Monday, August 31, 2015

The Waning Days of Summer

"Whilst August yet wears her golden crown,
    ripening fields lush- bright with promise;
summer waxes long, then wanes, quietly passing
    her fading green glory on to riotous Autumn."
~Michelle L. Thieme, August's Crown 



The grass, that which is left, crunches under foot.


It looks as though a blow torch has been applied to some of the foliage...


...creating a "toasty" appearance to nearly everything.



I can't walk through the back yard without getting webs in my hair...{{shudder}}...

 
...and the tent caterpillars, well, they are another matter altogether.
I have had an utter disgust for them since my high school days.

  
A few of my "friends" knew of my aversion to them
and decided it would be fun to put a handful of them down the back of my dress.
 It took me while to get over that traumatic event. :(


The wrinkled faces of the wilting sunflowers are no longer looking toward the sun.
Yes...the summer, it's-a waning.
~
THE WANING DAYS OF SUMMER
~a poem by Michael

The waning days of summer,
are a magic time for me.
Like the beats of some drummer,
cadence-marked for all to see.

It's more than just the dawning,
as the summer goes to fall.
It's more a season's spawning,
I feel in the mornings' call.

When gray gives way to redness,
and daylight takes the sky,
its beauty leaves me breathless,
I enjoy this Godly high.

For God does paint the cirrus,
with pigments and then with hue
a season soon to leave us
told with color and with dew.

For now enjoy these mornings
as their end comes too fast,
and fall then gives warnings,
of the cold of winter's blast.
~
But there is and up-side to all of this, without a doubt...


...the pyracantha bush is covered with lovely orange and green-ish berries...


...the fields are alive...

 
...with a whole different crop...


...of lovely wildflowers...


...the sun filtering through the woods captures the glorious brilliance of the turning leaves...


...and everything is as it should be for the last day of August.


Yes, summer is waning but the best is yet to come!


I see a beautiful fall just over the horizon!
Happy last day of August :)

Sharing at:
Amaze Me Monday


Friday, August 28, 2015

Hometown Fences


These fences have been around for a long time.


They are on the country road that leads to the house where I grew up in Ohio.


I snapped these shots when we visited there about a month ago .


There's nothing particularly unique about them.


It's just that they give me a warm, familiar feeling that I like to remember.


And I'd like to share them today on Theresa's Good Fences...


...because to me, they are good fences!
~
Happy Friday, everyone!

Monday, August 24, 2015

Chasing butterflies...literally

Yes, I have been doing just that.
Well, I'm not actually running or anything crazy like that...
(wouldn't that be a vision?)
...but up until just recently, the butterflies have been pretty scarce around here.


Or maybe, I just wasn't looking in the right places.

I found the majority of these beauties right across the road from my local Goodwill store.
There is a huge field of milkweed...

...and where there is milkweed blooming, there will no doubt be bees and/or butterflies aplenty.


So there I was...traisping through this field of waist-high grasses and under growth.
The monarchs were abundant and there were a few yellow swallowtail as well,
all a little skittish...so this is where the chasing part comes in :)

I was praying the whole time that there were no snakes!


Now I didn't need to do much chasing to photograph these lovelies...

...they just recently started visiting the butterfly bush right outside of my workplace.


I used my point-n-shoot and was able to get within a few inches.


And although this guy below is technically not a butterfly,
I was quite taken with him...and I didn't have to chase him at all!

This Imperial Moth seemed to be stuck to the side of the house.
I even touched his lovely hairy body and he didn't flinch!


Isn't he a beaut??
~
I'm sharing these lovely creatures today at Judith's Mosaic Monday.
Stop on over and see what else everyone is sharing!
Happy Monday, everyone!

Also sharing at:



Friday, August 21, 2015

A Little Facelift

No...not me...Lord know's I could use one though...lol!
~
We found her at a yard sale near Fancy Gap, VA,
sometime during the years we had our cabin.
 There she sat among several other diamonds in the rough.
She was white and chippy and there was $40 price tag on her.
That's right, FOUR OHH!
Evidently, her owners had no idea what they had or what she was worth.
All you have to do is google vintage glider...
...they are in high demand and you usually can't touch one for less than $$$.
(That's a lot of chicken feed, by the way)


Her design is called "Pie Crust".
I found that out too while I was googling.
It does kinda resemble a pie (mmm...pie!) doesn't it?
~
She spent the next several years of her life this color...I call it primer red.
That's because it is...primer :)
(it matched the metal roof of the cabin perfectly)


She sat out in the yard of the cabin overlooking the fire pit,
until we moved her to her new home in NC....also out by fire pit.


