Summer is not quite done here!

Despite my last post (yes, an entire week ago), all about my finally giving in to the inevitable arrival of Fall, the weather here has been disputing that fact, much to my delight!

After a brief week or two of some rain showers and cooler temps the heat has returned, pumping up my garden for one last hurrah before the truly crisp weather descends on us.  My roses have put out a fresh batch of blooms to enjoy.

Golden Celebration English Rose



This one is Mardi Gras, love. love the bright party colors!



So my garden agrees with me in wringing every last drop of enjoyment out of the warm summer like days. 

A Shropshire Lad English Rose.



My husband and I have not had a vacation in over a year.  This past weekend we decided to have a “Staycation”, where we stayed home but did whatever we chose to do.  For me it was playing in my garden, digging up over zealous perennials and replacing them with other flowers like my English Delphiniums I started this past spring from seed.  (go here for the post on that). 

Peppermint Splash climbing rose


My husband enjoyed splitting and stacking our firewood for the winter season.  To many that may not sound like a vacation but we both have things we find relaxing that others may consider work.  In the evenings I would read frivolous novels and he would watch his action/adventure movies on our humongous t.v. (my anniversary gift to him last year) with the surround sound blaring. 

Black eyed susans, many have faded and gone to seed for this season yet there are plenty late bloomers to enjoy.



Then Monday it was back to work.  I went and cleaned some vacation condos and homes in Bear Valley.  I really like doing that, I consider it my workout, a long hard workout for the entire body.  I do feel it at the end of the day but I am one of those crazy people who enjoy cleaning and seeing the results when done.  Getting a paycheck to do it is a bonus.  With all that being said you would think I have the cleanest house in the neighborhood and yet I must confess that I do not.

Petal Pusher roses.  I love how these little powerhouses just bloom and bloom. 



I sold my little Honda Civic over the weekend.  Though I hated giving it up, it was such a good little car, we really had no practical use for it.  It was just another thing to maintain and with trying to keep our budget tight we felt it was more of a drain than an asset.  We don’t really need 3 cars.  We were happy to sell it to a nice family whose little Honda was totaled in an accident and they were thrilled to get it at a good price.  Their delight in finding a car so swiftly to replace theirs took a bit of the sting out of selling it. 

Canterbury Bells, this one flower has been flowering non-stop since early summer and there are plenty of seedlings at it’s feet that I shall dig up and place elsewhere in my garden.  I do love plants that self seed (unless they become an invasive pest). 


The rest of the week was a blur, mostly me trying to get caught up on bookwork for our businesses which I have sadly neglected this summer and the end of the year will be here before we know it.  And also I have been painting on some special order signs.

Asters, new to me and I love them!



A morning glory surprise, I did not think any of my Heavenly Blue morning glories were going to bloom.  I was wrong.





This is one of the signs I worked on this week.  The gentleman did not like it this way but was gracious enough to say he would take it anyways.  

 I was not happy that he was not thrilled so I redid it.

  I like happy customers and I really did not mind, I should’ve clarified how he wanted the wording before painting it.  So, my bad.



Here is the revised sign, I just flipped the board over and re-painted it on the back.  No use in a perfectly good board going to waste.



One last sign I painted on this week, a Secret Garden sign for my website, it seems a popular one and I was all sold out so another needed to be created. Voila!



Now that you see how my garden agrees with me in making the most out of the dying days of summer (despite the calendar saying it is really now FALL) I hope you enjoy it's display as much as I am.

Carnivale morning glories.


until next time…

PS: I will post about my oven roasted sauce soon, I promise.  I had a few requests for the recipe.  I need to whip up another batch so shall post how when I do.