Fall All Over

Fall is coming and with it brings anticipation of the stunning beauty nature offers up as the temperatures cool. 

There is a snappy breeze, the best kind. The one that feathers the face with a chill but doesn’t dare to go even 1/8 of an inch deeper. 

Scatterings of needles are floating down as I toil in the back of beyond. The scents take me back to the childhood summers spent just outside of Yosemite. The Douglas fir and cedars are my playmates today, not the cousins that populated the school breaks of childhood, but now, only seeing an occasional picture of on social media. They were playmates of convenience for our families. Definitely not kindred spirits. 

It saddens me when my nose becomes acclimated and no longer notices the beautiful scents in the back of beyond. It so human to acquire or witness something wonderful only to start looking for beauty elsewhere when the first one becomes everyday. That hasn’t started for us yet in our new home, our new city. We love it here and, universe willing, this is where we will walk each other home, neither one of us wanting to be the one left behind.

The azaleas are trying to recover from a lace bug assault. Apparently we are not the only ones. It is so widespread here that Azaleas have been removed from the "easy to grow" list.

Some are doing better than others.

The ivy is a constant battle and one of these days I'll pull it all out but not yet. I need a plan first.

The yews in back are threatening to choke out the smaller azaleas and even the larger rhodys. I need to get ahold of the situation but am feeling overwhelmed. I think they were misplanted by the previous owner. They’re just way too big for the space.


I’ll face it another day or the day after that or maybe next year. There’s no rush.

Happy Monday and Happy Labor Day to those that celebrate♥

Comments

  1. Debra She Who SeeksSeptember 4, 2023 at 10:57 AM

    Everything looks nice and green at least!

    ReplyDelete
  2. MargaretSeptember 4, 2023 at 12:31 PM

    Plants don't thrive or they thrive TOO much. I have a ginkgo tree that refuses to die. I've gotten rid of it (professionally) three times and it just keeps coming back. Problem is that it's too close to my house and very quick growing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marie SmithSeptember 4, 2023 at 6:10 PM

    Such beautiful plants in your backyard. Too bad about the azalea.

    ReplyDelete
  4. NewRobin13September 5, 2023 at 6:53 AM

    It is starting to look like fall here too. Such a beautiful time of the year.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ColetteSeptember 6, 2023 at 5:11 AM

    I've enjoyed the pictures. I lived in Washington State (Kent) for a few years in the early 1960s. I have a very strong memory of the azaleas and rhododendrums. I'm sad to hear the azaleas are struggling.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

What do you have to say about that?

Popular posts from this blog

Private Eye

Image
We pass by the house frequently since it sits on a busy thoroughfare. We know to look every time we pass and guess what will we see. Will it be the two Dalmatians, sitting on the couch that backs up to the giant panel window, waiting for their human to come home? Or will it be their human, sitting slightly to the right of middle (allowing for a better view of the giant mounted tv across the room) of the said couch. They are never there at the same time. It’s one or the other. One sleepless night, when my body was willing but my brain was not, I did a little sleuthing. It’s amazing what you can find out about a complete stranger.   His name is Gary and, from what I can tell, he’s never been married. He has worked his way up in a air duct company. He’s now the senior VP but it’s a small company and he still goes out on jobs, judging from  the reviews on Yelp. I know he has two siblings and that their father passed away in 2018. His memorial was held in a Buddhist temple and Gary sr. soun
Read more

Go!

Image
 Vai. E, se der medo, vai con medo mesmo. When one is raised in an angry family, it’s not enough to say I don’t want to be angry. You must learn how to do it differently. That’s no easy task. If judgment and self hatred became a way of life, a new way to live has to be taught. There are many ways to do it. Reading, writing, sharing, practicing all help the change. Counseling, psychoanalysis, religion, meditation, gratitude, have the ability to transform but I needed to see it in action, it needed to be more tangible, visual, accessible. I needed to understand the possibilities. There is a YouTube channel that I watch over and over again in order to absorb how to live more fully, more open and from the heart. One of the first episodes that I stumbled on is this…. The channel is Reflections of Life and through it we get to meet people who are doing life a little differently, often more soul based. People who are living life, healing wounds and finding what is truly important.  It can be
Read more

Let's Be Perfectly Clear

I would like your input on this letter I am considering sending out. Darryl, I once considered you, if not a friend, a very friendly acquaintance. Our daughters are the same age. I am sure that your daughter is as special to you as mine is to me. McKenna is 21 years old and starting out her life with some tough situations. SHE IS NOT AN OBJECT. She is a person who has her ups and downs, her struggles and triumphs. She has, in the past year, completely alone, had to make scary medical decisions for her mentally ill, addicted father. She has had to watch as the man who was an amazing father slowly turn into a shell of a man who has little to give and much to take. Whether purposefully or accidentally, you have added to her already difficult year. I wonder…would you appreciate my ex-husband leering and making inappropriate comments to your daughter over the course of a long evening? Think about that for a moment!  What were you hoping to achieve with your behavior? Whether
Read more