Do you see the dark brown clump of leaves in the center of this photo? This morning, I let Scout outside and she took off like a bat out of hell because she thought these leaves were a bunny rabbit. Granted, they were outside the ‘corral’ where bunnies often can be found munching. She did the same thing 2 more times. The irony is that on the other side of the fence on the far side of the corral there was a real bunny, cottontail and all, munching on the grass. Scout was oblivious.
Let’s take a little tour of the grounds:
These are the honey bees that live in our Catalpa tree. They appear every year and never bother us. This year, there are more than ever – I’ve never seen so many. No colony collapse here and that’s good news.
Goldenrod is appearing all over on the edge of our property. Beautiful…but ah-choo!
The bees sure like it.
I think this might be purple loosestrife. It’s pretty and is not invasive in our yard, thank goodness. Do you see the heart shape?
Poke Weed – its growing everywhere. The birds love it.
Stitching update: I’m finding this very relaxing and goodness knows I need some of that right now. I took a cue from Rebecca Ringquist, who uses a piece of fabric to back the sampler. So I added a piece of the fabric shown and then added to strips to the sides. I might add more or I might add some lace or crochet on the top and bottom. We’ll see.
Autumn is almost here. I’m more than a bit sad to see summer leave, probably because I missed spring and part of summer here at the cottage. The crisp, cool air the last few mornings and the spiders appearing with regularity inside the cottage tell me it’s time to say goodbye to Summer 2010. I hope you’re enjoying summer’s last hurrah!
NOTE: Garden of Daisies just left a comment that enlightened me. Goldenrod is often confused with Ragweed as a cause of allergies. But it is Ragweed, not Goldenrod that is the culprit. I can breathe easier – thanks!
Hi Claudia…I see you are getting ready for Fall, too. So enjoyed this post with the Last Hurrah photos and text. I’m getting ready for the Monarch Migration through Texas on my blog. Where did the summer go? I sure missed the whole month of August blogging, so I’m really glad to be back and visiting. Come see me….Sue
Hi, Your beautiful yellow plant is not ragweed. It’s goldenrod. And goldenrod does not cause all the sneezing. But ragweed does. See this to tell the difference between the two plants.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg4eeQHqt7I
Hi Claudia, your bees are very interesting. I could watch them for a very long time. They love our lantana here. hugs♥olive
Good Morning Claudia Sweetie…
Oh what a beautiful share this morning. Now I have got to tell you those durn bees scare me. I am so allergic, it would be my luck I would get stung. You are SO brave.
Love the stroll looking at the many flowers about your property. So beautifully colored.
I can’t say what Fall feels like yet. Yesterday was 106 in the shade of the patio. We are expecting triple digits all week. I don’t know about you, but this seems like the hottest Summer for everyone across the country. I hope to see Fall one day here in the valley. I’ll keep you posted.
I love your stitchery Claudia,it is so beautiful. I can’t wait to see the finished product.
Have a gorgeous day sweet friend. Many hugs and much love, Sherry
Dogs are so funny. They can be true and pure entertainment to us…just as we probably are to them.
Lovely photos.
wow, claudia! we have many similar things growing around our houses. thank you for identifying poke weed. i always try to nip it in the bud so it doesn’t turn into messy brothers-play.
the bees photos is very cool! and look at you go with your embroidery. have you seen the new alicia paulson book? i’ve only seen the cover: perfection. inspiration.
enjoy the beautiful day, sweetie!
xo
elyse
I love to feel the nip in the air, but I’m never ready to say goodbye to summer. I suppose I should move south :) The only thing I’m watching in my yard are the hollyhocks my pappa planted for me last month. Just little peeps of green over the dry ground. Next year we’ll have stalks but no flowers. THEN we’ll get flowers!
And my Bogart chases dry leave bundles too. Cracks me up. He likes to think he’s keeping us safe. :)
hi claudia,
gorgeous photos. so sad summer is leaving. but i think fall is really everyone’s favorite season. don’t you?
~janet
I’m starting to feel the change in the season here. It’s still 94 degrees in the afternoon, but this morning when I watered the garden I could see that the morning light is changing. I’m looking forward to fall.
Those bees are amazing! I would love to have more bees around for my garden. My friends are beekeeping and just harvested their honey– yum!
Your stitching is looking great– thanks for the link the other day. I love me some fun stitchin’!
Hugs,
Jill
PS: Loved that photo of the flowers in the shape of a heart!
