Unplanned Errand

No picture today.

 I had a nice unplanned evening errand tonight, involving meeting my lovely grown-up granddaughter at her off campus housing.

We completed our errand, then picked up sandwiches at my now favorite sandwich place, which just happens to be on the way home from my church.

We admired the cotton candy sky and the pink sunset, and I admired her ease at driving around the city and her knowledge of local current affairs.  

This is not the girl who started college two years ago, unsure about so many things   This lovely young woman has a poise and confidence, a sense of belonging, that warms my heart.  

And because I am a grandmother, I was happy to have a bag of cookies to grab on my way out my door for the four young women who share a house.  

And happy to have an evening seeing young people out and about on an urban campus, so different from my quiet life at home.

September Garden

 

I'm loving this pretty geranium.  It was one of the bargain plants I bought in the spring - a bargain because the blooms had fallen off so the color was a mystery.  And it's gorgeous.

The garden is in September mode.  Some of the plants are starting to die away, and others are blooming their hearts out.  The deer are leaving things alone, except for a low hanging sweet potato vine.  Every morning the plant has fewer leaves.

My daughter tells me that the time for Monarch caterpillars is over and I can stop looking hopefully at the milkweed plant every day.  I thought maybe I spotted some eggs, but after looking at my picture she told me they were aphids.  Oops!

I can't remember other Septembers being this dry, but I don't keep track of those things, so who knows. I guess real gardeners keep a log.  I don't.

Two More

 

Two more blocks.  Maybe I'm getting caught up more quickly than I thought I would.  I hope so, I want to mix in other projects.

In my grocery order this morning I got paper clips, staples, and matches.  I really wouldn't even know where to look for matches.  Or, maybe by the candles?

Since the beginning of the pandemic I've been picking up grocery orders.  If someone will shop throughout the store for my items and someone else will put them in my car, I'm happy with that.  Some people say, "But, the produce!" but I've rarely been unhappy with what's picked out.

My town will soon get a second Kroger, this morning I saw the start of the outside renovation.  Years ago, the building was a grocery store, then a building supply store.  

Two big grocery stores seems like a lot, but many of the shoppers at the original store come from downtown Cincinnati.  The new store isn't on the interstate so it will probably have more local shoppers.

And maybe with the new store there will be enough parkng, plus less crowding at the gas pumps.

Some Weeks

 

Some weeks the house is tidy, relatively, the laundry is done, exercises are completed, and the goal of two quilt blocks completed just . . . isn't.  There's only one new block.

It's been a busy week, with a birthday party, the first Bengals game, cookies to bake for Community Meal, the garden watered because it hasn't rained, a visit to a quilt shop I hadn't been to before.

There was the pulmonology clinic today, with the six minute walk test (completed), pulmonary function test (a little improved), and  visit with the thorough nurse practitioner (lungs sound good and clear).  With the commutes and some waiting, that took most of the morning.

So, just one block is completed, and that's ok.  Maybe with a little early morning sewing, I'll get the second done early in the morning before this week's new block is ready to be printed.

If I don't zone out, that is.  I've noticed that sometimes I'm spending unnecessary ripping time because the block looks easy and I'm not paying attention.  Something to work on.

All Those Candles

 

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Tomorrow grandson Aaron turns eighteen, so the family party was today.

Eighteen candles - it had to be.  I had a box of nicer candles in my hands at the grocery, but there were only sixteen candles in that box so I put those candles back.

I only have two grandchildren, so the other gets a small un-birthday gift, a tradition that probably started on Aaron's first birthday.  And, if my actual gift isn't wrapped, there is something small for the birthday person to actually unwrap.  Birthday traditions according to me.

Since he has that September birthday, Aaron red-shirted his kindergarten year.  Now this birthday makes his start of his senior high school  year official. 

It's Ornamental Kale!

 

I was at the big box store today, looking for a metal garden stake that I couldn't find.

There were so many mums, all different sizes from modest containers to huge showy pots.

Lots of ornamental grasses and a few other fall plantings.  And on a small space on one row were my fall favorite plants, ornamental kale.  Of course I got some, they are pictured beside and behind the rabbit.

It's just like it sounds, kale that has been bred for color and appearance.  Its leaves are curly and the centers are often purple, pink, or white.  

You could eat it, but you probably wouldn't want to.  There are other kale varieties bred for eating and they are more tender and less bitter.

They are easy to care for and aren't over and done, continuing, to grow and look nice throughout the fall.  Deer aren't especially fond of them if there are other food sources.

Some years I can find these plants and some years I can't, so I'm happy to find them this year.  They should last through the fall and into the winter, as long as we don't have a prolonged hot spell.

Jealous No More

 

  Th

I no longer have to be jealous of my neighbor's Monarch caterpillars - I've had one of my own.  It quietly chomped the milkweed leaves, and then one day it was gone.  No doubt going on to the chrysalis stage, hanging by a silk thread somewhere, soon to emerge as a butterfly.

I keep looking hopefully for another one.  The idea of that start of a Monarch butterfly, an endangered species, in my own garden, is absolutely enchanting.  And a miracle to behold.

My daughter tells me that next year we'll be planting more milkweed, by the back fence this time.  I know she's right.