicity right now and we actually have no place to put these things.  We gave away many pieces of furniture and I want to add back, purchase new pieces of furniture little by little giving everything a lot of thought.  Going up alone is a challenge.  The T.V. is not hooked up nor do we have WiFi.   Country living shouldn't be about that. At least we love to believe that.  I'm all about it but the dark nights with nothing but the sound of bullfrogs and coyotes, well it's a little unnerving for this girl sometimes!

I'll be back soon.  Have a great weekend!

Jane x