Hi Claudia! Loved hearing
your best summer memories : )
I bet you were a fun camp
counselor! Hey, I bought
this embroidery sampler and
can’t wait for it to come.
Thanks for the inspiration!
And, no sneezes with this
type of flower!
xx Suzanne
Your property is BEAUTIFUL!! I am thrilled to see bees are thriving there. I am also excited to see “pokeweed” as I never knew what it looked like. The spiders are on the move here too. Blech! A lovely post to ‘bee’ sure! (Sorry I couldn’t help it.)
Scout must have been so disappointed, and the real bunny so happy to have a escaped unnoticed.
Lovely pics Claudia, thanks for sharing. Looks like a lovely time at your cottage. As you chill down we’re warming up – I love spring and autumn in Sydney but summer gets a bit hot and sticky so I’m pleased we’re going to spend a month of it in NZ at the cottage.
Hi, Claudia… love your photos and your sampler. I’m glad to see you stitching on it again!
I feel so out of touch, but much has been going on these last several weeks. Mr. Magpie is going in for surgery in the morning, and I put the details on my blog. Please remember him in your prayers. Sending you love across the miles. Leaving in a few to go to Mayo to spend the night at the hotel next door. We have a campus of Mayo in Florida at Jacksonville.
XO,
Sheila :-)
Hi Claudia,
You live in such wonderful surroundings. So many lovely wild flowers around your sweet cottage and places for your babies to roam, it’s understandable why you missed it so much.
hugs
Sissie
HI CLAUDIA,
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL LABOR DAY, COOL AND BREEZY. MY DAUGHTER JEANNE CAME DOWN WITH PAIGE AND WE HAD A NICE BBQ. GOOD FOOD, FAMILY, AND NICE WEATHER, WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR.
YOUR HONEY BEES ARE SOMETHING, I ALSO FEEL THE FALL, SOME OF THE LEAVES ARE CHANGING COLORS ALREADY, AND EVERYTHING IS SO DRY.
HAVE A NICE WEEK. RIZZI
I’ve been blog hopping and, happily, landed on Mockingbird Hill Cottage. Love it all. Thanks, and I’ll be back.
Amazing photos!!! Love that Bee!
Claudia the photo in the post are gorgeous!!! Wow, I loved the shot of the bees in the tree. That is heartening to me, I don’t see very many honey bees in my garden. I see a lot of bumble bees though.
Ah yes, Autumn is upon us, and I will sure miss Summer too. My favorite season of the year.
hugs to you…
That you for the sweet tour of your gardens! Wow, look at all those wonderful bee’s in the hollow of the tree. Beautiful. I am looking forward to Fall.
Your stitching is looking mighty pretty!
Have a wonderful week my dear friend.
Love,
Maryjane
xox
It’s always wonderful to find a colony of honey bees. I envy you ~ catalpa trees are favorites of mine. I would plant one, but our yard is so full of trees now, there is no more room. I just have to enjoy the others in our neighborhood!
Lots of love,
Susan and Bentley
xxoo
I felt cooler just reading your post. I am so ready for fall! This summer has been the hottest, or nearly, on record for SE TN. And, since I was in AZ for a whole month where it was 110+ every day, I need to cool down.
I love that your dog thought that clump of leaves was a rabbit while a real one was so close by.
We have poke weed too, and it is impossible to keep it away!!!!
Having that colony of bees is a very good sign to your garden!!!
they bring much health everywhere in the garden!!!
Your garden has lots of very pretty flowers still.. so loveley!!!
muchos cariños,
maria cecilia
I am sooo jealous of your bees- and I’m glad they live in your tree and you are smart enough to not chase them off or kill them. What a beautiful picture they make! I did not know that about the golden rod either- but no matter because we have tons of ragweed around our property too. I guess we take the good with the bad in fall- and I love fall too much to let the ragweed win :) Happy Fall to you Claudia ♥
I do spy the heart shape! Charlie Ross does the same thing. He’ll be staring crazily at something, about to pounce. And it will be a rock, or a stick. NOT a critter, which is what he is feverishly hoping.
Brenda
I love to embroider. I once made my Harley riding husband a shirt with Sargent Murphy (from Richard Scary) on the back and I stitched “Heck’s Angel” on it.
Where can I order the sampler? I love it!
It has done my heart good to see those bees. I’ve been reading books lately about “country” life, and many of them talk about hives, and the newer ones have mentioned that the mason bees are disappearing. It is so sad, and a worry.
Your photos are very pretty, Claudia.