August 1st..."Rabbit, Rabbit"!

It's August, y'all...can you believe it?

 I just wanted to pop in for a minute and remind you to say "Rabbit, rabbit", if you haven't already! 

 (A little something from National Public Radio about that, if you're wondering...click here!)

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 One of my favorite things...








An Etude Magazine from August, 1945. (I have it framed.)



Click here to read more about The Etude...and here to see an interesting gallery of all the



 cover art ~ (I had a big box of Etudes that were my aunt's ~ I kept my favorites and



sold the rest really cheap...back before "vintage" was so popular!)



New post this evening (Friday)!



TGIF!



Love,

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What's on Your Nightstand?

As in books, I mean...What are you reading?

 (There's usually so much stuff on my nightstand  I have to scoot things over

 to find a place to charge my phone...) ~

Any good old-fashioned page-turning hold-in-your-hands books?

Or do you read on your tablet or phone or Kindle-thingy?

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I know they're not all the newest releases,

but here are mine for now...

I haven't started any of them, so I welcome "reviews"!

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The Time Traveler's Wife; Audrey Niffennegger

Little Altars Everywhere; Rebecca Wells

Proof of Heaven; Dr.Eben Alexander, M.D.

Andrew's Brain; E.L. Doctorow

Maud; Richard Lee Strout

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"Maud" was actually released in 1939; a compilation of the diaries of Miss Maud Rittenhouse,

a young socialite in the 1880s in Cairo, Illinois...

My husband's family was from Cairo, and over the years I've heard this book

mentioned several times...this one or that one was a subject in the "Maud-Book"...

that scandalous book!

When researching The Cairo City Cemetery for my other blog, I came across

some of Miss Rittenhouse's family and decided I was going to track down a copy

of "The Book"... I found mine online through Alibris Books, a very fine seller.

So, now...I'll see what all the fuss is about.

Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I'm going to finish a Faerie-House commission and paint today,

but first I'm going to link my pink "Naked Lady" lilies (previous post)

 to Beverly's Pink Saturday...

Hop on over and see all the "pink", and wish Beverly a Happy Birthday!

Have a great day, everyone!

BTW, the "watercolor" edit of the photo of my nightstand is by JixiPix Software;

it's called Aquarella, and it's fun and user-friendly (if I can do it, it's very friendly)!

Love,

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A Few More Garden Babies...and some Naked Ladies, to Boot

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

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Yesterday afternoon I walked out to the herb garden

and there they were...

Naked Ladies!

They hadn't been there the day before, honest!

(Well, they probably actually were, but they are so unobtrusive, with no leaves and all...)

Do you have them in your yard? 

I can drive through the older neighborhoods here and see where they have popped up

all over the place now...I actually brought these from our "vintage" house in the

old section of town; they lived in pots for a time until I settled them into a corner of

the herb bed here, next to the Butterfly Bushes. 

Naked Ladies...

Magic Lilies...

Pop-Up Lilies...

Resurrection Lilies...

Another friend referred to them as "Pink Ladies"...

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Whatever you call them...(and what do you call them?)



they are lovely...such a beautiful clear pink, and so fragrant...



they are actually Amaryllis Belladonna,



native to South Africa.



Plantingflowerbulbs.com said this about them:



Named after a beautiful shepherdess in Greek mythology, Amaryllis means

'sparkling'...Belladonna means 'beautiful lady'.

Amaryllis belladonna has many common names. For example, in the United Kingdom

it is known as the Belladonna or Jersey Lily. In South Africa it is known as the March

Lily, and in the United States the flower is referred to as the Naked Lady.

Amaryllis belladonna has also been called St. Joseph's Staff in Portugal,

St. Rosalina in Sicily, and the Madonna Lily in Italy. In Spain, one might hear it

referred to as 'Meninas Para Escola', meaning 'girls going to school' because they

bloom at the beginning of the school year, when girls in pink uniforms begin attending classes.



You can read more about them here.



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Don't they just look magical?



Like Faeries should be perched on the petals sipping honeysuckle tea?



(I think they do smell a lot like honeysuckle.)



My friend Becky told me about a book called Passalong Plants by Steve Bender;



and I'm getting ready to order a copy (Amazon).



I love the old-fashioned plants and flowers...they truly are living heirlooms!



A friend once told me about an acquaintance; someone she didn't know well...



and she referred to her as a "Flower Friend"...



Someone in her neighborhood who had given her cuttings or had divided



and shared flowers with her...I think that would quickly evolve into



just "friend"...but "Flower Friend" is so sweet-sounding!



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Look at this little fellow!!



I was taking photos of the Naked Ladies and went over to sniff the



Butterfly Bushes...the honey-wine scent is so lovely...



and this moth (I thought he was a hummingbird for a second)



was having a feast, flying from blossom to blossom...



