Well, it is that time of year again when Summer fades into Autumn. As much as I love the re-birth of Spring time - something about this time of year calls to me more. Maybe it is the coolness that creeps into the air even when the sun is warm after a hot and humid Southern Summer. I took some pictures of the last of my flowers.
Leah planted all my flowers for my deck this year. She picked a lot of my favorites and I've truly enjoyed them. Of course, just like I do with cut flowers, I will not discard any of these as long as there even one bloom of color.
There is something so special about the various colors, shapes, and smells of flowering plants. The different shapes and shades of green of the leaves are amazing. As with so many other things - I love gardens, flowers, plants, shrubs and especially trees but have no leanings toward digging in the dirt. Maybe because of my poor deformed knees - just the thought of it makes me wince in pain.
Even though I had mostly larger pots and long planters this year (to cut down on how much watering was required) I still love this little yellow watering can. These flowers have done better since it has turned cooler at night.
Then you have the different colors moving in on the colors of Spring and Summer in the form of fallen leaves.
This time of year is a time of reflection for me for another reason. In three days, it will be the 15th year anniversary of Mama's death. So hard to believe it has been that long. Mama died at home in her own bed as she wanted and she had a view of the most beautiful tree. I don't think I remember another year that tree was that pretty - it was on fire - mostly yellow with tinges of red and orange. It was huge and full and she would look out the window during quiet times. I remember the morning the doctor drove to the house to talk to her about how the treatments weren't working. I can still see him walking toward me on the porch with that tree behind him that bright sun filled morning with a crisp bite to it. She was very calm that day - Ruth and I were with her and after my other sister left we had a brief but calm conversation about what he said. Afterward, she said something I'll never forget - "some things are left better unsaid". So I never brought it up again. The trees in my yard aren't pretty anymore because they are all GONE! Yep, the crazy highway people chopped away like crazy but if you look closely, you can still see some pretty colors here and there.
This is just one little branch but I love these colors. We used to have a leaning tree in the back of our property and there would be mushrooms growing up the side up it like a stairway for fairies. They were the most beautiful color you could imagine - gold, orange, yellow, red all together.
This is looking into my neighbor's yard and you can see there is still more to come as far as colors. We should be hitting our peak over the next week I think. I hate they are calling for rain during the week after the gorgeous weather we had last week but it should be pretty by the weekend. If I get everything done I'm planning to do, hopefully I'll be able to get out to the farm by next weekend. I miss you Mama.
That table has seen a lot of meals - both with and without the leaves. It was the perfect height and size for my little kitchen and worked very well for me as a work table while preparing meals. Big D bought a big can of furniture stripper and it took the entire can to strip one chair and it was still very dark. It was soft pine so it would never have looked right. He also checked and it would have cost over $600 to strip it alone. I paid the whopping big price of $150.00. I used tons of pretty table cloths and decided to just live with it because it was one of the few round tables I've experience that was very sturdy and stable. I have a friend that has a table and chairs I would love to have but they didn't want to sell it. Then not too long ago, some friends were moving and I bought their table and 4 chairs.
We didn't need the leaves and the table is much bigger than mine and much lower. None of my tableclothes fit it! It already had a few scratches so no worry about it being kept new! The next door neighbor's Dad saw our old table on the porch and we gave it to him. I wonder if he still has it? I wonder if he enjoys it? I know - LET THE OLD TABLE GO. When I sent pictures of the new one in a text message, Little D sent back he was grieving for the old one - my sweet sentimental baby boy!
