Meeting Blog Friends!

This was a fun day!
Ross and I had the great pleasure of meeting 2 blog friends on this muggy Saturday, which promised rain, and gave only a little.

I've corresponded with "Apple" of "The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree" (on the left), for over a year through our blogs, and have just recently "met" her sister, "Country Girl", who shares a blog with Apple called "My Sister's Garden".

A remarkable phenomenon about blogging is the feeling of friendship without having actually met.....so that when finally meeting face to face, we felt like old friends. The four of us had a nice lunch, with lots of good conversation, and plenty of laughter (if you want a good chuckle read Apple's post about bathroom follies encountered on her recent vacation), after which we took a tour of the gardens.
I've been wanting to thin some perennials, and the girls were happy to take some off my hands, so we set about digging, and loaded up Apple's car. It's such a pleasure to find a home for the plants so they don't end up on the compost heap.

Riley and Max kept us company and got under our feet. Max of course, got stepped on a few times :)
At one point I stuck the spading fork into the lawn and it fell over (because the soil is so dry), narrowly missing one of the twins lying a little to my right. Apple said "That must be Riley" (because he didn't get clobbered), and sure enough, it was :)
My dear husband likes to rib me about being such a chatterbox. He tells me I "overtalk"...and I have to admit (sheepishly), in this instance, he's right. Poor Apple and CG probably went home with sore ears (sorry girls!). However, we did enjoy each other's company, and hopefully we'll meet again in the not-too-distant future. They've invited us to see their homes and gardens and I'm sure we'll head their way one of these days.
Meanwhile they'll be busy planting for a day or two. We're supposed to get some decent rain tomorrow afternoon and that's something to look forward to. It's hard to establish new plants in such dry conditions.

Thanks so much for coming girls!! We thoroughly enjoyed the visit :)

The flowers behind us in the 2 top photos (which some of you remarked about in the "Bailey" post) are called Golden Glow (Rudbeckia Laciniata -"Hortensia"), AKA "Outhouse Plant". Isn't that a great name? :) Can't you just see them beside an old outhouse?

They began blooming in early August and are coming to the end of their bloom time now, which you can see in the top photos. They're perennials and are very easy care, except for the need to have a bit of support to keep from flopping over.

They've been gorgeous with the Gloriosa Daisies (Rudbeckia Hirta) in front. Here you can see our outdoor wood furnace and wood pile in the background.

The cats like to climb on the rustic fence that Ross built last year to keep them upright. This is pretty Miss Cleo.

Max likes to keep his feet on the ground, which is definitely a good stategy for him :) His leg has healed very well, by the way. The only way I can tell the twin brothers apart is to look at Max's leg where he still has faint signs of his 3 (yes, 3!) accidents.

The afternoon light makes the Golden Glow really live up to its name.

You can see particularly well how it glows in the late sunshine in this photo. Some of it always manages to escape the fence and flop, but that just adds to its charm.

I'm sneaking in a few more kitty pictures. Here's Max, or Riley (?) having an afternoon snack.

And just to break up all the yellow, here's young Miss Fiona, having a bit of fun.

Pretty Madelaine is Jasmine's sister, and shy Jasper is Fiona's brother.

I'll say goodnight with another picture of the afternoon light. I love this time of day when everything seems to glow. No wonder the Scots call it "The Gloaming" - an apt name indeed.
I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

August Morning Walk

This week's weather has been almost perfect!

I glanced out the back door last Tuesday on a bright, sunny morning and was excited to see this very large spiderweb in the cosmos....complete with sparkling dew! Just the day before I had been looking at Judith Polokoff's spectacular photo of a spider in a web (you absolutely must click the link and take a look!), and here was a web of my very own to experiment with!

I still have so much to learn about this camera, but I like the combination of the intricate web and the pretty pinks of the Cosmos sparkling with dew in the soft morning light. Mother Nature paints such esquisite pictures.

Our sweet young neighbor, Sandy, and I have been walking in the mornings again this summer. She arrived as I was photographing the web, and before we left for our walk we said good morning to the newest member of our barn cat family. It's another dear little calico kitten, born to Tink 17 days ago. Tink can be seen in the previous post......the white calico in the foreground of the picture in which the cats are waiting to be fed.

