This was supposed to be the post for August but things sometimes move a little too quickly here. It’s already October and trees are starting to show fall colors. So this will be a look back into what our summer was like.

I was finally able to get some decent photos of the cranefly orchids we have growing in our yard. The flowers are so small and they are hard to get into focus because the slightest breeze sets them swaying. The flowers last only a week or two. It’s autumn so the single leaf for each plant has emerged. It will be green all winter until May when it will wither. And then in mid-summer the flower spire appears.

While working in the garden one day Molly started taking photos of insects on the plants growing there. The zinnias were particularly attractive to a range of insects.

A neighbor gave Molly some seeds for tomatoes, Striped Roman, and they did really well in the garden, producing sweet fruit with unusual coloration.

The cats help us slow down, leave our busy minds, and settle to relax in this beautiful world. Molly has lunch outside unless it’s too cold or raining. Like this time, usually Kitty Boy and Willow join her.

The cats have their own favorite spots which shift during the year. In the summer the covers for the cisterns are always popular. This is Grey and Kitty Boy napping on the small cistern near the house.

Tansy joined us last year. She appeared out of the woods almost starved, not full grown, and friendly. Once she started to get some meat on her bones she began having some personality problems with the other cats, but that’s mostly gone now. She has the same coloring and shape of head as the kittens’ mother, though is not as large.