Easy like a Sunday...oops....

Ah, feels sooo good!
Wednesday brought a very welcome heatwave and the sunporch was opened up for one and all to have a lounge-about.
Rascal, aka "not-our-cat" was more than pleased the season had been kicked off at last.

Scenes from Christmas Past

Where did it go?
Christmas?

 

Any ideas?

Harrumph!
What a messy table,
Just me and the cats hangin' out..
adding some class to this
Christmassy chaos.

Hmm - is somebody plotting something?

How about this innocent-looking fellow?
just the night before this....

Middle of the night crash heard,
I feared what it was,
and sure enough - it was.
Or rather, it wasn't -
anymore.

"Wasn't me", says Manitou, all cute and floofy.

"Wasn't me" says Rascal - holiday guest No.1

"Wasn't me either", says holiday guest No.2 Pantero (Reverend)

"Couldn't have been me - I don't even live here!"
Exclaims Kitty-never-seen-before-hope-he's-not-homeless-and-especially-hope-not-an-expectant-female!

Ghost - remnants,
Shape of Christmas Tree,
past.
(Mr. Poole "ain't talkin")

So what did Crazy Christmas Cat Lady do?
Must have a tree for Epiphany
It's only January 4th!
In response to suggestions to put Christmas away,
Since it came down anyway.
Oh yes, the tree rose again, sans glass balls,
Just an icy vision, mostly white and luminous,
nothing breakable.
We hang on to Christmas tightly,
despite disasters. :)

Longfellow approves of the restoration....
the brief prolongation of
holiday cheer....

...Until next year...
For auld lang syne...

Happy and Healthy New Year everyone!

Hot Weather Perils

Rascal feels the heat

We have been having terribly high heat and humidity recently, which has abated somewhat a day ago, thank goodness. Summer is nice to have, but I swear I prefer snow to the stifling, suffocating weather we were having – could barely move or even think. I am sure it was a factor in our current outbreak of rhinovirus (a common upper respiratory illness), which began with Mr. Poole, and spread quickly to everyone else. I am most worried about our fragile diabetic Bandito, who started sneezing and wheezing yesterday. When Mr. Poole came to us several years ago, he had it bad – so congested he could hardly eat. But with meds and loving care it went away, but we knew that this thing never leaves, it just goes dormant. It has hit Manitou the worst – he became totally lethargic – would not eat or drink – and hid in the basement. At one point I was afraid to touch him, as he looked like he had passed away. His ears were blazing hot (high fever), and was rushed to vet immediately, where we got antibiotics, and lysine powder which is supposed to help in keeping the virus at bay from the others. But now they are all sneezing to varying degrees, and Manitou is still poorly, but happy to say he is eating again, which is always a good sign. Such a worry, all this.

Meanwhile, the garden suffers too. Whatever is left blooming is fading fast, and drying out from the lack of rain. Daylilies are ending – we had a beautiful show this year, and they are so drought-resistant:

This one was grown from seed purchased online.

Happy Returns - always a splendid show with many scapes.

Tropical Hibiscus - gorgeous!

A most luscious orange - sadly the name escapes me.

Also grown from seed.

Summer Wine - a silky pink/rose.

Amaryllis in summer! Huge "Matterhorn" on the left.
A very hot Bandito in the "cat-bird" seat

 

 

 

As Autumn Sets In

Photo of Dahlia taken with cheap cell-phone camera creates an unexpectedly beautiful watercolor effect.

Oh dear. It has been awhile. Various issues amongst those close to me have caused some melancholy and stressful times lately. Health issues on my end are rattling what little peace I ever have; I feel I am too young for this, that and the other. But tests don't lie, and while nothing is imminently life-threatening - it is clear the "infrastructure" is not solid, and that is very disturbing - and depressing. As all gardeners of a certain age can attest, freedom of movement is so important, and now it seems a good dose of pain-killers will be required before any major garden "work-out" is attempted.
Osteo Bi-flex is my next hope for some relief.
Promises, promises.

Now, how boring was all that, eh? Happily, we have had only 2 frost warnings so far, and neither of them materialized. My Dahlias are happy about that!



Dahlia - Purplicious


Flowering Maple I grew from seed several years ago, blooms yellow in the summer, and in the fall the flowers are tinged with pink - so lovely.


Fresh rain on Acidanthera leaves....


also known as Peacock Orchid...


I grow these (bulbs) every year just for this time of the season - they smell heavenly!


Sweet Dahlia duet - grown from seed, which always means happy surprises.


Dahlia White Perfection survived the coming night's frost warning,
the little bee was taking no chances, as he tucked tightly in.
He survived too.


Huge dinner-plate variety - it glowed at dusk like a moon.


Another Dahlia from seed - a beautiful colour with variations.



Dinner-plate Dahlia Peach Brandy was enormous, and glowed like the sun from a distance.


Rudbeckia triloba - the star of the late summer/autumn garden.


Amaryllis Dancing Queen produced 2 very out-of-season blooms on a very short scape, only 2 inches.


She looked divine in the afternoon sun.


Dahlia Fire and Ice - a striking contrast.



Last but not least - and still in bloom - Four O'Clocks (Mirabilis). Sweet-smelling, they open at my place more around 6 or so, and in the cooler weather stay open well past morning. I save the carrot-like tubers every year, and also grow new plants form the easily collected seeds - that look like tiny grenades.
(Hmm - I suspect I said all this last year at the same time :)


This variety is called "Marbles" featuring what is known as
"broken colours".



Visitor? Resident? Stray?
Who knows for sure!
But Rascal sure likes to lounge in the sun-porch!





Sweet Dreams!