The Dog Days of Summer...

...are winding down!


The chill of this morning’s air, a mere 33 degrees, fills my nostrils with a cool reflection of the days ahead. I am sitting on the front porch wrapped in my blanket (“Hydro” promises the robe is in the mail TODAY!) sipping my first cup of coffee and I see two deer heading towards the creek for their morning drink. They trod down the same dusty path that has been worn over the seasons,
they know their way.
* * *
I trampled the same paths every day for the past 3 months. I know my way.
But today, with the last of the tomatoes turned to sauce and the final Jalapeno’s thickened into jelly last evening, I can embark on a different route.
I’ve packed away the canners, the jars and the tongs; the kettles, the knives & the clean kitchen towels. What remains growing in the garden will garnish the chicken’s plates for a few weeks to come.
In a different time, in a different home, this time of year, the deer would come for their desserts of summer. I would watch them tenderly climb through my maze of tomatoes and vines, selecting only the finest at first. My garden beckoned them when I was through, and somehow they knew.
The deer here, in this place and time, seem to prefer the wheat stubble where the splattering of wheat kernels from the harvest now complete, will fatten them up for the long winter ahead.
I am grateful for this bounty that’s filled the freezers and lined my pantry shelves. We will reap the labors of my summer in the months to come.
When the killing frost arrives, I will pull the wilted remains tossing them on my newest compost pile. I then will do one last weeding, and fill my wheelbarrow over and over with compost from the 1st pile (I maintain 3, of different stages) dumping them into my raised rows, turning it into the soil lightly for winters rest period.
BUT… after this year? I may not plant another!
I say that every Fall!

I’m ready to enjoy the changing season.
With little time left before the cold Northerns begin to hover, I need to take the time to enjoy the warmth and colors of a lingering fall.



Today~ I will begin to breathe the sweet fragrance of the rose as it warms with the morning sun, and inhale the pungent Sage dripping in dew.



While Purple Verbena creep tenderly across the dampened soil,








a Yellow Rose will glisten under the
new blue morning.

Tea Roses will quietly open in a cool display,
as the “Flame Pot”warms with the breezy air.










My Crimson Roses will splash with color and profusely spread its perfume.
I love the mornings when they are living and vivacious!





The fresh cut grass lazily shakes its blades sending the bouquet of greetings to my senses, now renewed.

Even the spice of Marigold is welcomed this day as things awaken.



I am nauseous from the garden flavors,
their aromas drenching my walls.
So...
Today, I begin a new journey.
A new season awaits me.
I know there are more chores that await my attention, but for the moment, I plan to savor these mornings in their complete splendor.

Cowboy has been patient over the summer as he knows my passion for gardening, and he loves the rewards it brings, to his senses and his palette.
He does love to eat!
His labors are more intense without my help yet he never complains.
Secretly, as I stashed and stored my processing supplies for winter, I know he was grinning. Within a few days he can count on my shoulders to help him with summer’s neglected duties.

And I’ll be ready and eager for something “new”.
It will be a treat of sorts to get out in the barnyard, get a new kind of dirty!

Even back to the good old mucking!