September

It was a super nice warm September. Flowers are still going and it has been the final harvesting of what is left in the garden.

I transplanted the asparagus to a box because I heard it will take over your garden.

My little watermelon didn't get very big. I cut it open and for sure it just didn't have enough time to ripen.

But two of my cantaloupes made it. I had trouble deciding when it was time to pick them. They were still a bit green outside, but they had a cantaloupe smell. One day, as I was inspecting them, it just popped off in my hand. It was soft and ripe inside and tasted so good!

My heart hoya bloomed. For Valentines Day a few years ago, I bought a little heart one in a pot. It hasn't done anything. I found out that the ones that they sell at Valentines are that way forever, they never grow or change. You have to have a start from a vine to get it to grow and change. I love to check the clearance table at Tony's and one day they had a terrible looking heart hoya. I decided to see what I could do with it. It has been almost two years and finally the little stub bloomed and the stalk has new leaf shoots.

The scent of the stephanotis is even better than the sight of them in bloom.

I think I get the most comments in my yard on the fall crocus. At the time of year when yards are winding down for the winter, here come these gorgeous blooms to the amazement of everyone who walks by.

My 'Vicki' clematis decided that it needed to bloom again. It looked better than when it bloomed the first time in June.

The kids are all back in school and volleyball began. Arianna has done great with the JV team. So much change from when she first began.

After all the years of watching Arianna, Lina finally made it to the age when she could join. Sadly, there are so many girls, the coach made the decision that 4th graders would only observe at games. They would use this year for practice. Lina has been the best bench sitter ever, watching and cheering on the older girls one more year until it is her turn next year! 

But...one game night, the other team didn't show up and so the coach decided to do a game between the team. Lina hit the floor and impressed us with her skills!

Josiah even got in on it and kept score!

At the first of the month, Josh and Alexis moved all their things back to Oregon. He had a month leave before being deployed to Japan/Korea for 6 months. Alexis will live with her Dad and when Josh gets home, he is out of the Marines!

Matthew and Emily brought the boys up from Texas for Beau's 2nd birthday. It was the first time for me to meet Henry. I still can't believe I am a Great Grandma!

It is still so amazing to us all that Mom is also a Great-Great Grandma! It is so rare!

Josiah brought a couple of his favorite garbage trucks to share his love of them with Beau, who also has a love of garbage trucks. At first, he was too busy with basketball to even notice the truck, but suddenly that was all he could see and think about. He wouldn't even stop loading the truck for us to sing him Happy Birthday!

I also decided it was time to pass on some toys. This little work bench belonged to John, and then Josh played with it and now it is Beau and Henry's turn to use it. It is on its third generation.

We had a really good family day with my parents, kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. Life just keeps moving on! Way too fast!

5 Generations!

Julgust

The months just blurred together they went so fast.

4th of July

Mom and Dad's 69th

Henry turned 2 months. Beau really likes being a big brother.

Rachel went to Spain to get her Masters in Spanish. It is a two summer program that she began this summer. John flew to meet up with her right after our 50th anniversary celebration in June. While she studied, he headed to the Camino and walked for 2 weeks, then met up with her at the end of her studies and they spent a little time traveling around together.

As soon as they got home, they headed to TX to see the grandkids.

They are growing up so fast!

I love the things my kids think to save for me. John found this rock in Spain and brought it home to me. I love it!

I love my yard even more than last summer! It is all growing and filling in just like I imagined it would.

These are some of the plants that I think are most unusual. Pineapple cone flower, pineapple lily, shrimp plant and Angel's fishing pole.

The bees love them too.

The strangest sunflowers!

I have never seen cosmos that did this before.

I was given a start to this Hoya plant about 3 years ago. It has grown and grown, but I could not get it to flower. It finally did! 

It got so hot out that even the suet melted!

My high school class had its 50th reunion. Here are the ones of us from my 8th grade Cottrell class, John with his friend Mike who was best man at our wedding and my friend Terri with her husband. She was my maid of honor.

Last summer, we had to cut down a tree that was really close to our house. I have been slowly working on turning the stump into a fairy house.

I went with Jessi and the kids to Estacada Lake for kayaking, paddle boarding and of course fishing for Josiah.

Dennis and family went to DC for a vacation. As soon as they got home, it was back to school for the boys.

The vegetable garden is thriving too.

I tried a few new things for me this year. Celery grew fantastic!

The cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli were doing great. First time growing it too. Suddenly, I noticed it was getting eaten, it was all taken over by Cabbage moth caterpillars! Yes, those pretty little white butterflies. They lay their eggs on the leaves, they hatch and caterpillars devoured it fast! By the time I realized what was going on, they already had chrysalis formed and ready for more moths. I had to pull out all of the cauliflower and 4 of the cabbage. Two of the broccoli heads made it and two cabbages were untouched. Next year, I will be prepared!

You can see the chrysalis on the right. I was not happy with those very hungry caterpillars! 

Last summer I tried to grow cantaloupe and watermelon. Nothing grew on the watermelon. But I did get a couple of cantaloupe. They didn't mature. Well, I decided to give it a try again this year just for the fun of it. To my surprise, I have two cantaloupe that are just about ready. I am hoping we get enough sun and heat to fully ripen them. 

I actually have a little watermelon too! It seems to double in size everyday, but I just can't imagine it will mature in time.

I have even felt sorry for the yellow-jackets with the heat.

We picked a few wild black berries and Josiah sold them in his neighborhood, plus I made a berry crisp for our neighborhood party.

Maria, Alison and I met up at a local vineyard for happy hour. Friends since 6th grade outdoor school. It is always so nice to be together.

I took Josiah to Salem so he could go fishing with Uncle John. While they were fishing, I went to Rachel's new school to help her decorate. It was cut short when Josiah had to be taken to the ER to have a fish hook removed from his finger. After I picked him up from the ER, we headed home. On the way we had to stop to see the mini tornado. 

We met up with Jessi and the kids while they were camping at Lower Falls on the Lewis River in Washington. We only went for the day.

They took us all over the camp, we hiked to Upper Falls and Josiah caught the biggest trout. He cleaned it and cooked it up for dinner. He and I are the only ones who like trout, so we got it all to ourselves.

 

I have wanted to shoot this falls for a few years. I was so happy to finally be there! Shots are Upper and Lower falls.

Huckleberries always bring back childhood memories. 

Jessi started back to the school early, so I had 

me-time with the kids. I took the girls roller skating (Josiah didn't want to skate) and then all three to the water slides for an end of summer treat.

Arianna turned 12 at the end of the month. The week before I took the girls birthday shopping. It isn't the same shopping as they get older. No more toy stores, instead, we spend time at Ulta and Sephora. They keep growing up.

Finally, at the end of the month we had the first rain of the summer. A huge thunder storm. I think we had a whole summer's worth of rain in that one day! 

It knocked a tree down at my parent's place, hitting a pole and put the power out for a few hours. It didn't take John and Dad very long to clean it up.

I am ending the post with a couple of sunset shots.

One last random shot. I opened a new box of sugar cubes that I use for our morning lattes and this is how it was. One missing! Isn't that so weird?