Hello, Late Summer!

Dear Friends,

Can you believe that we're already into the last full month of summer? Our summer here in Missouri has been so hot and dry that we were struggling just to keep our plants and trees alive. Lately it's been cooling off, little by little, and trees are already showing yellow leaves, so we think we may be headed for an early fall and winter. Mother Nature is never boring! She always has a few surprises up her sleeve.

Lately I've been busy running around taking care of vehicle business. First I had to take in our station wagon to have one of the sensors (starts with a 'p') replaced. Then my daughter AnnaMarie bought a pickup truck and I had to go have it safety-tested. Then the sensor on the station wagon malfunctioned because the EGR sensor was malfunctioning, so I had to take it back it to have that fixed. Then I went to register the truck, and was informed that I needed a copy of last year's tax receipts first (in addition to the title, proof of insurance, and proof of inspection), so it was back home to locate those! Although the folks at the service station were super friendly, and we did find a nice thrift store near the DMV, I am ready to stay home and catch up on everything for a few days.

Thankfully we had a nice, soaking rain this morning, so I didn't have to go out and water. Here are a few photos from our front garden~

A pink morning glory that grew itself~

Runner bean blossoms that the hummingbirds really love~ 

A verbena bonarienses that came as a bonus in a potted plant from the farmer's market this spring~

And tell me what I was thinking when I planted this squash next to these tomatoes?

The poke berries are ripening, tempting us to go out and have a "fight," wherein one tries to smear berries on one's neighbor without getting any on himself~

Being out and about bring a sense of unbalance to my life, so I like to spend as much time in my garden afterwards, just enjoying the flowers and listening to the birds.

I hope that you are finding something to bring balance into your life today!

Blessings to you,
\
Marqueta

"The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul."

— Alfred Austin