Tut tut it looks like rain...

And that's because it is raining! With the official first day of fall being in just three days, I would say that it is perfect timing. There are those that are saddened by the end of summer (you know who you are :), but as I get older I am learning how to appreciate that every season is important and plays a part in the big picture. There are special things that come with the cold weather that you only really get to enjoy at that time of year. The best one of all is of course the smell of rain. This morning for instance, I have my windows open because the first rain of fall is perhaps the best smell I could think of early on a Sunday morning. I dusted off my teapot (that's right it had dust on it, sad I know) and am enjoying my favorite cool weather drink: Tea.
Yes you can still enjoy tea, soup, crocheting, reading books, crafting and other such nonsense all year long, but really: do you? Not so much. Their is a silence that grows on things on rainy mornings, it's a peace that has a special time of year. Not the same as any other. I like to think of it as a cleansing period, mother natures way of refreshing everything and removing the dust and grime of summer. Similar in fact to my car, which has been accumulating an impressive collection of dirt for several weeks now. Now this morning, it has also been taken care of by the rain and is looking much better, although not necessarily clean.

Now as a gardener as well, fall is one of the most important seasons of the year. It's the time when most plants get tucked into their bed's for the upcoming Winter. It's the signal to them that they put in a lot of hard work, and it's almost time to rest. Now annuals are another story because they are what I like to call Kamikaze plants. They live fast and furiously, expending every ounce of energy to put on a grand show...but we all know how that ends up. Lets just say that they won't be coming back next year, but if we are lucky they will leave behind some little babies only to surprise us come Spring. We would never be able to have beautiful gardens in the Spring and Summer if we didn't allow everything to just relax for awhile and rejuvenate. That's it! Spring: the season of awakening. Summer: the season of excitement. Fall: the season of rejuvenation. And Winter: the season of rest. Now THAT was pretty philosophical don't you think? Moving on...

Without fall you would never have Thanksgiving, which would just be a crime. It's the one time when our family has a reason to justify our incredible food intake. And worst of all, without fall we would never have Winter, which always has a special place in my heart as well. No I don't like being cold, I just like the feeling that it brings. The spirit of the season. Maybe I'm crazy, but you can just feel it, something is different. So moral of the story, I am obviously feeling very inspired today. Not really inspired to be cleaning my house right now, but definitely inspired enough to post on my blog which is impressive. And since none of my pictures seemed to turn out quite right this morning, I will leave you with a picture that has nothing to do with anything in particular. This was my Calla Lily before it bit the dust of summer.

Wow

My blog really is a deserted wasteland isn't it. I guess life just gets away from you sometimes. Since the last post I have traveled to my Peony paradise, gave all of my seedlings good homes, worked, worked some more, went to Dallas for a week, and to New York for a week also, and I just started school also. Oh yeah, and we planted a lawn in the back yard. Lets just say that I have been really busy. :) Here is some random pictures just for fun, think of it as a slide show of my life for the last few months.

My Peony Adonis

Bowl of Beauty

Bowl of Cream

Kildeer Nest

Dragonwing Begonia

Lawn

Purple Potato Vine

Well thanks for listening. I just had to do a little something to break the blogging silence. I'm going to have to ease back into this. I don't even remember how I had so much to write about before, because all I can think about now is how tired I am. Speaking of which, I think it's bedtime, my mind has been exhausted for the day.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

There has been so many new and exciting things happening in my life these days I can barely keep up with it all. Perhaps that is why you haven't been hearing much from me. I have just been too busy to post. Now I am kicking up my feet and will take a few minutes to fill you in. First, we got a new kitchen island. Which, if you are familiar with my kitchen, you would know that I desperately needed some extra counter space. Whoever thought that a kitchen only needed 42" of counter space was obviously a man who only ate T.V. dinners and was most definitely not married. Or it could just have been the village idiot...any who, I am now the proud owner of this small kitchen with no counter space. So to lessen my suffering we decided to invest in what I like to refer to as my new best friend. Meet Delilah, she is beautiful, spacious and everything I have ever wanted on wheels for my kitchen.

It is amazing how disgusting the floor looks next to a perfectly white new piece of furniture.

It didn't take me more than a couple of hours to fill all of the shelves and drawers. Perhaps I have become greedy, because now I want even more space.

Oh yeah, that is exactly what you think it is. A granite cutting board in the top of my island.

I could go on and on, but there is much to explore, so on we go.

I also managed to weed my planters and lay down bark to hopefully help with the weeds in the future. What you are about to see is disgusting. It is what my planter looked like right around the thick of winter at the beginning of this year.

This was before the weeds completely took over, but you can see the absolute state of neglect based on the dead leafless plants that were begging to be pruned and loved up. This is what I was able to turn it into after a couple hours of weeding.

It's amazing what a transformation a few weeks of sun can have. Then, just to top it all off I decided that I would try to prevent the weeds from invading so ravenously. I fell in love with bark when we began re-doing the parkway in front of our house. (That is the funky strip of lawn between he sidewalk and the street just in case you were wondering)

And this was the end result.

OK, so the picture doesn't do it justice. It is better in person. It makes me smile everyday when I walk up to the front door. Anyway, on to more bark adventures...oh wait, I forgot to introduce you to my new Spider Flower.

It is amazing to look at. I think I may need a few in my growing plant collection. It really nicer than it appears: I thought I took more pics of it but this was the only one I could find.

So, back to the bark adventures.

We finally finished shoveling out our parkway and filling it with bark...well except for the little square around the tree (which has almost been finished since I took these pictures).

And best of all, look what we discovered under all the weeds and the 3" of dirt.

Who knew we had a cute little path that lead right to our walkway? Actually I do vaguely remember finding it once in the past, but I had since forgotten all about it. It really was like discovering it all over again. I just got some amazing plants to put under the tree and can't wait for some nice weather so I can get the area prepared and planted. What else has happened...I can't come up with anything right now, but do I have a treat in store for you. I have been waiting for almost a year, and finally the time has come! This weekend, me and the fam will be going to the Peony farm in San Jose! You can be that I will be posting a short novel all about Peonies when I get back, along with many pictures and I will reveal my final decision on what Peonies I came home with. My list has been narrowed down to 9, which is good since they have over 200 to choose from. Well, until then I bid you adieu.