I couldn't get the best photo of him, as it was so windy...the gust kept buffeting



him this way and that, but he persevered!



Missouri Conservationist says it is a Snowberry Clearwing Moth...



in the Sphinx Moth family...and that it also



"looks like a bumblebee and flies like a hummingbird"



it does indeed!



You can read more about them here.



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A wall of green hearts!



These are my Moonflower (Ipomoea alba) vines...



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In just the past week they have begun to set buds on all the new tendrils...



I tried growing them once at our old house (very shady yard) a few years ago,



but I didn't get any flowers ~ just vines...so I'm very excited!



They are supposed to be exquisitely fragrant and the night-time "unfurlings" quite dramatic...



(you can search for "Moonflower Blooming" on Youtube);



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Future Moonflowers!



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"Second Family"



You can see the robins' nest used earlier this year right behind the current,



larger nest...evidently the first one just wasn't big enough to re-use!



(Actually it had already been used a second time the year, so maybe it



was just a little worse-for-wear...)





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"Come over, Dear..."



A Moonflower tendril reaches out and (and grabs) a Zinnia!



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Zinnia "Cherry Limeade"



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Zinnia "Envy"



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A TINY little White-Spotted Jumping Spider (cute!)



in his huge (relatively) Zinnia Mansion...



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Cypress Vines!!



(If I promised anyone seeds and didn't "deliver", please let me know!



I'm just so scattered at times!)



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A new hybrid??



No, one of my Balsam Flowers (Impatiens balsamina; another "passalong"~ type flower



 from seeds gifted by my friend Elaine ) being given a friendly hug by a Cypress Vine...



I think I need to break up this little budding (couldn't resist) romance!



I read this on the About.com site here.



"Before the ubiquitous impatiens of today, there were Balsam Flowers.

Victorians loved these Asian imports in the early 20th century, 

but the flowers' popularity waned as the interest in hybrid annuals grew after 

World War II. Today's gardeners are bringing this heirloom back to the seed rack

as they discover how easy and adaptable it is."





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Squeal!!



The Tuberoses will be opening soon!



(I know, way too excited...)



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This Turban Squash blossom reminds me of a sea-star...



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...And here's the baby Turban Squash!



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Look at this ruffly gourd-flower!



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A little gourd...a future Faerie house?



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These little ornamental gourds will also dry (in the oven) for crafting.



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A baby watermelon...



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Baby Okra!



Future Okra-Pod Vultures...or corn-mealed and fried, depending on who harvests them...





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Now, this is not in my yard, but it is growing in a field right down the street...



Cotton blossoms start out creamy white...



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Then they turn pink, and finally a dark rose, before the flower withers



and the cotton-boll starts developing...



Do they look familiar?



I knew that cotton and okra are related, but I just found out that they



are all members of the Mallow family (Malvaceae) which also



includes Hibiscus (including my Althea/Rose of Sharon) and Hollyhocks.



Interesting! You can read about it here...



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Just a couple more...these two of the Fur-Baby variety...



Above, Leo in the morning sun...



(He was quite shocked that I was up and taking photos at 6 a.m....)



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(Please ignore the "fluffy" underside of the chair...I will never be remembered



for my excellent house-keeping! ~ And that's fine by me.)



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And lastly, Mr. Cyrus...rolling in the sun!



Doesn't he have amazing whiskers??



That's all for now, folks! Have a wonderful evening!



(Linking "The Ladies" to Beverly's Pink Saturday!)



Love,

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In the Garden...

Come stroll through my garden with me...

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This Rose of Sharon, or Althea, as my Grandma Collier called it



(Hibiscus syriacus, actually) ~



is a "daughter" of the one(s) in Grandma's yard from almost 50 years ago...



(it's really two different-colored varieties combined in one clump).



My mom took off-shoots to her house, then moved them with her twice more.



Three years ago on my birthday, I told my children that all I wanted was for



them to move the shrub from Mom's last home (I got permission from the new owner)



to my yard. It was quite an undertaking, but they did it!



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One of my favorite things to "pretend" when I was little,



was that the Althea blossoms were little Faerie ball gowns...



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Who would have guessed that 50 years later I'd be making shoes to match?



Hmmm...now, do these go best with the pink or white gown?



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I know ~ the white blossom makes the perfect petticoat!



What do you think?



Fae-approved, I believe.



(BTW, if anyone else wants to play, I'll have more Faerie Shoes in my Etsy shop next week!)



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My friend Elaine started my growing (no pun intended) obsession with Daylilies a few years back



by sending me these, which have multiplied greatly!



This is called Decatur "Cherry Smash"...



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This gorgeous pale peach ruffled Day Lily is called "Land of Cotton";



given to me by Elaine as well, in "honor" of the region ~



my current yard and garden were a cotton field just a few years ago!



It smells heavenly (more so in the evening) ~ like honeysuckle!



