Happy October, everyone!
Can you believe it?
(I don't even want to think about how many days are left
or are not ~ until Christmas!)
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My October 1944 Etude Magazine...
Love the illustration!
(I wish I could identify the illustrator; the first name is definitely "Hy"...
but I just can't decipher the last name...
A good reason to sign all artwork legibly, for future generations!)
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Did you remember??
For good luck?
My girls and I always say
"Rabbit, rabbit" on the first day of
the month...(if you forget, you can say it backwards before you
go to bed...
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My friend Gillian in England told me her father always said
"White Rabbits"...
so today is
White Rabbits Day for her.
I love things like this and the cultural variations, don't you?
You can read more about the custom in an article from
Yankee Magazine,
here.
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Yesterday we went to Diebold's Orchard in Benton, Missouri, for some autumn goodies...
I love the color combinations (and blends...some look like watercolor)
on these gourds!
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The little stripey pumpkin is my favorite, though!
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Potential Jack O'Lanterns piled high...
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Diebold's also has greenhouses, and I always have to check them out...
This pretty coleus was labeled "Lemon Boy"...
I Googled it but couldn't find a variety by that name,
so maybe they just thought it looked like a Lemon Boy...
sounds good to me!
(Such a pushover for a name, always...that's me!)
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I don't know what this is, and forgot to ask...
It didn't even feel real...
(It honestly felt like plastic!)
Very unusual and pretty, though!
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A "Snow Bunny" Kalanchoe...
Love it!
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They also had some dwarf Sunflowers;
very cute!
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The most impressive thing in the greenhouse, however...
hands down...
was this humongous Agave!
Pictures don't do it justice, but it had to be 15 feet tall...and as wide!
The sign said it was 20-25 years old.
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It had lovely patterns...and thorns...on the leaves, too.
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These little fellows were also at Diebold's...
The donkey seemed more interested in his friend's mane
than he did in the hay!
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When we got home I went out to collect some flower seeds
(because after a trip to a greenhouse like that, I'm already getting
into "next year" gardening-mode) ~
This big Carpenter Bee was enjoying my Giant Marigolds...
I ran to get my camera, of course.
I haven't gotten stung trying to photograph anything (yet),
however, a red wasp "got" me a couple of weeks ago,
for no reason at all...just minding my business,
getting something out of the truck... :(
I hadn't been stung since I was small, and it hurt/burned like a lit
match stuck to my skin!
I will be giving red wasps an even wider berth from now on...
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Do you know what the above three photos have in common?
Besides being garden-y and all...
An Instagram friend said this and it just tickled me, because it's true!
She said, "It's the time of year when the flowers start fraternizing..."
And they do!! So funny...up until now when this kind of nonsense begins,
I quickly de-tangle, trim, cut back, set everyone straight...
but now...I just let them all go...they can visit, co-habitate,
fraternize, whatever they want.
And they are.
Not much growing-season left!
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One last thing!
A cute little toad was hopping around the plants on the front porch the other night...
"
("Front-Porch Toad" has vacated...and it's probably a good thing, as if he'd decided
to hibernate in a flower-pot, he would have gotten too cold this winter...)
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Well, I brought this little fellow in the house for Mr. B to hold,
so I could take a picture to send to Jon (The Toad Whisperer) at school...
but, in "transferring" him, he got away and went under the couch (we thought),
which led to a flurry of kitty-activity and pulling out the couch,
revealing an embarrassing amount of cat hair and
Dust Bunnies (Rabbit, rabbit!!) ~
I was worried we wouldn't find him before the kitties did,
and that could have been bad for both parties...
As I was coming back from the garage with a flashlight, though,
I spotted him hopping underneath the dining room table...
(Whew.)
We got our photo and the toad will have an adventure to tell his
tadpoles...
Have a great rest-of-the-week, all!
Love,