Flower Power

I have had beautiful flower-filled weekends lately with Michelle and the Petals & Co gang. Gorgeous flowers for a BuNcH of fall weddings!

Coleus

Before

After

It's about time to take cuttings of the coleus to overwinter.  And maybe the sweet potato vines too.   I remember one time when I was a little girl, I pulled up one of mammy's coleus just because I didn't like it.  Back then I didn't  know anything about "foliage".   I didn't know how valuable plants--foliage or blooming---must have been to mammy.  Where did she get that coleus?  We didn't have a  Lowe's back then.  She was mad at me, but she didn't get a switch.  Maybe she was tired that day.

Monday Vase

Nine Eleven Eleven

I was  watching Matt & Katie on the Today show before work one morning and Matt said, "We're going to switch here. . . there's something going on at the World Trade Center."  And a few minutes later, the second plane flew into the other tower.   

Judson was a freshman at UK.  Isaac went to school that morning, but I was sure that they would watch the history happening on tv.  His history teacher gave a test that was already scheduled for that  day. We should have stayed home together.  

I'm So Happy!

Mark gave me the best anniversary present--a much needed new watering can :-)

Happy Anniversary

If we were getting married today, I've love to carry this bouquet.  Everything from the garden--lilies, garlic chives, white flowers from the butterfly bush, sweet autumn clematis; foliage from the anthurium, lamb's ear, and coleus; with one of mama's hens & chicks thrown in for good measure.  It's beautiful outside today.  Today is PJ's birthday too.  Hope she's having as beautiful a day in her  Michigan garden as we are here in Illinois.

September

It was a dry month, but I had lots of good watering help!

It was one of the best Augusts of all time with Betsy & Kyle & Rachel here for a nice long visit.  And Judson too for the last couple of days.  But now it's September and this morning I heard Betsy call, "Grannie K, we have to go home to 'Tucky!"  Sigh. . . so we helped them load the car and waved goodbye.

It's a quiet house on this our 23rd anniversary.  Mark is cleaning, I'm paying bills and blogging.  Country music on the radio.

But it's the first beautiful fall day of the season too, and we're already looking forward to the next time we get to visit with our babies :)

Hat Collage

Future UK Wildcats

Park Pictures

Saturday Garden

Kyle has been helping me water and weed in the garden.  It was a beautiful morning!

Thursday Flowers

It's been a whirlwind of an August.  Betsy & Kyle have been visiting, and last weekend it was so good to have my mom and sister here too.  I'm thankful to be recovering from a case of shingles.  Now if I could just recover from this little case of insomnia! 

Photo Session at The Farm

Betsy LoVeS to take pictures too!

BK Here

Helping PaPaw pick tomatoes

PaPaw's Pancakes

Connect Four at V's--the same game that their dad & uncle ike played thousands of times

Reading List

It's early Sunday morning.  Betsy & Kyle are still sleeping.  We've had a wonderful time playing this weekend.  Last night we went to Southwind Park and they had a great time  climbing and sliding and swinging.  There was a wedding going on at the park too, and Betsy wanted to go to the party.  She would have liked the cake and the dancing.  I would have liked to see the flowers :)

The Paris Wife was a really good book.  I don't remember anything about Hemingway, but I do think we read For Whom the Bell Tolls when I was in school.  I didn't realize so many American artists went  to France to live.  Does that still happen?   Just after I read this book, I went to see Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen's newest movie.  I loved that movie and really wanted to go see it again.  Hemingway showed up in that story too, but not Hadley.  I would have liked to have  seen her too.

I also really liked Rules of Civility. Very different from Friends, the hit TV show, but also some similarities too as these friends lived and loved and worked in New York City.   I loved Katey Kontent, a modern working girl in the big city during the days of prohibition just after the depression and leading up to the war. 

Ball Garden

Betsy & Kyle are here!  Note the grass after the last few weeks of no rain & scorching temps.  But it's August and this happens every year.  The last few days have been absolutely beautiful.  And it's state fair time, so we're bound to have a big thunderstorm over the next ten days.

 Rose Uproar, another zinnia from Parks.  This one's on the reorder list.

So Happy Together

Thanks to Laura for this picture from Clayton's collection.  Looking at Betsy & Kyle playing together now is like looking into a time machine from the 1980s.

Monday Flowers

Zinnia Time!

The zinnias are back!  They don't mind hundred-degree temps as long as they have enough water.  These little guys are called Swizzle scarlet & yellow from Parks.  They're really short, but so cute.

And meet Zowie!Yellow Flame, again from Park's.

Queen Red Lime from Park's.  This is the third season that I've had these, and I still love them.  I usually sow Envy, but this year I tried Queen Limes instead.  Several plants haven't bloomed yet, so hopefully they're on the way.