Finally, we turn the calendar page and it seems that fall may be coming. After miserable heat in August, I am looking forward to cooler days, wearing sweaters, the colors of autumn. Arising early, I love watching the view of the mountain ridges and valleys as it changes every day. The light in the early morning this day was diffuse because of low clouds. A little shower was passing through.

All the humidity makes the flowers happy. The dahlia has given me more blooms than usual this year. I let the previous blooms go to seed and collected them last week. I hope to have more plants next year.

Sunlight breaks through the clouds and illuminates the lobelia mid-morning. This little plant has just been so happy this year, blooming profusely all summer.

I finally got a couple of marigolds. These were labeled as ‘monster marigolds’, supposedly large blooms. But these are about the size of a quarter. Hardly monster. Plus, I planted two flats (24 cells in all) and only got three actual plants.

A hazy dawn with pastel colors in the clouds, was followed by a clear sky and brutally hot temperatures. Ugh, I really do hate summer heat.

The deer came by to see what tempting treats my garden could offer. They already ate the hostas to the ground, but there are some additional plants on the side of the driveway. Plus, the acorns are starting to fall. The slight reflections at the top are from the glass door. I took these photos from inside the house so I wouldn’t frighten them away.

This may be a mother – daughter pair. The smaller one still has the faint spotting of a yearling, likely born last spring.

The other one appears to be fully grown. She was also a bit more wary, flicking her tail.

Inside, I set the pub table with my Colors of August place mats. I forgot to take a photo of the table, but it looked substantially like this one from 2024. The only difference is I used gold chargers and the yellow napkins were held with my little yellow flower pot napkin rings.

An amazingly cool morning with low humidity the last week of August made me open every window in the house. I had to sit on the veranda for a bit as well, reveling in the crisp air. The petunias are almost done, and I had cleaned out the pots the day before. The geraniums and impatiens are blooming well in their pots.

The color of the geranium is such a vibrant pink. This is the one I rooted from a cutting.

I continue to be amazed at the torenias, which I planted from seeds saved from last year. The pot is full and lush, covered in flowers.

Another morning begins with high humidity and fog in the soft blue light of dawn. I love this view, with the fog settling in the valleys between the ridges. Many mornings have had fog in the valley like this until the sun burns it off. On several mornings, the fog was so thick that I couldn’t see past the driveway circle.

I go out to check on my tomatoes. There are a few that critters have ruined, so I pull those to discard. Another cluster is in process of ripening, and I hope they make it without damage. But I notice the tops of the plants are denuded of leaves, with stems cut off as well and I know I have a tomato hornworm at work.

It takes me a good 10 minutes to find the bugger, but finally I see it under a leaf. It is plucked off and thrown away. But I know must be more vigilant from here on. This is the second one I’ve found this summer, and now is the time they really attack.

Thankfully, nothing is eating my basil. Some sourdough bread and a bit of olive oil, and we’ll have lots of bruschetta on the menu.

September means the Mountain State Fair is just around the corner, with turn-in day on Labor Day next Monday. The photographs are printed and mounted. This year I am entering two in the black and white categories of Animals in Nature and Landscape. The color photos are in Flowers, 2025 Mountain State Fair, and Landscape. I have a purse and a tote for the clothing division.

I finished my quilting division entries, and lay them flat on the guest bed. I am ready earlier than I ever have been before, mainly because I am not entering the crafts division at all this year. I have a fundamental disagreement with the way that division is being run, so I am not entering it this time, nor will I judge for it. I’ll show you the finish on Fleur Lumineuse soon, along with the two bee theme entries I worked on in August. Last year’s Christmas wall hanging is going into the wholecloth category as it is a panel. Then, my Freedom Waves quilt published in McCalls Quilting Summer issue will be entered into bed quilts.

Fair time means testing recipes for cooking competitions. Here is an idea that tasted great, but was a miserable failure in execution. The idea was an easy apple dumpling using jumbo biscuits. But the biscuits did not hold together. All but one came apart in baking. As appearance is 30% of the score, these wouldn’t pass muster on that criteria.

Ah, well. Some caramel sauce on top and My Sweet Babboo had dessert one night. He ate the rest of them without caramel for breakfast over the next two days.

I received a nice gift last month from a long time, dear friend. This is a wax plant, and I had never seen one until this day. She said it thrives on neglect, which is perfect for me. I put it in the Carolina room, a three season porch. Since I moved the iron stand back there, it is the perfect spot for it. The long vines can hang down to the floor. I did snip off the ends to clean it up a bit.

The flower has a faintly sweet fragrance. They bloom in clusters of star shaped flowers called an umbel.

It is good to be back blogging again. I did need the time away, and I am so grateful for the support while I was off. For all those who sent emails as the month wore on, you’ll never know how much I appreciated you checking in on me. I got a good start on some new designs, made good progress on the upcoming Fall Fortnight event, and did some fun things I’ll share as we go forward.

What have you been doing in August? Are you looking forward to fall?

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