Fall In Summer or Fallen Summer?

The last couple of days have been SO nice temperature wise that it feels more like late September than mid-August!  That brings my weird thought process to wonder if we're experiencing fall in summer, or a fallen summer.

I've made my decision, complete with explanation.  What's yours?

It's been great to be outside again without too much worry regarding headaches or sinus/allergy attacks.  I've had the A/C turned off the last two days, and the windows open.  So nice to have fresh air.  The cooler temps also mean I can stay out longer and get more pictures at any given time!  Today, after a planning meeting for our high school graduation reunion, I stopped at Wegerzyn Gardens to see what interesting things were going on there.  I found a few, then a few more, and well, it kind of snowballed!  Couple of hundred shots later, I left.

I'm not sure what many of the plants are, unfortunately.  I believe the shot above is an hibiscus.

I could swear some of these logs were "wearing" the desert camouflage!  It just looks fake.  I couldn't get close enough to tell for sure, but I hope it's the real deal, not camouflage added to it.

Almost missed this little critter undulating along the rail.  He sure added some color to the drab surroundings.

I wish I knew what this plant was - it was beautiful.

Pretty sure this is a dahlia . . .

I liked the shape of the leaf, the way it curved . . .

I've never grown one, but I assume this is an eggplant.  Some of the more mature plants looked like eggplants that I've seen before . . .

I absolutely LOVED the way the light played on the plants today, especially in this shot where you can see the shadow of leaves of other plants from the backside of this leaf.

I don't have a clue what this plant is, but it reminded me more of pieces of the coral reef than a plant!

Pretty sure this is another type of honeysuckle (not the kind I have trying to take over the yard).  I couldn't tell you if there was a scent to it or not . . . there were several scents vying for attention, and this was kind of high up.

I was thinking this was a clematis, but I can't find what type it is if indeed it is clematis.  I just loved the complexity of the flower, along with the colors and shapes.

It is kind of silly, but I liked the spiral of this tendril.  Just cute and unexpected.

It won't be long and the hibiscus will be blooming en masse at Wegerzyn Gardens.  So many of the plants, and so many buds getting ready to bust open.

And this was taken tonight in my back yard.  The little guy was playing shy and wouldn't stick around when I was outside.  I did manage to get a few other shots, but I liked this one - his feet are still sort of hanging on, but the wings are already moving.

It's kind of funny (in an ironic way) that when I stop at one of the MetroParks or wildlife refuge centers without much thought as to what I might find, I end up finding a LOT of shots.  When I go hoping to catch certain types of shots, I'm almost always disappointed.  But, that does help me to try to keep an open mind and be flexible about things - you never know when something fantastic will be available, or when you'll be almost overwhelmed with fantastic opportunities.

Head in the Clouds

Yeah, I'm cheatin'.  I'm using the pics I took yesterday while watering the plants for today's post.  When it's still 100 at 8 p.m. in SW Ohio, that's way too hot for me to be out doin' anything.

But, last night's pictures were so completely serendipitous, surprising, and fun that I have to share them with y'all.  The clouds were amazing enough, but then, the added surprises in the back yard practically had me singing one of the talented Billy Joel's songs (I Go To Extremes).

Not that I have to be at one extreme or another, but I do tend to find it happening a lot.

Last night is a great example.  I hadn't planned to take any pictures, but as I watered the plants and looked up, I saw the beautiful cloud formations and colors.

Of course I went inside and grabbed the camera to try to capture some of the texture and colors I was seeing.

I took several shots, then had to go back and check on the plants I'd left the hose on, only to look down and see this little guy.  Maybe he's not that big of a deal to you, but this is the first time I've snapped a grasshopper!  And gee, let's see . . . I went from looking at the expanse of the multi-colored clouds in the sky down to the little green grasshopper resting on green leaves.

Of course, I had to look back up, just to see what the clouds looked like "now."  Oh, so very glad I did.

That pink hue was pretty out in the front yard . . .

And a different kind of pretty in another direction in the back yard.  Yes, I was facing opposite directions when taking two of the previous shots.  I didn't realize that until now (hadn't thought about it until now, either!).

Then it was back to the plants, and checking on the mandevilla I'd just put in the ground last week. It seems to be doing very well, even with the extreme heat.  Once again though, I went from looking up, to looking down.

If you haven't noticed, I couldn't keep myself from looking up at the clouds every few minutes!  They were mesmerizing me with the light/shadow and changing colors.