Sandy noticed the beautiful bloom on the Queen Elizabeth rose.

And I pointed out to her how pretty this grass looks with the dew on it.

The fog hadn't quite lifted and still hung over the trees across the road.

I took my camera that morning because we had seen this dead porcupine beside the road on the previous morning. It's a rare occurance to see these creatures and unfortunately they're usually dead when we do happen upon them. Poor thing was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Have you ever tried pulling porcupine quills out of a dog's muzzle....not much fun, let me tell you, for the dog or the "doctor". It happened once, a long time ago, to Daisy, a dear old hunting dog that belonged to my father-in-law. Ouch!!

Sandy has a particular fondness for this lovely old elm tree....one of the few remaining around here.

The haying is finished and round bales sit in the meadows, waiting to be picked up and stored for winter feeding.

I love the combination of the Joe Pye Weed and Goldenrod.

There's an abundance of both in the surrounding fields.

The wild Asters are beginning to bloom too. You can see some blue ones to the left of this photo, and Joe Pye Weed on the right.

The fuzzy brown heads of Cattails are always pretty.

Coming back now, we see our field of sweet corn with the barn behind.

The hedgerow across the road from our house provides a beautiful view when we look out each morning. This scrub provides a home for many of the birds that visit our feeders. A small creek runs under the road and through the tangled brush toward the river, not far away.
We've noticed that some of the leaves have already begun to turn on the trees, and there's a definite nip in the crisp morning air. Fall is not far off....to me, not a pleasant thought. I'd like the summer to go on and on.

Jasmine was awaiting our return...........

................and ran out to us welcome us home.
She makes a big fuss of Sandy and Wes because they spoil her when she stays overnight with them when we go to visit the kids :)

We're lucky to be blessed with such great neighbors.

I'm also blessed by this wonderful blogging community.
Mrs. Darling of Dishpan Dribble has graciously awarded me the Nice Matters Award (I also received it from dear Horizon, as I mentioned previously). I appreciate her thoughtfulness and am grateful for her kind words. Thanks so much Mrs. D.
I know I'm supposed to pass it on to 8 people, but it's getting very late and I must get some sleep, so I'll just pass it to each and every one of my blog friends because in my opinion you all deserve it.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Fun & Games with Bailey

Bailey's "folks" are back from their vacation, so he's gone home, and Jasmine seems to be missing him. The morning after he'd gone she wandered around meowing, looking for him. She has all the barn kitties to play with, but she's the only house cat and I guess she enjoyed having company in the house.

The barn cats & Jasmine playing with Bailey's cord. Here we have Madelaine (Jasmine's sister) on the left, then Pete, Finnegan, Bailey (tied), Jasmine and Cleo.

Bailey is an indoor cat because Wes and Sandy lost their last kitty to the road. They live at the bottom of a steep hill and some people don't use much common sense when they come roaring down the hill, so it's a dangerous place for cats to live. When he does go outside Bailey is tied by a long cord to a weight, so he gets a little fresh air, but stays safe.

We did the same while he was with us, and the cats were completely captivated with that cord! It was the funniest thing to watch.

Hey, were'd my people go?

Notice that Bailey has extra toes on all 4 feet. His back feet are huge! He was born in our barn 2 summers ago to Sheba.

Here she is in June with Fiona , one of her spring litter of 3. This is the kitten whose picture I posted back in May with the pictures of the little fawn.

The cats played with the cord for hours.........

And Bailey enjoyed their company...........

............for the most part :)

Jasmine can be a bit bossy sometimes.

The black kitten on the right is Gus, another one of Sheba's kittens from this year's litter.

Jaz & Bailey played together indoors too.

When afternoon feeding time comes..........

the cats get pretty anxious to see me heading toward the barn......

Could you hurry please Mom!

Max thought he should stay and keep Bailey company.
Come on Max, or you'll miss out!

Pepper says, "Bailey, are you coming?"

No, he has to stay behind.

Jasmine, you keep Bailey company, OK?