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(If Grandma had grown Daylilies, I'm sure these would 



have made lovely gowns as well...ruffly underskirts built-in!)



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A little visitor to "Land of Cotton"... think he was whistling Dixie?

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One more Day Lily...this one is "Star Dream"...such a beautiful, sunny yellow!



Thank you, Elaine!



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Pretty in pink...

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A bee in the Pentas!



This is my first year for growing this pretty perennial, and I am quite impressed!



They are holding up extremely well in the heat ~ they seem to thrive in it ~



just as the petunias are pooping-out on me...



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I first thought this was just a "regular" Bumblebee,



but I looked it up, and it's an Eastern Carpenter Bee,



which makes sense, as he (or she), along with some friends, have been



doing a little (ahem) work on my wooden trellis...



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I kept getting closer and closer with my phone's camera!



It was okay; the bee was much more interested in the yummy Pentas!



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Honeybees love Echinacea!



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Another little pollinator!



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Yellow Floribunda "Julia Child".



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Clematis "Will Goodwin"

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Pretty Astilbe...I used to have such an abundance of shade,



and now it's just the opposite...



I have only one little (day long) shady area!



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"Next window, please!"



My vintage bank teller's window (circa 1900) is being engulfed in Cypress Vines...



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My flower border...I planted it really thickly (and thinned very little)



to try and have the flowers "crowd out" the weeds...



We'll see how this works as the season progresses ~



Maybe a good idea, maybe I should have thinned!



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I'm really loving the large "Cactus Flower" Zinnias...



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Pentas, pretty little "Heart" (on some blossoms) petunias,



and Verbena "Wicked"...wicked cool, huh?



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The herb garden...



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A gift from daughter Katie two years ago...Butterfly Bushes ~ they've gotten huge!



(They would have been even bigger had we not had such a cold winter; I had to trim a lot...)



I love the honey-wine (mead) fragrance (and so do the bees)!



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Tuberoses, tuberoses, tuberoses...



I get more excited over these beauties than I can even tell you!



Maybe I'll have flowers by next week!



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More garden visitors ~ tiny...



an itsy-bitsy snail...



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And BIG!



This is a female Eastern Hercules Beetle (also called Rhinoceros Beetle or Unicorn Beetle



because of the male's big "horn") ~



They can grow to nearly 3 inches long! This one measures 2 inches.



You can read more about them here.



(Son Jon found this one at work today and brought her home for me to see...



we'll let her go after we observe her for a bit!)



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The Waved Sphinx Moth...Ceratomia undulosa.



A subspecies with an undulating wing pattern instead of the more commonly seen



banded wings. Look at those colors!! Even a tiny bit of Cerulean Blue!



(On our porch this afternoon...flew away after the "close-up".)



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Arachnophobes....avert your eyes!



Believe me, I was so "arachnophobic" for most of my life...



and I'm still not entirely fearless, but I am trying to look at spiders in general in a new light...



I'm striving for "enlightenment", if you will.



I take harmless spiders outside in a paper towel instead of killing them...



Exception: Brown Recluses (Satan's spawn).



We even have Black Widows around quite often...they like to hide in rock and



wood-piles, and I'm careful not to reach into something like that where I can't see...



they're really shy, however ~ not aggressive like the dreaded "BR". (Shudder.)



I digress, though... I was weeding in the herb garden and saw this spider;



at first glance she looked furry ~ then I took a closer look and saw that the "fur"



was all her little grayish, semi-transparent babies, hanging on for dear life...



How cool is that? You can read about her here, at the Missouri Department



of Conservation's website.



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A little Southern Leopard Frog, resting on a hosta!



Such a beautiful little creature...look at the metallic-gold eyes!



(Click on the name to read about them at the Missouri Department of Conservation's site.)



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A little American Toad.



My son Jon is The Toad Whisperer. 



When he started his summer job, he was told that one particular employee was



the "resident toad-killer".



How awful!! Mosquitoes would carry us away if not for little fellows like him!



So, Jon has been relocating as many as possible to our toad-friendly



yard and garden...



(My spaghetti pot contained about 20 relocatees one night last week!)



I washed it, don't worry.



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Oh, one last visitor!



A particularly furry one!



Cyrus had actually never been outside and "down" before...



(he is "fluffy" enough that I was pretty sure I could catch him if he ran...but he didn't...)



He sniffed the herb-pots on the patio and looked around for a few minutes,



then decided it was time to go back inside...like, now.



"Outside was nice, Mom...I've seen all there is to see...now let's go back in!"



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We have a winner for the little Cheshire-Cat rock!



Elizabeth, of "Life at Hilltop"...

(she has a great blog; click the link or check it out over on my sidebar!)



Chessie will be coming your way, Dear!



Also linking to Beverly's Pink Saturday ~ it's been a while!



Love,

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