 But neither could I help looking down at the plants (it's hard NOT to look at them when you're watering them).  I'd noticed these clematis bloom remains a couple of days ago, and thought they were interesting to look at.  Now I'm having a hard time deciding whether I like the bloom with the petals or without the petals better!

Not only was it an evening with my head in the clouds (at least watching them), but I think I was suffering from a case of temporary Adult Attention Deficit Disorder . . .  but then again, if I got pictures like these, was it really suffering, or being blessed with the opportunity to see a variety of subjects and take advantage of it?  I'm going with the blessing - there's enough suffering in the world that I can't do anything about.  I can accept this blessing and be thankful for it though!

Garden Tradition

One thing that has become a tradition for me is to take pictures of my step-mom's garden when I'm over for the 4th of July celebration.  She has a super green thumb, and her roses are always beautiful.  So, I'm using those pictures for today's post.

It's still way too hot for me, and about to get hotter.  I think I saw we're supposed to be in the triple digits for several days - pretty unusual for SW Ohio.  I'm glad I got the shots of the flowers 'cause with this heat, they definitely won't be looking this nice for long!

That's it!  The highlights of a beautiful garden.  I love the variety of colors and types of flowers, too.  There were a lot more, but I tried to restrain myself.

I had to laugh when I went outside to water the plants.  In some ways, it feels like I'm cheating by using pictures I took yesterday.  I can make all kind of excuses, but I am really enjoying the challenge of looking for (and finding) new subjects to photograph as well as varying perspective.  When I started watering the plants, I saw the way the setting sun was hitting the clouds, so I put the hose down (it was set to "Soaker" anyway) by the base of the plant, and went in for the camera.

Yup, got some more shots today, so even though I'm using pics from yesterday, I did take more today!  And, not just the sunset clouds.  I saw a grasshopper in the back yard, and got some shots of it.  I also noticed my re-blooming lilac was blooming, but wasn't able to get a really good shot of it (maybe tomorrow).  The mandevilla blooms are looking pretty nice, as are the butterfly bushes.  I also liked the "remains" of the clematis after the blooms fall off.  I think I may also have tomorrow's post pretty much taken care of already!  Hmmm . . . I thought I was procrastinating.  I'm gonna have to work on that some more.

Backyard Bliss

I was out enjoying my backyard again the last couple of evenings.  Yesterday, it wasn't so much enjoying it as sweating over it - mowing was overdue by several days!  But, it looks so much nicer, especially with the new bird feeder and new clematis.

I had seen on Pinterest how easy it was to take a globe lighting fixture and turn it into a bird feeder, but I didn't like it being all white, so I added strips of Duck Tape (I know you are all agape that I use Duck Tape).  I'm beginning to wonder if I used the wrong pattern because the birds don't seem to like the feeder . . . I've seen a cardinal at it a few times, but that's been it.  The squirrels haven't bothered it either; it's still almost full of feed.

I bought a new clematis plant this year, only because the one I planted last year seemed to have had a problem with a late frost or freeze.  I'm hoping it comes back next year, and I'll have two twining around the post.

The sunny daisies are blooming, bringing memories and smiles every time I look at them.  I have other daisies planted, but they haven't started blooming yet.

One of the trumpet vines blooming away.  It has a TON of blooms on it, and I've cut it back a couple of times.  The one I cut back more severely hasn't started blooming yet, but it sure has some LONG vines.  I'm trying to "train" it over the top of the clothesline, so we'll see how that goes.  If I'm successful, I'll post a picture; if I'm not, I'll be doing some more major pruning!

I'm not quite sure what flower this is; could be a coneflower, or it could be any number of perennial wildflowers . . . I planted a mix of seeds last summer, but it was so hot and dry that none of them came up.  It's been nice enough so far this season that a few of them have started.

Trying to keep these guys hanging around - keep one feeder for peanuts just to lure them and the woodpeckers.  I also have a couple of the suet feeders with woodpecker suet, but haven't seen the woodpeckers for a couple of days.

Haven't seen much of the hummingbird lately.  I've been changing the feeders every other day, making sure they get a good cleaning.  The little thingamajig I bought to keep the ants away has worked wonders, but it doesn't help with the bees.

I'm hoping in the next few days to be able to take a little time and relax in the back yard.  So much to do lately that I feel like I'm always on the go.  I may end up taking a day or two to just veg out.  It's so nice to be able to walk out the back door and feel like I can soak up the atmosphere and relax.  I'm trying to be out back reading, with the camera handy, to catch Bella for her evening visit to the hummingbird feeder.  The time spent out there has been wonderful, regardless of which feathered visitors there are (or aren't).  I like having this little piece of backyard bliss.