So for years now, she has been sitting out in the elements.
Through rain, through snow, through sleet and ice.
Can you tell?
~
I have to admit, every time I looked out the kitchen window at her,
I felt bad that she was out there, all alone...and looking quite miserable, nonetheless.
A couple of months ago when we decided to add a front porch,
she was the first thing that came to mind.
I knew right then and there that she would have a new place to rest...
...BUT she really needed to have some work done...if you know what I mean!
~
So I went to work on her.
There was a lot of chipping paint that needed to come off before hand
so I performed a little dermabrasion treatment with a wire brush.
I wasn't about to try to remove all of the old finish...only the loose stuff.
She is vintage after all and chippy is good, right?
After I got her all cleaned up, I didn't think she looked too bad.
Rusty and crusty is kind cool and chic, after all.
~
I sprayed her with Rust-oleum Painter's Touch in Moss Green Satin.
And just let me throw this in...see that little gripper handle?


Well, let me just say that you won't catch me using spray paint again without one of these babies.
After nearly killing my finger (actually my whole hand and right arm), I finally got smart.
Sometimes, it takes me a while :)


So here's what she looks like as of today...


I'd say the facelift took about 50 or 60 years off of her!
I really like the color...it's quite "vintage-y", don't you think?
And of course she'll be adorned with a lovely seat cover as she rests in her new home.

Right after my new front porch is completed.

Whenever that is.
~
I hope y'all have a fabulous weekend!

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Monday, August 17, 2015

A little sneak peek...

Good morning, friends...
I hope you all had a great weekend!
~
Isn't it unbelievable that it is already the middle of August?
I was hoping by now that things would be a little further along...
...the home renovation is going a bit slower than expected.


I understand this is a common occurrence when you deal with a contractor
who has many other irons in the fire.


BUT...progress is being made...


...and slowly but surely, a few big changes are taking place.


I'm really getting excited!


More updates later.

So in the mean time, you just might find me chillin' on my new front porch...

...if it isn't raining :)

 

Monday, August 10, 2015

Bountiful, Beautiful Blooms

While we were visiting our home town a few weeks ago,
we stopped in for a visit at Meadow View Growers,
just a hop, skip and a jump from the house where I grew up.
Only back then it was just a big ol' cornfield.
What started out several years ago as just your normal, run-of-the-mill nursery,
has grown into quite a spectacle to behold.
I took so many photos...
...really just a drop in the bucket and hardly doing it any justice at all!  
 So I'm sharing them with you today on Judith's Mosaic Monday.
~
You can't really tell by the photo but the wreath and these hanging baskets on their main sign are
GINORMOUS!


If I was venturing a guess, I'd say the wreath was at least 6-8 feet in diameter
and the hanging baskets were as big as the hood of that car you see in the photo.
I think they might have been made from red begonias and/or geraniums.


There was just so much to take in...



...and one of the first things I saw was the Bloomin' Bus.
Isn't that just the coolest thing?
This very unique bus is actually quite road worthy!


I was just oohing and aahing at every turn.


I am not a good judge when it comes to guessing the size of a piece of property,
 but I'd say this place stretches out over quite a few acres...
...how ever many quite a few is.
That's an easy way for me to tell you how big it really is.
The fact is, IT'S HUGE, PEOPLE!


I just loved the red flowering "trees" created from hanging baskets.

 

Just scroll and enjoy...


It just went on...


...and on...


...and on!


Can you imagine watering all of these?

 
Luckily, this area in Ohio has had a ton of rain this summer.

I just love the old rusty car, don't you?


Like I said before, the photos don't do this place justice,
but I do hope you have enjoyed just a taste of Meadow View Growers in my hometown!


I hope your week is just as beautiful, friends! 
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