Late Summer

Oh,  for almost the entire summer 

Ohio outdoor life truly has been unbearable!

It's been much too hot to want to even go out in it.

(I'm a baby and can't take that kind of high heat and humidity.)

But Glory Be -  yesterday turned a mite cooler. 

It's is absolutely GLORIOUS weather right now:

bright blue cloudless sky, cool breeze - just nearly perfect.

Poem source here.

I just really needed it to get cooler!

It's still SUMMER, but there's that hint in the air right

 now that tells us that autumn won't be TOO terribly far off.

The days are slowly getting shorter and shadows are getting longer.

Yes, it is definately WAY too soon to be decorating for fall...

but transitioning, well, yes, it is happening at the nest slowly.

Leave it to the retail bloggers, retail stores and the magazines

to fill us with autumn - for us reg'lar folks it's just way too soon.

Yes, I do mean to savor summer

 now that (thankfully) it isn't unbearable now to enjoy it.

(At least for right the time being, anyway, this too can revert!)

~~~~~*~~~~~

Summer's bright hues all too soon give way to the muted

fading transitional colors of autumn....

I was able to tackle a bit of overgrown weeds in the garden,

 I washed the kitchen windows inside and out. 

 I even opened up the master bedroom windows

to let in some wonderful fresh air!

Hubs washed our new car inside and out,

shared some of our garden bounty with neighbors

and planted THREE Limelight Hydrangea bushes

 in the back corner of our yard for me.  

♥

The deer or something munched on 'em pretty badly last night,

or I'd have been delighted to show you pics. 

But we're NOT giving up on those lovely bushes.

Thing is, our insatiable and starving deer herds have never

 eaten up any of our other hydrangea before

so not sure what's goin' on...very upsetting....

but we is "aimin' to succeed" wif 'dem Limelights

and when there's a will, there is a way!

Anyway, the lavender always seems to do quite well here. 

We sure needed a break from that heat

 to get back outside and stretch and work and breathe in oxygen....

Fresh Oxygen. Does a mind AND soul well.....

How about you?

Have you any reprieve from the blasting heat

of summer yet,  in your neck of the woods?

REMINDER:

Don't forget I'm giving away a teaup & saucer set

along with its matching milk jug/creamer at the end of the month.

Enter the giveaway here!

(No purchase necessary, lol!)

As always, thank you for your visit.

Hugs and prayers@

 ♥

~Michele

Linking:

Mosaic Monday   *   At Our Home   *   FFaEE

Isn't Nature Amazing?!?

Hi friends - just sharing very some lucky pics

I was able to capture showing nature around me.

~~~~~*~~~~~



Sometimes it's a brilliant blue sky & green grass
 with the lovely color of pink set against it......

......And sometimes it's incredible winged life
thrilling me to no end!

I took these bird pics from inside my house

 with the window closed!

 I simply was doing the dishes!

I like to watch the birds

 at the most popular seed feeder closest to the kitchen;

we have many kinds of birds flying in and out all day long!

 The cardinals and jays are larger and more aggressive,

  we hardly see goldfinches anymore.

I miss them. They're just GONE.

However I noticed a red finch at the feeder today,

 so that is a fairly good sign they just may return one day.

There's always a place for finches here.

We put up the hummingbird feeder

 literally next to the kitchen window this summer, 

 and boy has it ever been fun watching them!

 We have a gorgeous green who  visits that feeder most often. 

It has a bright shimmery red ring around its neck

 that really sparkles in the sun...

yet he is fast and elusive so I have yet to catch him on the camera! 

YET.

I daresay it's a challenge and I play to win, birdie bird! Haha.

~~Buzz, buZz, buzZ~~

So our birds are such messy, wasteful and super sloppy eaters

 who spill most of the a great deal of their seed on the ground, right?

Well, I guess we now have our very own

 "Clean up on Aisle 6 Crew!" 

Yeup.

 Literally just a few steps from our kitchen window

 this hungry mommy dear and her two fawns

were munching on the spilled seed

 from the feeder you just saw above. 

I think they're neat, but I don't want them in my yard. Just sayin'.

We didn't have any rain for WEEKS and it's been so unbelievably hot and humid - enough to not be able to go outdoors nearly at all unless in early morning. Later when the sun is setting is a bit better, but then the skeeters eat me alive.

