AND ONE MORE THING...

Fall has come

 to the 

forgotten garden.

This was my first thought 

of how I wanted to start off this post.

  As I will tell you a little later, 

the Secret Garden was not done right

 by us this summer. 

 It reminds me of a 

forgotten garden, 

therefore, 

that is what I am 

calling it in my mind.

 As I googled 

"poems about forgotten gardens",

 I came across this book by Kate Morton 

called The Forgotten Garden. 

 It says I will discover

 the truth behind a prominent family 

with the help of 

a book of dark fairy tales and

 a secret garden...

need I say more?  

It had me hooked 

at fairy tales, dark or not, 

so I will add The Forgotten Garden 

to my library, 

along with a few others 

that I see she has written such as: 

 The Lake House, The Distant Hours, The Clockmaker's Daughter, The Secret Keeper and The House at Riverton, 

all fascinating and appealing titles. 

 Let me know

 if you have read 

any of her books.

The first thing 

I did this morning, 

after waking up to gray skies

 feeling like rain, 

was to go out to the garden and 

pick all the zinnias 

that were still blooming.

  

I thought 

they had reached their peak awhile ago 

but they just keep 

blooming on.  

The Captain measured one plant

 to be sixty inches tall! 

 I was able to cut 

long stems that fit perfectly 

in a pretty pitcher.

I placed them 

in front of the kitchen blackboard

 where they add a lot of 

glorious fall color.

While I was making the bed, 

I glanced out into the Secret Garden and

 it looked so forlorn.  

The hydrangea bush, 

although big and green, 

didn't bloom at all and

 we didn't get any 

other flowers planted. 

 Now that the leaves are falling,

 it just looks so neglected and sad and 

as that morning rain was now falling,

 I knew just what 

it needed...

...borrowing those pretty zinnias 

would add a bit of happiness

 for just a little while, 

something the little garden, 

which gives so generously to 

the squirrels and the humming birds,

 richly deserves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There stands a very large 

Sequoia redwood tree

 beside our driveway.

 Just let me say that

 I love trees in general, 

especially this time of year 

as the leaves turn color and begin to fall,

 but I hate this particular tree 

with all my being!  

During stormy weather, 

I don't sleep well when the wind blows 

as our kitchen and master bedroom 

are up close and personal 

with this monster.

This is one view 

from the driveway...

...and another view 

that shows the nasty sharp needles 

that fall and get drug into the 

car and the house, 

up your pant legs and

 wound up in dog tails and

 the way the roots are 

raising our driveway.

 Now, keep in mind, 

this is God's Country 

and everyone loves the trees 

that make it so, 

so why don't the city officials 

hire locals to trim the large trees

 from around all the power wires?

 Hire persons 

who love these trees and 

know what to do about them?  

But they don't! 

They hire outsiders 

that move in with their big machines, 

who don't give a damn about 

the mess they make, 

they just stop at the bank 

on their way out of town

 after leaving our view 

to be this...

Devastating and disgusting, 

our taxes at work...

enough said!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last week 

I told you I had something else 

coming into the kitchen and

 here they are...

I know 

black and white buffalo checks 

are really in right now and 

I see so many beautiful rooms using them, 

but I am not following a trend.

  In fact, 

I don't think it is a trend, 

as you might have noticed

 the black and white checks on

 the little "cherry" shelf over the stove. 

 I said it had hung out

 by the back door for about twenty years 

 and I had used it

 in our home in Santa Cruz

 a few years before that.  

I bought it because 

I was drawn to the black and white checks 

so, as you can see, 

that could be a little more 

than just a trend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another new Santa. 

 One of the pattern books 

showed only the Santa head shots and 

since the faces are one of the

 most fun aspects for me to paint,

 I thought I'd give them

 a try.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, yeah, and 

just one more thing:

Just when you think 

you might have seen too many pumpkins,

 there is always room 

for one more...

As much as I am on Pinterest 

I have never seen this idea before

 so maybe you haven't either. 

 It is very simple to make and

 you may or may not have 

the outer covering on hand,

 but you surely will have access to 

the form of this pumpkin.  

If not, 

you might be in trouble...

Yep,

 just a plain, ordinary 

roll of 

toilet paper.

Take the roll and unwind it a bit 

then re-wind around the roll,

 leaving the paper a bit loose and 

fluffed up. 

 (If you do like me 

you will need to unwind and rewind

 a few times

 to get it just right).  

You will know when you do. 

 Set the fluffed roll 

in the middle of an 18 inch 

piece of flannel or whatever. 

 I tried it with a cloth napkin 

but it seems to look 

softer and better using flannel.

 Bring each edge of fabric up and

 stuff in hole of the TP roll, 

arranging folds until 

it pleases you...

...stick whatever you use 

for a stem into the hole and 

add ribbon if you want and

 there you have 

one more pumpkin that you

 didn't know you needed and 

after it's all said and done, 

take it apart and 

what's left is something

 that you will 

always need.

...Judy...

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