Pumpkin Patch

Today I decided to harvest from the pumpkin patch.  The vines were withered and the leaves were brown and not offering any protection from the sun for the fruit. After the harvest I brought my treasure into the house and began my fall decorating. Pictures are above.

Now I just have to decide what design to save. The fact that only one pumpkin developed and grew and turned orange makes this an important decision. Which display to you like best?

Colorful flowers and a little visitor

The flowers,Mums, that I planted about 10 days ago are now filled with color. The colors reflect the colors in the umbrella. Just how I planned.  The days are showing signs of fall and the nights are cooler and sometimes quite breezy too. Walking in the mornings will soon warrant a jacket and then gloves will be sure to follow. We walk in the early morning, so a white jacket will be worn, along with a light. Not so much to help us see the sidewalk, but to help others, out that early, to see us. The path we take each day is a very sound and smooth sidewalk. Just have to make sure that no one steps off the sidewalk and into a place unknown that could cause a change in our plans, such as a fall.

The little visitor at our house this week is a small dog who belongs to our daughter's family. They are out of town this week so Patch came here to stay. She has done very well, although she is probably missing all the family she usually sees each day. We have learned that she wants to be where ever we are. She follows me about the house always. We have a very safe outside deck that has no escape route other than coming back into the house. We have left the screen open about eight inches, just enough to let her come in and out at her desire. She has spent a lot of time on the couch in the den. I put her blanket in a soft spot and she seems to like that. She wants me to sit by her and coach her to eat. We have established a routine here, hope she leaves that routine here and does not require that same attention when she goes home.

New Fall Flowers

I did find some Mums in three colors that match the new umbrella. Maroon, orange, and yellow. They have been planted in the pots on the deck. I will post pictures as soon as they become colorful. Right now the blossoms are tight and mostlly green.
 I received a gift today from a friend, a start of rubarb. I had some in a garden about 20 years ago and had mentioned to him that I would like to grow it again. So today when he came to brunch ( our Labor Day celebration) he had a white bag with some starts that he had dug up from his garden. It has been planted and watered well, I do hope it will like its new surroundings and grow well for us.

Fall

I know that we still have 3 more weeks of Summer, but today dawned with the promise of cooler weather. The weather report showes temperatures in the low 80's, quite a change from yesterday, the last day of August, a day that found gardners looking for shade. I have found a store that is having a sale on some fall flowers. I will go there today and get new plants for the 3 boxes on our deck. The Pansies have given us beauty for many months, but they are gone now. So, in a while, I will put in some new colorful plants to brighten up our deck. Maybe, I will pick out some that match the colors in our new umbrella.

2 windshields

About a week ago, as I motored to the SLC airport, a rock was propelled by a passing car, hitting my windshield and causing a penny sized poc mark. The windshield, in my 13 year old car, already had a ding in it, but the new one was bigger and right in front of the driver.  Well, this needs fixing, but will have to wait until after the upcoming trip to Idaho.  During the trip, a car exiting the freeway, caused another rock to fly into my windshield, creating a ding with striations radiating in several directions from the center. This time on the passenger side and in my husbands car. 

After the festivities were over and the guests were on their way home, it was time to get both windshields repaired. My husband took them, one at time, to a shop that has a sign indicating that windshield repair was their specialty. Of course, the workers were told that "the wife' had been driving when both of the rocks hit the windshields.

Out On The Deck

The morning has been lovely. Not too hot and just enough breeze to make being outside comfortable. I'm sitting at the table on the deck behind our house now, remembering the fun times we had this past week. We have had company, my sister was visiting from Florida. We attended a neice's wedding in Idaho and spent time with our brother and another sister while we were there. When my sister visits from Florida, I make sure we visit one of the canyons that surround our valley. This year we went up to the Brighton Ski  Resort and walked around Silver Lake. Then we found a shady picnic table and had a picnic lunch. We also visited with other family here in the valley.  She left for home this morning. Now my time will be filled with the garden's needs, such as watering, weeding and some harvesting too.

August Morning

It is a lovely Summer morning. The yard is fine for a day or two. The housework is caught up. I have time to sit on the deck, under the new umbrella, and remember happenings of the past few weeks.

We spent a weekend in California, visiting a daughter and her husband, sightseeing, and just having a good time. We did a lot of eating too. The main draw to California, at this time, was a chance to see a Frank Lloyd Wright home in Orinda, CA. The  home is going up for sale and an open house was planned for a Saturday and Sunday. Our daughter was able to buy tickets for the four of us.  We drove to a BART station and a bus drove us to the property.  The home was tucked away at the end of a lane, metal gates at the edge of the driveway. The property is large, with two streams and lots of trees and gardens. The home was built in 1948 for the Buehler family. The  construction was very interesting, cement blocks became the inside walls as well as the outside walls. No painted walls to speak of.  There were walls filled with redwood siding, redwood cupboards, redwood doors. Most of the furniture was built into the walls. In the frontroom, or gathering room, the windows were met by the backs of built in couches. The ceilings were quite low, in some places low enough to catch the forehead of a few observes . The diningroom and livingroom both had gold leaf on the ceilings. The backs of the dining chairs were low. Mr Wright did not want them to obstruct the view into the gardens. We were told not to take pictures inside, but we could take pictures of the garden.  I had a very fine time looking at the home and garden built so many years ago by a famous man.