First Day of School!

The first day of school! (Where did the summer go??)

It's also a milestone here, as it is the last "first day" in this household...youngest son Jonathan is a Senior! (College won't count...;^)

Kind of sad, in a way...not too much, though!

I figured up the other day that this is my 34th consecutive year of having one of my children in this school system...

That sounds a little impossible, doesn't it?...But it's true; they were spaced out a bit...

5 years, 8 years, another 8 years...38, 33, 25, 17...

Yep, 34 years.

Jonathan said "Mom, that calls for a pension, or something!"...

I think it at least calls for a party...

maybe a gold watch...



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I wanted to show you my favorite "mixed container"this year...in the heat we've had (up until the last few days) this is the only one that looks really good...(petunias are kaput...)

Anyway, I've never had a whole lot of luck with mixing plants in pots (except for adding vinca vine around the edges)...something always seems to get overshadowed!

(I also tend to crowd things a bit, so maybe some of that is my fault...)

This is a very good combination, though.

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This is Plumbago...it looks a lot like Sweet William, but is just the most heavenly blue!

I got it this past spring at an extremely cool plant-place in St. Charles, Missouri, shopping there with daughters Mandy and Katie...

It's tropical, but I'm going to try and winter it over in the basement...(after I check out whether it's poisonous or not ~ I believe it's okay to be around the kitties (and they, unlike my Angel Kitties, don't really pay a lot of attention to plants indoors), but you can't be too careful!

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Love this Vinca! (Bright Eyes)

Possibly (probably) because I didn't start out the season using plant food (busy getting ready for that show!), the Vinca this year got a really slow start...just looked kind of stunted and yellow up until around the first of July, then it took off!

Now it's lush and gorgeous!

Please remind me "no petunias" next year, unless I plan to plant them in the ground...that seems to make all the difference, for whatever reason...

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I also added  "Polka Dot Plant" (hypoestes phyllostachya) to the mix...

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And, here's another plant NOT to put in pots...Lemon Grass...last year I had it in pots, and it didn't do too well...couldn't seem to keep it watered enough (because it was so pot-bound, I discovered later)!

This year we planted the little starts from the garden center right in the ground, and they are humongous!

I don't even water it that much.

(Now, what to do with it...Mr. B was going to use it in his cooking...I think maybe he did once, in some Thai soup...)

It's pretty, though! We'll see if it winters over, being in the ground.

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I'm  finally going to open my Annie Sloan paint tomorrow! I told my friend Debbie that I didn't know why I was dragging my feet...(like it's Pandora's Box, or something!)

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Have a wonderful evening, all, and a great Thursday!

♥

Anne



P.S....

I didn't mean to imply that I had home-schooled (some of my sweet readers thought I did for all those 34 years...oh, no, I've been dealing with Sikeston Public Schools for all this time...

I SO admire anyone who home-schools...there is so much nonsense kids have to deal with in public school today...BUT, that said, the "big kids'" Dad wouldn't have heard of it, and since I already knew and liked a lots of the teachers, we just continued public school with Jonathan...

Honestly, I'm just so disorganized and spacey (there, I said it!), I don't think anyone would have gotten past third grade...:^)

Kudos to all those who do, though ~ I think it's great!

Luckily for my Mom (who always worked) I had never heard of homeschooling (I'm not sure if it was even allowed way back then) when I was that age, or I would have thrown a HUGE hissy-fit to be home-schooled...and my Grandma Collier would have been happy to do it and would have excelled at it, I believe. She was as unhappy to see me go off to first grade (at not yet six, not until October) as I was...:^( ~

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Jonathan has always been social enough that he didn't mind school, and has always made excellent grades; he's actually getting to do a dual credit for college at Southeast Missouri State's satellite center here in Sikeston.

But, if I had it to do over, home-schooling would have gotten a lot more consideration...