BUT we did - and have - been getting big-time rain. In fact now because of the heat it is a bit swampy and one can smell moulds and other foul odors. Sheesh. Feast or famine, right?

And it's funny because when the rains first started it would rain, then the sun would return, then the rain again, then be sunny again- we kept having strange odd pockets of storms.

Or there wouldn't be a single cloud in the sky except one little grey one, and it would be right over me and rain down for a minute or two.

But the neatest time of all was it would be super sunny,

 then would pour BUCKETS of rain while the sun was still shining!

I was able to capture it on the camera -

 but I cannot capture how ODD it all was to witness. 

My husband was outside when it started to rain, grilling chicken.

Being ME, I stood inside the doorway and took these pics-

 nice and dry and comfy!

Being HIM - he quickly grabbed one of our market umbrellas

 and wasn't daunted by that rain in the least!

He was a hungry man on a mission; no amount of water
was going to keep him from having this chicken.

We really expected a rainbow to appear during this,

 but then the sun was low in the sky enough that it didn't happen.

So....we just ate our dinner....AFTER he dried himself off, of course. 

By the way, we've lived here for 14 years and have bought THREE very expensive stainless steel gas grills. We have outdoor gas hookup so have never had to rent gas cylinder things.....however at about $700 each, those dang grills just don't hold up at all! They're stainless steel, yes, but they aren't ALL s/s!!!! The handles, interior, joints, etc. rust out in what seems in one season.

We'd been thinking of replacing our last one until shopping for it my husband found this one on the cheap- and he absolutely loves it.  SO for now we're back to an old fashioned charcoal grill.

He is content enough. He's the grillmaster, so when he's happy, I am happy as well.

It really is a nifty-neat barbeque, 

and will make an excellent firepit

] for our cooler autumn nights around the corner.

The garden roses are starting to be bloom again -

 but the daisies seem happiest lately.

PS: I am having a teacup, saucer & matching pitcher giveaway.

Just click here to enter. 

As always, thank you for stopping by!

Big hugs! 

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Home Sweet Home   *   Thoughts of Home   *   Simple & Sweet

Foto Friends   *   Pink Saturday

Teacup Giveaway and Lucky Me!

Greetings, friends!

I sincerely hope you all have been well and happy!

I have been having so such fun with my sweet grandbaby -

please forgive me for neglecting you during this happy time!

I think of you all quite often!

Some time ago I was found myself the VERY lucky (and appreciative)

 recipient of a very generous giveaway of a full year's subscription to
 TEA TIME MAGAZINE!

Oh, my goodness, my rapidly beating heart!!!!!!!

♥

The giveaway was hosted by the talented and very beautiful

Associate Editor of both Victoria & Teatime Magazines,
Melissa Lester.

Isn't she absolutely lovely?

She also writes a very sweet, humble, clever, devotional,

and very special must-read blog called 

A Little Loveliness

Her blog is filled with the dreams, thoughts and personality

of one very truly and lovely lady.

I know my readers will definately want to add this blog to your favorites
if you haven't yet done so!

Thank you so much, Ms. Lester!

 I am absolutely thrilled about this win!

In fact I am so thrilled that I thought I'd celebrate by hosting another giveaway!

(Sharing the happiness of random acts of gifts received!)

The giveaway is for a vintage pink and yellow roses
teacup set and matching creamer,
which I usually fashion as a little mini vase for short-stemmed flowers.


It's a Japanese Royal Sealy.

This giveaway goes out to all my USA and Canadian friends.

I always welcome all comments, and be sure to make one today
if you would like to be entered in the giveaway!

You needn't have a blog of your own - and I am sorry
that I must limit this to US and Canada -
 the cost of shipping breakables internationally
is just too high. Please forgive me!

I will pick winners the last day of this month
 by some fun random form of choosing. 

I can't wait till the day my sweet little grand-daughter helps
 me choose the names out of one of my tea hats!

Until then I will settle looking at one of her sweet little dreamy smiles.

(This was taken last Thursday on one of her visits to me.)

I am absolutley head-over-heels in love.

♥

As always, thank you for your visit and sweet comments!

Have a blessed day!

Hugs and prayers -

~Michele

Linking:

Pink Saturday