Although the weather is getting cooler and there's a noticeable touch of fall in the air, the bees are still out and about. They like our bluebeard (Caryopteris)...
...as do the hoverflies.
I spent all of yesterday tidying up around the house. I did laundry, watered all the houseplants, and mowed the lawn.
The grass is still looking scraggly in areas that we didn't mow over the summer, to preserve the teasels and encourage insect life. But it should bounce back in coming weeks with adequate rain and sunshine.
I sat out on the back bench and read the first 60 pages of "City of Night," that paperback by John Rechy that I picked up at a charity shop a couple of months ago. It's good so far. Very "Midnight Cowboy" in theme. It was published in 1963, a couple of years before "Midnight Cowboy," so it's ironic that the latter would go on to be the more famous novel about urban male hustlers.
I managed to break yet another slat out of the bench. I suppose we'll have to buy a new one. It's almost nine years old and we've refinished it once, so I think it's served its purpose. Now the wood is rotting at the joints and while it will probably get us through winter (when we rarely use it) we may replace it come spring.
Otherwise, there's not much news from this corner of the world. I was glad for a quiet day to let me get my life organized. Today I need to check in with the optometrist on the status of my new glasses. I handed them in more than two weeks ago to get new lenses and haven't heard a peep.
Meteorology we are into Autumn on the first day of September which is rather sad. Summer has flown by quickly.
ReplyDeleteIt has! But maybe warmer temperatures will return, as they sometimes do.
DeleteDefinitely time for a new bench.
ReplyDeleteYeah, broken slats are no fun. (And not very safe.)
DeleteYeah, that’s a long time to wait for the glasses. The bee photos are stunning. (stinging?) I love you garden! I think I’ve told you that before.
ReplyDeleteI think the glasses have been sitting in the shop for a while and no one called me. When I contacted them yesterday they acted like they wondered where I was.
DeleteHope that your new glasses will be correct for you this time. I am due for an eye test soon.
ReplyDeleteWendy (Wales)
They're not exactly correct, but they might be livable. I'm working on it.
DeleteOur wooden bench is thirty years old and has had most of its slats replaced since then as they started to rot and snap. The wrought iron frame is still fine so we don't want to throw it out.
ReplyDeleteAutumn has arrived up here with a soft, damp fanfare!
I thought this was going to be a 'grandfather's axe' story.
DeleteOur bench is entirely wood. It wasn't very expensive so I imagine a decade is about its life span.
DeleteIs picking up the glasses just a cunning way of getting out of work for a while?
ReplyDeleteAlas, I had to do it AFTER work! So I didn't even get to miss out on the job!
DeleteThe two books you mention were rather brave in the mid sixties. I suspect at that time, they may have been banned in Australia.
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested to learn if your glasses have been 'fixed'. It has been a while.
Yeah, I'm sure they were perceived as edgy for their time. But apparently "City of Night" was also a best-seller, and of course "Midnight Cowboy" became a huge movie, so they didn't suffer commercially!
DeleteTidying and organising is satisfying - must try it some time.
ReplyDeleteHa! :)
DeleteThey just don't make them to last. I built one for our family probably 20 years ago now and it still is holding up and graces our back deck. I sit in it occasionally but it is a Adirondack loveseat that sits low to the ground and is harder to get out of than it was 20 years ago!
ReplyDeleteIf ours didn't sit in the open it would probably have lasted longer. It's not even under a roof.
DeleteThe bees are active around my potted flowering begonias on the patio. They seek the last of the flowers. It feels like Fall, and I love the cool air.
ReplyDeleteI'm working to cut back all my perennials. The Fall/Winter landscape looks more open with no large island beds.
I haven't cut much back yet. That will be an October project, I think.
DeleteWe are enjoying early fall in SC and hoping that Second Summer is just a myth.
ReplyDeleteIt does make getting out into the yard to do some work much more pleasant ... as pleasant as yard work goes.
Yeah, especially in the South, outdoor work is brutal in summer!
DeleteStill a bit of Summer to go, then. Here several weeks before it feels like fall.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that cold but there's a change in the air.
DeletePics are wonderful and professional. Left response on pre ious
ReplyDeleteThanks and yes, I saw your response!
DeleteI was a librarian when City of Night was published (yes I am that old)and remember the scandal. Brooklyn Library where I worked did not buy it even though it was on the NY Times best seller list. The difference between it and Midnight Cowboy is that Night is about homosexual hustlers and Cowboy is about heterosexual. Now Night seems rather tame, how things change.
ReplyDeleteCheers
That is a VERY good point about the difference between MC and CN. I always considered MC a pretty gay movie even though Joe Buck was mostly sleeping with women. There was that one guy in the movie theater, and the guy he assaulted in the hotel room. But CN is entirely gay.
DeleteYou talking about sitting on your bench reminds me that I haven't been out to the swing under our tree in the back yard in FOREVER. I might have to add it to my day today!
ReplyDeleteYes! Make time for the swing!
DeleteLove the photos. You've managed to create a lovely alternate reality in your back yard.
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteYour back yard is like a beautiful haven, a secret garden filled with interesting delights. The Bleubeard looks great. I had one once, and killed it. I don't have your skill. But I loved that plant! Have a lovely holiday and recharge.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't think bluebeard would survive a Michigan winter. I don't think it's that hardy. Maybe you aren't to blame for the plant's death!
DeleteWe've been having wonderful weather here and it does seem a bit like Fall already. My favorite season so I am happy. Have a good week at work, Steve!
ReplyDeleteIt's my favorite season too!
DeleteIt is an almost cool morning here in Lloyd which seems so odd but it is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIt feels good to get things tidied up and organized, doesn't it? I should try that sometime.
It makes me feel like my life is under control, even if that is mostly an illusion!
DeleteI always like the pictures of your garden and was just wondering how it had changed since you first moved in. Still getting into 90s here.
ReplyDeleteIt's much more densely planted now, and the existing plants have grown much larger. You can see photos of the early garden back in July/August 2014. It seems so open and empty!
DeleteI must put Midnight Cowboy on my reading list.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read it yet, but I did buy it a while back.
DeleteWhen I was in London, I noticed that a lot of trees were starting to shed their leaves. There were fallen leaves everywhere I walked.
ReplyDeleteToday is Labor Day here and I had no idea. I got up this morning thinking I was going to work and then I saw the Google image for labor day and was surprised. A nice surprise!
Oh, I forgot about Labor Day! I guess I thought it might be last week, like our bank holiday. But it's always in September, isn't it?
DeleteI have an ancient glass table and metal chairs on my deck. They aren't in the best shape but I make do. My lawn, even freshly mowed, isn't worth a photo. It's green and yellow and very ugly right now.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the grass after summer is always a bit parched.
DeleteOMG that photo of blue beard /hover fly is delicious!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThat cat is fierce looking. I don't think the Chinese will ever care about a demonstration in London. They're too busy forming alliances with Russia and India, designed to wipe out the west.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's an interesting development, isn't it? Trump may regret taking steps against India.
DeleteThat’s a big fuck off bee
ReplyDeleteThe honey bees are tiny in comparison
Ha! Well, it didn't say "fuck off" to me, at least not that I heard. :)
DeleteI rarely sit outside. It's just too dang hot and humid (and buggy), plus we've always had too many dogs that want to help me do whatever I'm doing.
ReplyDeleteOne of the major advantages of the UK is the lack of bugs. We just don't have insects the way the USA does. No one here has window screens, which would be unthinkable in the USA.
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