Summer's End

The carport got bigger. Gravel "flooring" still in the works.

The long days of August finally have loosened their hold on us; the humidity is easing and we are starting to think beyond the basics of water (for both ourselves and all of the plants), shade and forever longing for any breeze.

Just last week we celebrated in the shadow of the moon at midday. Our Flat Top cabin sat just on the southern border of totality, and we marked the occasion with good friends and an excessive amount of home-cooked food featuring all of the tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs from the garden. Oh, and all that garlic? It's won its place in my garden every year. I vow to never use doughy dry garlic again.

The Little Lime Hydrangea took a beating from the deer, but it's still a winner!
(There's a snake story behind that firewood pile, but I want Michiela to visit someday, so I won't share it.)

On the flower front, hardy lantana is my new best friend: resistant to both deer and rabbit, not to mention dry conditions. Let's see how it fares a winter, though. And a few zinnias finally rebounded from the wildlife feeding. It wouldn't be summer without zinnias.

Helenium: It's a winner for the fall garden.

While I've toiled in the garden, among both vegetables and shrubbery, Mason has continued to hammer away at the carport. (OK, he used screws, not nails, but I'm being poetic, damn it.) Initial plans to sell the 19-year-old Jeep Cherokee were met with male emotional resistance and thus, as soon as Mason finished the carport, he started the extension. 

Lime Zest sedum. Get it. Great texture!

While horrified by the Hurricane Harvey devastation, we are thankful for its spitting remains reviving all our living things. The fall seeds are in the ground -- broccoli, chard, kale, beets, lettuce and more. This rainfall is the perfect gift for them. As for us, we knock out a project every day (new horseshoe pit JUST installed!) and looking forward to a scheduled visit with Minnesota friends.

Mason chillin' on the porch. Yes, he's wearing shorts. They just happen to be tan.